10/28/98

Park a miniature United Nations

The Oscar Scherer State Park in Osprey, Fla., resembled a miniature United Nations Assembly sans politics Sunday.

West Floridians and many visitors got together to share each other's arts, culture, folklore and food. The Ukrainian community was represented by the Ukrainian American Club of Southwest Florida led by Karen A. Bapst, president, and North Port Chapter 56 of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America (UNWLA) led by Orysia S. Swystun, president. Baked goods brought by the members of UNWLA sold out quickly as many Gulf Coast residents got to know and to enjoy the culinary mastery of Ukrainian women.

Exhibits of various artifacts, some created in Ukraine, and others made by Americans of Ukrainian descent (often second and third generation) were also popular. An often heard complaint was that many of their really beautiful art pieces were not for sale.

Of great interest was a "Pysanky" (Ukrainian Easter eggs) demonstration by Chrystyna Lazor from Venice. The table occupied by Mrs. Lazor and her "works" was constantly surrounded by a large crowd of enthusiastic onlookers, many with questions about the significance of various motifs appearing on the artistically decorated eggs. The art of "Pysanky" in Ukraine existed for several thousand years and was incorporated into the Christian observance of Easter without opposition by the Church officials and clergy. Some Christian symbols were also added during the last millennium.

Entertainment was provided by various ethnic groups. Ukrainian folk dances were performed by the popular Babiak Dance Ensemble, known throughout the area for its many appearances at various festivals as well as in nursing homes. The repertoire of Babiak Dance Ensemble consists of various nation's dances, performed after a meticulous research and carried out as close to the authenticity as humanly possible, but this time it was limited to the Ukrainian folk dances from two or three regions of Ukraine.

Everyone had to marvel on the vigor and performance of the organizer and leader of the Ensemble, 76-year-old Dmytro Babiak. He hasn't missed a single dance and his solo performance of the Ukrainian dance "Arkan," originated in the Ukrainian part of the Karpathian mountains, was nearly perfect. It should be noted that "Arkan" was usually performed by the young men prior to being inducted into the military service.

Mr. Babiak omitted, for obvious reasons, some of the high-intensity steps and jumps, even though his daughter, Cristina Babiak, M.D., is a member of the ensemble and was right there on the stage dancing.

The number of Ukrainians in the park would have been much larger but many, including a bus load of mostly Orthodox Ukrainians, went to greet His Holiness Filaret, Patriarch of Kyiv and of Rus-Ukraine, who visited St. Nicholas Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Cooper City. They attended a Patriarchal Solemn Holy Liturgy celebrated by His Holiness Filaret and his entourage as well as the banquet in his honor following the services.

A Holy Liturgy in St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church will be celebrated Saturday for the reposed souls of the late Col. Andriy Melnyk and his wife. Sofia nee Fedak. Col. Melnyk, my father's first cousin and boyhood friend, became an orphan while a child, but eventually became one of the better known officers and heroes of the Ukrainian Sitch Riflemen during WWI, and rose to the position of Chief of Staff of the Army of the Ukrainian National Republic.

After the war, when the short-lived Ukrainian National Republic was defeated by the Russian communists and betrayed by some heretofore allies, Col. Melnyk joined with other ex-officers to form a Ukrainian liberation movement for which he was jailed and tortured by the Polish occupants.

Following the murder by a Russian communist agent of the head of Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUN), Co. Yevhen Konovaletz, Col. Melnyk, who was the latter's comrade-in-arms and also brother-in-law, was elected to be the leader of OUN. He was arrested, and, together with his wife, sent to Sachsenhousen concentration camp by the Nazi regime. he died Nov. 1, 1964, at the age of 74 and was laid to rest in Luxembourg where he lived after WWII.

On Nov. 1, the Ukrainian Catholic community will welcome a distinguished visitor, His Excellency Vasyl Ihor Medwit, Patriarchal Exarch of Kyiv-Vyshhorod in Ukraine and Apostolic Visitator for the Ukrainian Catholics in Kazakhstan. Following a solemn Holy Liturgy in St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church, Bishop Medwit will be honored at a dinner in the parish hall. Late in the afternoon, the Patriarchal Society of North Port will sponsor a commemorative assembly in honor of the late Metropolitan Andriy Sheptyckyj on the 54th anniversary of his death.

Metropolitan Sheptyckyj, whose beatification is being delayed for political reasons by the Vatican bureaucrats, headed the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Ukraine for nearly a half-century. He saved many Jews, including the Chief Rabbi during the Nazi occupation of Ukraine, and officially protested the killings of Jews and others. He is widely recognized as a saint by most Ukrainians, both Catholics and Orthodox, despite the Vatican's reluctance to recognize his sainthood.

Atanas T. Kobryn writes about his former country and the area's Ukrainian community for the North Port Sun Herald.

By ATANAS T. KOBRYN