UKELODEON: For The Next Generation (12/12/99)

UKELODEON

For The Next Generation

What's happening to our holidays?

by Lev Horodyskyj

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "Christmas?" Santa Claus? Presents? Christmas trees? Shopping? Headache? What was once a celebrated holiday of Christ's birth has become an excuse for greed and maxing out credit cards. What have we done to our holidays?

We have allowed holidays to become corrupted in the interest of the economy. Buy, buy, buy! Even the word "holiday" is a corruption of the words "holy day." These once solemn occasions are no longer days when we pause in our hectic lives to reflect. We busy ourselves searching the malls for the latest "must have" items.

The early Christians died for their beliefs. Those beliefs were all they had. Easter was the most celebrated holiday because Jesus Christ rose from the dead. It was a very sacred holiday. Today, Christians engage in Easter egg hunts, give presents and make their semi-annual appearance in church.

Who remembers who St. Valentine was, or what he did? Today, Valentine's Day has become synonymous with hearts, chocolates, flowers and other gifts. St. Valentine was a martyr for the Christian faith. Love's association with him goes back to a pagan Roman holiday during which young people chose their true love for the year. It was celebrated at the same time St. Valentine died. Another saint, St. Patrick, did incredible things for Ireland. Now, St. Patrick's Day is an excuse for drinking, having parades and wearing green.

Christmas is probably our most tarnished holiday. Why are children growing up believing that Christmas is a special day for them? They think that Christmas is the day that Santa Claus brings them gifts. Not many remember that it is Jesus' birthday. We should spend Christmas day celebrating God's greatest gift to us, His only Son - not ripping open presents.

Even most of the major symbols of Christmas have lost their meaning. Who remembers what the candy cane stands for? Or who originally thought of decorating a pine tree? Who thought of the Nativity scene? Who was St. Nicholas? The candy cane was a symbol of Jesus, the shepherd. The cane was shaped like the shepherd's crook. The red symbolized the blood that Jesus shed for us. Martin Luther originated the idea of decorating a pine tree for Christmas. St. Francis created the Nativity set. St. Nicholas, a rich nobleman, gave anonymously to the poor. Christmas is now about Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman specials aired on TV before Halloween to get us in the mood for shopping.

Holy days are not the only ones that have lost their meaning. Does anyone remember that Halloween was a day to honor the dead and not a day to run from house to house begging for candy? What do you do on Veterans' Day? Did you fly a flag in memory of those who died to protect our freedom? Does anyone remember that Thanksgiving was the day the Puritans gave thanks for arriving safely in the New World and not a day to gorge on turkey, watch parades all morning and football all afternoon? The day after Thanksgiving has now become a national holiday - the first day of the "shopping season." Giving is good, but what happens on the day after Christmas? All the people dissatisfied with their presents rush back to the stores to return them.

I remember one late August seeing a store already selling artificial Christmas trees. Nowadays, we just seem to make Thanksgiving an extension of Christmas. Some people don't even bother to take down their Christmas lights, they just leave them up all year long. All the holidays are starting to look alike. What is happening to our holidays? Maybe one day it will be "Trick or treat! Happy Hallo-giving! Here's a candy cane and a chocolate egg for your Independence basket."

In order to protect the next generation from holiday corruption, we need to teach them now why we celebrate holidays. And it is not to get gifts or chocolates, take time off from work, party, or lie around in bed all day. Do we know why we celebrate holidays? Will our children know?

Lev Horodyskyj is a freshman at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He has contributed to UKELODEON in the past.

Plast girls complete a good deed

by Dara Denysyk

MORRISTOWN, N.J. - The "Bdzhilky" Plast patrol of Newark/Morris County, N.J., performed their scouts' good deed here at Historic Speedwell, a national historic site and museum.

After enjoying an outdoor picnic on the seven-and-a-half-acre site, the Plast girls helped at the museum in the following manner: planting spring flowers and bulbs, weeding, moving furniture, sweeping, cataloguing the museum's book collections and organizing the archives.

Historic Speedwell has eight historic structures and a pond. It preserves the remainder of the Vail Homestead and House Mansion, where you can view the last two portraits painted by S.F.B. Morse, professionally a portrait painter; and features an exhibit of the Speedwell Iron Works, which built the motor for the first steamship to cross the Atlantic, the S.S. Savannah.

It is the site of the birthplace of the telegraph, where Alfred Vail and Samuel Morse developed and first publicly demonstrated the Morse Code and Telegraph in 1838.

Each Ukrainian scout - Victoria Baranetsky, Dara Denysyk, Slava Halibey, Melanie Nycz, Andrea Popovich, Daria Szkwarko, Natalie Turynsky and Marta Yacykewych - received a letter of thanks for her volunteer work.

"The above-named scouts are welcome to come back and volunteer in the future. They made a difference. We are grateful for their skill, talent and time," wrote Kathleen Duane, president of the board of trustees of Historic Speedwell, and Anna Denysyk, program director at Historic Speedwell.

More than 170 Plast youths attend annual Orlykiada at Soyuzivka

by Tatiana Kuzmowycz

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - During the weekend of November 12-14, yet another Plast gathering occurred at the Ukrainian National Association Resort Soyuzivka. Only three weeks after the 24th Plast National Convention of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, over 170 Ukrainian youth ("yunatstvo" age 13-18) gathered for a competition known as Orlykiada. The colorful autumn leaves had long since fallen, and the cold air started this eventful weekend.

This competition is an opportunity for Plast youth to meet with one another and enjoy the competitive spirit and teamwork essential to Orlykiada. The event is organized by the senior fraternity known as the Orlykivtsi, named after Hetman Hryhorii Orlyk. It has taken place annually since 1962.

This year, Plast members attended from all over the United States and Canada: from New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Washington, Passaic, Rochester, Hartford, Boston and Hempstead. Seventeen teams were registered to compete. The theme of this competition was the 50th anniversary of Plast in America.

Opening ceremonies began at 10 a.m. on Saturday. In attendance were all 17 teams, with approximately 25 counselors, guests and members of the sponsoring Orlykivtsi headed by Mr. Kurchak. Master of ceremonies Bohdan Kopystianskyj and "bunchuzhnyi" Tymish Korytko, gathered the plastuny for the opening ceremonies, while Tamara Heimur read the program.

Immediately following the opening ceremonies the question and answer session began. Yunatsvto attending the competition had prepared long before this November weekend. Preparatory information on the history of Plast's development in the United States was sent out to each scouting branch in the United States and Canada. Since only 12 representatives from each troop ("kurin") may attend, many counselors gave tests to select the best possible team.

The teams also prepared a project on a specific topic dealing with the history of Plast in the United States. Each team showed creativity on how to approach this project. Some of the projects included a map depicting locations of Plast branches, a photo history of Plast's Jamborees, camp kitchen menus, homemade Plast medallions, a scene from a typical camp set-up, the history of "KBT"- a U.S.-based camp for "yunatsvto" wishing to attain Eagle Scout ranking, joint U.S./Canadian Plast projects, and a creative and colorful model of a millennium celebration at Times Square with many buildings and questions in each window that was designed by the Newark girls team.

After lunch on Saturday the skit performances began. There were many variations of skits, ranging from serious campfire simulations, to interesting songs and dances. Creativity was at its highest level during this phase of the competition, and the entire room was crowded during the performances. Skits were judged on originality, team work and adherence to the given topic. The room echoed with laughter and applause. The group from Toronto won this phase of the competition with a creative and exciting musical performance in which they took popular Broadway show tunes and wrote lyrics to them dealing with the history of Plast. Later that evening a dance was held, with D.J. Adyk Kwitkowsky, and the youths got to enjoy themselves and stray away from the competitive atmosphere of earlier that day.

Sunday morning everyone attended divine liturgy followed by the traditional group picture, then the competition resumed. This time team competitions were over, but 10 boys and girls competed for the position of "Hetman" and "Hetmanivna," the leaders of this Orlykiada. Each competitor took the stage and recited one paragraph that they had earlier memorized, outlining the biography of Hryhorii Orlyk. Then, they were asked questions dealing with current affairs, the future of Plast, their personal goals, etc. During the closing ceremonies of the 38th Orlykiada it was announced that Markian Dobczansky of Washington, was selected "Hetman" and the "Hetmanivna" was Natalia Terpliak of Toronto.

Closing ceremonies were at noon on Sunday. Once again the main hall was lined with teams and their flags, and in attendance were guests, counselors, members of the Orlykivtsi and Plast's National Council. Mr. Korchak distributed the certificates to all the teams, and the winners were announced.

Project winners: first place - Troop 20; Newark girls; second place - Detroit; third place - Troop 2, New York girls.

Question and answer session: first place - Troop 7, Chicago boys; second place - Troop 10, Toronto; third place - Troop 4, Philadelphia girls.

Skits: first place - Troop 10, Toronto; second place - Washington; third place - Detroit.

Overall standings - boys: first place - Troop 7, Chicago; second place - Detroit; third place - Troop 3, New York; first place - Troop 10, Toronto; second place - Troop 4, Philadelphia; third place - Troop 2, New York.

Closing remarks were given by the national commander of "yunatsvo," Marta Kuzmowycz, who congratulated everyone for the wonderful team work of the participants and gave thanks to the Orlykivtsi for their 38 continuous years of work for Ukrainian scouting youth. The event ended with everyone singing "Mnohaia Lita."

It appears the competitive spirit is contagious, since Orlykiady have now been taking place in Ukraine for the past five years as well.

As everyone was preparing to leave Soyuzivka, there were final hugs and kisses and tears - for some older "yunatstvo" this was their last Orlykiada, but many others will be back next fall for the 39th Orlykiada.

Children's contest is announced

NEW YORK - As the entire world prepares to celebrate the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Christ, the New York Regional Council of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America is planning an exhibit in the year 2000 celebrating the creativity of children. Participation in the exhibit is open to all children, age 5 to 14.

To ensure the success of this project, the UNWLA is asking all teachers, educators and parents to encourage children to participate by submitting their works for inclusion in this exhibition. Every aspect of creative ability is welcome: all art such as paintings, drawings, sculpture, constructions, models; the written word including poetry and prose; and handcrafts, for example, embroidery and pysanky.

The "Children's Exhibit" will be on display for two weeks. During that period, one day will be devoted to live performances by participants.

The submission date for all entries is February 28, 2000. Please include all pertinent information for each individual entry: name, address and age of participant; title of the submitted entry, and if applicable the materials used to create it; also the school, organization, or other affiliation of the participant, etc.

The date and place of the exhibition will be announced in the spring of 2000. We ask all Ukrainian organizations, schools and parents for their support and participation in this undertaking.

Please mail all entries to: UNWLA Regional Council, c/o Daria Kostiw, 108 Second Ave., New York, NY, 10003. For additional information, call (212) 228-1244 after 7 p.m.

Mishanyna

Locate the words or phrases below to solve our December Mishanyna. All of the words are somehow related to the last month of the year and Christmas.

Bethlehem, carols, Christmas, December, holy night, icicle, Jesus Christ, Joseph, koliada, manger, Mary, Mykolai, present, Schedryk, snow, St. Nicholas, stable, Three Kings, vertep, winter

Myshka's Christmas

To all my friends who read UKELODEON:
Merry Christmas! Veselykh Sviat!

Design your own ornament

Following up on the success of its pysanka project for Eastertime, UKELODEON presents a coloring activity for Christmas. The choice is yours: simply color the top ornament or design your own using the blank ornament.

If you want to help The Ukrainian Weekly decorate its office for Christmas, please send in your completed ornaments to UKELODEON at The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054. PS: Don't forget to write your name, age and address on the back of your ornament.

UKELODEON: it rhymes with nickelodeon, an early movie theater that charged a nickel for admission. The root of the word, "odeon," is from the Greek "oideion," a small building used for public performances of music and poetry. Our UKELODEON is envisioned as a public space where our youth, from kindergartners to teens, can come to learn, to share information, to relate their experiences, and to keep in touch with each other.

OUR NEXT ISSUE:

UKELODEON is published on the second Sunday of every month. To make it into our next issue, dated January 9, 2000, please send in materials by December 30.

Please drop us a line: UKELODEON, The Ukrainian Weekly, 2200 Route 10, P.O. Box 280, Parsippany, NJ 07054; fax, (973) 644-9510. Call us at (973) 292-9800; or send e-mail to [email protected].

| Home Page |