Community activist comments on invitation (07/04/99)

Community activist comments on invitation

KINGSTON, Ontario - Commenting on the invitation extended to the Kosovar Albanians to attend this cultural event, Nadia Luciuk, organizer of the Ukrainian Maky Dance Ensemble, observed:

"Many members of the Ukrainian community in Kingston were once themselves refugees, displaced persons and victims of war. They arrived in Kingston half a century ago, but never forgot who they were. Nor did they give up hoping for Ukraine's independence."

"Inviting the Kosovars to join our annual celebration of Folklore [Festival] gives us, and the generous Kingstonians who have donated goods to help us welcome them, a chance to offer them traditional Ukrainian hospitality. We will also remind them that they should never give up the hope of seeing their homeland free again," she continued. "It happened for us. We believe it will happen for them. And, in the meantime, we are sure they will find Canada to be as welcoming, as generous and as fine a country as many other immigrants and refugees of different ethnic, religious and racial heritages have. That is truly what Folklore is all about, and what we celebrate again this year at our Lviv-Ukraine pavilion."

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