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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЧЕРВЕНЬ 201 3 WWW. UNWLA.ORG 15 These past few weeks have produced a m- bivalent emotions and feelings for me — thoughts filled with pride but also deep concern and fru s- tration. The Ukrainian Easter season is one in which our Ukrainian roots and traditions shine the brightest — the Easter Mass is filled with ma j- esty, pomp, and solemn ecclesiastic rituals; the Holy Week leading up to the Easter Sunday Mass includes numerous services replete with d eep spirituality and in trospection; and let us not fo r- get the wonderful smell of the paska as it exits the oven! We so often take for granted the defining moments of these times. But a time will come when we will long to grasp these memories, taste the pas ka on our tongues, and feel the comforting embrace of tradition and national pride . In this wonderful season of Easter accor d- ing to the Julian calendar, some disturbing tidbits of community news surfaced in the New York City area. On April 12 - 13, 2013, th e Annual Meeting of the General Assembly of the Providence Associ a- tion of Ukrainian Catholics decided to close down the newspaper America on May 4, 2013, due to the high costs of sustaining it. In addition, The Ukrainian Weekly , which will celebrate the 80 th anniversary of its first issue in October, will be converting to digital format only. Both of these landmark newspapers state that economic real i- ties have brought them to these very difficult d e- cisions. The informational landscape of the bili n- gual and E nglish - speaking Ukrainian America is rapidly changing. At about the same time, it became public knowledge that the annual St. George (7th Street) Festival had come very close to not being held, until several community leaders spearheaded an appeal for its continuation. Following this di s- turbing news, it was announced that the grade school of the only full - time Ukrainian school in Manhattan was closing this June due to low e n- rollment. Will this dramatic step cascade into a series of other closures, which mi ght erase t he presence of Ukrainians in the East Village and therefore in New York City? Once the grade school closes, is the high school next? And will the sale of the building follow? And if indeed the building is eventually sold or rented, will this mea n that Ukrainian Saturday school and Ukrai n- ian dance lessons will become homeless? And if this occurs, and the traffic of Ukrainian young families in the East Village becomes minimal, how then will this affect church attendance? How does this pattern of ev ents affect the Ukrainian profile in one of the largest cities in the United States — a city which has been vibrant with Ukrainian activ i- ties, festivals, youth organizations, etc.? Perhaps my spiralin g predictions border on panic — but perhaps they are also a wake - up call. For only if we look into the future, rather than merely worr y- ing about today’s economic challenges, will we see that we are in danger of losing our comforting embrace of tradition and pride. The May 5th issue of The Ukrainian Weekly contains calendars of summer festivals — “A Ukrainian Summer: where to go, what to do....” and has pages of summer camp write - ups across the United States and Canada. How wonderful to see that our children and grandchildren can exp e- rience that comforting embrace of tr adition and pride ! But is this where it ends, or are we ensu r- ing that experiences such as these are available year - round? And are these activities (music, dance, youth organizations, etc.) still part of a v i- brant Ukrainian community and neighborhood? Are w e actively engaging in our communities to ensure that a Ukrainian community, both social and religious, lives, that the Ukrainian spirit lives? Are we being proactive , or is passivity pr e- vailing? Is it winning? If the latter is true, the i m- portant question is why? And how do we fix this malaise? Can we fix this malaise? Do we want to fix this malaise? Each of us should assess our role in this quagmire . How much does the saving of our o r- ganizations, our communities mean to us? Let us engage in active discussion to this end — let us i n- vite our young adults to participate and listen to what they have to say. On April 13th, a Commun i- ty Development Workshop was held in Toronto, Canada. It was entitled “Stronger Communities through Stronger Organizations: Add ressing the Challenges, Sharing the Successes.” Such open discussions are, I believe, the only method for us to exami ne where we are today, where we would like to be in the future, and the path to get there. However, these forums will only work if all our organizations work together — putting aside pe r- sonal views, personal ambitions. Can we do this to ensure the future of that comforting embrace of Ukrainian tradition and pride — the traditions and pride which our forefathers rooted in the United States and whi ch it is our duty to preserve for the future? Although I am addressing this i s-
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