Chicago community gives a rousing welcome to Vitalii Klitschko (05/16/04)

Chicago community gives a rousing welcome to Vitalii Klitschko

by Volodymyr Pavelchak

CHICAGO - April 24 was an extraordinary day that will be remembered by boxing fans and Ukrainians around the world. This was the day when Vitalii Klitschko captured the World Boxing Council title of world heavyweight champion by defeating South African Corrie Sanders.

Ukrainians everywhere had awaited anxiously with expectation that a Ukrainian boxer might someday capture the world championship boxing title. Many traveled to Los Angeles where the well-publicized fight took place, just as some of them had traveled to other cities in the U.S and Europe where Ukraine's Vitalii and Volodymyr Klitschko had recently been featured in major boxing events. But most Ukrainians here and elsewhere either watched the fight on cable TV or waited for news about the results of the Los Angeles championship fight on the night of April 24.

In Chicago, excitement and anticipation over the Klitschko-Sanders championship fight reached a fever pitch because weeks earlier it had been announced by the city's Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee that, win or lose, Vitalii Klitschko had promised to fly to Chicago the day after his championship fight for two city events - first, a welcoming ceremony to be attended by hundreds of Mr. Klitschko's Chicago boxing fans and, later that evening, a formal banquet with 400 guests who would convene at Chicago's elegant Union League Club to celebrate Vitalii and Volodymyr Klitschko and their longtime advisor and confidante, Mayor Oleksander O. Omelchenko of Kyiv.

The two events were conceived, organized and hosted by Chicago attorney Marta Farion whose energetic chairmanship of the Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee has made the committee one of the most active in the city's history via a continuous program of exchanges between Chicago and the capital of Ukraine since 1991.

Chicago's welcoming ceremony was staged on a chilly Sunday afternoon, April 25, in the city's historic Water Tower Square with thousands of blue and yellow balloons and flags and hundreds of Klitschko fans from Chicago's Ukrainian community and other fans and supporters of Vitalii Klitschko from other Chicago communities. The world championship victory of Vitalii Klitschko, just hours earlier in Los Angeles, was celebrated loudly and colorfully by several speakers, children in Ukrainian dress and the Chicago Ukrainian brass band Berkut, which provided musical entertainment.

Also in attendance were members of Chicago's news media and dozens of passers-by who stopped during their shopping routines to join the celebration of Ukraine's newest sports star as the Chicago Police Department controlled pedestrian and vehicular traffic around the always busy square.

At the welcoming ceremony in late afternoon, Ms. Farion introduced Roman Yatskivskyi, of the local Klitschko fan club, who greeted the enthusiastic audience and openly shared his dream of organizing the next Klitschko boxing match at Chicago's United Center, the city's celebrated arena that hosts the Chicago Bulls NBA team and the Chicago Blackhawks NHL team.

After an enthusiastic celebration of Vitalii Klitschko's victory a night earlier, Ms. Farion announced to the large crowd that the Klitschko delegation would arrive in Chicago somewhat later than had been planned and that Mr. Klitschko would miss the welcoming rally. The large crowd was disappointed, but knowing about the banquet scheduled for later that night, hundreds of Klitschko fans and supporters of all ages walked several blocks into Chicago's famous Loop to stand outside and wait in front of the city's old and distinguished Union League Club for their Ukrainian boxing hero to arrive in the Windy City.

A few hours later, after more than 400 banquet guests were already seated inside the crystal-filled banquet hall, the Chicago street corner at 65 West Jackson Boulevard and the home of one of Chicago's most distinguished private clubs since 1879 erupted with screams and song as Vitalii Klitschko emerged from a Chicago police-escorted limousine with entrance music provided by the Ukrainian Jazz Band of Chicago.

As Mr. Klitschko made his long and slow way into the grand dining room, the Ukrainian Jazz Band reached deeper and more than 400 attendees rose in a thunderous standing ovation. At the end of his long entrance, the tall and muscular Mr. Klitschko was greeted with traditional Ukrainian bread and salt, while the enthusiastic audience chanted "Klych-ko, Klych-ko."

It had taken Mr. Klitschko some time to make his way into the Union League ballroom because, once inside the building, he had stopped to acknowledge his very young fans - the dozens of Chicago's children and aspiring young boxers who were so obviously thrilled to see their hero and wanted his autograph on their small boxing gloves. The WBC champion patiently accommodated their wishes.

With Mr. Klitschko's late but dramatic entrance, it took awhile for the banquet's large audience to settle down to salad and speeches. After the playing of the two national anthems by the Ukrainian Jazz Band, Ms. Farion of the Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee opened the evening as follows.

"We are proud that the most prestigious world heavyweight championship boxing title belongs to a Ukrainian," she said. "And we are grateful to him that he made this effort on the day after the fight, and spent eight hours on an airplane from and to Los Angeles, to be with us for three hours at this celebration. We appreciate his loyalty to the Ukrainian community and to his fans. Today we celebrate the domain of Ukrainian sport. We all recognize how profoundly Ukraine's visibility and identity in the world can be shaped by the achievements of its athletes. Their influence on public awareness is profound. The impact of Ukraine's sports champions on public awareness of its independence has been a very visible and profound shift in world understanding that Ukraine is a real and well-defined place in this world that exists independently of its neighbors."

The evening's star attraction, Mr. Klitschko, whose dinner was continuously interrupted by enthusiastic fans asking for an autograph or a photo, finally faced the large Chicago audience after the jazz ensemble's performance of two songs that symbolize the ongoing relationship between the two sister-cities - "My Kyiv" and "Chicago." The music brought the large Chicago audience to its feet again and served as another thunderous and appreciative welcome to Mr. Klitschko, who then spoke briefly to the finally quiet crowd.

Speaking quietly, Mr. Klitschko said he had been moved by such a warm welcome and repeatedly thanked his fans for their support. He said he was deeply touched by the children's greeting, as they are so innocent and genuine that it is impossible to forget. He added, "Today, once again I realized that what I am doing in the boxing ring is needed not only for me, but for all my fans and supporters who travel around the world to support me in times of victories as well as time of defeats, when moral support is especially needed. I really appreciate all your support. On behalf of my brother Volodymyr and myself, I assure you that we will do everything possible so that the world boxing championship titles belong to Ukrainians!"

Afterwards the large Chicago audience roared its approval, as did the guests of honor seated at an elevated dais which included members of the Kyiv delegation (Ihor Lyson, chairman of Kyiv City Council; Volodymyr Prysiazhniuk, head of the Budget Committee; Andriy Ivanov, City Council member; and Volodymyr Herasymchuk, head of the foreign relations department). Unexpectedly absent from the Chicago events were Kyiv Mayor Omelchenko, represented by his first deputy, Volodymyr Yalovyi, and Vitalii's brother, Volodymyr, who also was not able to attend the Chicago events.

The Chicago banquet presented awards and greetings from the Office of the Mayor of Chicago, the Chicago Kyiv Sister Cities Committee; the Ukrainian Sports Club Lions, represented by Ivan Losko; the Ukrainian Soccer Club Kryla, represented by Taras Jaworsky; and the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. and Canada, represented by this writer.

Mr. Yalovyi, representing Mayor Omelchenko, presented awards of recognition and gifts to the Chicago-Kyiv Sister Cities Committee for the many years of promoting close ties between the two cities. The banquet's longest speech was delivered by Ivan Pliusch, who captured everybody's attention with his wit and political commentary, and his enthusiastic support of Ukraine's champion boxer.

Other distinguished guests attending the Chicago banquet included Archbishop Vsevolod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Bishop Richard Seminack of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Executive Vice-President of the Jewish United Fund Peter Friedman, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, Congressman Danny Davis, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, State Treasurer Judy Barr Topinka, State Rep. Cynthia Soto, representatives of the Chicago mayor and the Illinois governor, various Chicago business leaders and representatives of Chicago's boxing associations and sports media.

Commercial sponsors of the Chicago events included MB Financial Bank, Self Reliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union and the Heritage Foundation of First Security Savings Federal Bank. Motorola Inc. sponsored a private luncheon at the Mid-America Club for the Kyiv delegation with the presidents of Chicago's leading business and international organizations.

Volodymyr Pavelchak is vice-president of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the U.S.A. (known by its Ukrainian acronym as USCAK) and secretary of the Lions Ukrainian Sports Club.

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