HILLSIDE, N.J. – St. Nicholas visited Immaculate Conception Ukrainian Catholic Church in Hillside, N.J., on Sunday, December 8, 2019. The children presented a beautiful program in honor of the visit, including performances on the flute, clarinet, trumpet, piano, guitar, and a poem in Ukrainian. There was also full audience participation in the Christmas/St. Nicholas Trivia Challenge.
St. Nicholas thanked all the children and adults for being very good this year. He was very happy to hear that the audience knew several of the trivia questions, but also had the opportunity to learn more about the saint and Christmas.
The Rev. Vasyl Vladyka, parish administrator, led the attendees in prayer and “koliady” (carols). Special thank-yous were extended to Michael Szpyhulsky for serving as emcee and Russ Pencak for arranging St. Nicholas’s visit to the parish.
On Thursday, December 26, 2019, a group of Hillside parishioners sang Christmas carols in Ukrainian and English to the retired Sisters of Mercy and clergy at McAuley Hall Health Center on the campus of Mount St. Mary Academy in Watchung, N.J., and then later to Immaculate Conception parishioners in their homes throughout New Jersey’s Union, Middlesex and Morris counties.