THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FORUM

UNA DISTRICT COMMITTEE MEETINGS

New York

by Mary Dushnyck

NEW YORK - The New York District Committee of the UNA held its annual meeting on February 22 at the Selfreliance Hall here, with 11 branches represented.

The meeting was opened by Barbara Bachynsky, district chairperson, who welcomed UNA Secretary Martha Lysko; Mary Dushnyck, honorary member of the General Assembly; and Dr. Vasyl Luchkiw, honorary chairman of the district; as well as branch secretaries, members and guests.

A presidium was chosen consisting of Dr. Luchkiw, chairman, and Nadia Demczur, secretary. The chairman first called on Nadia Sawchuk to read last year's minutes. The treasurer's report by John Choma showed a balance of $1,972.22.

Mrs. Bachynsky reported on the district's participation in various events, among which was the successful fraternal program at Soyuzivka on Father's Day, a fall organizing meeting, representation at the testimonial banquet for Joseph Lesawyer, the banquet held on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the priesthood of the Rev. Patrick Paschak and participation by several secretaries at the blessing of the new UNA building in Parsippany, N.J.

Get well and congratulatory cards were sent to members, as were letters regarding the upcoming UNA convention. In conclusion Mrs. Bachynsky requested all branches to pay their dues to the district treasurer.

Following a discussion of the reports, the Auditing Committee proposed a vote of confidence for the outgoing officers, which was given.

Secretary Lysko thanked the district for realizing 74 percent of its quota with 63 new members, for a total of $790,498 of insurance coverage. Overall the UNA showed an increase over 1997, with total insurance of $26,652,936 and 944 new members. Mrs. Bachynsky led organizing efforts in New York with 10 new members for a total of $247,998 insurance sold.

Mrs. Lysko announced a 1998 pre-convention membership drive with special awards to organizers for applications submitted from January to April. The awards are to be presented at the convention. The secretary noted that three New York District secretaries received their insurance licenses: Motria Milanytch, Mrs. Bachynsky and Zenovia Zarycky.

Mrs. Lysko also stressed that branch bank books must be kept up and have the required number of signatures filed with the bank.

Regarding the mergers of the UNA with the Ukrainian Fraternal Association and the Ukrainian National Aid Association of America, these matters will be discussed thoroughly and resolved at the convention, she noted.

Mrs. Lysko reminded all of the urgent need for many new members, emphasizing that the number of members enrolled is more important than the amounts of coverage. She also advised secretaries to change juvenile certificates at age 16 to adult, by having members pay $1.80 extra annually.

A discussion ensued concerning fraternal mergers and the potential name change of the organization; requirements for newly arrived immigrates for membership in the UNA; the status of the fact book on UNA branches; the phone system at the Home Office; and the idea of making it mandatory for branch secretaries to be convention delegates.

The following were elected as district officers: Mrs. Bachynsky, chairperson; Mrs. Sawchuk, first vice-chairman; Yuriy Kostiw, second vice-chairman; Lesia Goy, secretary; Mr. Choma, treasurer; Mrs. Zarycky, press (Ukrainian); Mrs. Dushnyck, press (English); Sam Liteplo, program; Maria Szeparowycz and Olga Liteplo, organizing; Roman Forostyna, George Yurkiw and Ivan Darmohid, members at large.

Elected to the Auditing Committee were: Michael Spontak, chairman, Taras Schumylowych and Wasyl Panchak, members.

In announcing the 1998 plan of activity for the district, the chairperson stated that the main thrust would be the enrollment of new members, which is vital for the growth of the UNA. Mrs. Bachynsky also outlined procedures for convention delegates.

She then asked for suggestions for district donations; it was decided to donate $200 to the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and to take out a full-page district ad in the UNA convention journal for $100.

In adjourning the meeting, Mrs. Bachynsky thanked all for their participation and cooperation.

Woonsocket

by Alex Chudolij

WOONSOCKET, R.I. - The UNA Woonsocket District's annual meeting was held on Saturday, March 14, here at St. Michael's Ukrainian Orthodox Church Hall.

The meeting was called to order at 1:10 p.m. by District Chairman Leon Hardink. The meeting began with an opening prayer offered by Msgr. Roman Golemba of St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church in Woonsocket.

There were 16 members in attendance. After a roll call, the District Committee reviewed the minutes of the previous meeting and reported on the district's financial status.

Elections of officers for 1998 followed. The following slate state was re-elected to another term: Mr. Hardink, chairman; Alex Chudolij, vice-chairman; Janet Bardell, treasurer; Yury Kalita, Ukrainian-language secretary; Theodore Klowan, English-language secretary; John Laba, Eileen Furman and Helen Trenkler, auditors.

Mr. Hardink then introduced UNA Advisor Chudolij. Mr. Chudolij greeted the membership and proceeded to report on the UNA's local and national organizing results.

Mr. Hardink was congratulated on his exemplary organizing work: he enrolled 19 new members for $500,000 of insurance coverage and was largely responsible for the district achieving 220 percent of its quota for 1997. Mr. Hardink was one of the top four UNA organizers for 1997. Ms. Bardell, district treasurer, was also commended for her organizing efforts which resulted in three new UNA members.

Mr. Chudolij also thanked District Fraternal Activities Coordinator Dmytro Sarachmon and his wife, Irene, for their continuing fraternal efforts to organize bus trips for the local community. Their many years of service to the Woonsocket District have contributed to the success of many UNA and other Ukrainian cultural events, as well as helped to maintain an active and positive image of the UNA among the local Ukrainian community, said Mr. Chudolij.

Other topics reviewed by Mr. Chudolij were the upcoming UNA convention, the sale of the UNA's Jersey City headquarters building, the proposed mergers with two Ukrainian fraternals, UNA scholarship program and deadlines, and the preconvention membership drive.

A discussion of these and other topics followed with Mr. Hardink voicing strong concern that dividends on cash value policies be increased to eliminate checks that are sometimes issued for values of less than a dollar. This would give a more positive impression of the well-being of our organization, he stated.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m., at which time all enjoyed a collation prepared by Mrs. Hardink and Mrs. Sarachmon.

1997 organizing results for UNA districts

Congratulations to the following UNA districts for outstanding organizing results in 1997.

District	District  Chairperson	Membership Quota	Results	Quota Achieved
Woonsocket	Leon Hardink	10	22	2.2
Boston	Larissa Dijak	10	12	1.2
Toronto	Wasyl Didiuk	150	180	1.2
Pittsburgh	Nicholas Diakiwsky	70	75	1.07
Northern N.J.	Eugene Oscislawski	110	112	1.02
Albany	Nicholas Fil	40	37	0.92
Wilkes-Barre	Taras Butrej	20	18	0.9
New York	Barbara Bachynsky	85	63	0.74
Philadelphia	Stefan Hawrysz	135	94	0.7

Correction

Last week's issue of The Ukrainian Weekly printed the wrong photo of the UNA Auditing Committee's pre-convention review at the UNA Corporate Headquarters. The photo that appeared was from the auditors' meeting with UNA executive officers. Appearing in that photo were: (seated, from left) Secretary Martha Lysko, President Ulana Diachuk, Auditor Stefania Hewryk, (standing) Auditor Stefan Hawrysz, Treasurer Stefan Kaczaraj, and Auditors Anatole Doroshenko, William Pastuszek and Iwan Wynnyk.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 19, 1998, No. 16, Vol. LXVI

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