Soyuzivka closes season with athletics, concerts and fireworks (09/08/96)

Soyuzivka closes season with athletics, concerts and fireworks

by Serhiy Myroniuk
Special to The Ukrainian Weekly

KERHONKSON, N.Y. - Soyuzivka, the Ukrainian National Association's Catskill resort, made its farewells to the summer season with a three-day festival that concluded on Labor Day, September 2.

Dedicated to the fifth anniversary of Ukraine's independence and the successful debut of the Ukrainian Olympic Team in Atlanta, the celebration included speeches, sports, music, songs and dancing.

The mood for the festivities was set by Vyacheslav Chornovil, a people's deputy and chairman of the Rukh political party, as he delivered a speech to a 130-strong audience in the Veselka Auditorium on Saturday morning, August 31.

"After five years of independence, no one has any doubts about independent Ukraine," said Mr. Chornovil, who used to be a political prisoner during the Soviet era. "Ukraine will always be. This is the first consequence of this anniversary, and I congratulate you on this."

The audience was generous in giving applause during his 50-minute, fast-paced and emotional speech on Ukraine's achievements of the past five years. Described by UNA President Ulana Diachuk as one of the brightest personalities in the revival of the Ukrainian state, Mr. Chornovil also spoke about the new Constitution.

His wife, Atena Pashko, a poet and the chairwoman of the Ukrainian Women's Union in Ukraine, was greeted with no less an ovation as she read her poem dedicated to the Ukrainian woman in Soviet labor camps.

Meanwhile, a swimming competition went on in the pool outside the Veselka Auditorium. Next to it volleyball teams played surrounded by Bacardi rum posters. In the afternoon, a tennis tournament was officially opened with the raising of the U.S., Canadian and Ukrainian flags.

"This year competition is unusual because this is the Olympic year," said Olena Halkowycz, a swimming referee from the Ukrainian American Youth Association (SUM-A). "Ukraine competed in the Olympics, and this keeps our Ukrainian American spirit up."

During the opening ceremony of the tennis tournament Myron Stebelsky, U.S. chairman of the Ukrainian Sports Federation of the USA and Canada, said Ukraine surprised all Ukrainian Americans by winning 23 medals and joining the top 10 nations.

The majority of Soyuzivka guests, however, preferred to stay on the Veselka Terrace where Darka and Slavko of New York performed Ukrainian rock, blues and jazz songs.

That evening the dance ensemble Rozmay of Winnipeg entertained an audience in the Veselka Auditorium, and Oleksa Kerekesha of Fata Morgana gave a solo performance of Ukrainian ballads.

The next day Rozmay dancers once again entertained Soyuzivka guests on the Veselka Terrace under the hot sun. The resort house band, Lvivyany, was also a big attraction.

Singing for Soyuzivka guests for the past three years, Lvivyany has developed a special bond with them. As part of their program they played a "kolomiyka" and three young men from the audience danced to it, which stirred applause and cheering on the terrace.

"We want to dance all the time. It's Labor Day. We have fun together," said the three dancers afterwards. Peter Fil, 22; Andrij Dobriansky, 19; and Danylo Dobriansky, 18, are members of the Syzokryli dance ensemble, and they never miss a chance to show their skills.

The last performer of the day (and the whole season) was Tamara Gorsky, an actress and singer. In the evening, she performed Ukrainian songs in the Veselka Auditorium in her improvised blues and jazz style and recited poems by Ukrainian national bard Taras Shevchenko.

Dancing parties that usually ended in the early morning were probably the biggest attraction for all guests, but especially for the young ones. And there was a choice: Tempo, Fata Morgana, Luna and Lvivyany played alternately on the terrace and in the auditorium.

After the tennis winners received their trophies, the flags were lowered, and the celebration was officially over.

But the guests took the memories with them. They also left something behind.

"Every season we leave a part of our heart here at Soyuzivka," said soloist and director of Lvivyany, Volodymyr Tsimura.