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26 WWW.UNWLA.ORG “НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, БЕРЕЗЕНЬ 2015 The Ukrainian display at the 2nd Annual Kingston Block Party. BRANCH 95 PARTICIPATES IN A MULTICULTURAL BLOCK PARTY by Marianna Szczawinsky Crans UNWLA Branch 95 (Mid-Hudson Region, New York) has always been ac- tive in promoting Ukrainian cultural her- itage through our participation in ARTS Mid-Hudson’s Folk Arts Program, which is funded by the New York Council for the Arts. Through our friendship with Polly Ade- ma, Folklorist and Folk Arts Program Director with ARTS Mid-Hudson, we receive invitations for their events and also hear about other happen- ings of interest to our organization. Such was the case with the 2nd Annual Kingston Block Party, which was held on June 8, 2014, in Kingston, New York. This multicultural celebration was or- ganized by the Reher Center for Immigrant Cul- ture and History, which is just one block north of the block party venue. The owners of the Center, Geoff and Harriet Miller, had reached out to Polly for event planning advice and to find interested local cultural groups. Our branch heartily agreed to participate, and since I live in Kingston, I agreed to attend the planning meetings for the event. The event was held at T.R. Gallo Park in the Strand Area of downtown Kingston. This wa- terfront area is where the Roundout Creek meets the Hudson River and in past centuries was the port in Kingston for all waterborne transport and transportation. It was a hub of activity through the Industrial Age with its local ice houses, brick- yards, and cement companies and a transport hub for bluestone and coal barges from nearby quar- ries and mines of neighboring states. Because of all this industry, it also became the center of local immigrant communities as they settled in the sur- rounding streets. It is their cultural history that the Reher Center is trying to preserve. The Millers are currently restoring an old bakery that now houses the center and hope to compile a historical cultural archive of the area in the future. Being that we have a Ukrainian community locally in Kerhonkson, I am sure that we will be asked to be included in this historical archive just as they asked us to participate in the Multicultural Block Party. The purpose of the block party was to share and learn about diverse local cultures: in particular, their histories, their customs, their foods, and their various art forms, such as music and dance. The participating groups and their cul- tural expressions were varied: Native American drumming and singing, Scottish bagpipes, Irish step dancers, Mid-Hudson Japanese Community Association Tanabata customs, Männerchor und Damenchor German folk dancing, Eastern Euro- pean Jewish Klezmer music, African drumming, Hellenic Greek dance troupe, Argentinean folk guitarist playing Latin favorites, Progressive Bap- tist Church dance troupe, Bruderhof Choir singing American folk songs, and of course, our Ker- honkson Ukrainian dancers. The highlight of the block party was the continuous performances by these groups throughout the afternoon. The differ- ent types of music and dance were intoxicating, and spontaneous dancing broke out often among the crowd along with cheering and applause. Hear- ing “Amazing Grace” sung in Cherokee was also a unique experience. Because the block party was billed as a family-oriented event, we were encouraged to make visual displays for all visitors and activities for children. We displayed information about who we are as Ukrainians, our country and regions, our local community, our history, and our various art forms such as pysanky, embroidery, regional dress, Trypillian pottery, musical instruments, and dance. Other cultural groups also had de- monstrations and hands-on activities including spin art, face painting, writing wishes to tie on the Tanabata Festival Bamboo, learning to make pi- ñatas, and breaking a large community piñata during the event. What we did for our children’s activity is enlarge and print photos of our em- broidery and make them into bookmarks on
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