First annual Lemko Vatra held at SUM resort in Ellenville (07/15/01)

First annual Lemko Vatra held at SUM resort in Ellenville

ELLENVILLE, N.Y. - During the weekend of June 9-10, the first annual Lemko Vatra (bonfire) in the United States took place at the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM) resort in Ellenville, N.Y. The festival was organized and hosted by the Organization for the Defense of Lemkivshchyna (OOL).

This Vatra continued the tradition of the yearly festival that has long been coordinated in the Lemko region, located in southeastern Poland, which commemorates the forced removal of the Lemkos during the 1947 relocation campaign Akcja Wisla.

The intent behind the event in the Lemko region is to bring Lemkos from around the world together on their ancestral territory, with the hope of preserving their culture. The Vatra in Ellenville, likewise, is significant because it allowed Lemkos within the Ukrainian American community, as well as others, to remember and celebrate the unique history of Lemkivschyna.

The first annual Lemko Vatra in the United States began officially in the late afternoon of Saturday, June 9, as Vasyl Harhaj, the "starosta" - or head of the festival's organizing committee - mounted the outdoor stage and greeted the viewers sitting in the warm sunshine. Dressed in a traditional Lemko blue vest and hat, he introduced many of his fellow members of OOL who had helped organize the event.

Recognized first were Zenon Halkowycz, the current president of OOL in the United States; and Andrew Rotko, the president of OOL's counterpart organization in Canada. During his welcome speech, Mr. Halkowycz reminded everyone of the historical importance of the "vatra," which, he noted, his Lemko ancestors needed to prepare food and around which they often sat, singing until late into the night.

Also introduced also were a number of the heads of OOL's various branches throughout the United States including Ivan Zavada, Steven Howansky, Vasyl Matlaga, Ivan Soroka, Volodymyr Blazejowsky, John Fil and Michael Chalupa. Maria Duplak, who has held various positions in OOL over the past years, in addition to serving as editor and publisher of Lemkivschyna magazine, was especially thanked. Furthermore, founding members of OOL, such as Myron Mycio, Julian Kotlar, Ivan Chomko, Dmytro Kulyk and Peter Rusynko, were noted for their work, as were other festival committee members, including Stefan Kosciolek and Ivan Gres.

A number of the founding members of OOL were then given torches to light the ceremonial bonfire nearby, signaling the commencement of the festival. Mr. Kulyk ended the introductory ceremony by leading the singing of "Hory Nashi Karpaty" (Our Carpathian Mountains), a well-known song among Lemkos referring to the Beskid section of the Carpathians, where Lemkivschyna is found.

Whereas the organizers of the Vatra were lucky in terms of the beautiful weather they had all weekend long, they were not so lucky in terms of the technical problems that, unfortunately, surfaced during the first half of the cultural performance organized on the outdoor stage. Yet, even such problems did not diminish the mood of the event and the crowd. The Ukrainian dance ensembles Maibutni Kroky (Future Steps) and "Zluka" (Union) from Passaic, N.J., were the highlight of this first portion, and during one of the routines - an interesting modern dance set to contemporary Ukrainian music - the electricity unexpectedly shut off. Nevertheless, the group of young girls onstage continued their routine a cappella, singing and dancing to the synchronized claps of the impressed audience.

Various organized events also took place during the early hours of the Vatra. For example, on the SUM sports field, the Yonkers Ukrainians Krylati soccer team played a friendly soccer game against Zbirna Lviv, a group of players from Spring Valley, N.Y., with the Zbirna Lviv squad capturing victory.

In addition, the Organization for the Defense of Lemkivshchyna funded a pig-roast, providing many of the hundreds of participants of the Lemko festival with portions of rotisserie pork that had been hand-turned and roasting for hours.

The second half of the cultural performance, during which Adam Stec of Clifton, N.J. served as the master of ceremonies, was moved inside SUM's main hall. The show featured the singing group Mria (Dream), whose members, Ola Popowycz and Oksana Masna, come from Peremyshl, Poland. The ensembles Trio and Metelykovi Kryla (Butterfly Wings), made up of musical artists Halyna Czechowska, Ola Smolenczak, and Alla Kutsevych, also sang numerous Lemko melodies and played the bandura as accompaniment. Finally, the entertainment inside included two amateur local comedians from New Jersey: Ivan Gres and Peter Wyslocki. The performance, focusing on Lemko song and Lemko humor, was well-received by the audience.

The main hall then turned to a more serious theme as the Lemko festival's keynote speaker, Diana Howansky, was introduced. Ms. Howansky, who was awarded a Fulbright grant in May 1998 after graduating with a master's degree in international affairs from Johns Hopkins University, spent September 1998 to September 2000 in Poland researching Akcja Wisla.

As a Fulbright Scholar, Ms. Howansky was affiliated with the Institute of History at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Her research concentrated on conducting oral interviews with Ukrainians who were relocated throughout Poland during the operation and, particularly, with the small minority of Lemkos who managed to return to their ancestral land after 1956.

She chose this topic because, being of Lemko-Ukrainian descent, her entire family had been subject to Akcja Wisla. Ms. Howansky's speech at the Lemko Vatra discussed her experiences as a Fulbright Scholar in Poland and described a number of the personal stories that she had heard from those who had lived through the resettlement campaign.

Ms. Howansky described how Akcja Wisla (Operation Vistula) was undertaken by the Polish government in 1947 in order to force assimilation upon the Ukrainian minority. She explained how the assassination of Polish General Karol Swierczewski - attributed to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) - was used as a pretext for the operation.

The Polish leadership officially claimed that the Ukrainian population had to be removed so as not to help the UPA, when in reality, plans to "Polonize" the Ukrainians were discussed by Polish leaders months before the general's death. Ms. Howansky also quoted a variety of the survivors of Akcja Wisla that she had interviewed. These accounts ranged, for example, from a Ukrainian couple from Kholmschyna that had met in the Jaworzno concentration camp where over 4,000 "sympathizers" of UPA were imprisoned, to Lemkos who remain angry and upset that, after relocation and upon their return to Lemkivshchyna, they had no choice but to buy back their own homes, with no chance of receiving government compensation for their suffering.

Ms. Howansky concluded her talk by expressing her pride in her Lemko roots, and noting that Lemkos within the Ukrainian American community should not forget and must try to preserve their unique regional heritage.

Following the keynote speaker's address, Mr. Harhaj returned to the stage, saying that, regardless of the results of Akcja Wisla, such work showed that "Lemkivschyna has not died, and will not die." He urged the audience to continue to voice Lemko issues, such as receiving compensation for Akcja Wisla, and he encouraged people to join Lemko organizations including, although not limited to, the Organization for the Defense of Lemkivschyna.

Mr. Harhaj then invited the audience to stay in the main hall for the "zabava" (dance). For the remainder of the evening and long into the early hours of the morning, those who attended the Lemko Vatra enjoyed themselves and packed the ballroom floor, dancing to the music of the Yonkers band Na Zdoroviya.

The first annual Lemko Vatra in the United States came to a close on Sunday, June 10, following a liturgy celebrated by the Rev. Peter Bronsky from Yonkers, N.Y. Originally from Lemkivschyna, Father Bronsky drew a parallel in his sermon between Hora Yavir, a mountain in the Lemko region where visions of the Virgin Mary are claimed to have taken place, and the events taking place that weekend at the SUM resort in the Catskill mountains.

Particularly as a first-time event, the Lemko Vatra in the United States should be considered a success. The members of the festival's organizing committee were thanked for all of their hard work coordinating the weekend, along with all of the leaders and members of the various branches of OOL who contributed their help. Special acknowledgement was given to Andriy Khomyk for designing the Vatra's emblem. Also, it must be noted that the support of the Ukrainian American Youth Organization, Inc., under the leadership of resort managers Peter Kosciolek, Eugene Soltys and Nusia Bilyj, was integral.

Lastly, all of OOL's friends and supporters - whether Lemko or non-Lemko - are thanked for their participation. All are invited to attend next year's festival, tentatively scheduled for July 21-23, at the SUM resort.

- submitted by Branch 2 of the Organization for the Defense of Lemkivschyna, Yonkers, N.Y.

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