Christmas Bazaar features sights, sounds, aromas of holiday season (12/31/06)

Christmas Bazaar features sights, sounds, aromas of holiday season

by Andrea Porytko Zharovsky

JENKINTOWN, Pa. - The Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center celebrated Christmas early with its annual Christmas Bazaar on December 9.

The festively decorated UECC opened its doors early that Saturday morning and greeted the Philadelphia community with the lyrical sounds of koliady - Ukrainian Christmas carols - and tempted all with the tantalizing aromas of traditional Ukrainian Cuisine. Beautiful Christmas trees decorated by Plast members and children of the Svitlychka graced the lobby. Equally beautiful Christmas trees decorated by UECC board members provided an appropriate backdrop for the various performances throughout the day during the Christmas Bazaar.

The Ukrainian Heritage School's first grade students, under the musical direction of Halyna Bodnar and with assistance by teacher Olya Mykhaylyuk, performed two koliady. The mixed choir Ukraina, under the baton of assistant director Lesia Ivakhiv, welcomed all with traditional Ukrainian greetings and wishes for the New Year and performed a few beautiful koliady.

The Children's Choir of the Ukrainian Music Institute, under the supervision of Lesia Penkalskyj with piano accompaniment by Helen Sagaty Porytko, also sang carols with UMI students performing on violin and trumpet. The youngest performers of the day were the students of the Svitlychka, the Ukrainian Cooperative Nursery School, who, along with Oksana Hlado and Olya Mykhaylyuk, entertained their families, friends and guests of the bazaar with greetings, songs and dance.

St. Nicholas, accompanied by a beautiful angel, surprised children of all ages with a special appearance. St. Nicholas reminded everyone of the beauty and meaning of Christmas here and in Ukraine.

The UECC Kitchen and Club Room were literally buzzing with activity all day. In a comfortable café setting, many guests gathered and tasted Ukrainian foods, including varenyky, holubtsi, borsch, mushroom soup, potato pancakes, nalysnyky and kapusta with kovbasa. They mingled with friends, caught up on the latest news over a cup of coffee and pastry, or simply enjoyed a mug of cold Ukrainian beer.

The Main Hall and the Gallery of the UECC accommodated 35 vendors coming from as far as Canada, New York state, Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland, and Lehigh County, Pa. There were beautiful displays of amber, silver, intricate gerdany and gold jewelry, oil paintings, icons, books, music, videos, cards, scarves, ceramics, pysanky, candles, Ukrainian-themed clothing and honey.

Many organizations from the UECC also took part in the bazaar and rented tables for fund-raising purposes, selling books, paintings, music and hand-made children's crafts.

The volunteers answered questions about the various programs and organizations at the UECC.

Throughout the day, at the main table near the stage, the UECC sold homemade food and bakedgoods to take home for the holidays. The gallery became "kovbasa headquarters" with bazaar guests purchasing the always-popular kovbasa, kyshka, Krakivska kovbasa, and kabanosy. The ingredients for kutia (wheat and poppy seeds), along with dried fruit and dried mushrooms, were also available for purchase.

Various products imported from Ukraine, including chocolates, cookies, and even ketchup, provided guests of the bazaar with souvenirs of their "mini-trip to Ukraine."

Newly elected UECC President Borys Pawluk spent the day meeting UECC members and guests of the bazaar, speaking to many at length about upcoming events, organizational needs and planned building improvements.

Even though the Christmas Bazaar was a one-day event, an army of UECC volunteers worked long hours throughout the week preparing for the bazaar by setting up the various rooms, baking the very tasty sweets and cooking the mouth-watering traditional Ukrainian delicacies. UECC Board Member and Vice-President of Programs Natalie Firko and UECC Executive Director Orysia Hewka organized the volunteers throughout the week.

The Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center, founded in 1980, is a non-profit organization whose objective is to preserve and promote awareness of Ukrainian heritage throughout the Philadelphia community. The UECC is located at 700 Cedar Road in Jenkintown, PA 19046; telephone, 215-663-1166; e-mail, [email protected].

Andrea Porytko Zharovsky is on the Press Committee of the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center.

| Home Page |