Plast's Vovcha Tropa campsite is happy summer home to hundreds of youths (08/26/01)

Plast's Vovcha Tropa campsite is happy summer home to hundreds of youths

by Peter Steciuk

EAST CHATHAM, N.Y. - Hundreds of young Plast members made the familiar journey up dusty Sayre Hill Road on July 7, before saying their last good-byes to their parents at the start of camps run by Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization. This year the Vovcha Tropa campground, nestled in rustic East Chatham, N.Y., hosted six camps with nearly 400 eager participants age 6 to 17.

The camps were divided by age and gender, with separate camps for "novaky" (boys age 7-10), "novachky" (girls age 7-10), "yunaky" (boys age 11-16), "yunachky" (girls age 11-16), older "yunatstvo" (boys and girls age 15-17) and younger"novatstvo" (boys and girls age 6-7). Instead of the standard three weeks, the older yunatstvo stayed for two weeks, while the preparatory camp for very young children lasted only one week.

As in previous years, each camp chose a name for itself, incorporating a running theme into its daily activities. The camp for novachky, led by head counselor Lisa Milanytch, was called "A, B, V...De vy ye?" (A, B, C...Where are you?). As the story went, a thief had stolen all of the letters from the London Press, causing speech to come to a frustrating halt. Throughout the camp's three weeks, the silenced children "found" the missing letters with the help of Inspector Bukva (Letter) - "M" was restored to its rightful place at the "maskarada" (masquerade), which otherwise would have been an "askarada."

In addition to traditional camp activities like swimming, sports and singing, the novachky took day trips to Howe Caverns, a series of underground caves, and Foxhill Lake, complete with a floating trampoline. While at Vovcha Tropa, the girls made ginger bread houses, put on a fashion show, and even played shaving cream twister to liven up the routine.

Their male counterparts, the novaky, went by the name "Pro shcho Tyrsa Shelestyt" (What the tall grass whispers). Employing a Kozak theme, the novaky used the tall grass to hide from invaders and hear oncoming enemies. The young Kozaky, charged with defending the steppes of Vovcha Tropa, were organized into "polky" (regiments) and referred to their head counselor, Olya Stasiuk, as the hetman.

The fearless band of Kozaky-novaky accompanied the neighboring young maidens, the novachky, to Foxhill Lake and also took their own cruise down the mighty Hudson River. Regarding the cruise, second Kozak in command Ivan Fedynsky joked, "It was great because it was self-contained. There was nowhere for the kids to go but overboard."

For yunatstvo, the activities focused largely on practical scouting skills including pioneering, orienteering, first aid and survival. In addition, the boys and girls joined forces for an ambassadorial venture to the SUM compound in Ellenville, N.Y.; an overnight trip that included white-water rafting, and hiking; and scuba instruction. The oldest group of girls led the two camps in celebration of the traditional pagan ritual of Ivan Kupalo, designed to foresee the children's future luck in love, or impending misfortune as the case may be.

The camp for yunachky was called "Lytsia Karnavalu" (Faces of the Carnival). The girls organized and carried out a carnival for novatstvo, leading them through stations such as fortune-telling, cotton candy and pin-the-tail-on-the-clown. Head counselor Christina Duzyj had this to say: "We wanted the carnival to bring out leadership in the yunachky. I think they learned more doing that than they did at any other point because they had the chance to lead others - not just each other."

The yunaky operated under the name "Granaty Vriatuyut Use" (Grenades Will Save All), a line borrowed from a song about a fallen hero of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), which battled the Nazi and Soviet forces during World War II. While not saving the world, the yunaky had the opportunity to try their hand at mountain biking, rock climbing, auto mechanics and even mushroom picking, all under the watchful eye of head counselor Oleh Kolodiy, back at camp after a nearly 30-year hiatus.

The camp for yunaky was the first in America for counselor Bohdan Pechenyak, who hails from Lviv and is a student at Yale University. He commented that camps in Ukraine are generally on the "kurin" (unit) or "stanytsia" (branch) level, with participants simply picking a spot in the Carpathian Mountains and bringing supplies for two weeks. Mr. Pechenyak characterized camp at Vovcha Tropa as "wonderfully different."

Last but not least, the camp for older yunatstvo, "Pered Namy Smietsia Zemlia" (Ahead of us, the land is laughing), selected teamwork as its theme. Second in command Andrey Mykyta said of the camp for older yunatstvo: "It's more laid back, but you accomplish so much. You basically pack three weeks of tabir (camp) into two weeks." In the course of their two weeks, the coed group of 22 intrepid teens embarked on an extended hiking trip to the mountains of Vermont and went rock climbing in New Paltz, N.Y. Headed by Anna Horczakiwsky, the camp was designed for older yunaky and yunachky who might not go to a regular camp, but who are still too young to be counselors.

Thanks to the sustained effort of camp staff and administrators, General Manager George Huk and his wife, camp Director Lidia Huk, boast that the camp's enrollment has increased each of the last four years. Mrs. Huk explained, "The greatest source of satisfaction is the happy kids and happy parents."

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