Osvita Ukrainian Summer Immersion Program

Baba's Kitchen at Osvita 2012
recognize the Calgarian?

Calgary has a lovely Ridna Shkola program that includes history, culture and language, even Ukrainian 10, 20 and 30.  But at the time when my daughter was in Ridna Shkola, to finish her high school credits she needed to go to Edmonton for the Osvita Summer Immersion Program.  Without reservation, it was a good choice.  She met new friends, discovered a few things about living away from home, accomplished some academic learning and generally had a great time.  Many of the friends have become what she calls "forever friends".  It's like having Ukrainian friends puts them into a special category - beyond going for coffee, or seeing a movie together, it's a part of your extended family.

You may not know about St. John's Institute in Edmonton but it is a great Canadian success story that should be shared!  Way back in 1918, St. John’s Institute was organized under the name M. Hrushewsky Ukrainian Institute (named after a great Ukrainian historian, writer, and statesman, Mykhailo Hrushwsky-1886-1934). An autonomous institution with its own character, St. John's Institute is affiliated with the Ukrainian Self-Reliance League of Canada known as S.U.S. Almost a hundred years later, it has lived up to community expectations and is a leading Orthodox Christian and Ukrainian-oriented residential centre fostering youth and their development.

St. John's Institute has continued the great SUS traditions and produces wonderful educational, spiritual, cultural, and outreach programs while operating a student residential centre for the Canadian and Ukrainian community.

One of the Institute's prize programs, Osvita,  had another successful program this summer 2012 in Edmonton.  From the pictures it is obvious the participants enjoyed learning in such a supportive environment.  The newly renovated St. John's Institute is simply top class, but the old Institute vibe is still there, warm hearted and embracing, a family away from home, your Ukrainian family away from home! 

Osvita 2012 participants from BC to Ontario improved their fluency in Ukrainian, cooking, dancing, singing, bandura lessons (with Andrij Hornjatkevyc) and more! Special events included fieldtrips to the Edmonton Holodomor Monument, the Vegreville Ukrainian Pysanka Festival, Alberta Branch of the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Castle Mountain Internment Camp and Banff. Guest speakers included the former Premier Ed Stelmach, and Ukrainian radio announcer Roman Brytan.

Congratulations and thanks to everyone at Osvita - see you all next year at Osvita 2013!! 

Calgary's GlobalFest -August 26-26, 2012

Calgary is the host city for so many summer festivals, with many opportunities for celebrating our lovely city.  2012 also marks the 10th Anniversary of Calgary's GlobalFest.  This multicultural festival is simply world class!  With all the pavilions set up in Elliston Park representing a huge variety of cultures cooperating to make a better Calgary, the event is topped off with a fabulous international fireworks competition. Calgary's Ukrainian Tryzub Dancers will host the Ukrainian pavilion, and provide tasty Ukrainian food for the guests while delivering their unique brand of Ukrainian dance in their performances on various stages throughout the park.
Globalfest takes place from August 16-26 at Elliston Park, 17 Av and 68 St SE. 
The Tryzub Ukrainian Dance Ensemble will be featured during the Sunday August 26 finale performance. Dancing to live music performed by the Kensington Sinfonia and joined by several alumni dancers, this is guaranteed to be an exciting, explosive conclusion to GlobalFest 2012.

Come with your friends and family for a fun experience - get to know the culture side of Calgary!!

Support Tryzub by purchasing your Globalfest tickets through the web link provided below. Ticket prices are $10 per night, or five nights (not including the finale) for $40 (regular price $15/ticket). August 26 Finale tickets are $15 each. Please contact Tryzub at info@tryzub.ca to purchase your tickets now!

You can also see the Globalfest website for more details: www.globalfest.ca

 

More Ukrainian Summer Camps!

For an excellent experience with an excellent artist-educator, you just can't beat summer camp with Larisa!  She is a wonderful Canadian artist of Ukrainian ancestry whose career has blossomed - and I am not even exaggerating.  She loves flowers, and with her extensive knowledge of ancestral Ukrainian culture, folklore and folk remedies, she is able to convey multiple layers of meaning in her wonderful watercolor paintings.  Drama, subtle and sensitive images of moments in culture, moments in history, a social commentary that has brought her artistry acclaim and international recognition. Her beautiful art works hold a special place in private and corporate collections throughout North and South America, Australia, and Europe.

Exploring Ukrainian folklore through dance, drama, art and cooking, she has a unique message for all young people - don't you wish she would teach adults too? She is partnering with St. John's Institute in Edmonton to present summer day camps for children ages 6-12 this August.  Maybe it's time to visit family or friends in Edmonton for the week and register the kids for Art by Larisa's Ukrainian Summer Camp! 

Calgary's "Zhyto" at Toronto Ukrainian Festival (September 14-16,2012)

They say it takes a village to raise a child.  Well, Ukrainian Calgary has contributed in some small way to the successful rise in  musicianship for some of our young community members.  Support, enthusiasm, appreciative audience!  But we all know it it the dedication of family and the home that helps children get a footing in life.  Still, this Calgary Ukrainian village has for years enjoyed watching Cathy and Bill's kids grow up and become the generous people they are!  Amazing musicians with big hearts, and enthusiasm to share!   Raised in a Ukrainian Calgary home, the violinist and her brother have gathered friendships and together formed a great band that now gains accolades across the country!  The last time I saw them was in Edmonton and the kids kept the dance hall hopping until all hours - but a friend in Chicago heard them and loves them too!  I suspect their list of performances has grown considerably in the past few years - time to check out their website!  http://www.reverbnation.com/zhyto  You can also find them on Facebook. 
 

Formed in the fall of 2008, Zhyto brings together musicians and sounds of every style, including jazz, rock and classical to create a unique sound in the Western Canadian polka scene. With such versatility, Zhyto is as comfortable playing the polka favorites everyone knows and loves, as well as english hits, both new and old.

Toronto's Ukrainian Festival really knows how to pick their bands!  Calgary's own "Zhyto" is playing for the September annual Ukrainian festival on Bloor West Village - great east west community building!

If you haven't planned for January of 2013 - maybe you should!

This is the same band that will play at PLAST Calgary's Malanka in January of 2013.  See you there!!

Little Birdie

http://humortrain.com/

We were recently at a resort for a holiday break. The location, the breathtaking views, the perfect combination of sand, water, gentle breeze, the sounds of peaceful rest, I have such appreciation for the Creator!

At the same time, the harmonious combination of services provided at this resort meets every perceived whim or need. Shelter for the frail body that can be harmed through excessive weather, food to shape the body and prime it for service, companionship to feed the social needs, and genial entertainment that soothes the spirit and engages the imagination.

So here at the resort, my main work is to suntan. Between suntanning episodes there are swimming breaks, eating breaks, sleeping breaks, and not doing much but relaxing breaks. It is a hard life, but somehow I got voluntold for this job.

We head to the open air restaurant for mealtime and we notice the place could easily be overcome with wildlife if it didn't have netting on the windows and doors. Low tech solutions include a door monitor person who holds the netting for entries and exits. However, sometimes a keen little bird slips in, hopping sideways between the netting, eager for the feast of corn nibblets or bread crumbs. Interesting choices, but that is what they take. So we watch them in silence.

This makes one think the little prayer "Be still,and know I am God!". I silently thank the Creator for the millions of adventurous creatures of the depths who fulfilled their lives and their legacy is the perfectly soft sand that we walk upon. Whether the wind is more powerful, or the sun, one can't help but notice how every part of creation zealously uplifts its face in the breeze adoring the sun. Every tree, flowering plant, and crawling reptile pursues its mission of purpose, of gratitude, and of service.

It is so in Ukrainian Calgary, too. So many blessings: our amazing location nestled in the pocket of creation rich in resources, the best prairie and mountain vistas, sunshine and chinook reprieves from winter, few mosquitos, the perfect combination of healthy water, clean air, as well as the pleasant tug of economic opportunity.

Is it any wonder this harmonious living has blessed us with such a vibrant Ukrainian community in Calgary as well? Really, so far away from "the mother ship"' Ukraine, we have so many tremendous human services that meet just about every perceived human need or whim. Everything from Ukrainian child services, to Ukrainian language schools, youth activities, opportunities to learn, teach, serve, sing, play, share, revel and worship exists in our Ukrainian Calgary. And the amazing thing new immigrants to Calgary are astounded to realize -  primarily volunteer work!! It's like Ukrainian Calgary attended "self-help" classes for 120 years!! Perhaps in light of all this we could revisit the "self-help" theme. What is it all about?  What for? 

To paraphrase Richard N. Bolles, the writer who has sold over 8 million copies of the series "What Color is Your Parachute?", purpose is threefold.  First, to seek to stand in the presence of the Creator, to know Him as God, and to enjoy Him and see His hand in all things. Second, to do what you can, moment by moment, to make this world a better place, having embraced His wisdom. Third, to employ the unique talents and abilities that He has gifted to you, which you use with immense joy and fulfillment, in the places and services for which He has created the perfect need of you.

Is yours a mission of mind? Are you an optimistic pioneer who sees possibilities where others see problems?  Could your gift of vision and leadership help Ukrainian Calgary?  Perhaps the spirit will move you? 

Is yours a mission of gratitude? Do Ukrainian Canadian arts, symbols, literature, music, dance and history hold a special place in your spirit - and can you convey that to others?   Maybe you are a resource, a helper, a Ukrainian school teacher and nurture a love of Ukrainian ancestry in our children?

Is yours a gift of service? Are you blessed with abundance, and want to "pay it forward"?

Sitting in the resort restaurant, I watched my husband look over my head, raise his eyes, and smile broadly. He had spied a little bird flying to and from the netted window. Watching him smile so sweetly, I couldn't help but ask what was going on behind me. Turning, I watched the little bird pick up little food crumbs and fly to the screen, where the little bird's life partner was singing beautifully in anticipation of the shared crumbs coming to him. Their little beaks opened, their voices chirped happily, they shared the bounty left by the guests.

An astoundingly beautiful metaphor. Don't we all wait for the crumbs to fall upon us fom the Creator's bountiful table? I hope you will share some of your crumbs: time, talent, and treasure. Bud'mo!