NEWS AND VIEWS: Re: reasons for the doom of Ukrainian Festival U.S.A. (06/06/99)

NEWS AND VIEWS

Re: reasons for the doom of Ukrainian Festival U.S.A.

by Stan Jakubowycz

Each time I travel on the Garden State Parkway, I reminisce with great sadness and anger about the absence of the Ukrainian Festival U.S.A. from the Garden State Arts Center, now known as the PNC Bank Arts Center. My sadness and anger has prompted me to tell our Ukrainian community why we no longer have our festival.

I certainly hope that it was not replaced by the event in Cedar Knolls, N.J., which, according to several attendees, was more like a picnic for local community.

Yes, our festival was truly a showcase - not only for the residents of N.J., but for the residents of the entire U.S. as well as Canada. From the early 1970s into the mid-1980s, our festivals were the envy of other ethnic Americans, as well as non-hyphenated Americans. Our festival was hailed as a "Broadway spectacle" by both Ukrainian and non-Ukrainian attendees.

Oh, how proud we were serving on the committee, year after year. It was hard work, but well worth it. I distinctly remember when I was in Georgia after Ronald Reagan's (the former governor was then a presidential candidate) visit to our festival, how many locals asked "where is Ukraine?" and commented on the beauty of Ukrainian culture. Even the customary Ukrainian petty squabbles, couldn't overcome my pride.

Now it is all gone! Why? Because of our inherent selfishness, greed and plain stupidity, and petty Ukrainian politics by a few Ukrainian "leaders."

Last year readers of The Weekly learned from Luba Z. Siryj why we no longer have our festival. Some were reasons, some were excuses. Some of them may have been valid, but she failed to mentioned the real reasons: the failings and the greed of some of the members of the New Jersey Coordinating Council of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (NJCC-UCCA) as well as the festival committees from 1987 and thereafter. The last decently attended festival was in 1986. Thereafter, the festivals got progressively worse, as evidenced by the poorer and poorer attendance. Professionalism was replaced by the amateurism of local talent as the NJCCA-UCCA wanted to make more money by hiring local talent. One member of the committee boasted after the 1986 festival that the NJCC-UCCA made much more money then ever before. The greed overshadowed the purpose of our festivals.

Ms. Siryj pointed the change of date from June to September as one of the reasons for the Ukrainian Festival's decline. However, she failed to mention the reason for the change. It was not the New Jersey Highway Authority that changed the date, as we were led to believe. In fact, according to my sources, it was the committee that changed the date because it failed to get the program ready on time. I remember fighting for the June date because every other ethnic festival wanted it. Shame on the NJCC-UCCA and the festival committee for failing our Ukrainian community.

Ms. Siryj blamed the apathy of the public and poor attendance. Of course, the public wouldn't support programs consisting of over-exposed local talent - no matter how good this talent may have been - and at the same time, absorb the constant increase in ticket costs.

Yes, she is right about the New Jersey Highway Authority's constant efforts to discourage festivals that did not make money. That has always been the case. She fails to mention that while the Highway Authority may have been losing money, the NJCC-UCCA, on the other hand, was making money from the festivals and, especially, from the dances. There could have been, and should have been, a compromise. All one had to do is show just a small profit. Unfortunately, the NJCC-UCCA wasn't about to part with a few dollars to save the festival.

I also wanted to blame the Ukrainian press/media, however, I have since found out why our press, most notably The Ukrainian Weekly and Svoboda, did not aggressively report to its readers the importance of the Ukrainian Festival U.S.A., as they have done in the past: the advertising in the press was minimized to one or two ads per festival. Effective advertising is the key to success. Similarly, press releases were reduced to a minimum and the courtesies of the press passes were not extended to these newspapers, as was done during the earlier years of the festivals.

I will, however, put some blame on the Ukrainian news media for not blasting the NJCCA-UCCA for neglecting the festivals and for failing to see the slow demise of our festivals. When I say the news media, I do not refer only to The Ukrainian Weekly or Svoboda, I also refer to several other Ukrainian publications. They, too, must contribute to the health of our Ukrainian community.

Furthermore, most of the blame for the demise of the Ukrainian Festival must be placed on the leaders of various Ukrainian American organizations, who just sat on the sidelines and did nothing. Being the leaders, their responsibility was to step in because the festival was not only the UCCA's - it belonged to the Ukrainian community as a whole. There was no room for petty Ukrainian politics, and our typical show of jealousy. However, I place the bulk of the blame on the NJCC-UCCA and its branches.

Now with regard to the monetary issue: When I left the committee in 1986, to the best of my recollection, the NJCC-UCCA should have had around $35,000 in the treasury from the annual festivals and dances. During my 14 years of involvement, I don't remember ever using any of this money to support the festivals, although we had every right to do so.

Ms. Siryj mentioned that during recent years the Highway Authority had put more pressure on the entertainment budget. That is nothing new, but we were able to negotiate harder each time. Assuming that Ms. Siryj is correct, why didn't she request financial support from the NJCC-UCCA? After all, the money was earned by the respective festival committees. Since1986 the $35,000 should have grown considerably as a result of successive festivals and dances, as well as from interest. In 1986 one of the members on the festival committee claimed that year's festival committee had made much more money than in previous years. If that is so, where is the money? Between 1986 and 1989, the NJCC-UCCA, on one hand, raised ticket prices by approximately 30 percent and on the other hand, reduced the talent costs by using local talent. That $35,000 in 1986, plus higher profits for the next 12 years, plus interest, should amount to a lofty sum in 1997. Why weren't these funds used to save the festival?

I think the public, especially the committee members, have a right to know. If these funds were used for recognized Ukrainian causes, then the NJCC-UCCA should proudly disclose these donations. I think full disclosure is in order.

I have used some very strong words referring to the festival committees and to the NJCC-UCCA. I apologize to those individuals who have honestly worked very hard on festival committees even as the ship was sinking. There are a number individuals with whom I had the distinct pleasure of working as they worked tirelessly to preserve our beautiful culture. Unfortunately, some of their leaders were not as sincerely dedicated.

I firmly believe that the Ukrainian Festival U.S.A. can be resurrected at the PNC Arts Center. I am certain there are many qualified people who cherish our culture above politics, and who will strive for professionalism rather than cronyism.

Stan Jakubowycz is former general chairman and consultant to the Ukrainian Festival U.S.A.

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