1985: A LOOK BACK: Notable events, people (12/29/85)

1985: A LOOK BACK

Notable events, people

Certain notable Ukrainian events and persons of 1985 defy classification under any other heading, ergo, this section.

First, the notable happenings of 1985.

In July, three Ukrainian women's organizations from the United States and Canada joined some 2,000 delegates from around the world in Nairobi, Kenya, at the Kenyatta Conference Center for the 11-day United Nations Women's Decade Conference. Members of the World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, the Ladies' Auxiliary of the Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms for Ukraine and the League for the Liberation of Ukraine attended the conference and held seminars, lectures, exhibits and protests in front of the conference center to attract attention to issues concerning Ukrainian women in the Soviet Union as well as in the free world.
The University of Pennsylvania completed the installation on its main Philadelphia campus of a rare and unique example of the genious of Ukrainian-born artist - his sculpture of "King Solomon." Alexander Archipenko is recognized as one of the most important innovators in the development of modern sculpture. It was not until after the sculptor's death in 1964 that the 14-foot-high bronze was realized in the monumental size intended by the artist when he worked on his four-foot version of the same subject.
The Ukrainian women's movement celebrated its 100th anniversary with a three-day conference held in Edmonton in October to discuss a variety of subjects affecting Ukrainian women today. Participants from the United States and Canada left the conference cautiously optimistic about their future. Conference-goers agreed that closer cooperation between younger and older generations of Ukrainian women is vital to the survival of the movement. It was also evident, however, that "women's issues" raised by younger generations of Ukrainian women are often regarded as controversial subjects by traditional Ukrainian women's organizations.
The Ukrainian community in Philadelphia celebrated the fifth anniversary of the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center with a mortgage-burning ceremony, a musical program and a banquet on February 23. The mortgage of $370,000 had been granted through the Ukrainian Savings and Loan Association.
Renovations are under way at the Ukrainian National Home, which was virtually destroyed by a suspicious fire last October. Eugene Stakhiv, president of the home, said it was insured for $250,000.
During the year, the Ukrainian Fraternal Association celebrated its 75th anniversary.
North Dakota Ukrainians celebrated their heritage during a "Ukrainian Experience" weekend on May 3-5. Preparations for the historic event, which attracted some 1,000 participants, began in February 1984.
Two Ukrainian students from Great Britain were held in an East Berlin prison in August, when they were detained while on their way to Poland. East German police held the two - George Fedyszyn, 22, of London, and Oleh Leszcyszyn, 22, of Coventry - for three weeks for allegedly importing anti-Communist literature into the country.
Some 200 men and women from Europe and North America who survived the horror of German and Soviet prisons and concentration camps appeared at the largest gathering of former Ukrainian prisoners of war since the end of World War II in Toronto. They came to the Ukrainian Cultural Center to reminisce about a painful past, rekindle friendships and talk about plans for the future.
The Ukrainian Museum in New York City announced that it purchased a building on Sixth Street between Second and Third avenues. The museum plans to refurbish the building into a modern museum facility. The purchase was made necessary due to severe space limitations at the museum's current location and the need to provide improved exhibition facilities for the museum's growing collection.
The University of Toronto Chair of Ukrainian studies commemorated its fifth anniversary this year with a special program on November 23.

The following were among the notable Ukrainians of 1984.

Three-year-old Jerry Shumylo returned to his Catskill, N.Y., home on October 9, four months after he underwent a successful second liver transplant in Pittsburgh's Children's Hospital. The boy was born with an underdeveloped liver, and nearing his third birthday weighed only 11 pounds. Jerry is recovering rapidly since his liver transplant, his parents recently noted.
Orest Deychakiwsky, a staffer of the congressional Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, served as human-rights adviser and acted as liaison between the commission and non-governmental organizations at the Ottawa Human Rights Experts Meeting and the Budapest Cultural Forum.
Victor Malarek, whose book "Hey Malarek!" became an instant best-seller in Canada, took a film option on his book this year. Mr. Malarek is an award-winning journalist and senior reporter for Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail.
Canadian skier Steve Podborski, who is of Ukrainian descent, was among the 13 athletes inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame this year.
The Rev. Brian Kolodeijchuk, 29, became the first member of Mother Teresa's new order of Missionaries of Charity priests on June 15 at St. John's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Newark, N.J.
Although Alberta Municipal Affairs Minister Julian Koziak lost to 52-year-old oilman Don Getty in his bid for leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party of Alberta, his attempt is significant in that he was the first Ukrainian to run for such a prominent office and was one of the most unlikely leadership candidates ever to trek across Canada's predominantly Anglo-Saxon political landscape. He lost by a mere 234 votes out of nearly 2,000.
Mykola Movchan, the 23-year-old Ukrainian sergeant who deserted the Red Army in Afghanistan last year, was a speaker at community gatherings throughout North America this year. He eloquently raised the cause of Afghanistan's freedom fighters.
Walter Polovchak, who defied his parents six years ago when he refused to return with them to the Soviet Union, turned 18 on October 3, enabling him to become a U.S. citizen and forever remain in this country. A birthday party was held on October 8 for him at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, where he was greeted by swarms of photographers, cameramen and reporters.
Dr. Jaroslaw Padoch, president of the Shevchenko Scientific Society, was one of 15 people honored at the second annual Mayor's Ethnic New Yorker Awards. He received the award for outstanding contributions to the city's ethnic community.
Translator Irene Padoch and lawyer Andrew Fylypovych were honored by the organization Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine for their "courageous efforts" to help gain freedom for Ukrainian seaman Myroslav Medvid, who jumped from a Soviet ship on October 24 in an attempt "to live in an honest country."
Luba Kowalchuk, a 26-year-old Montrealer, lead singer of the band Luba, picked up the Female Vocalist of the Year award this year at the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences Juno Awards. She was also nominated in two other categories: Single of the Year for "Let It Go" and Composer of the Year for selections on the album "Secrets and Sins."