With a little help from its friends, Batkivschyna steals the show in Connecticut (08/20/00)

With a little help from its friends, Batkivschyna steals the show in Connecticut

by Alexander Kuzma

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Between July 11 and 15 the newly renovated State Pier here became the site of the largest gathering of tall ships and sailing vessels in U.S. history. According to some newspaper accounts and naval historians, the festival known as OpSail 2000 brought together more tall ships than the Spanish Armada.

At the center of the celebration in Connecticut was the Ukrainian gaff schooner Batkivschyna, which captured the headlines and the hearts of thousands of Americans who traveled from as far as California, Alabama and Florida to witness the five-day spectacle.

By some estimates, OpSail 2000 attracted over a million visitors, and thousands were drawn by the extensive press coverage devoted to the harrowing journey of the Batkivschyna, which crossed the Black Sea, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean with little in the way of navigational instruments or modern technology.

Compared to the spectacular South American frigates that docked near her on the Thames River, the Batkivschyna was small and nondescript. Yet the Ukrainian vessel was never overshadowed by Chile's Esmeralda, Argentina's Libertad Colombia's Gloria, or any number of impressive sailing ships that towered over the modest schooner. It was precisely its small size and its low profile that awed many sailing experts.

"I can't imagine the amount of courage and skill and sheer audacity, it took to cross the Atlantic in this tiny boat," said one admirer, echoing the sentiments of many passers-by who boarded the vessel and visited its cramped quarters below.

The Ukrainian ship was dubbed "The Sweetheart of OpSail" by the New Britain Herald, and the legendary voyage and the "never say die" attitude of its crew led many to compare its tale to the classic story of "The Little Engine That Could."

"This ship has come to symbolize the toughness and resiliency of the Ukrainian people," said Oleh Weselyj of Marlborough, Conn., one of several local activists who lent his support to the publicity campaign surrounding the Batkivschyna.

The schooner's arrival was greeted with a gala reception on July 11 at the Morton House, overlooking the picturesque Niantic harbor. Hundreds of supporters from across the state took part, and the story of the Batkivschyna became a catalyst for an energetic grassroots organizing drive among several small Ukrainian communities in Southern Connecticut and Rhode Island.

A coordinating committee led by Steve Femiak, Bohdan Les and Mike Lamperelli worked with local businesses and government leaders to maximize the visibility of the Ukrainian presence at OpSail. Beginning with a front-page feature in The New York Times, their efforts culminated in a four-hour-long radio program broadcast aboard the Batkivschyna hosted by one of Connecticut's most venerable talk show hosts - Brad Davis of WDRC. The Friday morning broadcast on July 14 featured special guests Gov. John Rowland and First Lady Patty Rowland, Mayor Ronald Nossek of New London, as well as retired Gen. David Gay, the commander and chief operating officer for OpSail 2000.

Interspersed between the governor's interview were numerous musical interludes provided by Petro Vashchyk, a member of the Batkivschyna crew who is also a historical re-enactor of the Zaporozhian Kozak era, and a virtuoso on several Ukrainian folk instruments. Spurred on by an enthusiastic response from his usually drowsy early morning radio audience, Mr. Davis repeatedly asked Mr. Vashchyk to sing more traditional Ukrainian folk songs. And Mr. Vashchyk obliged with rousing Kozak battle hymns and playful romantic tunes, including a "kolomyika" limerick he composed especially for the governor and his wife.

On a more serious note, Gov. Rowland hailed the cultural vitality of Connecticut's Ukrainian community, and he especially praised the work of the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund that has launched 25 airlifts and delivered more than $45 million worth of medical aid to Ukraine. Gov. Rowland cited the CCRF's success in reducing infant mortality and in combating children's cancer in several hospitals in Ukraine, and he pledged his support to further strengthen the fund's humanitarian mission.

Following the morning talk show, the governor and Mrs. Rowland took time to visit the special exhibit of Ukrainian folk art designed by the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Center of New Haven, coordinated by Gloria and Donald Horbaty, Maria Antonyshyn, Irene Hladkyj and a large brigade of volunteers.

Adjacent to the Ukrainian exhibit, the Children of Chornobyl Relief Fund raised thousands of dollars for the fund's sixth neonatal intensive care unit. (The newest installation is scheduled to begin in Rivne this fall.)

Later in the afternoon, the focus on Ukraine continued with performances by the Zolotyi Promin Children's Dance Ensemble under the direction of Orlando Pagan, the Hartford-based Yevshan Ukrainian Folk Choir and the Ukraina Dance Company of Toronto.

The Ukrainian component of OpSail 2000 received extensive and repeated coverage on at least three of Connecticut's evening television news programs: WFSB-Channel 3; WVIT-Channel 30, and WTIC-Channel 61 (Connecticut's CBS, NBC and FOX affiliates, respectively).

At the conclusion of the on-stage performances, an impromptu songfest ensued at the Batkivschyna dock with members of the Yevshan choir joining Mr. Vashchyk and a trio of bandurists regaling a large audience with rowdy folk songs.

Throughout the four-day festival Ukrainian activists mingled with and distributed literature to thousands of visitors eager to find out more about Ukraine and to learn more about the little ship that defied all the odds to participate in the OpSail extravaganza. Ukraine's Black Sea Kozak tradition became part of the fabric of the OpSail tapestry, as fully integrated as Irish sea chanties and re-enactments of pirate raids.

When it was all over, the crew of the Batkivschyna and scores of volunteers from the small Ukrainian parishes of Colchester, Willimantic and Norwich had demonstrated that even small communities can have a powerful impact on the public consciousness regarding Ukraine.

Instead of becoming discouraged by the numerous setbacks suffered by the Batkivschyna en route to New London, the coordinating committee led by Messrs. Les, Femiak and Lamparelli worked masterfully to reverse every obstacle and to convert every negative development into a positive result.

Said one activist: "OpSail has turned the prevailing wisdom on its head. We've shown that our Ukrainian community has plenty of potential and plenty of clout, if we can just leverage it wisely. There is no reason for us to think of ourselves in a state of irreversible decline." As one of the co-founders of the Connecticut Friends of Ukraine Expedition, Mr. Femiak reveled in the moment: "This ship is doing a world of good ... I got such a good feeling when someone told me that the ship stole the whole show."

In the wake of OpSail's success, Batkivschyna's captain, Dmytro Birioukovitch, is now discussing the possibility of staging a Great Lakes voyage next summer. The way Mr. Femiak sees it, "If we could achieve results like these with small Ukrainian enclaves like Colchester and New London, why not in Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit?"

For more information on the Batkivschyna's future plans, e-mail the Connecticut Friends of Ukraine Expedition at CFUE@webtv.net, or call (860) 691-0756.

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