2010

By Volodymyr Kish

As the final days of 2010 approached, I had been struck by how fast the year had gone by.  Perhaps this is a symptom of the fact that “senior citizen” status is becoming a rapidly approaching reality for me.  The fact that this had been a particularly eventful year for me in many ways undoubtedly also had something to do with it.

Back in February, I finally achieved one of my lifelong ambitions, when my first book titled Here and There – Reflections of a Hyphenated Ukrainian was published.  Although it is in no danger of making the New York Times Best Seller list, I am pleased by the response it received, particularly during a series of book launches that were held in a number of cities throughout Southern Ontario. 

In November, I was especially gratified with the honour of being presented the Shevchenko Medal by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress in recognition of my life’s work within the Ukrainian community.  It was an overwhelming and humbling experience to be counted within the ranks of this year’s recipients which included such distinguished individuals as Manoly Lupul, Lubomyr Luciuk, Roman Serbyn, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, James Temerty and Halya Kuchmij among others

On a more personal front, my wife Daria and I celebrated our 35^th Wedding Anniversary, a significant milestone that brought us both immeasurable satisfaction and pride.  This was followed shortly thereafter by the marriage of my son Andrew, the youngest of my three kids.  He was the first among his siblings to marry and it was understandably, an event that brought us great joy and a sense of singular fulfilment as parents.

As has been the case for most of the past decade, Ukrainian organizational life absorbed a large chunk of my extracurricular time.  I am on the board or executive of at least a half dozen Ukrainian organizations, and though the demands have been particularly heavy this year, there were a number of significant accomplishments that stand out. 

The Ukrainian Credit Union, of which I am a member of the Board of Directors, concluded a merger deal with the So-Use Credit Union, creating one the largest and strongest Ukrainian credit unions in Canada. 

The recently revived Oshawa branches of both the Ukrainian National Federation and Ukrainian Canadian Congress, on whose executives I serve, continued to grow and expand their activities within the Ukrainian community in the Durham Region.  Of particular note was the commemoration in November of the 100^th Anniversary of the birth of Michael Starr, an Oshawa native and one of the most successful politicians of Ukrainian origin that Canada has ever produced.  A week-long series of events helped raise enough funds to endow a Michael Starr Scholarship at Durham College and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology.

October and November were busy months with organizational conventions and special events.  In October, I attended the UNF National Convention in Montreal and was especially pleased to see the organization continuing to renew and revitalize itself with new members, new branches, new programs and a palpable sense of optimism for the future.

The same can be said for the Triennial Congress of the UCC held in Edmonton in November.  Under the leadership of newly re-elected Paul Grod, the UCC has become a dynamic and more unified organization with a growing base of support within the Ukrainian community.

And of course, I would be remiss if I did not mention the 80^th Anniversary of this paper which was appropriately celebrated at the end of October at a gala banquet held at the UNF Trident Hall in Toronto.  Aside from the festivities, the event helped to raise significant funds for the further development of this paper as it faces the challenges of changing demographics and digital technology.

Although the news here in Canada was mostly positive and personally energizing, one cannot say the same for events unfolding in Ukraine.  There, the year 2010 was mostly a series of political disasters and bad news.  That however, is fodder for another column.