Southwest Florida's Ukrainians gather for memorial service (05/14/06)

THE 20th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHORNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER

Southwest Florida's Ukrainians gather for memorial service

by Lidia Bilous

NORTH PORT, Fla. - With banners along Biscayne Drive and along busy highway 41, under a hot setting sun on April 26, the Ukrainian community of southwest Florida along with many city officials gathered here at Veteran's Memorial Park to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Chornobyl.

At an open air altar, the Rev. Severyn Kovalyshin of the Presentation of the Most Holy Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church and the Rt. Rev. Archpriest Mychajlo Borysenko of St. Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church concelebrated a requiem service for all those who so tragically perished as a result of this catastrophic event.

At the conclusion of the service, Daria Tomashosky, president of the Ukrainian American Club and chairperson of the commemoration ceremony, welcomed the more than 150 people in attendance and introduced special guests from the city of North Port: Commissioners Rue Berryman, Barbara Gross, Richard Lockhart and Fred Tower III, and candidates Alberto Belinfante, Jim Blucher and Levko Klos.

Commission Chair Berryman read a proclamation issued at North Port City Hall declaring April 23-30 as "Chornobyl Tragedy Commemoration Week."

The Rev. Borysenko reminded everyone that we must not forget the hundreds of thousands of victims who have died, and the millions who continue to suffer as a result of the massive amount of radiation that was let loose upon the Ukrainian land.

As the Rev. Kovalyshin poignantly described, "Once beautiful and fertile steppes and picturesque villages, towns and cities resonating with children's laughter and songs about the glory of the Kozaks became ... a ruined wasteland, where only wild wolves howl at the moon as if attempting to bring up memories of the once famous city of Chornobyl ..."

We should never forget that the handling of the disaster at Chornobyl by the Soviet regime was not only "a sin against the Ukrainian people but a sin against humanity, against the values of human life, and against the earth in its ecological aspect," he added.

Commissioner Tower spoke of the heroic "resistance of the Ukrainian people since the 1930s, having suffered the man-made Famine of 1932-1933 perpetrated by Joseph Stalin, the German occupation, the imperialism of the Soviet Russians and finally the disaster at Chornobyl."

The official program concluded with the "Our Father" and "Great Almighty God" sung by the United Ukrainian Choir, directed by Lubow Dobrovolsky-Ingram.

In his closing remarks, Myron Nawarynsky, president of the Committee of United Ukrainian American Organizations of North Port, which sponsored the event, thanked committee members, special guests and attendees for honoring the victims of Chornobyl.

A spontaneous "God Bless America" was sung by all present.

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