National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children has been a major charity that I have supported for the last 30 years, and while I am currently the President of the Llanelli and Area District, in practise - my role was much more a reprise of my other main characterisation, that of the Barkeep!!.
And so, as the great and the good, the old and the young, the fit and the infirm all trooped into the great hall my main task was to provide a glass of red, white or blush wine and or orange and apple juice....
Of course my main task revolves around having a louder voice thank anybody else, always good for calling attention to the Chairman, the Mayor, or the raffle draw.
It was then that things started to get a a little surrealistic. I know that Llanelli is a small town, and that we have been there for many years, however, as I examined the excellent displays of Llanelli Pottery and read the history of the development of that industry in Llanelli, I began to see familiar faces...
We have always laughingly referred to our local Mayors as the "Chain Gang" - after all they wear Chains and come n groups. Especially in Llanelli, where we are graced with the Llanelli Town Mayor, the District Mayor, Rural Council Mayor, used to be a borough Mayor and of course the deputies and the consorts.....
It was indeed a delight to see that they all had agreed to come along to our buffet and wine Christmas Celebration and Carol Singing - but the faces were strangely more familiar than I was expecting...
And so it was, that it slowly dawned that the last time I had seen the Town Mayor, Councillor Winston Lemon - also known as the Singing Decorator !! was when we shared the stage on Llanelli theatre (the Classic Cinema for locals which was for years our only theatre in town) , not at a fundraiser or political meeting - but South Pacific!! We both trod the boards and sang our hearts out.
It was about 25 years ago !!!
And then I looked to the next mayor - Deputy Town Mayor Roger Price, and this was a clearer view - I had been singing in the local Llanelli Folk Club in the Queen Vic in Queen Victoria Road only a few months ago. Roger has started a highly successful Folk Train Trip up the Llanelli Mid Wales Train Line form Llanelli up to Ammanford, singing on the way - stop off in the Ammanford Folk Club and back before closing time..
So there in the front row were two of my erstwhile singing companions.
Add to that, a few ex policemen and a couple of magistrates who spent some time recalling my early days as a constable long before I had a pony tail or wore a tie at social events .... and a successful raising of charity funds for my favourite Charity - a strange day ... But that is what being Welsh is all about ...
History made alive, in a great historical building...
Maybe we all belong in the museum....
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