2002: THE YEAR IN REVIEW: Worthy of note in 2002: events, people, etc. (01/12/03)

2002: THE YEAR IN REVIEW

Worthy of note in 2002: events, people, etc.

Noteworthy is our traditional name for the category that encompasses items that do not neatly fit into any of our aforementioned sections. The following, presented in chronological order, are among the most noteworthy developments, people and events observed during the year 2002.

In the first six months of 2002, Canada Post released four Ukraine-related postal items honoring five different men in the fields of sport, goverment and art. On January 12, Canada Post released an envelope honoring the 75th anniversary of the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey club. In addition to the team crest and a jersey, the souvenir envelope features a photo of the most famous goal ever scored by a Maple Leafs player. It occurred in the 1951 Stanley Cup finals, when William "Bashing Bill" Barilko scored while airborne in sudden-death overtime against the Montreal Canadiens to win the game and the series. Along with the envelope, Canada Post issued a pre-stamped postcard for the Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. One side of the card carries a reproduction of the Wayne Gretzky All-Star stamp from 2000.

On February 1, Canada issued a stamp marking the 50th anniversary of a Canadian first becoming governor general, a position responsible for carrying out the duties of head of state of Canada. The stamp lists the nine persons who have served as governor general over the past five decades. Two of the nine governors general listed on the stamp are of Ukrainian background, Edward Schreyer and Ramon Hnatyshyn (who passed away in December 2002).

On June 10 Canada Post released a two-stamp set honoring Canadian sculptors Leo Mol (with his figures of "Lumberjacks") and Charles Daudelin (and his abstract creation "Embacle"). Leonid Molodozhanyn, who shortened his name to Leo Mol, was born in Volyn, Ukraine. The Taras Shevchenko monuments in Washington and Buenos Aires are his creations, and Mr. Mol is now recognized as one of Canada's finest-ever sculptors.

The text about Mr. Mol that appears on the reverse of the day of issue envelope reads: "The monumental bronze sculpture, 'Lumberjacks' (1990), by Winnipeg sculptor Leo Mol, effectively captures the strength in motion which epitomizes his work. Born in Ukraine in 1915, the classically trained artist immigrated to Canada in 1948. He came to prominence in 1964, when his monument to Taras Shevchenko was unveiled in Washington by Dwight D. Eisenhower. His sculptures of Canadian themes, like the 'Lumberjacks,' have earned him a loyal following among collectors. A longtime member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, his artistic contributions have earned him numerous awards and honors, including the Order of Canada in 1989."

The city of Hartford installed a temporary skating rink during the 2001-2002 holiday season, and since Thanksgiving an estimated 2,000 skaters per week, mostly children, enjoyed the ice. On January 6, area resident and Olympic gold medalist Viktor Petrenko was on hand to skate with them. Under the auspices of the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund, Mr. Petrenko spent about an hour and a half skating and clowning on the ice with fans. He posed for countless photographs and signed autographs. An especially touching moment hushed the crowd as a handful of children pulling little red wagons filled with toys made their way to Mr. Petrenko. Boundless Playgrounds and its corporate sponsor, Hasbro, donated toys to Mr. Petrenko and CCRF for distribution to children in Ukrainian orphanages.
Long-time community leader Orest T. Dubno of New Haven, Conn., was honored on January 12 as a recipient of the Martin Luther King Jr. 2002 Brotherhood Award in recognition of his "outstanding, distinguished and unselfish efforts to promote tolerance and understanding among all racial, ethnic and cultural groups." He was cited for his work as the former president of the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority and for his long years of public service in the state of Connecticut. Mr. Dubno has served on the board of directors of the University of New Haven and the Advocacy Council at Yale New Haven Hospital. He was Connecticut's commissioner of revenue from 1975 until 1985 and is currently the chief financial officer with the Lex Atlantic Corp. He served as the chairman of the board of directors of the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund from 1993 to 1999.
In February it was reported that Lohika Systems Inc., a company with close ties to Ukraine, announced it had completed its Series A Round of equity financing from a premier group of private investors, raising a total of $1.25 million. Employing computer programmers in Ukraine, Lohika provides high-quality, cost-effective outsourced software development, integration and maintenance services to the higher-education and utilities markets in the United States. In Ukraine the shortage of rewarding employment opportunities means that the best and brightest young minds in the country look to the West for jobs, causing a "brain drain" through emigration. Lohika established a software development center in Lviv, and as a result serves the important social function of helping Ukraine retain its talented programmers.
Cmdr. Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper (U.S. Navy), who completed NASA's astronaut training program in April of 1998, was assigned to a space shuttle mission scheduled for April 2003, and was to become the first Ukrainian American to fly in space. The announcement came on February 26. The mission is to deliver and attach the second port truss segment to the International Space Station. Cmdr. Stefanyshyn-Piper was born in St. Paul, Minn., on February 7, 1963, and was an active member of the Ukrainian American community - belonging to Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization, the local Ukrainian dance ensemble, the school of Ukrainian studies and St. Constantine Ukrainian Catholic Church. She is currently a member of the Ukrainian American Cultural Club of Houston.
In the springtime of 2002, Capt. Myron Diduryk, a Ukrainian American veteran of the Vietnam War, was cited in the movie "We Were Soldiers" starring Mel Gibson. The movie documents the first major battle fought by the U.S. forces in Vietnam: the November 1965 battle of the Ia Drang Valley. Capt. Diduryk's key role in the battle is noted in the best-selling book "We Were Soldiers Once ...And Young," written by Lt. Gen. Moore (ret.) and Joseph T. Galloway, the only journalist on the scene during the battle. The similarly titled movie is based on the book. Though there are numerous citations for Capt. Diduryk in the book, as well as a photograph of the young soldier and a diagram of the battle titled "Diduryk's Men Hold the Line," Diduryk's character does not appear in the movie. There is a reference to Capt. Diduryk, however, in a line in the movie, as Lt. Col. Moore addresses the departing troops and notes that the unit includes "a captain from Ukraine."
Dr. Michael I. Yarymovych, currently chief scientific advisor to ANSER Corp. of Arlington, Va., was presented the von Kármán Medal by the NATO Research and Technology Board during ceremonies held in March at Mandelieu, France. The medal is awarded annually for exemplary service and significant contribution to the enhancement of progress in research and technology cooperation among the NATO countries, carried out in conjunction with NATO Research and Technology Organization activities. Dr. Yarymovych served as director of the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) in Paris, as well as U.S. national delegate to AGARD and chairman of the same body. He also served as chairman of the newly established NATO Research and Technology Organization.
Jan Demczur became a hero on 9/11 by freeing himself and five others trapped in an elevator in the World Trade Center. Mr. Demczur had worked for 11 years as a window washer in the Twin Towers, and he used the tool of his trade, a squeegee, to extricate himself and the others from the elevator. The elevator that Mr. Demczur was riding fell 20 floors before coming to a stop at the 50th floor. The men were able to pry open the elevator doors, but found a wall of sheetrock on the other side. They used the squeegee blade until they dropped it, and after that used the squeegee handle break through the sheetrock. Six months later, on March 11, 2002, the squeegee was part of a temporary display at the National Museum of American History along with other artifacts of the terrorist attacks.
The Microsoft Corp. released a Ukrainian version of its new Microsoft Office XP software package on March 12, making it the first computer software on the market available in the Ukrainian language. Originally a plan to computerize 2,900 Ukrainian schools and institutions of higher learning was to utilize existing Russian-language programs. However, the U.S-based Shevchenko Scientific Society (NTSh) turned to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and to the Ukrainian government to insist that only a Ukrainian-language software program could be acceptable. Microsoft had provided localized operating software for all the countries of the region - Russia, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland - but, inexplicably, not for Ukraine. Microsoft did not deny that it had responded to pressure from the Ukrainian Ministry of Education but said, "It is an international standard of Microsoft that when there is a partnership with a government the most important programs are to be translated into the native language."
The Batkivschyna, the Ukrainian schooner that was lost at sea in the Atlantic Ocean for three weeks and then became the toast of the Eastern Seaboard during Operation Sail 2000 in the millennium year, began the third year of its trans-global expedition in mid-April. The vessel planned to spend the spring and first part of the summer in the Carribbean before crossing the Panama Canal and traveling up the U.S. Pacific coast and then continuing westward to Hawaii and Australia. Its 2002 tour came after last year's three-month journey through the Great Lakes, during which the crew met with Ukrainian communities of all the major cities of the region and continued the Discover Ukraine project, the Batkivschyna's quest to publicize Ukraine, its achievements and its potential.
The Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union in April moved its main office into a modern new building. The credit union chose to remain in the Ukrainian Village of Chicago, the neighborhood that is home to Ukrainian churches, schools and a number of Ukrainian-owned businesses, and where many of its members still reside. On April 14 President Bohdan Watral and Board Chairman Michael R. Kos ceremoniously cut the ribbon at the opening, and the blessing of the premises was conducted by Archbishop Vsevolod with Bishops Michael Wiwchar and Innocent Lotocky.
The Province of Saskatchewan honored Paul Ortynsky, pharmacist and longtime Ukrainian Canadian community activist, on April 25 when he was invested with the Saskatchewan Volunteer Medal. Mr. Ortynsky's contributions include service as: board member of the Ukrainian Canadian Committee's Saskatchewan Provincial Council; mayor of Canora; vice-president of Parkland Regional College Canora Ukrainian Centennial celebrations and millennium reunion; national president of the Ukrainian Professional and Business Association; Canora branch president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress; president of the Canora Ukrainian Heritage Museum; member of the Senate at the University of Regina; and member of the Provincial Government's Advisory Committee on Saskatchewan-Ukraine Relations.
The 2002 Heorhiy Narbut Prize balloting, which began in May, selected the Korol (King) Danylo souvenir sheet as the best-designed philatelic release of 2001 in Ukraine. The winning design by Oleksii Shtanko, depicted the famous king of Halych (Galicia) and Volyn (ruled 1238-1264; King of Rus' from 1253) riding a white charger at the head of his troops. A golden lion on a blue banner unfurls behind him, while in the background are the wooden walls of the newly built city of Lviv, named for Danylo's son Lev and founded about 1256. There was also a Special Narbut Prize awarded in April of 2002 for "the best stamp issue of Ukraine's first decade of independence." Two souvenir sheets were declared co-winners - the 1997 "Founding of Kyiv" and the 2000 "Wildflowers of Ukraine." "Founding of Kyiv," designed by Volodymyr Taran and Oleksander Kharuk, depicts the legendary founders of Ukraine's capital: the brothers Kyi, Schek, and Khoryv, and their sister Lybid. According to the ancient manuscript "Povist Vremenykh Lit" (Tale of Bygone Years), the siblings established the city some 1,500 years ago on a site overlooking the Dnipro. "Wildflowers of Ukraine," designed by Kateryna Shtanko, depicts a girl wearing a floral wreath standing in front of various types of flowers. Each stamp from the sheet features a different flower.
"Window on America," the Voice of America's popular Ukrainian TV newsmagazine, became available worldwide on the Internet, according to a news story published in early May. "Window's" presence on the World Wide Web came nine years after the program's nationwide debut on Ukraine's UT-1 state television network. Produced in Washington, the 26-minute weekly broadcast highlights a wide range of topics, from U.S.-Ukrainian relations, and difficult issues such as homelessness and crime, to light-hearted vignettes. The program also features American sports, business, agriculture, medicine, education, culture and life in the Ukrainian American community. The website can be accessed at www.vikno.tv.
Ukrainian American Stefan Tatarenko won his second term as Clifton city councilman on May 14. Following Mr. Tatarenko's victory, a celebration was held in his honor at Venezia Restaurant in Clifton the same night. In a speech during the celebration Mr. Tatarenko added a "promise to continue to help the citizens of Clifton by maintaining a low tax base, increase ratables, increase senior housing and services, maintain infrastructure in the city, attract new businesses, continue redeveloping the downtown areas and of course, continue the outstanding relationship with the Ukrainian community and to assist them in any way possible."
More than 100 people crammed into Ottawa's Ukrainian Orthodox church hall on May 15 to take part in the fifth annual National Kovbasa Tasting Competition, organized by the Ukrainian Canadian Profesional and Business Association of Ottawa. The kovbasa tasting competition was preceded by a brief panel on real estate tips. At the competition, attendees got to taste, then vote for, their favorite kovbasa in three categories: traditional, ham-based and specialty. Asked if the garlic in the kovbasa was perhaps a little intense, Terence Scheltema answered "not at all," but he added that he "feels sorry for the person who's not eating kovbasa tonight."
Oksana Horbunova, a leading women's and human rights activist in Ukraine who helped focus the world's attention on the growing international problem of trafficking in women and children was honored for her efforts at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on May 16. Ms. Horbunova, the Kyiv program coordinator for the International Organization for Migration, was joined by three other women activists - from Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and South Africa - as the first award recipients to be honored for their work on behalf of women's rights by Vital Voices Global Partnership, an organization that supports women's groups worldwide in expanding the participation of women in the political and economic life of their countries and in fighting trafficking.
The Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage Museum celebrated its 25th anniversary of service to the public, with actor Jack Palance as special guest, at the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Center in Mayfield, Pa., on May 31. Mr. Palance, who was born Vladimer Palaniuk in Lattimer Mines, Pa., took part in the celebrations expressing appreciation for the work the museum does in preserving the coal region heritage. The region can rightfully be called the cradle of Ukrainian immigration to the U.S.
On June 16, 35-year-old teacher Danylo Darewych and 21-year-old University of Toronto student Andriy Kolos reached North America's highest peak, Denali in Alaska. Denali is the Native American name for Mount McKinley, which has a height of 20,320 feet. Messrs. Darewych and Kolos started out from base camp on June 1 with enough food for 30 days. They finally arrived at the summit on June 16. During their ascent, the Ukrainian Canadian pair by chance met a group of three climbers from Zaporizhia in Ukraine.
A newly constructed EMS Building on Grove Street in Passaic, N.J., was dedicated on June 30 to the memory of John Skala, a police officer killed at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. On that day Officer Skala was stationed at the Lincoln Tunnel. After the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center, he and others rushed to the site, where he would lose his life. Mr. Skala was a member of the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM), as well as a member of the board of directors of the Ukrainian Center of Passaic. The 16th world congress of SUM, which was held in Novembor 2001, posthumously awarded the Iron Cross of Valor to Mr. Skala. It is the highest honor in SUM, and it is the first time it has ever been awarded.
During the 2001-2002 academic year at the Des Moines Area Community College in central Iowa, faculty, staff and students took a close look at Ukraine. The "Year of Ukraine" marked the 18th consecutive year the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) observed International Year. Each year the school selects a different country, learning about its history, culture, economy and politics. Students at DMACC read The Ukrainian Weekly and books about Ukraine; viewed artistic exhibits demonstrating photographs, watercolors and tapestries; watched films; ate Ukrainian food; heard speakers talk about contemporary issues; saw performances by classical and pop musicians; and made pysanky.
The U.S.-Ukraine Foundation conducted its first annual Youth Leadership Program in Washington on August 3-9 for 13 U.S. college students interested in U.S.-Ukraine relations. A weeklong program of meetings and discussions focused on U.S.-Ukraine relations, leadership, public policy, the political process and public service. The students met with lobbyists, former ambassadors, congressmen and congressional staffers, leaders of NGOs, as well as Ukrainian priests and representatives of social organizations in Washington. They visited many of Washington's political establishments, such as the Kennan Institute and the Young Republican National Federation. They also attended a viewing of CNN's "Crossfire" TV program.
Nonagenarian Dr. Michael Ewanchuk, author of 12 books on Ukrainian pioneers in Canada, as well as a book on Ukrainian contract workers in Hawaii, was honored on September 10 with the Queen's Medal on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth's 50 years on the British throne. Dr. Ewanchuk is currently working on two more books about Ukrainian settlers and pioneers. Another recipient of the golden jubilee medal was Metropolitan Wasyly Fedak of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.
Acrobatic aerialist Tatyana Petruk, Kyiv-born World Cup and European acrobatics champion and member of New York's Team AntiGravity, wowed hundreds of spectators in the a at the outdoor extravaganza that opened the 100th birthday celebration of Macy's, billed as the world's largest department store. A later AntiGravity appearance featured Ukrainian-born acrobat Tatyana Brikulskaya.
On September 23, the Miss Universe Organization announced that Oxana Fedorova of Russia had been relieved of her duties as Miss Universe 2002 and that the first runner-up, Justine Pasek of Panama, would assume the title and serve the remaining nine months of Miss Universe's reign. What was not known at the time was that the naming of Ms. Pasek would be a proud day also for Ukraine and Poland. The beautiful brunette was born in Ukraine, lived in Poland and later moved to Panama with her parents. According to the Brama website, which cited Polish journalist Waldemar Piasecki of Kurier Lubelski, Ms. Pasek's mother, Elizabeth Patino, was a chemistry student in Kharkiv, Ukraine, when she met and fell in love with a Polish engineering student, Stanislaw Pasek. The couple was married in Kharkiv, where their daughter Justine was born and spent the first year of her life. The Pasek family then moved to Wuzuczynie, Poland, where "Yustyna" was baptized. The new Miss Universe is 22, works in TV production and plans to complete a degree in environmental engineering.
An editorial in The Ukrainian Weekly in November called "Famine and The Times revisited" commented on the newly released book "Written into History," which contains Pulitzer Prize reporting of the 20th century from The New York Times. It refers to Walter Duranty, who won the Pulitzer in 1932 for his reporting from the USSR, in which he denied the Famine of 1932-1933 while privately telling British intelligence that he believed over 10 million had died. The book contains a parenthetical notation saying, "Other writers in the Times and elsewhere have discredited this coverage." In a later section, it notes that Duranty's reporting "has come under a cloud" and that he "ignored the reality of Stalin's mass murder." However, there is no mention of the Famine-Genocide. A Pulitzer Prize awarded to Janet Cooke of the Washington Post in 1981 was returned because Ms. Cooke had fabricated the story. The Times has elected not to follow suit and even has a picture of Duranty hanging among the photographs of Pulitzer winners in a corridor at The Times.
At year's end came news of a proposal for a new museum in France: the Museum of Accidents. As reported in the December 26 issue of The New York Times, the idea comes from Paul Virilio, 70, a French urbanist, philosopher and writer, who expounds a theory of accidents which holds that many human accidents today are caused by technology, and that modern technology and communications have made accidents more global in impact. As an illustration of what he proposes to display in such a museum, Mr. Virilio prepared an exhibit called "Unknown Quantity" which is on view at the Cartier Foundation for Contemporary Art in Paris through March 30. The exhibit includes all types of natural and man-made disasters; among them, along with volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, train derailments and airplane crashes are the terrorist attacks of 9/11, which Mr. Virilio says falls into the category of "war disguised as accident." Also part of the exhibit is the 1986 disaster at Ukraine's Chornobyl nuclear power plant. The Times noted that "The fire at the Chernobyl [sic] nuclear plant in Ukraine in 1986 is presented as perhaps the most dramatic example of sophisticated technology run amok." It quoted Mr. Virilio as saying in a film prepared for the exhibit that Chornobyl "foreshadowed a new kind of warfare, terrorist war, in which you cannot differentiate between attacks and accidents, where the declaration of war does not exist, where there are no uniforms, no flags, where there is simply evil-doing."

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