By Iris Sopinka
The Ukrainian Women’s Organization and the Ukrainian National
Federation, Toronto Branch, held their joint annual meeting on February 28, in
an upbeat atmosphere with 112 people attending. The dynamic and hard-working
Slawko Borys, UNF Toronto Branch President for the last two years, opened the
meeting with a prayer and a moment of silence for deceased members. He welcomed
the new members to the fold and it was a pleasure to see many of them taking
part in discussions and demonstrating an interest in the future of the
organization. After the election of the presidium for the annual meeting, the
chairman, Daria Diakowska called upon Julie Bahrych-Korol of the Verification
Committee in whose report confirmed that there was a quorum of members present
and that the annual meeting was in force.
President Slawko Borys reported on his activities for the last two years
both in fluent Ukrainian and English, using an impressive power point
presentation. The highlights of activities for the last two years are the following:
Thursday evenings at the Trident Caf for sports nights, the 50th anniversary of
UNF Camp “Sokil” weekend celebration in Hawkestone (ON), a parade float in the
Toronto Ukrainian Festival in
There has been a rebirth of some branch
activities. The Kalyna Performing Arts Company, a signatory mark of the
UNF, has 18 members at present. The UNF Library and Resource Centre, the jewel
of our branch organization, has a part-time librarian on staff, and has staged
four very successful book launches. The
Stacey Seussmeuth, Branch President of UWO reported at length on the accomplishments of the women’s organization. As a result of Mrs. Seussmeuth’s exuberant personality and infectious zeal for organizing, membership has gone up to 141 women. Under her leadership, four movie nights, a very successful Fall Fashion Show, a Shevchenko concert and six other major events took place. She very graciously thanked all the women for their efforts and support.
Finally, Bernice Mokrij, UNF Treasurer spoke
about the state of finances for the branch organization and assured members
that the mortgage has decreased and that all accounts are in order. Irene
Boddy, treasurer of UWO reported accurately on how much revenue each event
brought in and how much of it was profit. The new UNF Toronto Branch Executive
was presented and in a vote accepted by the membership for the following two
years: President - Slawko Borys; Vice President - Greg Adamowich; Secretary -
Bob Medycky; and Treasurer - Bernice Mokrij. For the UWO Toronto Branch,
members elected the following executive: President – Lidia Lelyk; Vice
President – Genya Hunchak; Secretary – Nadia Ostapchuk; and Treasurer – Irene Boddy.
After a lively discussion about the trailer park at Camp “Sokil”, the meeting adjourned
and took another upbeat turn, with attention now turned to centre stage and a
lively dance performance by members, including the youngest, of The Kalyna
Performing Arts Company. Light refreshments followed the formal meeting and program,
which nurtured and encouraged socializing. Now highly energized, the room was
primed and ready for enthusiastic members to watch together the exciting
Olympic Final Hockey Game – between