Part of North Port history for 20 years

One of the first contacts made after my wife, Katrusia, and I arrived in North Port in 1995, in addition to our church, was the Kiwanis Club of North Port. Having been a member of the Kiwanis clubs since 1968 — Kiwanis Club of Buffalo, N.Y.; Kiwanis Club of Staten Island, N.Y. (also serving as president), and Mid-Island Staten Island Kiwanis Club (serving as charter secretary) — it was only natural for me to become a member of the oldest Kiwanis Club in North Port. During one of the luncheon meetings in May, 1996, Club past president Marshall Grove, then North Port Sun editor, after learning that I was from Ukraine, asked me if I could write a column or two for the Sun about the large number of Ukrainians in North Port and vicinity, about whom little was known. Not having a good excuse why I could not do it, I agreed and wrote a column describing some aspects of Ukraine and Ukrainians, touching upon customs, religious confessions, etc.
The column was published the first Wednesday in June, 1996.
According to Marshall Grove he got many telephone calls approving of the column and requesting more information. Even though I agreed originally to write only one or two columns, I could not say no to writing “a few more.” The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
In addition to providing the North Port area some basic information about people who call themselves Ukrainians, their country of origin, arrival in America, where in their religious and cultural centers are and more, the column recorded the activities and events in the local Ukrainian American community.
These included advance notice of commemoration of historic events, such as Ukraine’s Independence, the Chernobyl Disaster and Holodomor (Murder by Hunger), dinner/ dances, concerts and other events.
Some events were similar to those in other Ukrainian American communities, but there were exceptions.
There was a visit in February, 1998, of the Honorable Hennadiy Udovenko, president of 52nd Session of the United Nations, and minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
In March, 1998 there was a visit of Ukraine’s Ambassador to the United States, Dr. Yuri Shcherbak.
Both visits were duly reported in the column.
There were other visits of Ukrainian VIP’s, such as world-renowned composer Myroslav Skoryk, rector of Ukrainian Catholic University in L’viv (the only Catholic university in the territory of the former Soviet Union); the Rev. Dr. Borys Gudziak, and many lesser officials, correspondents and artists.
A historic event took place Nov. 1, 1998, at the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God (St.Mary’s) Ukrainian Catholic Church.
It was the first time that four married deacons were ordained to be Catholic priests on the North American continent. The Ukrainian churches, both Catholic and Orthodox, follow the Eastern tradition of ordaining married men to be priests (men have to be married before the ordination. Once ordained, a single priest cannot marry, nor the widowed priest remarry). In 1929, at the request of the Roman Catholic bishops of the United States, who claimed married clergy of the Eastern Catholic Churches have a “demoralizing influence” on the celibate Roman Catholic clergy, the Vatican forbade ordination and deployment of already functioning married Ukrainian clergy in the western hemisphere.
Nov. 1, 1998, began the new era.


Our Neighbors — The Ukrainians
by Atanas Kobryn (atanask@aol.com)