The 2021 AGM and Annual Report for 2020
The TASC 2021 Annual General Meeting was held on Tuesday the 16th of March via Zoom.
The Annual report is now available on the TASC website. - there is more content than we first thought!
News from the Trustees
Following the Annual General Meeting in March, Lisa Sture stood down as Chair. Lisa is very busy with a number of projects – we’d like to thank her for her work in bringing TASC’s board together over the last twelve months despite very challenging times and in a period of transition for the organisation. We’re very happy to say that she will be staying on as a trustee and we’re looking forward to being able to continue to benefit from her experience.
Lisa’s successor, elected to Chair at the board’s last meeting, is Louise Williams. Louise, who joined as a trustee of TASC in 2019, lives near Builth Wells. She plays fiddle, is organiser of the Steady Sessions at the Seven Stars Inn, Aberedw (when pandemics allow) and dances with Full Moon Morris and a local step dancing group.
The trustees also decided to elect a Vice Chair. This position was filled by Kay Hedges, who also joined the board in 2019. Kay works in education and lives in Hyssington, Powys. As well as singing and playing flute with local band Rapsquillion, she dances as a member of Bishops Castle-based Martha Rhoden’s Tuppenny Dish.
Claire Weston will be continuing in her role as Treasurer.
We’re also delighted to announce that we are to be joined by two new trustees.
Sue Jelleyman is of Welsh heritage although she now lives in Church Stretton, Shropshire. She is an ordained Church of England minister and a long-standing supporter of traditional music and arts. She has been a dancer with Martha Rhoden’s Tuppenny Dish from its inception some forty-five years ago.
Jon Bell is from Aberystwyth, a Welsh speaker, and a concertina player, singer and writer of some distinction. He is a lecturer in Computer Science and he will be bringing his skills to bear on TASC’s website and IT systems.
Membership
A gentle reminder that annual subscriptions are due for renewal on 1st April. We would be delighted to receive your continued support by membership renewal. Amounts remain unchanged - £5 for individuals and £15 for groups. Could you please use the paypal facility to make payment online, as it is not appropriate to receive cash or cheques at present. Go to our payment page
On receipt of payment your membership will automatically be renewed :-)
TASC group members Monty Folk continue to build cultural bridges
As Montgomery celebrated St David’s Day, both the day and Wales Week were also being celebrated much further afield in South Eastern Hungary. The Welsh flag was projected onto Bréda Castle in Lőkösháza accompanied by Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, and in nearby Kunágota, from the school and playground to the library and mayor’s office, everyone was learning about Wales for Wales Week Hungary - with some of the posters featuring Montgomery and a familiar face, Town Crier Sue Blower. Montgomery received a splendid illustrated book of Kunágota history along with a presentation pack and message from dignitaries of the town. The Montgomery community then offered greetings to Hungary and Kunágota as they celebrated their National Day on March 15th, which included a variety of displays in red, white and green - the shared colours of the Hungarian and Welsh flags.
Rising to a challenge from opera singer and Chair of the Welsh Hungarian Cultural Association, Elizabeth Sillo, Montgomery’s community folk band and TASC group members Monty Folk created their own recording of a favourite Hungarian spring folk song, ‘Tavaszi szél vizet áraszt’. (Available on the YouTube channel via tinyurl.com/MontyCCC ) Because of lockdown rules in Wales, each band member recorded themselves on their phones and laptops at home, and then Claire edited their tracks together and Catrin made a slideshow of photographs to go with it. Elizabeth sent voice recordings to Lydia so she could sing the track in Hungarian. Lydia said, “I was very nervous singing in Hungarian, but I am glad we accepted the challenge and we really enjoyed learning and playing the song. When we saw the lovely messages the people of Hungary sent to Wales for St David’s Day we wanted to reply with a message marking their national day. Tavaszi szél is a very special song to the people of Hungary, very much about the coming of Spring, and it felt a lovely way to send a message from Montgomery to help with their celebrations.”
TASC Logo
We are looking to develop a meaningful logo for TASC. If you have inspiration, please send us your art work by the 18th of April 2021.
Lastly, couldn’t resist posting this link to Gigspanner’s version of The Week Before Easter
Hoping to see you soon,
Louise, Kay, Claire, Trevor and Lisa
TASC trustees
