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26 WWW.UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ЧЕРВЕНЬ 2015 GREETINGS FROM PARADISE—NAPLES, FLORIDA, BRANCH 136 Branch 136 members and prospective members at the branch meeting in March: kneeling (L-R): Halya Fabbrica- tore and Darka Hirniak; stand- ing (L-R): Tatyana Barr, Olya Czerkas (co-Liaison BAL), Na- talka Santarsiero, Orysia Zinycz (co-Liaison BAL), Valia Dmitri, Dominica Annese, Luba Drahosz, and Halyna Traversa Young; back row (L-R): Victoria Volkhova, Luba Marino, Natalia Sumyk, Olenka Kukushkin, Larissa Wychrij, Yulia Oparista, Orysia Atanowsky, and Orysia Shewchuk. Dear UNWLA Sisters, It is with great pleasure that I am able to say that the ‘Spirit of Ukraine’ has extended into Naples, Estero, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, and Ft. Myers, Florida. Since there is no Ukrainian church or community center in this area it took a while for us to discover one another. It happened primarily through word of mouth, as more and more Ukrainians were moving to Florida from the north. On March 8, 2014, approximately 25 Ukrainian women gathered together at the Bonita Bay home of Lidia Devonshire for a social lunch- eon which was hosted by Lidia and her cousin, Anna Macielinski, then UNWLA 2nd Vice Presi- dent for Membership and Organizational Affairs. Those of us who attended were primarily retired and living either full-time or part-time in south- west Florida, but coming from Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and New York. It was so nice to socialize and meet other Ukrainians! It was at this gathering and with the en- couragement of Anna Macielinski that the idea of forming a new branch of the UNWLA appeared. Our excitement about being able to connect with other Ukrainian women and support a much greater cause made it easy to say ‘yes’ when a formal vote was taken to create Branch 136 of Na- ples, Florida. On March 12, 2014, The National Execu- tive Committee of the UNWLA granted the branch a Membership Charter. The officers elected at this time were: Na- talie Santarsiero, President; Larisa Wychryj, Vice President; Tanya Hursky, Recording Secretary; Valia Dimitri, Correspond- ing Secretary; and Lidia Devonshire, Treasurer. At our first official meeting in April, Halyna Tra- versa Young was elected Membership Chair and Luba Drahosz Archives Chair. Lidia Devonshire also took on the position of a Scholarship Chair and Valia Dimitri that of Press Secretary. Currently, our branch consists of very en- thusiastic members, 15 primary and 3 secondary, of whom 12 live here full time, and 6 are ‘snow- birds’. Our members are very accomplished wom- en. Among them are lawyers, teachers, a judge, a professor, pharmacists, a motivational speaker, artists, mothers and homemakers—all strong and dedicated women with a purpose. We meet monthly, but only January through May because so many of our members are not here in the summer or fall. However, despite our limited time together, we have accomplished much since our recent inception. We are ready to make an impact on this community for Ukraine. In our effort to promote our culture and create a strong awareness in the Naples commu- nity regarding the current state of affairs in Ukraine, we have already been in the local news 3 times. In January, Katie Eagan, reporter for The Naples Daily News , came to our meeting with a photographer; she interviewed and recorded many of us regarding our Ukrainian heritage. She learned a great deal about Ukrainian history and the truth about the current war and political cri- sis. She wrote a great full-page article (with beau- tiful photos) about us and our newly formed branch. The next month 28 women showed up at our meeting. We were thrilled to see all the new
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