Bay Area's Ukrainians celebrate 'Ukrainian Day,' welcome Batkivschyna (10/13/02)

Bay Area's Ukrainians celebrate 'Ukrainian Day,' welcome Batkivschyna

by Nestor Wolansky

SAN FRANCISCO - "Ukrainian Day" in San Francisco's famed Golden Gate Park has become a popular annual event looked forward to by many Northern Californians. This year was no exception. The cold and foggy day, typical of summers here, did not deter a large turnout on August 25, of about 300 to 400 people many of whom were not of Ukrainian ancestry, as the Bay Area is distinctly Hispanic and Asian in character.

The crowd was very enthusiastic about showing its appreciation - the performers were frequently interrupted by applause. The concert program, celebrating Ukraine's 11th anniversary of independence, featured the Stanford University Fulbright Scholar Dr. Jurij Kapista as the guest speaker, keyboardist-vocalist Victor Nazarchuk, the bandura ensemble from Sacramento, the renowned bandura performer Ola Herasymenko-Oliynyk, mezzo-sopranos Ivanna Taratula-Filipenko and Maria Tscherepenko, guest dancers Irina and George Arabadji, the Sonechko Children's Dance Ensemble and the 120-year-old Golden Gate Park Band, under the direction of Michael Wirgler, performing Ukrainian melodies.

The event was sponsored by the Northern California Ukrainian American Coordinating Council and the Heritage Club.

Another major Ukrainian event took place on August 31 on San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, where thousands of tourists from all over the world strolled, enjoying walk-away shrimp cocktails and browsing for souvenirs on warm and sunny day. Many of them came for the Tall Ships Festival to see the tall ships berthed alongside several piers.

The famed 97-foot Ukrainian schooner, the Batkivschyna - in town from August 28 to September 2 - was among them. The Batkivschyna had just sailed from Vancouver and Seattle; following its San Francisco stop, it would visit Los Angeles and San Diego as well.

Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians alike marvelled at the frugal yet magnificent Ukrainian ship, with its blue-and-yellow flag fluttering in the never-ending San Francisco summer breeze and the capital city's name, Kyiv, inscribed on its bow.

The Ukrainian Boys Brass Band from Sacramento and the Sonechko Children's Ensemble, as well as other performers, who had appeared at the "Ukrainian Day" a week earlier, welcomed the Batkivschyna and its personable and charming captain in the parking lot at the entrance to the piers.

To many it was a first encounter with the name "Ukraine" and some had intitial difficulty finding Ukraine on the map provided by the ship's crew along with other useful displays about the country. Numerous flags of the many countries and regions visited by the Batkivschyna, including the white-and-blue-flag of Israel, attested to the incredible journey of the Batkivschyna and its worldwide popularity.

The modest Batkivshchyna contrasted sharply with some of the other ships, richly appointed with chrome, brass and exotic hardwoods, on whose decks rich owners and their rich friends sipped champagne in tall glasses and nibbled on caviar, discussing the trials and tribulations of Dow Jones Industrials, and sporting trendy clothes right out of Condé Nast magazine and the French Riviera.

The Batkivschyna's captain, the vigorous 64-year-old Dmytro Biriukovich was at ease wearing an authentic and convincing Ukrainian captain's cap, unfazed by the captains of industry around him. How many of them had ever sailed from Kyiv down the Dnipro River, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, through the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, the Panama Canal and the great Pacific Ocean?

The captain mingled with the crowds, wooing and wowing them with an occasional reminder about Ukraine and Ukrainians through a sometimes misbehaving microphone in English. When the Sonechko troupe came on, dancing to the celebrated Ukrainian song "Oi Ty Haliu, Haliu Molodaya," the crowds grew larger, the oohs and aahs grew louder, the captain spun an old-fashioned dance with his wife, unsuccessfully urging others to dance as well. A 4-year-old Chinese girl, unable to stand still any longer, broke out with her own enthusiastic dancing to Ukrainian music, astounding the crowds and her parents, and momentarily stealing the spotlight from the grinning captain.

The San Francisco media - unlike the New York media in 2000, which just loved the Ukrainian ship - had barely mentioned the Batkivschyna, but the goodwill mission was a success nonetheless.

| Home Page |