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18 OUR LIFE • August 2026 ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ ВІДДІЛІВ І ЧЛЕНКИНЬ • BRANCH & MEMBER NEWS Branch 56 Celebrates Its 35th Anniversary and the UNWLA’s Centennial Patricia Zalisko , Press Secretary, Branch 56, North Port, FL Branch 56 in North Port, FL celebrated its 35th anni- versary and the centennial of the UNWLA in a gala on April 18 on the grounds of St. Mary’s Ukrainian Catho- lic Church in North Port. Chaired by long-time Soyu- zianka Lidia Bilous, the event included an ArtsFest and a formal banquet. The objective of Lidia Bilous’s committee was to fulfill the mission of the UNWLA in all the event’s activities. Those organizational purpos - es — culture, education, and providing humanitarian relief for Ukrainians and others around the world — are accomplished with outstanding teamwork guided by the UNWLA principles of religious tolerance, po - litical nonpartisanship, and respect for human rights. People attended the celebration from all regions of Florida and outside the state. All generations enjoyed participating in traditional Ukrainian arts and crafts: pottery throwing, making toys and games, designing traditional head wreaths, fashioning jewelry and mot - anka dolls, embroidering, painting pysanky, screen printing on aprons, and painting a nearly ten-foot- long collaborative polyptych composed of fourteen canvases. North Port City Commissioner Phil Stokes was among the honored guests at the ArtsFest. The brainchild for the polyptych was newer mem - ber Lyudmila (Mila) Vyshkvarok, whose daughter helped with the project. Mila, herself a photographer, took photos of the work in progress. The polyptych was mounted on an easel built to hold all fourteen panels so that guest artists could work on it. Guests donned aprons and, using paint brushes and palettes, lent their unique artistic voices to the piece. Coordination by Branch 56 members and by vol - unteers made the arts and crafts projects a success. These included Halyna Ravlyk, Olia Zarubayko, Yuli - ya Motriuk, Ivanka Olesnycky, Slata Motriuk, Nadiya Lasiychuk, Anatoly and Lesia Drobakha, Halia Ma- zurak, Oksana Piaseckyj, Vasyl Hrytskiv, Natallia Hro- miak, Daryna Vyshkvarok, and Nadia Kusch. More than 140 guests attended the sold-out ban - quet that followed the ArtsFest. Guests enjoyed a short film produced by the UNWLA on the eve of its centennial, highlighting the organization’s commit - ment to providing critically needed humanitarian, ed- ucational, and cultural aid to our ancestral homeland, Photo: Orest Bilous Photo: W. Zalisko Photo: Mila Vyshkvarok Photo: P. Zalisko
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