THE 36th CONVENTION OF THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL ASSOCIATION

FOR THE RECORD: Consul general's greeting to Ukrainian National Association

Below is the text of the greeting to the UNA's 36th Convention delivered by Mykola Kyrychenko, Ukraine's consul general in New York, on Sunday, May 28, during the convention concert.

I sincerely greet all delegates of the 36th Convention of the Ukrainian National Association, the oldest, most active and largest, in terms of membership, Ukrainian organization in the United States and Canada. I wish you all strength, good health, good fortune and productive work at this year's deliberations.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I want to thank all the members of the Ukrainian National Association for many years of devoted work for the good of our homeland.

It is difficult to describe all the achievements and successes of your renowned organization. For more than 100 years, the Ukrainian National Association has conducted so many cultural, humanitarian, artistic and scholarly activities, exhibits, conferences and concerts that it is impossible to count them all.

The history of the Ukrainian National Association is to a large degree the history of Ukrainianism abroad, of Ukrainians of the emigration.

That is why it is no surprise that the true and genuine reflection of this life can be seen in the newspapers published by the UNA - Svoboda, founded in 1893, and The Ukrainian Weekly, founded in 1933.

At the same time, the most significant achievement of the Ukrainian National Association, in my opinion, was and is its ability to unite Ukrainians abroad. Today, just as 100 years ago, thousands of Ukrainians are united around the UNA. Having joined together, they do not become lost in foreign lands and, most importantly, they do not lose contact with their historic homeland, but nurture its historical and cultural heritage.

Thanks to the Ukrainian National Association, not only the Ukrainian community in the U.S.A., but also American society as a whole learned and continues to learn about the land described by Ivan Bahriany:

Amidst the Slavic flatland,
Between Siberia and the ridge
Of the Carpathian Mountains - like a winding ridge -
Under the sun flows
Ukraine.

Dear Friends:

In concluding my brief remarks, allow me to thank you for all the efforts you have made to boost the image of Ukraine, for your dedication to the all-important priorities of statehood, spirituality, national awareness and cultural identity.

I thank you also for the invitation to be present at your convention, and I wish all of us sunny skies over our dear Ukraine.

- Translated by The Ukrainian Weekly

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, June 11, 2006, No. 24, Vol. LXXIV

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