THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM (09/28/97)

THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

Detroit UNA'ers host annual picnic

by Stephen M. Wichar Sr.

MILFORD, Mich. - Heavy thunderstorms did not prevent UNA'ers in Michigan from taking part in the traditional annual UNA Family Picnic. On August 16 last, approximately 50 officers and families assembled at the popular Dibrova Estate in Milford for this occasion.

After early cocktails and dinner, Dr. Alexander Serafyn, chairman of the Detroit/Toledo/Windsor District Committee of the Ukrainian National Association and a member of the UNA General Assembly, opened the festivities by welcoming all officers, spouses and friends. Many of his introductory commentaries dealt with national UNA issues as they relate to the sale of the UNA building in Jersey City, N.J., and the purchase of new headquarters in Parsippany, N.J. Mr. Serafyn also elaborated on the UNA scholarship program and the forthcoming 1998 UNA Convention in Toronto.

Dr. Serafyn did not exclude "bad news" in respect to the poor organizing performance of Detroit UNA'ers, as only eight new members were enrolled. This could partially be attributed to the long illness of Dr. Atanas Slusarchuk, always a key organizer.

Dr. Serafyn concluded his remarks by thanking the women for an excellent dessert table and Jaroslaw Baziuk for his "hospitality bar."

The toastmaster then introduced the featured speaker for the afternoon, Lubomyr Tatuch, who had just returned from an extended trip to Ukraine and Armenia. Mr. Tatuch's son has been assigned to the latter country as a U.S. consular officer. In a lucid talk about the positive and negative aspects of living conditions in Ukraine, Mr. Tatuch covered experiences in Kyiv and Lviv, and made some analogies with the situation in Armenia.

The speaker commented on building programs, transportation, the huge McDonald's restaurant in Kyiv, the dominance of the Russian language on the streets of Ukraine, operas, a soccer game between Ukraine and Germany, and other facets of life in Ukraine. Mr. Tatuch said he was especially impressed with the professional skills in printing establishments, and he displayed several examples of Ukraine's fine printing craftsmanship.

After Vera Krywyj delivered a recitation, Olha Dubrivna Solovey organized a singing group to lead a community sing-along. With Ms. Solovey at the keyboards, UNA'ers enjoyed a songfest late into the afternoon.

In his concluding remarks, Dr. Serafyn thanked all participants for making the UNA event so successful. He also reminded all members to check the schedule for screenings of the "Hryvnia Story" that will be organized under the auspices of the Detroit District.

Preschoolers enjoy week of fun and learning at UNA resort

Fifty-six children from 27 families from all over the United States, including Colorado, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Florida, Maryland and the District of Columbia, participated in the Plast camp for preschoolers age 4-6, "Tabir Ptashat," held at Soyuzivka on July 5-12. (The camp, organized by the "Pershi Stezhi" sorority of Plast, was held in two sessions: June 28-July 4 and July 5-12. A story about the first session of camp, directed by Andrianna Hawryluk Shchuka, was published earlier in The Ukrainian Weekly.) The camp director for the second session was Areta Siryj-Kuritza of Park Ridge, Ill. The photos on this page show some of the little campers' activities. On the right, paying attention during story time are (from left) Sofia Zacharczuk, Kalyna Sperkacz, Paul Klufas, Larissa Szyszka and Julia Dykyj; bottom right, Natalia Vecerek competes in the frisbee event during the camp olympics, as Julian Chernyk, Jurij Sendzimir, Lala Chopivsky Benson and Areta Bojko look on; bottom left, Alex Roik, Andrew Gerbehy, Nicholas Wells, Mykola Murskyj, Diana Kuritza, Andrea Waters and Alex Klek sing "Dobranich" (Good Night). At the camp's closing ceremonies, the Ukrainian National Association's resort presented each camper with a Ukrainian book.

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