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“НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ГРУДЕНЬ 2019 WWW. UNWLA.ORG 11 Wrapping Up 2019 ______________________________________ Heading for the end of the year, I stepped back from the daily grind and the seasonal hustle and bustle to reflect on people, places and events that have touched my life during a busy past few months. The first of these involved a September excursion to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, an excursion organized by UASCA (Ukrainian American Senior Citizens Association) of which I am a card - carrying member. The gro up gathered at the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center (UECC) early on a Tuesday mor ning, boarded a bus, and headed for our destination. This was not my first trip to see Lady Liberty — my first visit was with a group of Philadelphia’s UNWLA members, w hich included my mother. I was a pre - teen at the time and not much interested in the trip or in the company; the only other young person in the group was a teenager named Luba who seemed comfort- able with the age gap in both directions. One thing I clearly remember was the attire of all the ladies who were part of this group — each wore a dress or a nice blouse and skirt and nice shoes (predomi- nately high heels). A few had hats and gloves to match. Fast forward to 2019. Most of us who trav- eled to these sites this year chose comfort over style: casual slacks and sneakers mode. Stylistic considerati ons aside, it was a fun trip that ended with a nice dinner and a songfest on the bus ride back to the UECC. It started with a “thank you” song for the bus driver and then continued the rest of the way home, a phenomenon that I have always enjoyed and have always associated with being part of my Ukrainian roots. The second event in this saga was the Oc- tober 6 pilgrimage hosted by the Sisters of the Or- der of St. Basil t he Great, the 88th pilgrimage that the Sisters have held over the decades. It is an event that provides spiritual and intellectual stim- ulation, an opportunity to reconnect with friends and time to enjoy an array of tasty traditional Ukrainian foods. I enjo yed chatting with a few of the Sisters I had worked with while teaching at St. Basil Acade my; we reminisced about some of the students and other faculty members over coffee and pastry. An early appointment prevented me from attending a lecture about Ukrain ian immi- grants, which was presented at the Basilian Spirit- uality Center. I also missed a t radition I have al- ways enjoyed: the blessing of the buses and cars of pilgrims as they venture home. I did manage to buy a pile of holubtsi before leaving; I kept hal f for my- self and presented the other half to my neighbors who are not Ukrainian but love h olubtsi and call them pigeons. The third event, held at the Ukrainian Ed- ucational Cultural Center on October 12, was a cel- ebration of the 75th anniversary of the Uni ted Ukrainian American Relief Committee, which has been an integral and indispensable part of the Ukrainian immigrant community in manifold ways. The program included a historical overview of the organization’s early work as a nonpolitical entity created t o help WWII - era Ukrainian refu- gees survive the DP camps and emigrate to free- dom, a synopsi s of more recent endeavors that fo- cus on the needs of more recent Ukrainian immi- grants, and information about endeavors to help Ukrainians in contemporary Ukraine. Am ong the speakers was the current president of the organi- zation, Dr. Laryssa Kyj. A musical com ponent of the program was provided by members of the Ukrainian male chorus Prometheus (Promytei). Many of those attending as guests sha red their im- migration sto ries with table mates — an interesting array of sad and funny tales about adjusting to a str ange land, learning a strange language and strange customs, journeys from poverty and un- certainty to security and prosperity, often with the assistance of the UUARC a nd/or other organiza- tions that emerged and flourished in the commu- nity. The fourth event in this collage pertains to another event held at the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center and was presented by Marie Duplak, owner and sole proprietor of Comput o - print and an integral part of the team that helps produce Our Life magazine. A member at large of the UNWLA, she is also an active member of the Ukrainian community of Passaic, N.J., and be- yond. What many of our readers probably do not know is that Ms. Duplak was born in Syanok, a Ukrainian town situated in a region that has en- dured heartbrea k and conflict and subjugation by a neighboring power, in this case Poland. Since 1980 Ms. Duplak has served as president of the Passaic, N.J. branch of the Organization of Lemko Western Ukraine (ODLWU). She has also served as nationa l president of ODLWU ( 1983 – 1999) and is the editor of the periodical Lemkivshchyna . Since 2000 Mrs. Duplak has served as executive se cre- tary of the national Executive board of UCCA; she currently serves as president of the Passaic branch
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