The Winding Road

photo by Lorraine Alford

A while back when I started this blog, before any of the UkrainianVancouver, or UkrainianChicago blogs were up and running, I felt an urge to write.  There seemed to be so much information emanating from the north of Ukraine, and very little cross-North America news.  I know that Bohdan at Yevshan started a Ukrainian community events calendar shortly after, but there wasn't anybody just chatting about stuff. So I found my niche.

Father Taras Krochak

Meandering thoughts about community, connections, long tendrils of acquaintance-friendship-relationship circled in my mind.  It seemed that so many of the people in the Ukrainian community knew each other!  Sadly, across time and distance we would mostly say - haven't heard about them for a long time!  Quiet moments full of rich memories....where are those formerly dear friends now?

My dearest friend, Mom, is up to her eyeballs in garden, grandchildren, and genealogical studies. I took a photo of her glorious bar-v-nok to use as my blog's calling card.  Long, tender yet resilient vines of green bursting out of the ground and reaching with their endlessly beautiful periwinkle coloured blossoms - stretching across the garden path.  Seeking what? Seeking the future?

Korovai by Luba Macewko

Preparing for my daughter's wedding last summer, many dear friends contributed their garden bar-v-nok, to braid and curl, twine and twist the pliable filaments for the traditional regalia to be used at their Marriage Sacrament - the Crowning.  I couldn't believe how long the vines stayed beautifully green!  No wilting, no drooping, the crowns retained their vitality well into the second week after the wedding and further!  I am reminded that they are evergreen, but wow do they stay long!

When I got married, my grandmother had laboriously tended and babied a myrtle plant in her house in Manitoba to use for my wreath! Smaller vines, grown on a firmer stock, but equally beautiful, if more fragile looking.  She watered the vines judiciously to exact the precise firmness - not too tender and slender, but not too tough or impliable - retaining the family wisdom about a proper match, of course.  Then my friend Ken, the florist thought to apply gold leaf to the myrtle leaves, which Baba, in all humility thought would be too ostentatious. Ken did apply miniature white blossoms though - the wreath was simply stunning.

The resilient vines of barvinok in my garden took on a deep, thick green over the winter, but now their gyrating filaments are warmed and nourished in the spring rains. It is hard to tell where one slender shoot ends and another begins.  Life is like that too.  Grafted onto the vine of life, the barvinok reminds us to stay connected to the vine, even in the cold of winter because the spring will return with its luscious growth, time, after time, after time.......

Summer Camp Bar V Nok 2015

Spring is here, and summer is coming, really!! Time to plan for those summer days, summer vacation, and summer camp! And for the quintessential overnight camp experience with a Ukrainian flavour - get ready for Camp Bar-v-nok, situated on Alberta’s beautiful Pigeon Lake. This fun filled summer camp program is designed especially for youngsters 7-15 who will enjoy a wide variety of cultural, sporting, religious and recreational activities. Think of lakeside evenings, vatra bonfire events, zabava dance evenings, and excursions off site - and opportunities to make life long friends in a Ukrainian atmosphere. Crafts, Ukrainian dancing, swim, canoe, sing, survival skills, nature walks, singing, and spirituality - the best of summer camp!

Camp Bar-v-nok is going on the road...! Due to renovations being done at camp Bar-v-nok this summer, the summer camp program is temporarily relocating the summer 2015 program to Camp St. Basil, on Pigeon Lake. This summer's camp will run from August 9th to August 22nd. Spread the word... and remember to register as soon as possible! http://www.barvnok.com/  https://www.facebook.com/CampBarVNo

Accepting campers age 7 - 15

Dates: August 9th - 22nd

Early registration rate $400 per camper or $375 for more than one child (rate closes April 1st)

Regular rate after April 1st: $450 per camper or $425 for more than one child

Bar-v-nok Summer Camp 2013

Maybe it's the warm weather, or the fragrance of trees in bud, but it seems like summer already!!  Grass is greening, tulips are peeking over the mulch, and a day ago I saw a little blue robin's egg - surely it is finally here!

Parents love having the children home from school for the summer holidays!  After the rush of school and extracurricular activities it is a time to reconnect at a slower pace.  The lazy days of summer!

It's time to think about summer camps again.   Time to plan for the children to have an experience of a lifetime!  I know the summer camp experience enriched my life!  In fact, everyone I have ever spoken to about camp has nothing but fun times to exclaim about!  Some of us made life long friends through camping experiences, too!

So how to get the best of summer vacation for the children, a learning experience in growing up, and a well deserved parent-time too?  Planning for a relaxed, enjoyable summer camp in an atmosphere enriched with Ukrainian activities and companionship?  Perhaps you should check out Camp Bar-V-Nok!

Located on Pigeon Lake, Alberta, Camp Bar-V-Nok is well equiped for great times on the water, court sports, hikes, campfire and forest activities as well as nature crafts,  and a fabulous deck and eating hall. Bar-v-nok has a reputation for quality programming and excellent supervision, a wonderful combination!

Maybe I am repeating myself, but when is summer camp for adults? 

Summer Camp for Calgary's Ukrainian Scouts - PLAST

Such a refreshing summer for a Scouts Camp - Ukrainian Alberta style.  Whether it is the youthful program, the enthusiastic leadership, or the almost "extreme" scouting they have been able to coax out of the teens, for a lot of good reasons, the Ukrainian Scouting movement has captured my admiration. 

Storoschuk

The Ukrainian Scouts - Plast, is the same organization as SCOUTS CANADA, with Baden Powell as the founder.  The Ukrainian Scouting program begin a hundred years ago, then travelled with the post WWII immigrants to all corners of her diaspora community.  Plast Ukrainian Scouts has been in Calgary since the 1980's, and it is indeed a wonderful program for personal development and community involvement. Though a small center, Calgary PLAST has grown, in part because of the influx of new people, but also because it has embraced children of old immigrant families such as mine. 
Weekly activities are like scouts everywhere, with lessons about the world, crafts, sports, charitable works, and cultural activities.  The summer camps are flat out amazing.  The director of the summer camp for the younger children, (held this year at Camp Bar-vi-nok at Pigeon Lake, Alberta) Roman Storoschuk of Calgary, told me they had a fantastic leader to camper ratio this year, the children had lots of care and attention at the water, and during the sometimes tricky crafts activities.  They were pirates this year!



And the program is delivered in a refreshingly sweet and nurturing kind of Ukrainian language that makes every family happy.  Kids songs, child friendly skits, silly camp routines, campfire activities, all in Ukrainian. 

When the little ones advance to the teen groups, they take an oath to the Ukrainian "idea", not a political nor ideological oath. It is such a sweet and romantic "love for my ancestral home" promise that I believe every politician in Ukraine should take this oath.  It could even change the politics a bit!

In any case, if you are interested in a fabulous Scouting program, delivered in Calgary in Ukrainian, consider the contacts below.

http://plast.ca/about/about-en/index.shtml