TUF Marks End of 120th Anniversary Celebrations

TORONTO UKRAINIAN FESTIVAL MARKS END OF CELEBRATIONS OF

120TH ANNIVERSARY OF UKRAINIAN SETTLEMENT IN CANADA:

KICKS OFF PREPARATIONS FOR 125TH ANNIVERSARY

TORONTO – SEPTEMBER 26, 2012– The Ukrainian Canadian Congress formally marked the end of celebrations to commemorate the 120th anniversary of Ukrainian pioneer settlement in Canada at the Toronto Ukrainian Festival this week.

“Our 120th anniversary is a proud moment where we can celebrate our community’s success despite the adversity encountered by its early settlers,” stated UCC President Paul Grod.  “They experienced extreme physical hardship settling the prairies, discrimination and later internment as enemy aliens.  In spite of all these barriers, Ukrainian Canadians were instrumental in building a strong Canadian nation and as a result we are proud to consider ourselves its founding peoples.  Four successive waves of immigrants built the Ukrainian Canadian community which we enjoy today – cultural centers, churches, schools, retirement and nursing facilities – a community that cares for its people from cradle to grave.  Today, many other Ethnocultural communities look with admiration at our community.  We are recognized as one of the top 2 most influential ethnocultural communities in Canada.  What is more telling of our success, Canada today considers itself the most Ukrainian country outside of Ukraine.”

The festivities to mark the 120th anniversary of Ukrainian settlement in Canada were launched in Alberta in May of last year and included events across the country which highlighted the vital contribution of the Ukrainian people to the building of Canada. An official logo was selected and has been used at dozens of events on numerous posters, banners, signs and booklets.

One of the hallmark events was the first ever Ukrainian Day on Parliament Hill which featured information and exhibits on Ukrainian Canadian culture, visual and performing arts, music, historic displays and a sampling of Ukrainian cuisine. The 120th Anniversary theme, with the encouragement of the Commemorative Committee, was also adopted and incorporated as the main theme at several of Canada’s most prominent Ukrainian festivals, including the Pysanka Festival in Vegreville, AB and Canada’s National Ukrainian Festival in Dauphin, MB.

This past year marked the 120th anniversary of the arrival of Wasyl Eleniak and Ivan Pylypiw -the first Ukrainian settlers who landed in Montreal aboard the steamship Oregon on September 7, 1891. Their initial entrance into Canada and eventual settlement was instrumental in the mass emigration from western Ukraine prior to World War I. Eleniak and Pylypiw were the first Ukrainians to land on Canadian soil and their appearance is significant as a marker of a large influx of Ukrainians to immigrate to Canada following their arrival.

The celebrations at TUF were enriched this year by the participation of official Festival Marshals Mildred and Karen Lemiski, the granddaughter and great granddaughter, respectively, of Wasyl Eleniak.  At the Opening Ceremonies they shared these thoughts:  “Our Ukrainian ancestors taught us the love of Ukrainian faith and culture, the importance of education, and respect for this country’s rights and freedoms, which have allowed all people to live and flourish in an atmosphere of equality, fairness and happiness.  This legacy has been handed down to us and now we, too, must maintain and promote the traditions for the generations that are to follow.”

The 120th Anniversary Commemorative Committee was also pleased to announce the appointment of Radomir Bilash, Historian for the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, as National Resident Historian for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, which brings together and represents the interests of a very large and dynamic community of 1,2 million Ukrainian Canadians.

“With a proud 120 year history here in Canada, the Ukrainian community in Canada has built a rich heritage with cultural centers, schools, libraries, museums, institutes, churches and just about every kind of Ukrainian organization you can imagine – from coast to coast,” stated UCC National President Paul Grod. “The Ukrainian Canadian community embodies the spirit of Canada – respect for freedom and democracy are at the core of the Ukrainian spirit. Our community has represented the interests of Ukraine and Ukrainians in Canada, preserving Ukraine’s language when it has been threatened in our ancestral homeland with Russification, preserving the memory of the Holodomor – (Ukrainian famine genocide) – when in Ukraine there was denial, and reminding us all of the freedom that burned in the hearts of Ukrainians while Ukraine was an occupied nation.”

“I would like to thank Roman Brytan and all the volunteers on his committee and across the country who have made the celebrations marking this historic anniversary the success that they were,” stated Grod, adding that Roman has graciously accepted the task of putting together a strategic master plan for preparations to mark, in even grander fashion, the upcoming 125th Anniversary of Ukrainian settlement in Canada.

“Ukrainians have been trailblazers in building a better society in Canada over the past 12 decades. We have been at the forefront of several successful advances in Canada from enshrining multiculturalism in the Canadian Constitution to developing human rights law to establishing progressive immigration policies,” stated 120th anniversary committee chair Roman Brytan. “There have been Ukrainian Canadian Olympic gold medallists, governors general, astronauts, inventors, scientists, premiers, entertainers and athletes. Ukrainians have been groundbreakers and nation builders. And it is fitting that the official recognition of our 120th anniversary, which began at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village near Edmonton a year ago on Victoria Day, conclude here, in Toronto, where much of our Ukrainian-Canadian history has been also proudly written. This is, after all, not the singular marking of one 120-year-old calendar date; it is the proud recognition of a full 120 years of living and flourishing as a vital, constituent part of today’s Canada,” concluded Brytan.