Forty years in Pembrokeshire... has been the theme of a series of events held during the past year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Texaco in Pembroke. The celebrations continued recently with a series of three concerts sponsored by Texaco and staged at the Folly Farm Theatre over the past two weeks, which played to packed audiences, and featured the talent of local musicians and singers and also the magical music of the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra. The Youth Music night was held on Saturday, October 23, and was a celebration of Pembrokeshire Schools' Music. Organised by County Music co-ordinator Chris Llewellyn, it featured the Pembrokeshire Schools' Orchestra, the Pembrokeshire Schools' Singers, the Pembrokeshire Schools' Wind Band, the Pembrokeshire Schools' Percussion Ensemble, the Pembrokeshire Schools' Training Wind Band and the Pembrokeshire Schools' Big Band. Conductors were Tim Bourne, Sarah Benbow, Andy Evans, Melanie Walker and Judy Pyart. The second of the events, on Wednesday, October 27, featured massed choirs from Pembroke, Whitland, Haverfordwest and Tenby and included solo performances from violinist Lucy Evans, harpist Carys Evans, clarinettist Lee Mottram, tenor Peter Totterdale and a duet from Christine Lloyd and Joan Lewis. Conductors were David Gwyn, Juliet Arthur, Gwyn Griffiths and Christine Shewry. The final of the three events, on Saturday, October 30, presented the Cardiff Philharmonic Orchestra, which once again performed to a capacity audience. The orchestra has a considerable local following and their three concerts in Pembrokeshire this year, have helped to raise £25,000 for local charities. The event was in support of Cancer Research UK (Cymru) and the theme 'Think Pink', is being used to raise vital funds for research into breast cancer with Cancer Research UK (Cymru). October is an important milestone for Texaco's Pembroke Refinery as it marks 40 years of operations in Pembrokeshire. A series of events has been held during the year with the aim of raising £40,000 for local charities, but refinery manager Des King was delighted to announce that the target had been broken and that more than £67,000 had been raised by the end of Saturday night's event. Commenting at the end of what has been a wonderful year of celebration, Mr. King said: "I would like to thank Pembrokeshire people and all our staff, both past and present. We recognise that the refinery could not operate without the support and endorsement of our neighbours, and we thank Pembrokeshire for allowing us to be part of the community for the last 40 years."
