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HELEN MURAL, Junior Vice-President UNWLA, Contributing Editor, OUR LIFE Action - louder than words An uneasiness of mind over im pending calam ity due to dis interest on the part of second generation Ukrainian youth w as ex pressed a^ the W orld C ongress of U krainian W om en held in Phila delphia Jn Novem'ber of 1948. Since that tim e I have often found m yself pondering over the uneasiness sincerely m ade know n by a ь um ber of delegates present at the W orld Congress. “Our children are gradually drifting aw*ay from their heritage. T hey cannot speak or read Ukrainian fluently nor do they care to m ingle in U krainian society. W hat are w e to do?” the concensus at the C ongress appeared to ibe. Just as this thought w as directed in the spirit of sincerity w ithout desire to antagonize by harrassed m others, so is m y attem pt to reassure this sam e group w ritten. H ow best can this reassurance be brought forth? By action, ■naturally. If action be m y -course, w hat better m ethod can I em ploy than to illum inate the records w ritten by the action of our y ou th from all sections of the 'United .States in the* past year. Lee this record speak for itself. Starting w ith Labor D ay W eek-E nd in 1948 the record in ’huge letters spells successful gathering of over tw elve hundred A m erican-U krainian youth in Akron, Ohio for the E leventh N a tional Concention of the U krainian Y ou th ’s L eague of N orth A m er ica. H ighlight of this assem blage w as the M usic and D ance F estiv al w hich featured outstanding Ukrainian talent and brought acclaim ■as being one oi the :jinest concerts presented from all who w ere fortunate enough to w itness this Festival. Front page headlines in local A kron new spapers w ere m ade during the sessions Avhen our you th dem anded tjiat the flag of Soviet R ussia .be rem oved from the Convention Hall. i iiv. successful 'Ukrainian Catholic Y outh L eague C onvention lield in Buffalo, N. Y., in July, 1949. In chronological order, the next m ajor event follow ed in F eb ruary, 1949, w hen sport enthusiasts from Ohio and neighboring states congregated in Cleveland, Ohio., for the Ohio State L eague Sports Rally. Trophies w ere aw arded to w inners in bow ling and ping-pong w hile cham pions of the Ohio State L eague, the M ichig a n State L eague and the W estern Pennsylvania L eague com peted for top position in the. w estern basketball play-offs of the U Y L N A . E xperience has proven that the field of sports serves as an excep tionally good m edium of uniting our youth. The m onth of M ay, 1949, overflow ed w ith youth functions w ith each activity stressing a m ajor issue im portant to A m erican U k rainians. First cam e the m idw est R ally in D etroit, Mich., under the .auspices of the D etroit D istrict Council affiliated w ith the U Y L N A . T he large groups of people w ho journeyed to D etroit from as far East as N ew Y ork City and as far W est as Chicago participat ed in earnest during the sessions w hen organizational problem s w ere discussed to straighten the ties that bind A m erican U krain ian organizations on a national basis. A gain as in Akron, Ohio, the -older generation w ere astounded at the 'notew orthy concert pre sented by our-youth. Close on the heels of the M idw est R ally cam e the Second A n nual Convention of the Ukrainian A m erican V eterans in N ew ark, N. J. H ere questions relating to the problem s and future of the veterans w ere investigated. A nother successful convention; an other link in the long chain of Ukrainian youth organizations help ing to bind ever m ore securely youth from all sections of the country through the com m on ground of our heritage,. W hile the v'eterajis w ere busy strengthening these ties that bind in N ew ark over the M em orial D ay W &ek-End, in Cleveland the Ukrainian O rthodox L eague Avas holding its Second Annual •Convention, also. The delegates present wrere filled w ith eagerness to set up a w orthy youth organization w ith the accent placed on religion. Interm ingled w ith the V eteran and O rthodox Convention vas the greatly anticipated “Echoes of U kraine” held in NTew Y ork C ity and presented by the Ukrainian M etropolitan A rea C om m it tee at Carnegie Hall, M ay 29, 1949. I w ish I w ere the possessor of m agic w ings w hich could carry m e to all sections of the country to attend all conventions, rallies and concerts. These m agic w ings, if they w ere mine, w ould have flown m e to Carnegie Hall to w itness one of the reported out standing successes of the year. It is m y deepest regret that I w as unable to see the long publicized live horse in the tableau “T rium phal Entry of K hm elnitsky into K ie v /’ But even m ore, to have heard and to have seen the breath-taking “E choes” in its entire ty. Call it. boasting or w hat you will, but the fact rem ains that -our yQij-th contributed greatly to this event. By this tim e a rest w as needed for the conventioneers and so w e youth pleased our parents by staying at hom e and relaxing for three w eeks before w e traveled to Lake M ilton, O'hio, for the Y oungstow n U krainians’ Sum m er Festival. A t L ake M ilton w e AKRON JUNIOR LEAGUE PICNIC DAY “Please invite us again next year” w as the com m ent m ade by the fam ilies and friends of the A kron Junior L eague m em bers as they said goodbye reluctann- ly, leaving their places beside the bonfire follow ing a day of continuo us Гдасnic aciivitу . This annual gathering iield for the sheer enjoym ent of those w-ho take advantage of the opportun ity, began w ith a train of cars leaving the appointed m eeting place for Silver Lake. W aiting to greet the guests and instinct the unloading of the food, baseball equipm ent, placem ent of the croquet and badm inton sets, directing the fishing enthusiasts to unlock the boats, telling the sw im m ers w here to change into their suits, etc., w ere our hosts A ndy and M ary Dudra, w ho so graciously w elcom e us each year to this beautifdl Spot; Baseball team s Avere picked im m ediately and al though the gam e lasted all af ternoon, no one seem s to' know w hich team w on— both claim ed to have scored the greater num ber of runs. A peaceful lake, shading trees, and a spacious view offered a restful afternoon for those w h o w anted to do “no thing”. The tiny tots w ere treated to boat rides w hile the sw im m ers w ho w ere trying to touch bottom discovered upon “reaching shore that there w as no bottom to the lake! T he wind, a little stVong for the badm inton players kept them busy retriev ing the “bird” from the trees. W ith all of these people scat tered over several acres of land one w ould im agine it difficult to bring them together but w hen “ch ow ” w as announced the “ U k rainians cam e sw arm ing in like Cossacks on the m arch.” Then cam e the singing during the rest period after eating, but this did not last long. The Cleveland vis itors insisted everone looked too com fortable, and decided that one of the girls could w alk just as w'ell w ith only one shoe. So the gam e becam e “volley shoe” w ith the boys- on one. team and the. girls opposing team . W ith dark ness and a cpol breeze descend ing upon them , the group had to resign them selves to getting a little chum m ier by the bonfire while the younger children had the enjoym ent of roasting the m arsh m ellow s. Singing to the strains of accordion accom pani m ent faded into the .background as one by one the group bid their go Ad byes w ishing every Sunday w as “Junior L eague P ic nic D ay.” Olga Zepito* UKRAINIAN BANDURISTS* CHORUS TO TOUR In Soviet R ussia the U krain ian B andurists? Chorus w as the official State Chorus represent ing the Soviet U kraine for over tw o decades and yet Ukrainian people w ere not perm itted to hear them . T hey w ere utilized for propaganda -purposes,. per form ing before visiting foreign governm ent officials and repre sentatives*. Since a long tim e ago, this brave group had been subjected to horrors and tortures experi enced bv very fewr, • and yet> overcam e those obstacles and through determ ination and their terrific arrangem ents, becam e world fam ous. T hrough the efforts of the U nited Ukrainian A m erican R e lief C om m ittee, the Bandurists w^ere gathered in Europe and they now m ake their hom e in Detroit, M ichigan. N ow on tour throughout the U nited States and Canada, they will appear in Cleveland on O c tober 1, Д949, at the M asonic Temple. Auditorium . T hey are already booked to appear in Chicago, D etroit, Toronto, P itts burgh, Y oungstow n and Grand Rapids, just to nam e a few of the. cities. There will be m any m ore concerts in the U nited States, and Canada during this fall and w inter. Wallace Konecki, Manager, Editor’s address: Miss Helen Mural 2330 Denison Avenue Cleveland 9, Ohio sang Ukrainian songs as only Ukrainians can sing, danced the ko- lonreyka out in the open under the stars and later in the rain and had an all ground good tim e w ith nashee. stricty social event but none-the-less ‘im portantlink! T he U krainian Catholic Y outh L eague C onvention convened in July in Buffalo, N. Y .; the Ukrainian Youth L eague of N ew Jersey sponsored a U krainian Youth. D ay in Linden, N. J., July 30th, while the A m bridge Ukrainians held a sim ilar D ay in A m - bridge, Pa., in August. The fiscal year in review w as concluded, w ith the U Y L N A 12th Annual C onvention in Syracuse, N. Y. T hese are only the major affairs sponsored and supported by Ukrainian youth in the past year. Add to these state-w ide and national functions the hundreds of gatherings sponsored by all types of youth organizations on a local basis and it is easily seen that our youths are not idle; w e are uniting and inter-m ingling in ever increasing num bers: be it on a religious, cultural, forum , so cial or athletic basis. N o m atter w hat the purpose of the organiza tion. alw ays a w arm display in ACTION for our heritage. This is the record as it has been written, w ritten in A C T IO N .
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