May Long Weekend Ukrainian Dance Extravaganza



Take ridne!  From Kosiw, Ivano-Frankivsk,
Western Ukraine, from Iryna. 

What to do this May long weekend? Albertans have a great venue and a great idea!  Time to get to the Ukrainian Village!

Alberta's Ukrainian dancing fans, as well as those from across the Canadian prairies have a great May long weeend event happening!  It is time for The Celebration of Dance!

On Monday, May 20, 2013, Alberta's largest dance extravaganza will feature a variety of dance groups of all ages!  Gotta get there! The Ukrainian Village will be the host venue for a great day of authentic sights and celebrations of Ukrainian heritage, family fun and activities including a village market, musicians, entertainers, and more!  The rural life of Ukrainian settlers as they became players in Alberta's formative years will make for an entertaining and worthwhile step into history!  With wagon rides, sheep shearing demonstrations, religious services in the authentic Albertan built Ukrainian churches, informative exhibits, and of course, traditional Ukrainian foods, this is a weekend for everyone!

This is also a worthwhile family trip for those currently writing Alberta's academic achievement tests, in elementary school!  With a focus on the lives of Albertans, and her history,  this heritage museum is the best! 

Bring your picnic gear, your walking shoes, and a bag for your market shopping, that is, if you have time between all the dance extravaganza fun! Don't forget to bring your camera - the heritage museum is staffed by actors who portray the various roles involved in this cultural heritage museum - lots of stories to tell!  The Village is open from 10 to 5 this Monday!

http://www.ukrainianvillage.ca

 

Pussy Willow Sunday

Alberta roadsides, the low wet ones, are home to many different species of wild pussy willows (almost 40 sorts).  Beautiful pussy willows are the flowers of willow bushes, and among the most eager blossoms on the prairies.  Anxious for insect pollinators, the fuzzy pussy willows are impervious to frost damage, pushing roots, and moving water and nutrients even in cold weather.  Good thing, considering the snow and bluster of Alberta's "spring" this year. 

Coloured twigs of moose willows are popular here in Alberta.  Early February pussy willows can be found in wet areas, and have branchy red stems with very white flowers.  March varieties are mostly brown with grey or silver grey flowers.  Early April varieties have rusty brown stems with large white flowers, and wolf willows (a neighborhood variety) host their small grey flowers on green, yellow and red stems.  You can find pussy willows in open areas and need not cross fences or hazards to reach them. The male pussy willows will be the first to blossom, while the female will bear seeds much later in the season.

Willow twigs play a rather important role in the Ukrainian tradition at this season.  The Sunday before Easter is called Palm Sunday, but where do palms grow in Canada?  Resourceful Ukrainian pioneers buried knee deep in snow and yearning for the end of winter, would see the willows as the harbinger of spring. A short walk into the wild wood could find you knee deep in swamp and rewarded with  a few bundles of furry catkins to treasure in anticipation of better weather to come.

The Ukrainian tradition is to bring willows to Palm Sunday services to have them blessed, a beautiful symbol of greeting Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on the Sunday before the crucifixion.  Enjoy this youtube video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWMhNiNZFJI . After services, one can then decorate the home, placing the pussy willows around holy pictures and ikons. 

A bundle of nicely coloured and shaped willow twigs will dry into a very elegant arrangement over time. Some people make willow furniture, willow baskets, wreaths and walking sticks.

My dad, a child of the Alberta prairies, used to love working with wood.  Gently peeling off the bark, polishing off the chaff, and working it gently with a soft cloth to bring out the wood's sheen.  His walking sticks are such a lovely reminder of his youth - and times past.  Diamond willows make particularly beautiful walking sticks!  A diamond willow walking stick, complete with autographs of "best" and "forever" friends, has always been a part of the Alberta Ukrainian summer camp experience.

 

Changing Times for Ukrainian Book Store

Peasants, farmers, and labourers, - actually a mistaken perception of the early Ukrainian immigrants to Canada.  The truth is, however that they were far more skilled and adventurous than any of us imagine.  Many of them read everything they could get their hands on (or were read to) before they voyaged to Canada, and upon arrival, consulted with every source of information possible. They eventually created very many "reading-rooms" (called "prosvita" communities) and "national halls" (narodni domi) too sprinkled all over the rural communities.  Early in Alberta's history they developed "learning communities" that worked together with a "can-do" entrepreneurial spirit about them that was unstoppable. And they all had a connection with Edmonton's Ukrainian Book Store for important purchases like Ukrainian newspapers, books, calendars, training materials, embroidery thread, prayer books, fabric, music, recordings, just about anything needed to be informed and "stay Ukrainian" on the Canadian prairies. 

 

But change has been constant for Alberta's rural and urban areas.  Previously essential patterns of life have evolved and through it all the Ukrainian Book Store has been a magnet that attracts people who love the Ukrainian language, culture and values.  It has always been a place to reconnect with community! 
 

Meeting places change too. A casual walk through the business community is now a drive through, the book age is slowly being overtaken by the digital age.  Now it is digital books, blogs, social media and online shopping....And that is why today's Edmonton Journal article about the Ukrainian Book Store closing their business in the upcoming future has made me so sad. 
 

Congratulations and thank you Ukrainian Book Store for a century of Ukrainian connections here on the Canadian prairies - you helped build the community I love.  Farewell, Ukrainian Book Store - my heart is heavy ...thanks for the memories!

http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/edmonton/Edmonton+Ukrainian+Bookstore+close+December/7435924/story.html

  

 

 

 

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