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.......

Where is the Largest Pysanka?

Alberta is celebrating community spirit, all over the province this summer of 2013! From extremes in weather, to extremes in social and community volunteerism, Alberta has it all. And perhaps it is not too bold to say that this has to do with the people of Alberta.

Before there was Alberta though, the government of Canada under Sir Wilfred Laurier desired to populate western Canada with farmers, to add production to the country, and to solve the "railway problem" and to help pay the national debt. The young country enticed hard workers to settle the prairies. And since that time it is not too bold to say that Alberta has been generously sprinkled with Eastern European thought, work-ethic, spirituality and respect for culture and tradition. 

Over the last four decades, the Ukrainian idea couldn't exist anywhere else in the diaspora better than Alberta. Artisans and craftspeople, performing artists and entertainers, writers and thinkers for whom the Ukrainian idea resonates have cultivated a welcoming public here in Alberta.  In fact, the manner in which Alberta has welcomed Festivals, dance groups, performing artists and choral groups into its popular culture is unique.  And the Ukrainian Pysanka Festival In Vegreville, Alberta this weekend has it all.  

Just a half hour east of the Star-Edna settlement where Eleniak and Pylypiw first shepherded their families in 1891 with grand dreams for their Canadian adventure, the charming town of Vegreville, Alberta is celebrating its 40th Anniversary Pysanka Festival this July 5-6-7, 2013.

Four decades of music, community spirit, collaborations, international and local artists bumping shoulders, exchanging ideas, enjoying the Ukrainian idea continues to draw crowds.  The Ukrainian festival is a model now emulated in Ukrainian communities all over the diaspora - in North and South America for certain.  Hopefully you will plan to be in Vegreville this summer for the 40th Anniversary Pysanka Festival,  for the festivities, admission will be free!  But if you cannot, they have a brilliant gift for all of us! 

The Festival has a 40th anniversary CD composed of favorite selections from the Ukrainian Pysanka Festival's most loved performers over its 40 year history. Check out the details at www.pysankafestival.com.  Gotta get there and check out the trade show booths - so many new entrepreneurs to discover - so many new Ukrainian ideas to bring home!!