The 26th Anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence – TROY, N.Y.

On Wednesday, August 23, in preparation for Ukraine’s Independence Day, members of St. Nicholas Brotherhood Society (Bratstvo) and Ukrainian National Association Branch 13 raised Ukraine’s flag at Taras Shevchenko Park in Troy, N.Y. The Bratstvo and UNA Branch 13 have been affiliated for over 100 years. In recent years, Bratstvo-UNA Branch 13 members have taken responsibility for maintenance of Taras Shevchenko Place in Troy. Troy is considered the birthplace of the new immigrants to Albany’s Capital District and, for that reason, a statue to honor the bard of Ukraine, Taras Shevchenko, was placed in a small urban park given the name Taras Shevchenko Place on June 5, 1988. The first individual Ukrainian arrived in the Capital Region in the mid-1880s. Above, Bratstvo and UNA members – (from left) Ivan Uruskyj with granddaughter Amelia, Bratstvo President Slavko Tysiak, UNA Branch 13 Secretary Nicholas Fil and Andrij Demczar – hold Ukraine’s flag prior to the flag-raising.