Ukrainian American Club meets tonight

    The Ukrainian American Club of Southwest Florida, headed by Daria Tomashosky of North Port, will hold its first postvacation membership meeting at 6 p.m., at St. Andrew’s Ukrainian Religious and Cultural Center, known as the “Oseredok.” Following the customary reports of officers and committee chairs, members will be presented several important issues for discussion and approval, including participation in the North Port Library “Prime Time Reading Program,” a pantry/homeless project, planning for the traditional and very popular Christmas dinner, and others.

    At the end of the meeting there will be an interesting presentation of our member Natalie Sluzar of North Port about her very recent visit to Ukraine.

    The club’s Executive Committee met on Sept. 16 at the Oseredok to hear officers’ reports, including the last meeting’s minutes and financial report, and to plan for tonight’s meeting and for the next several monthly meetings. Chaired by president Daria, members discussed the status of the club’s website, the Prime Time Reading Program (presented by president Daria), pantry/homeless project (presented by Halya Lisnyczyj), “didusi” (grandfathers assistance, presented by Lieda Boyko), tapestry project (presented by Klara Szpiczka), and the Scholarship Committee report by chair professor Victor Lisnyczyj. Also discussed were the Christmas dinner to be held in December, Scholarship Awards luncheon to be held in March 2015, and a list of speakers for the upcoming meetings. Some of these items will be presented for discussion at tonight’s meeting. Some initiatives will require members’ approval.

    Meetings and activities of the Ukrainian American Club, other than Executive Board meetings, are open to the public, including nonmembers and potential members. All business and meetings are conducted in English. Membership in the club is open to all.

    Jewish High Holy Days

    My wife Katrusia and I wish all our Jewish friends and neighbors here in Southwest Florida and in the greater New York City area happy and healthy Holy Days.

    Rosh Hashana, the beginning of the new Jewish year 5775, to be observed beginning at sundown tonight, is the first day of the High Holy Days or Days of Awe, the most holy time of the Jewish calendar year. This sacred time will end on Yom Kippur, or the Day of Atonement, at sundown on Oct. 4.

    In my native village Yakubova Volya (Jacob’s freedom) in Ukraine, there were only three Jewish families out of approximately 250 households prior to World War II. All others were Ukrainians, all nominally of Greek-Catholic faith. I remember that my family and most of our neighbors did everything possible not to engage in any noisy labor, such as chopping wood, during the Holy Days, in respect of our Jewish neighbors.

    Sadly, as a result of several “liberations” by invading Nazi Germany and Communist Russia, there are no Jewish families in the village nor are there any of approximately 180 families, including my own family and my aunts and uncles, who got killed or deported to Siberia by the “liberators.”

    Atanas Kobryn covers the Ukrainian community for the North Port Sun. He can be emailed at atanask@aol.com

Our Neighbors — The Ukrainians

by Atanas Kobryn