Centenary
Pioneer Recognition Program Celebration
Edmonton - Over 500
descendants of east central Alberta’s pioneers converged on the Ukrainian
Cultural Heritage Village (east of Edmonton near Elk Island National Park,
Alberta) on Sunday, August 12, 2012 to participate in the annual Centenary
Pioneer Recognition Program celebration.
“This
is a particularly special year for the Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project”,
points out Radomir Bilash, Project Manager. “Our monument has been redesigned,
expanded and rededicated. Our previous 2004 version of the monument was
completely filled as of last year, reflecting the degree of popularity in
family history that has resulted over the last eight years. This is our most
successful year, since over 600 pioneers have been added to the monument, and
we also issued Centenary Certificates that honour nearly 600 additional
individuals whose names will be added to the monument next year. I only hope
that more people will come forward to honour their ancestors in this way, since
only two years remain in this program.”
As
part of this year’s celebration, Jacquie Fenske, MLA for Fort
Saskatchewan-Vegreville with Genia Leskiw, MLA for Bonnyville-Cold Lake, and
Daria Luciw from the Ukrainian Canadian Congress-Alberta Provincial Council
brought greetings from the Province of Alberta and the community at large. Then
they rededicated the renewed Centenary Monument and unveiled the newest names
on it, with the assistance of former Premier Ed Stelmach and his wife, Marie.
During the religious portion of the ceremony, the names of the pioneers were
read out as clergy representing the denominations of the Ukrainian Greek
Catholic, Ukrainian Greek Orthodox, and the Orthodox Church of America blessed
the newest plaques on the Monument.
The
Centenary Pioneer Recognition Program will soon begin accepting nomination for
families whose ancestors settled in east central Alberta prior to 1913. Their
ancestors’ year of settlement in east central Alberta will be reflected on the
Centenary Monument as names are added. Descendents may also pre-register pioneers
who settled in east central Alberta prior 1915. Applicants are not required to
be current residents of the original homestead in order to participate in this
program. They and their ancestors are also not required to be of Ukrainian
origin. Centenary Certificates have been issued to people who now hail from as
far away as British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, as well as from
the United States.
Shevchenko
Foundation Grants Funds Toward AB-Ukraine Genealogy
Radomir Bilash,
recently received a grant from the Ukrainian Canadian Foundation of Taras
Shevchenko to continue work on the Documenting Church Properties initiative of
the Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project.
Radomir
Bilash is also Senior Historian for the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village,
with which he has been associated in a variety of capacities since 1977,
National Historian for the Ukrainian Canadian Congress, and President of the
Canadian Association of Ukrainian Ethnology. As author of numerous articles on
Ukrainian Canadian culture and history, Mr. Bilash also lectures at the
University of Alberta. “I am indeed grateful to the Shevchenko Foundation for
its support of this very important project,” says Mr. Bilash. “There is so
little time left to capture this vanishing history.”
Since
inception of the Documenting Church Properties initiative in 2007, the
Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project has photographed and documented over 100
properties associated with Ukrainian Settlement in Alberta.
For
questions about the Project and the documenting initiative, please contact our
office at 780-431-2324, by email at AB-Ukraine.Genealogy@gov.ab.ca or by
mail:
Alberta-Ukraine Genealogical Project
3rd Floor, Old St. Stephen’s College
8820-112 Street
Edmonton, AB
T6G 2P8
1 - 2012 Recipients of Centenary Pioneer Recognition Certificate
during Ukrainian Day, August 12
2 - Blessing and dedication of renewed Centenary Monument