Annual Christmas Holiday Season Luncheon

To attend, PLEASE REGISTER BY SATURDAY, NOV. 30 DEADLINE Our annual Christmas Holiday Luncheon will be held Saturday, Dec 7, 2024 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. - at the historic Storrowton Tavern, West Springfield, MA on the grounds of the Big E (Eastern States Exposition).

And because Dec. 7 is the first day of a free weekend of “Yuletide at Storrowton Village”, you will have from 3:00 - 4:00 (closing time) to visit the historic buildings, all decorated for Christmas.

See driving directions (with GPS caution) below.

WSWNE Christmas Past

11:00 a.m. Social Hour Meet friends old and new; enjoy cheese and crackers, crudités, and fresh fruit in our private room decorated in the Christmas tradition. Cash bar available.

12:00 noon Festive Luncheon, complete with the popping of British Christmas crackers!  See menu below program description.

Our 2024 Christmas MENU
Garden Salad with Bread Rolls

Choice of Entree: (all served with Au Gratin Potato and Honey Glazed Carrots)

CAPE CODDER - Chicken Stuffed with Cranberry bread stuffing with a demi-glace
BROILED SALMON
YANKEE POT ROAST
VEGETARIAN: EGGPLANT ROLLATINI - - stuffed w. spinach, basil, ricotta cheese, topped with marinara sauce and Asiago cheese
CHILDREN’S MEAL : Chicken Fingers and Fries (instead of potato & carrots)

Dessert: Ice Cream Puff; and COFFEE or TEA

Our 2024 Holiday Season Program includes:

Above:Book cover: Sleeping in the Same World

First, Margaret Lloyd presents on her newest book, “Sleeping in the Same World”, that is steeped in her immigrant experience. Born in Liverpool, England, of Welsh parents, Margaret grew up in a Welsh immigrant community in central New York and is a poet as well as an author … and we are proud to say, a member of WSWNE.

In this exquisite new book, Margaret Lloyd explores her beginnings in Liverpool and Wales and later life in New England. A world of lost loved ones coexists in the present. The book starts with a series of spare, intensely intimate poems charged with love, natural beauty, and heart truths. A sequence of journeys follows, quests for existential peace between two worlds. —Jeffrey Greene, winner of the Samuel French Morse Prize

Margaret Lloyd adds: I am very excited about this book, and its subject matter deals a lot with my being a Welsh immigrant and many of the poems take place in Wales. The poems are very accessible, and I will talk about my experience of being a Welsh immigrant and my background.

WILD NOTES is John Kalinowski on accordion and concertina, Mickey Koth on fiddle and flute; and Kasha Breau on harp, piano, and vocals.

Then, Wild Notes regales us with an all Welsh folk music program including dance sets to listen to, Welsh songs (sung in English), and several Christmas carols (both Welsh and a few popular ones).

Wild Notes is an energetic and exuberant traditional acoustic group with roots in Irish, Scottish, French-Canadian, jazz, and classical music. With Mickey Koth on fiddle and flute; John Kalinowski on accordion and concertina; and Kasha Breau on harp, piano, and vocals, they play a wide range of music for both dancing and listening, from contra and barn dance music to Celtic, Welsh, Scottish, Finnish, German, and Americana music. Their renditions of New England and Celtic reels, jigs, hornpipes, waltzes, and airs are known for the intricate and melodic interweaving of the fiddle and accordion with the inventive accompaniment of the harp and piano. Their eclectic blend of old and new delights and surprises dancers and audiences alike, and has been described as "St. Patrick at a Hoedown." Or, as one fan put it, "Wild Notes will change your O'Doul's to Guinness!"

Host or Publisher Welsh Society of Western New England