THE 1970s - A LOOK BACK: Plast's milestones (12/30/79)

THE 1970s - A LOOK BACK

Plast's milestones

The oldest existing Ukrainian youth organization, Plast, observed its 60th anniversary (the organization was founded in 1911 in Lviv, Ukraine) with a mammoth youth rally - the Jubilee International Plast Jamboree - at the "Vovcha Tropa" (Wolf's Trek) camp in East Chatham, N.Y. For nine days in 1972, beginning August 20, over 2,000 youths from three continents proved - as the jamboree theme proclaimed - that "Plast's Ideals are Forever Alive."

During the course of the celebration, "plastuny" from the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, England and Italy demonstrated their skills in sports, orienteering and camping, as well as their knowledge of Ukrainian history and culture.

Jamboree participants also had the opportunity on Sunday, August 20, to witness the swearing-in of Dr. Yuriy Starosolsky as Chief "Plastun" ("Nachalnyi Plastun"), an honorary post reserved for a person who has exhibited strong dedication to Plast ideals and outstanding service to the organization. Dr. Starosolsky, the second Chief "Plastun" in history, (Severyn Levytsky was the first) was sworn in by Olha Kyzmowycz, then head of the Supreme Plast Council.

On Thursday, August 24, "Vovcha Tropa" was the site of yet another historic event when Bishop Vasyl Velychkowsky, the prelate released from Soviet prisons just a year earlier, paid a visit to the youths. Together with Archbishop Mstyslav, metropolitan of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the U.S.A., and Bishop Joseph Schmondiuk of the Stamford Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy, Bishop Velychkowsky celebrated a moleben at the campsite's St. George the Conqueror Chapel as thousands of Plast members and guests looked on.

The culmination of the jubilee jamboree came during the weekend of August 26-27. In a truly magnificent spectacle the young "plastuny" - each and every one of the jamboree participants - marched and wound their way into the form of the Plast emblem (Ukraine's tryzub intertwined with Scouting's fleur de lis) and the number 60. Once in place, the cue was given and 5,000 helium-filled balloons were released into the air by the youths. Each of the balloons carried a message - an English-language leaflet telling of the plight of the Ukrainian nation under Soviet domination, the recent waves of arrests of Ukrainian intellectuals, and the Plast members' dedication to God and Ukraine.

The International Plast Jamboree of 1978, held in Canada August 4-17, was a similar, yet different gathering.

Once again contingents of "plastuny" from around the world participated. This time eight countries were represented: The United States, Canada, England, Argentina, Australia, Italy, France and West Germany.

The program, in terms of location, was much more ambitious: first the youths camped out at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village near Edmonton and took side trips to the Commonwealth Games then being held in Edmonton and sites of the first Ukrainian settlements in Alberta - Two Hills, Mundare and Vegreville; then it was off to the Canadian Rockies in smaller groups for several days of camping in the provinces of Alberta and British Columbia.

And the manner in which some 180 Plast youths traveled to the site of the jamboree was a first in itself. Jamboree participants from East Coast of the United States chartered a DC-8 to fly them to Edmonton.

The 1978 jamboree was primarily dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the re-establishment of Ukrainian statehood. As Chief "Plastun" Starosolsky wrote in the jamboree magazine: "We know full well that Plast in and of itself is not a goal. We know that it is a community institution which seeks to educate good community members - patriots. But we know still more: our Plast was born out of the necessity and will to serve the eternal ideal of Ukrainian statehood. We know that this duty is placed, on an equal level with faith in God, at the very top of our Principal Goals."

A year later, on July 22, Dr. Starosolsky was sworn in for second seven-year term as Chief "Plastun."

As we enter the 1980's, Plast members' thoughts are already turned to the observances of Plast's 70th anniversary in 1981 and to the next international jamboree when they can once again meet, not merely as members of the same organization, but as members of one Ukrainian nation.

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