UKELODEON: For The Next Generation (03/10/02)

UKELODEON

For The Next Generation

UKELODEON bids final farewell to our collaborator, Lydia Smyk

Dear Readers:

It is our very sad duty to inform you about the passing of our dear colleague, Lydia Wasylenko Smyk, who worked with the staff of The Ukrainian Weekly on these UKELODEON pages since they first began appearing in 1999, on Valentine's Day of that year.

Ms. Smyk, who had been seriously ill in the last several months, died on February 14, having lost a long battle that she so bravely fought against cancer. She was 43 years old. (A complete obituary about Ms. Smyk appeared in this newspaper two weeks ago.)

Our UKELODEON co-editor continued working on these pages for our youths even while she was hospitalized. Thanks to the help of family and friends, she never missed a deadline. Her last submissions appeared in the UKELODEON issue for February.

Ms. Smyk, who majored in English literature while a college student in Canada, where she was born, and then worked in the very different fields of historical archives and advertising in the United States, found her true calling in September 1991. It was then, at the age of 32, that she began teaching at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic School. At various times she taught kindergarten and fourth grade classes.

She took to her new career with dedication and passion, as well as fun. She was known at the school for her portrayals during the annual Halloween parties of the "vidma," or witch. She was known also as the chief organizer of annual St. Valentine's Day parties for the school community.

Ms. Smyk had created the character of Mykola Myshka even before she began her collaboration with The Weekly and came up with the name UKELODEON when she was approached to work on the paper's new youth section. Her students at St. John's knew Mykola before UKELODEON's readers did, and they were thrilled when their favorite Myshka appeared in print in this newspaper. Ms. Smyk also was the initiator of the "Mishanyna" feature, and the author of numerous articles on these pages.

The funeral service for Ms. Smyk was attended by hundreds of people, among them her friends and colleagues in the Ukrainian American community that she loved and served, and the entire student body of St. John's.

Ms. Smyk leaves behind three children, Dmytro, Roksolana and Larissa. A special "Smyk Children's Fund," (Account No. 310199) has been established at Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union, 734 Sanford Ave., Newark NJ 07106.

St. Nicholas students celebrate special week

by Eugenia Merkoulov

PASSAIC, N.J. - During Catholic Schools Week 2002, St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic School celebrated a week dedicated to the theme "Faith and Knowledge Meet in our School." There were many exciting activities planned for the week.

One included a luau for the students on Tuesday - "Faith and Knowledge Meet In Our Students Day." There was Hawaiian food, Hawaiian dancing and party games such as the limbo. On Wednesday - "Faith and Knowledge Meet In Our Nation Day" - the students formed a human flag and sang patriotic songs, showing love and support for our country. On Thursday - "Faith and Knowledge Meet In Our Heritage Day" - The students dressed in the colors of their heritage, and played games such as the "spiderweb."

Eugenia Merkoulov is an eighth grader at St. Nicholas School.

Parish youths welcome Metropolitan Stefan Soroka

MATAWAN, N.J. - Youth from St. Wolodymyr Ukrainian Catholic Church in Lincroft, N.J., welcome Archbishop Stefan Soroka, metropolitan for Ukrainian Catholics in the United States, at a special divine liturgy held at the Basilian Fathers Monastery in Matawan, N.J. Speaking on behalf of the parish youth, Robert Matthew Cheloc greeted the metropolitan.

Mishanyna

To solve this month's Mishanyna, search for the capitalized words below.

During the month of MARCH we traditionally honor TARAS SHEVCHENKO (born March 9, 1814; died March 10, 1861), the NATIONAL BARD of Ukraine.

Shevchenko was born in the village of MORYNTSI, located in the Kyiv region of Ukraine. He was a SERF, a person who is owned by a lord and is bound to the land on which he works - in effect, a slave. He was orphaned as a young teenager and grew up in terrible poverty. When he was 14 he was tapped to serve as a houseboy for his owner, Paul Engelhardt, who recognized that Taras had a definite talent for art.

Engelhardt sent Taras to work as an apprentice with an artist in ST. PETERSBURG, Russia. There Shevchenko met fellow Ukrainians and Russians with whom he worked and associated. Thanks to a earnings from a painting by one his new colleagues, Shevchenko's FREEDOM was bought in 1838. He then enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in St. Petersburg.

Shevchenko published his first collection of poems in 1840 under the title "Kobzar." Earlier we referred to Shevchenko as a "bard." A quick look at a dictionary will tell you that a bard is a lyrical POET; another definition refers to bards as minstrel poets who composed and recited verses about legendary exploits of heroes. Indeed, Shevchenko did that in his POEMS, among them EPIC poems, his BALLADS and his DRAMAS. His works have been translated into over a HUNDRED languages. Among his most famous works are the epic poem "HAMALIA," about Kozak raids on the Turks, and the ballad "HAIDAMAKY," which recalls the struggle of Ukrainian rebels against Polish oppression.

Shevchenko's work also included SATIRE and political commentary on the enslavement of his nation by tsarist Russia. Not only did he speak out against Ukraine's misfortune under Russian rule, he also encouraged his people to stop serving foreign overlords and to realize their own potential. In Kyiv Shevchenko joined a secret society called the Ss. CYRIL and METHODIUS Brotherhood, which opposed tsarist rule. For his membership in the group and his poems critical of the tsar, Shevchenko was sentenced to military duty in faraway ORENBURG, near the Caspian Sea. Tsar Nicholas I ordered that Shevchenko was to be prevented from writing and painting. Nonetheless, Shevchenko continued his work in secret. Even after he completed his sentence, Shevchenko was not allowed to live in Ukraine.

Shevchenko's "ZAPOVIT," or "TESTAMENT," written in 1845, is considered sacred by Ukrainians around the world as it calls on Ukrainians to arise and break the chains of oppression. In fact, when that work is sung, much like a hymn or national anthem, you will notice that the public stands in respect to the author and his message.

Though today we recall Shevchenko primarily as a poet, he was equally talented as an ARTIST. A total of 835 of his art works survive; another 270 are known, but appear to have been lost. Many of Shevchenko's works, ranging from self-portraits and portraits to landscapes and paintings of Ukraine's architectural monuments, may be found in museums.

Shevchenko died and was buried in St. Petersburg, but his body was transferred two months later for burial to KANIV, on the banks of Ukraine's mighty Dnipro River, in accordance with the poet's wishes as expressed in his "Zapovit." His grave is visited by countless numbers of Ukrainians annually who come to pay tribute to their beloved bard.

Source: "Shevchenko, Taras," Encyclo-pedia of Ukraine, Volume IV, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1993.

OUR NEXT ISSUE: UKELODEON is published on the second Sunday of every month. To make it into our next issue, dated April 14, please send in your materials by April 5.

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. Its contents will be shaped by the young readers of the next generation.

PLEASE DROP US A LINE: UKELODEON, c/o 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]. (We ask all contributors to please include a daytime phone number.)

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