Montreal SUM's weekend events commemorate 50th anniversary (10/29/00)

Montreal SUM's weekend events commemorate 50th anniversary

by Mike Reshitnyk

MONTREAL - The Montreal branch of the Ukrainian Youth Association (SUM) hosted a spectacular fun-filled weekend festival at Verkhovyna, the association's recreational camp situated at St. Theodore de Chertsey, 60 kilometers northeast of Montreal, as part of ongoing celebrations commemorating 50 years since its founding.

Verkhovyna, which is nestled in an area that strongly resembles the Carpathian Mountains of western Ukraine, bustled on the weekend of September 16-17 with the sights and sounds of music, dance, food, beer, a "zabava," a golf tournament, games, a banquet and renewal of friendships. One of the important highlights of the weekend was a historic divine liturgy.

Saturday's entertainment was coordinated by Yourko Kulycky, who made the preliminary arrangements with Cheres, a New York-based Hutsul ensemble, for their participation.

SUM members of two bands, Burlaky and Zolota Bulava, combined forces and played as Zoloti Burlaky at the dance that followed the Cheres performance.

For the traditional kolomyika, members of all three groups were on stage and clearly had a wonderful time playing together.

The hall really rocked on Saturday night, and it was great to see every age group represented - from young children to a few 70-year-olds.

The afternoon performance in the beer tent included two members of Montreal's legendary Rushnychok, who brought back many memories of the 1970s, and a young performer, Andrij Kutasz, who introduced his new CD to the audience.

On this very special occasion it was fitting that the Rev. Andrij Figol celebrated his first Sunday liturgy at Verkhovyna as a newly ordained Ukrainian Catholic priest. The Rev. Figol, a former member of Montreal's branch of SUM, was ordained at Montreal's St. Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Church on September 14 by Bishop Cornelius Pasichny, eparch of Toronto and Eastern Canada.

Despite the cold, wet weather that threatened to spoil the event, and to the astonishment of organizers Orest Humenny, Lesia Mytko and their hard-working committee, an estimated 300 people turned out to pay tribute to the Montreal Ukrainian community's latest success story.

Among the participants - many from across Canada and the United States - were several officers from Ukraine's armed forces studying French at the St. Jean military base, and Jurij Klufas from the Toronto-based Ukrainian television program "Kontakt."

The special banquet and concert following the liturgy were filled beyond capacity, ensuring that the kitchen and volunteer servers ran their own herculean Olympic event just to keep everyone well-fed.

Congratulatory speeches and accolades were delivered by dignitaries, including Evhen Czolij, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress; Halyna Holowka, president of Canada's SUM's executive; and Garry Wasyl Grosko, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, Montreal Branch.

Entertainment was provided by the SUM choir Vidlunnia, Montreal's energetic dance troupe Troyanda and Cheres of New York.

When Cheres music director Andriy Milavsky played the first notes on the trembita, a traditional 12-foot-long wind instrument played by Hutsul shepherds of the Carpathian mountains, the sun magically burst through the menacing clouds. It was indeed a good omen for Montreal's SUM's continued success in this new millennium.

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