WHIPPANY, N.J. – Five local dignitaries had the honor of cutting ribbons to formally open the Ukrainian Sports Museum (USM) at the Ukrainian American Cultural Center of New Jersey in Whippany on September 17.
Whippany Mayor Ron Francioli; the Rev. Stephan Bilyk, pastor of St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Whippany; Ihor Laszok, vice-chairman of the board of directors at Selfreliance Ukrainian American Federal Credit Union; Ken Daneyko, retired New Jersey Devils player; and Myron Bytz of the board of directors of the Ukrainian Sports Museum, participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Father Bilyk bestowed the blessing, prayers were recited and the Ukrainian crowd sang the American and Ukrainian national anthems in a most rousing manner.
Some 180 attendees were guided and entertained by the evening’s master of ceremonies, The Ukrainian Weekly’s sports correspondent Ihor Stelmach. He began the inaugural Ukrainian Hall of Fame induction banquet with some humorous posits about the importance of sports today, imagining life without sports organizations, personalities and competitions.
At the event (from left) are: Matt Loughlin, play-by-play radio commentator for the New Jersey Devils, Myron Bytz, and Ken Daneyko, keynote speaker and former New jersey Devils defenseman.
The presence of several distinguished guests was recognized, including Dmytro Palamarchuk (Ukrainian figure skating coach and retired pairs skater), Alina Milevska (figure skater), Vitaliy Danylchenko (five-time Ukrainian national champion figure skater) and Matt Loughlin (N.J. Devils radio play-by-play voice).
Speaking in Ukrainian and English, Mr. Stelmach reflected back on Mr. Bytz’s challenging process of seeing the idea of a Ukrainian Sports Museum/Hall of Fame come to fruition after overcoming major hurdles like finding a location, obtaining funding, and proper documentation and getting support in the Ukrainian community. Mr. Bytz’s, wife Christina and the board of directors were saluted with a most generous ovation.
Mr. Bytz briefly explained the Sports Museum’s mission to honor those individuals, teams and organizations prominent in the history of Ukrainian sports. It is the goal of the museum and Hall of Fame to recognize the timeless intertwining of sport into the fabric of everyday life, thus honoring those who have made outstanding contributions through inspiring achievements in professional and amateur sports. This includes individuals who had outstanding careers as players, coaches, builders, journalists and supporters.
Those gathered at this gala event heard official greetings from Serhiy Bubka, president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (NOCU); Ivan Bondarchuk, press-attache, NOCU; and Ukrainian Olympians Valeriy Borzov and Viktor Petrenko. The Ukrainian Sports Museum also received a formal written greeting from the Ukrainian World Congress.
Prior to the keynote address by Mr. Daneyko, a brief video montage was played, highlighting the retired New Jersey Devils defenseman’s illustrious NHL career. “Mr. Devil” spoke from the heart, recounting his early days in Edmonton, Alberta, when starting in third grade he told anyone and everyone who would and wouldn’t listen that he would someday play in the National Hockey League.
Orest Fedash accepts his Hall of Fame award for volleyball.
He also spoke of how on the day he was drafted in the first round, 18th overall, he dropped the phone, in shock, never even asking who was on the other line. When finally told he was drafted by the Devils, this young Western Canadian lad immediately asked where in the world is New Jersey? Mr. Daneyko, whose mother is 100 percent Ukrainian, revealed that some ancestral research determined his father’s heritage also is Ukrainian.
Following dinner came the induction ceremony of the first ever class to enter the Ukrainian Sports Hall of Fame. Mr. Stelmach continued donning sports caps themed to appropriate sports organizations, teams or players. Starting with a Ukrainian Weekly hat, followed by a Dynamo Kyiv hat, a custom-made Ukrainian Sports Museum lid (with HOF on the back) and a Devils hockey hat, 16 different caps were proudly displayed atop his head during the evening’s festivities.
Fifty-one deserving sports persons were individually announced, with each receiving an engraved pin, embroidered sweatshirt, lifetime museum pass and personalized commemorative Hall of Fame plaque. Distributing the awards were Mr. Bytz, Teodor Bodnar, Bohdan Porytko and Roman Bulawski. Inductees or their family representative also posed for a Hall of Fame photo taken by board member Ms. Bytz.
A breakdown of the inductees had 22 in the builders category, 17 classified as semi-pro/amateur athletes and 12 Olympian/professional athletes, including the Klitschko brothers, keynote speaker Mr. Daneyko, football’s Wayne Chrebet and Mike Ditka, hockey greats Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky, and Olympians Mr. Petrenko and Oksana Baiul.
Christina Bytz
Laryssa Barabash Temple accepts her Hall of Fame award as a “builder.”
The festivities were officially closed with Mr. Stelmach reading a four-stanza poem mentioning 23 of the inductees a second time in a lyrical, Dr. Seuss-type grand finale.
A commemorative booklet summarizing the Ukrainian Sports Museum/Hall of Fame grand opening event was distributed to all attendees. Copies of the book have been requested by the Ukrainian Embassy in New York and the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. A silent auction fund-raiser took place during the evening with persons bidding on autographed Ukrainian sports memorabilia.