U.S. Plast youths compete in annual Orlykiada event (12/18/05)

U.S. Plast youths compete in annual Orlykiada event

by Andrew Olesnycky

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - It was November 5, but Paul Mulyk, the master of ceremonies of Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization's 44th Orlykiada competition, took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather and called the contestants and guests to gather on Soyuzivka's Veselka patio. Standing in rows and facing the center of a 184-person rectangle, 16 teams of Ukrainian scouts - who had traveled here from 12 cities throughout the United States and Canada - consecrated the opening ceremony with a slow, melodic prayer. As they sang, a warm breeze moved through the tops of golden-leafed trees above and out into the bronzed, sunlit Roundout Valley.

It was a precious calm moment in a weekend that would offer the 13- to 17-year-old contestants little time for rest. The teams had spent two months preparing for the two-day competition, during which the scouts would showcase their knowledge of Ukrainian history and culture by answering questions in a panel format, presenting pieces of interpretive artwork and performing lighthearted historical skits.

"Last night we were up until two or three in the morning studying," said Alexa Milanytch, 22, counselor to nine girls representing Newark, N.J. "It's the Friday night tradition at 'Orlyk.' It's when everything comes together."

The girls met three times per week over the previous two months to prepare for Orlykiada - on top of already busy high-school schedules - which is about the standard amount of preparation among competitive teams.

"There's competition, but it's more about the excitement and speculation over who will win this year." Ms. Milanytch said. "It's such a huge commitment."

Even getting oneself to Orlykiada can exact its toll: two teams flew in from Chicago, and two Canadian teams, Toronto and Ottawa, had to deal with the hassle of international travel.

But, as the games commenced, any sign of trepidation or fatigue in the contestants or their counselors was imperceptible.

"We traveled 12 hours to get here, so we'd might as well bring home some accolades for our parents," said John Fedynsky, a 26-year-old attorney who drove his team from Detroit in a rented van. "I think my group's got a real shot. They're a small group, but they're lean and mean, and they've put all the work in."

Closer to the stage, groups of scouts were similarly confident - if not as breezy - as they awaited their turn in the first round of judging. As his Washington, D.C., team gathered in a tight huddle, hands-on-shoulders as they awaited their turn, 16-year-old Andrew Oryshkevych could be heard above the nervous chatter of his teammates:. "We got this, we got this," he shouted.

Each Orlykiada revolves around a single historical or cultural subject, and this year's was Ukraine's Orange Revolution. In the main hall, where the competition took place, there wasn't a direction you could look without seeing orange. Art expositions lining the walls were all orange. Scouts held orange folders while they answered questions on the main stage. The Chicago boys looked identical in black berets and wearing orange vests over their green Plast uniforms. Girls wore orange ribbons tied around the laces of brown shoes.

The games began with a question and answer panel. Passing a microphone among various team members, the scouts displayed their knowledge of the Orange Revolution, explaining in detail the specifics of Ukraine's disputed vote count, the poisoning of then-presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko, and the role of foreign citizens and their governments in regulating subsequent rounds of elections.

The atmosphere was festive, and, above all, supportive. Deftly answered questions were as likely to elicit rousing applause as were clumsy, but spirited attempts. The scouts knew one another from Plast summer camps and readily cheered for their competitors.

To the delight of Orlykiada organizers Andrew Lencyk and Bohdan Kopystianskyj, clumsy answers have lately been losing ground to surprisingly eloquent ones: In the past few years, they've seen a remarkable improvement in the spoken Ukrainian of Plast scouts at Orlykiada. "It's hard to say why language has improved so dramatically," Mr. Lencyk said. "But it seems that the most recent wave of Ukrainian immigration has had a positive effect on everyone by raising the bar."

As the question and answer session drew to a close and the scouts prepared their skits, the atmosphere in the main hall grew more lighthearted. They returned from a short break in costume, carrying props that would serve to illustrate their interpretations of the Orange Revolution: large dome tents (to portray the tent city), guitars and drums (to add a live soundtrack) and odd items like mangos and basketball hoops. There were girls dressed as Yushchenko and boys dressed as Yulia Tymoshenko. It was clear that each team's sense of humor would be in the spotlight.

The Chicago boys, who would go on to win first place in both the skit and the overall competition, pitted presidential candidates Mr. Yushchenko and Viktor Yanukovych against one another in a battery of athletic contests. The climax, to the delight of the crowd, was a dramatic one-on-one rhythmic gymnastics standoff between the candidates. Chicago's skit was met with rousing applause from both the crowd and the judges.

During the last few skits of the evening, judges circulated about the room, grading the art expositions that lined the walls. The expositions were, beyond their aesthetics, a serious academic undertaking. The Newark girls' piece explored the symbiotic relationship between popular Ukrainian music and the Orange Revolution - how music affected the political climate and, in turn, how the climate created a new market for musical acts.

While Ms. Milanytch, one of their counselors, attempted to explain the complicated relationship, she hit a snag and paused. "You should really ask the girls," she said. "They did all the research themselves. They know more than I do."

After nightfall on Saturday, groups of scouts were huddled around the entrance of Soyuzivka's Main House, mingling before the evening's "vechirka" (dance party), creating giant scent-clouds of perfume and cologne. They would spend the remainder of the night socializing and celebrating the weekend while the judges tabulated the scores behind closed doors.

Though none of the scouts could have known the official outcome, the word on the street said that the Chicago boys had won - the Orlykiada speculation Ms. Milanytch had alluded to apparently picked the real winner. At closing ceremonies on Sunday morning, Chicago's boys would win first prize, followed by Mr. Fedynsky's "lean and mean" Detroit squad; New York's girls would take third, followed by the Newark girls in fourth.

A separate competition of individual scouts also crowned a new "hetmanych" and "hetmanivna," honorary titles given to those contestants who best exemplify the Plast spirit of leadership and well-roundedness. Stephan Tarnawsky of Toronto, and Melanie Hurin of New York won the titles this year.

And though they didn't know the score on Saturday night, it didn't seem to matter to the Chicago boys; they stood in a tight group, laughing, shouting, looking victorious. They knew they'd done well enough to emerge as a favorite, and were glad to be done.

"It's really stressful getting ready for the competition. But then we get to party with our friends - as winners," said 15-year-old Chicagoan Mikhail Bobel, who portrayed Mr. Yushchenko in their winning skit. "We come here to see our friends and represent Chicago. So they know what we're about."

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