Turning the pages back... September 16, 2001 (09/15/02)

Turning the pages back...

September 16, 2001

The Ukrainian Weekly's issue of September 16, 2001, carried a journal about activities surrounding the historic world gathering of the Ukrainian Youth Association (SUM) in Ukraine at the time of the country's 10th anniversary of independence. The two principal authors of the article were Nelia Lavrynenko of Kyiv and Lesya Skoryk of Dnipropetrovsk. The following information is from that journal.

A worldwide zlet (gathering) marks an extraordinary event in the life of SUM, or the Ukrainian Youth Association. It is organized every few years to encourage comradeship, friendship and cooperation of SUM members from many countries and continents, through the opportunity to gather together in one locale. The 2001 World Zlet, which took place in Ukraine on August 16 through 24, held special significance as it commemorated the 10th anniversary of the declaration of Ukraine's independence.

On August 16, under a sunny sky in view of the Lviv Opera Theater, with well over 200 delegates from three continents present, the sixth SUM World Zlet was officially declared open. SUMivtsi in uniform paraded along the historic streets of this city. Leading the procession were the flags of the countries in which SUM is represented.

Day 2 of the Zlet began with liturgy at St. George Cathedral, the seat of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church. The head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, presided over the divine liturgy. The patriarch greeted the SUMivtsi warmly because he had watched over the youth association for a long time - 32 years ago, while a priest in the United States, he had been chaplain of SUM's summer camps in Ellenville, N.Y. Zlet participants laid flowers at the graves of the Ukrainian Galician Army infantry at the Lychakiv and Yaniv cemeteries. During subsequent days the SUMivtsi visited various destinations, such as Ternopil, Kalush and Yamin, a village near Yaremche in the Carpathian Mountains.

On Day 6 the Zlet participants - all 230 of them - arrived in Kyiv, where they took in the city and a soccer match between Kyiv's Dynamo and Romania. A visit to Cherkasy, the heartland of Ukraine, and the Shevchenko memorial in Kaniv was the highlight of the next day. Zlet participants also traveled on Day 8 to Baikove Cemetery and to Askold's Tomb, where they laid flowers in commemoration of those who fought for Ukraine's freedom.

The last day of the World Zlet was August 24. On the Khreschatyk the SUMivtsi watched Ukraine's armed forces march in the Independence Day Parade. Massive military vehicles passed before them, and aircraft flew overhead. Behind the armed forces marched Ukraine's best performing groups and sports teams.

For the second half of the day the group moved to Shevchenko Park, where the SUMivtsi took part in the official closing ceremonies of the sixth World Zlet. During this ceremony they were addressed by Andreas Hajdamacha, head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists; Oleksander Kulyk, head of Kyiv's Family and Youth Ministry; Askold Lozynskyj, president of the Ukrainian World Congress; and Eugene Czolij, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. The final ceremonial act was the traditional "Nich Vzhe Ide" and bidding farewell to friends and colleagues.

Source: "SUM holds sixth World Zlet in Ukraine: a daily journal," The Ukrainian Weekly, September 16, 2001, Vol. LXIX, No. 37.

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