BOOK NOTE: 75th anniversary history of Chornomorska Sitch
PARSIPPANY, N.J. - Seventy-five years ago, immigrants dedicated to the defense of Ukraine politically and to athletic competition united in the creation of Chornomorska Sitch. The history of this Ukrainian American sports association now has been chronicled in "Ukrainian Sitch: A History (1924-1999)" by Omelan Twardowsky and Orest Popovych.
The organization's initial objectives were to provide a social group for its members, while preparing them physically, through sports and paramilitary training, for a possible return to Ukraine to defend against foreign occupiers. Over the years, Sitch has continually evolved. During World War II the association provided Ukrainians with financial aid. In the 1970s the organization was exceptionally politically active, particularly in the struggle to free Valentyn Moroz.
The summer of 1970 marked the first year of the Sitch Sports School, an annual four-week summer camp, held at the Ukrainian Fraternal Association's Verkhovyna estate in Glen Spey, N.Y. Today Sitch plays a leading role in the swimming and tennis championships held at Soyuzivka.
In recent years the club has provided funding to Ukrainian Olympic teams. Sitch funded the 1994 Ukrainian Olympic team's travel to Lillehammer, Norway; it purchased modern gymnastics equipment in 1996; and subsidized Ukraine's bobsledders and the sports media in Kyiv.
The leather-bound hard-cover book contains 416 pages - three-fourths of which present a detailed history in Ukrainian, while the remaining pages offer a thorough summation of Sitch's history in English. Black-and-white photos of past Sitch members and competitors abound with captions in both English and Ukrainian. The book also includes the records of various sport seasons.
A copy can be obtained by sending a $20 U.S. check or money order (price includes postage) to: U.E.A.U.-Chornomorska Sitch, 680 Sanford Ave., Newark, NJ 07106.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, August 22, 1999, No. 34, Vol. LXVII
| Home Page |