Soyuzivka hosts three generations of campers at Tabir Ptashat (08/04/02)

Soyuzivka hosts three generations of campers at Tabir Ptashat

by Andrew Olesnycky

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - During the two weeks from June 30 through July 6, Soyuzivka guests were full of a mysterious childlike exuberance. Laughter, playfulness and tomfoolery may have been at an all-time high. The dining room hadn't changed the menu, but everyone seemed to be feeling their wild oats.

Chalk up all that merriment to "Tabir Ptashat," the summer daycamp for preschool-age children where campers, their parents and even grandparents all take an active role in the festivities.

Tabir Ptashat provides children age 4-6 the security and comfort of a daycamp, while maintaining the community atmosphere of a sleep-away camp. The camp consists of a three-hour morning session and another short session in the afternoon, but because the children stay with their families within the bounds of Soyuzivka, they are constantly immersed in the Ukrainian language and culture, and have time to interact with their new friends even after the daily camp program was over.

In 1989, Neonila Sochan and the "Pershi Stezhi" sorority of Plast established the first Tabir Ptashat at Soyuzivka, building on a day-care program for 5- and 6-year-olds called "Ptashky pry Plasti" developed by members of Plast in 1979 for use in Plast branches during the school year. Adapting what was essentially a preschool, or "sadochok" program to a daycamp presented many new challenges, which led to the adoption of a cooperative approach in running the weeklong camp.

Each year Tabir Ptashat is coordinated by Pershi Stezhi, but organized and run by the parents of the young campers in a completely cooperative environment. The camp director is always a parent, and all the other parents or grandparents of the campers volunteer in some way, either interacting directly with the children as counselors or working behind the scenes to make the week run smoothly.

Since 1990, Tabir Ptashat has held two separate weeklong sessions, each with a different director. This year's first session, held on June 23-29, was led by Motrja Bojko Watters, who volunteered at her first Tabir Ptashat 10 years ago and has been camp director four times since.

"I think of all the Plast camps, Tabir Ptashat is my favorite," Ms. Watters said. "It's a friendly and laid-back atmosphere, but it's still very organized. The goal of the camp is simple: it's for kids to play with other Ukrainian kids in the outdoors."

During week one the 71 campers were divided into 10 groups, each with a species of bird as their mascot. Each morning the groups alternated between activity stations, where they listened to stories, played games, explored the local ecology and learned traditional Ukrainian songs and dances. During the afternoon sessions the groups met individually with their counselors, and, among other activities, practiced their group song, which they sang at the opening and closing ceremonies each day.

The campers competed in an olympiad, which featured lighthearted events such as stroller races and a water balloon "duck hunt" with counselors as targets. Another special event was "Mandrivka po Ukraini," or journey through Ukraine, in which the campers "fished" the Black Sea, made a Ukrainian flag and put together mock traditional Ukrainian outfits using arts and crafts supplies.

Despite the large number of campers - the largest in Tabir Ptashat's 13-year history - the week went by without a hitch, according to Ms. Watters. The work was distributed among the multitude of parents and grandparents; consequently, everyone had enough time to enjoy the company and the surroundings.

Zirka Kolomayets, the director of Tabir Ptashat during the second session, also ran a successful camp thanks to the hard work of everyone involved. Even during the hottest parts of the day, the most mundane jobs always had plenty of volunteers, according to Ms. Kolomayets. "The parents were always eager to help," she said, "whenever we needed something done, nobody ever said no."

The 57 campers during the second session on June 30-July 6 shared a similar daily program with those in week one. The children played games, learned Ukrainian songs and dances and worked with arts and crafts. In addition, the campers of week two created a camp scrapbook during the afternoon sessions, and on July 4 celebrated independence with kid-safe "sparklers" made with glow sticks and soda bottles. The children also competed in an olympiad, complete with opening and closing ceremonies and six events, including an obstacle course, a bean bag toss, sack races and other games.

On the final day the campers took a virtual trip around the world. They received a map, by which their counselors helped them navigate from station to station, where they learned about countries of the world with large Ukrainian populations. At each station, a counselor gave a short lecture about a country, introducing the basics of its culture and traditions.

By the end of the exercise, each of the six groups received a jigsaw puzzle piece bearing the flag of one of the six countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, France and Germany. They returned to where they had started to find a large outline of Ukraine stretched out before them. With a little help, they assembled their puzzle pieces to fill out the map of Ukraine, learning in a tangible way that Ukraine's influence stretches throughout the world.

Both directors said that Soyuzivka was more than accommodating, and that the surroundings are what make the camp so special.

"Soyuzivka has been great to us over the years," said Ms. Watters. "It's the perfect place to have this type of tabir."

"It's like having a tabir and a vacation at the same time," added Ms. Kolomayets.

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