FACES AND PLACES: Thunder Bay, eh? (11/13/05)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Thunder Bay, eh?

Taking advantage of a spectacular Midwest autumn, Lesia and I decided to take a long-anticipated, often-postponed, trip along the northern shore of Lake Superior.

The drive was delicious. Spectacular fall colors along a shimmering blue lake on the left, birch tree forests and mountains on the right - the perfect prescription for lifting one's spirits. We were in God's country.

Along the way, we stopped for a visit to the Ukrainian community of Thunder Bay, located at the far western end of Ontario, just north of Minnesota.

Our visit to this relatively isolated but still vibrant Ukrainian community began with a telephone call a week earlier to Father Vladimir Chvets of the Transfiguration Ukrainian Catholic Church. I introduced myself, told him Lesia and I would be at his church, and wondered if it was possible to meet with his parishioners after liturgy. He encouraged us to come, saying he would arrange something.

Upon our arrival at the church, Pastor Chvets - who emigrated from Ukraine in the early 1990s - welcomed us in the traditional Ukrainian style with a hug and kisses on both cheeks. He told us he had arranged for an afternoon community meeting at the old Prosvita Hall.

The liturgy included a full choir and an altar boy who, as it turned out, was father's son, a university student.

Some 40 people, mostly senior citizens and a few Fourth Wave immigrants, attended the meeting. Our presentation began with a video dramatizing recent developments at the National University of Ostroh Academy. The audience seemed pleased and asked many questions. "It's good to know good things are happening in Ukraine," one of them declared.

After discussing Ostroh, I talked about the Ukrainian National Association, an organization that at one time had an active branch in Thunder Bay. Many in the audience snapped up copies of The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda which we had brought with us. Some purchased Ukrainian-language copies of "Ukrainian American Citadel," a history of the Ukrainian National Association.

Father Chvets, his son Gregory, and those who lingered after the presentation, filled us in on the Ukrainian history of the area.

At one time, apparently, there were some 16,000 Ukrainians living in Thunder Bay, many of whom settled in a neighborhood that was once predominately Scottish. Transfiguration Church, for example, is located on McIntosh Street. Even today, the local Ukrainian community supports three Catholic churches and one Orthodox.

The first Ukrainian immigrants to the area worked for the railroad or at the local mills. Transfiguration Parish was established around 1905, and the present church was completed in 1918. Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky reportedly visited the parish during his 1910 sojourn in North America.

In addition to the four churches, Thunder Bay today has three Ukrainian halls, an imposing Selfreliance Credit Union building and two dance groups, Chaban and Vesnianka. The Prosvita Hall, managed by a Mr. Duncan, also had a "Baba and Dido's Kitchen." This made this Dido feel right at home.

Prosvita (Enlightenment) societies, patterned after similar societies in western Ukraine, have a long and fascinating history in Canada. Their primary role was to educate Ukraine's early immigrants. Many centers had extensive libraries where early immigrants were taught to read and write. In addition to the Thunder Bay Prosvita, there were, at one time, significant Prosvita societies in Winnipeg, Toronto and Edmonton. It is interesting to note that, in 1935, some 35 of the 116 enlightenment-education organizations in Canada referred to themselves as Prosvitas.

Significantly, the Thunder Bay Prosvita society, which today serves as a community center, will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2006. Quite a milestone for any community!

Lesia and I were delighted with the people we met. Father Chvets was especially upbeat the entire time, an obviously happy man pleased with his calling. His son was also a delight. The young man was informed, serious and looking forward to his life as a Ukrainian Canadian.

Thunder Bay, a town of some 110,000 inhabitants, was formally established in 1970 when the towns of Fort William and Port Arthur voted to become one city. Today, Thunder Bay's fine harbor - Canada's third largest port - has storage facilities for 100 million bushels of grain.

Lakehead University is also in Thunder Bay. With an enrollment of some 6,000 students, the university has a medical school, an engineering school, as well as other professional schools offering majors in forestry, education, and science and environmental studies.

Lesia wants to go back to Thunder Bay some day. So do I!

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is: [email protected].

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