Plast's Orlykiada competition focuses on Ukrainian heritage (12/03/00)

Plast's Orlykiada competition focuses on Ukrainian heritage

by Deanna T. Yurchuk
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - "Ukrainian Heritage" was the theme of the 39th Orlykiada, an annual Plast competition sponsored by the Plast fraternity named after Hryhor Orylyk, an 18th century Ukrainian political émigré. Twelve teams, comprising 106 teenage "plastuny" from 12 U.S. cities and Canada met at Soyuzivka, the resort of the Ukrainian National Association, on November 11-12 to compete in this three-part event.

Relying on a packet of materials about Ukrainian heritage compiled by George Soltys and their own research, the teams tried to outdo each other in the panel of questions, performance competitions and exhibit presentations.

"The idea behind this year's theme was to continue the celebration of the new millennium," said Mykola Kurczak, an Orylykiada organizer for many years. "Our task was to give our children a sense of Ukrainian life and history," he continued.

The artistic portion of the event saw a re-enactment of Taras Shevchenko's poem "Hamalia"; a new version of the Ukrainian story "Ripka" (Turnip) which in this version would not grow because of all the country's battles that had trampled on it; as well as original songs about Ukraine's history.

The broad theme of this year's Orlykiada also inspired many ingenious exhibits. For example, the Washington group created a project titled "Yaroslav, Bohdan and Shukh, and What Sophia Saw." They presented a model of the St. Sophia Sobor in Kyiv and reported on events in the capital during three different eras of Ukraine's history. Among other projects was a display of Ukraine's hetmans, the tryzub through the ages, and ancient Ukrainian costumes.

The boys' group from New York researched Ukrainian monuments in the diaspora for their exhibit "It is interesting to be able to travel to different areas of the world and see your country represented there," said Kolya Pylyp, one of the group.

"This weekend took us back in history," said Oleksa Slywynskyj, a competitor from Toronto. "People my age seem to be talking more about their Ukrainian heritage now, something I didn't see before. I'm proud along with them."

Referring to her cultural heritage, Laryssa Temnycky from the Newark group added, "It provides you with your own cultural identity, a special sense of the past. It is reassuring to know that our Ukrainian heritage has survived the hardships of war and persecution, standing the tests of changing generations and locations, and our unifying Ukrainian roots cannot be easily erased."

The competition also featured new faces of recent immigrants from Ukraine. Taras and Tania Fedak of Passaic, N.J., brought their son to his first Orlykiada. "We had heard of Plast in Lviv. When we arrived in the United States, our son wanted to become involved," Mrs. Fedak said. "It is impressive how well these children have preserved their heritage," she continued. "In the skits the teams aptly recreated our past in contemporary interpretation."

"This year's Orlykiada has been a success," said Bohdan Kopystianskyj, chairman of the Orlykiada committee, who is currently discussing next year's theme with his colleagues. "Our children need to know where they came from. Our aim is to teach them things they will not learn in their classrooms," added Mr. Kurczak.

The winners of the competition were the boys' group from New York and the girls' group from Philadelphia.

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