1982: a look back: Highlights (12/26/82)

1982: a look back

Highlights

1982 was a year of firsts. Among the notable events this year was the first-of-its-kind women's conference, the first world conference of Ukrainian youth organizations, the first Ukrainian engineers' conference on science and technology to be held at the White House and the first purchase of a radio station in the United States by a coalition of ethnic groups.

The conference on "Science and Technology in the 1980s," organized by the Ukrainian Engineers' Society of America, was held in the White House on May 15. The conference concentrated on the science policy of the Reagan administration and the exchange of information on science and technology between the United States and the Soviet Union. Such speakers as Dr. George A. Keyworth II, science advisor to the president, Dr. Norman Bailey, National Security Council policy chief, as well as notable Ukrainian American scientists and engineers participated in the conference.
Probably the most unique event of 1982 was the women's conference sponsored by the Ukrainian National Women's League of America. Billed as a conference to explore the vital issues facing the new generation of Ukrainian women in North America, the "Ukrainian Woman in Two Worlds" conference was a year in the planning. A bit stalled in the preparatory stages because of the tragic death of the first head of the organizing committee, Olenka Savyckyj, planning once again picked up in the summer, when the committee was taken over by Anisa Handzia Sawyckyj and as an overwhelming number of women expressed an interest in the conference.

The conference commenced on October 1 at Soyuzivka as hundreds of women arrived from all parts of the United States and Canada. By Sunday afternoon, the registration showed that over 600 women and some men had taken part in the conference, whose purpose was to increase the awareness of the Ukrainian women's valuable input into the Ukrainian community.

The weekend conclave touched upon some interesting topics not often brought up in the Ukrainian community. Such issues as "The Ukrainian Singles Scene," "Ukrainian Schools and Youth Organizations," "Intermarriage," "Women in Crisis," "The Ukrainian Male," "Working Women," were among the 13 panels, several presentations and three art exhibits covered during the weekend.
Another first, although not as widely publicized as the women's conference, was the world conference of youth organizations held in Toronto the weekend of October 8-10. This conference was in the planning stages since 1979 and was affiliated with the World Congress of Free Ukrainians. Fifty-nine delegates representing such organizations as Plast, SUM, ODUM, MUNO, TUSM, USCAK, Zarevo, SUSTA, SUSTE and SUSK, were represented.
In November, 18 ethnic groups of Metropolitan Detroit joined forces to purchase a radio station to broadcast their ethnic programs, marking the first time a coalition of ethnic groups purchased a station in the United States.
Also in Michigan, on September 22, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded $6.7 million to the Ukrainian Village Non-profit Housing Corporation for the building of housing for the elderly. This was the largest grant ever awarded in Michigan.
The year also included ground-breaking ceremonies for the new St. Michael's Church in Shenandoah, Pa., on Monday, April 12 (Easter Monday), in which Metropolitan Stephen Sulyk took part. The church community in this coal-mining town suffered a great tragedy on Easter Monday 1980 when its church burned to the ground. Lost in the blaze were priceless icons, religious objects and stained glass. However, the community, the home of the first Ukrainian immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, began planning for a new church immediately.

St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church, the first Ukrainian Catholic Church in America was built in 1885, a year after St. Michael's parish, the first Ukrainian parish in the United States, was established by the Rev. Ivan Voliansky, the first priest ever appointed for Ukrainian Catholics in this country. It was rebuilt in 1908.

The first brotherhood formed at the parish, St. Nicholas Brotherhood, was later to become one of the brotherhoods which united to form the Ukrainian National Association.
Another notable event of 1982 took place in August in upstate New York at the Vovcha Tropa (Wolf's Trek) Plast campsite. Over 1,500 Plast youths, young adult and senior members, and parents were present at the opening ceremonies of the nine-day International Jamboree which commemorated the 70th anniversary of the founding of Plast.

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