On Sunday, November 11, the Hamilton UNF branch hosted a special “Meet and Greet” pot-luck luncheon with special guests Roy Kostiuk, the newly elected President of the UNF of Canada, and Walter Kish, President of the The New Pathway (“Noviy Shliakh”) newspaper. Over 120 members and guests were treated to a sumptuous feast followed by an entertainment program and addresses by the guests of honour. Performers included dancers from Hamilton’s renown Chaika dance ensemble as well as bandurists Taras and Oksana Gulka.

In his address, Walter Kish presented an overview of The New Pathway’s recent efforts towards modernizing the paper and making it more interesting and relevant to younger generations of Ukrainian Canadians. Foremost in this process has been making the paper bilingual with the inclusion of a significant amount of English content, as well as increasing coverage in the areas of art, culture, education, lifestyle, and sports. He indicated that these changes had succeeded in arresting the decade long shrinkage in circulation, and brought about actual net increases in subscribership in the past two years. Despite this progress, the paper is still operating at a deficit, and he urged both individuals and branches to continue to support the paper financially until it achieves profitability, hopefully in the next year or so.

Roy Kostiuk emphasized in his remarks that the new Board of Directors is committed to making the UNF a truly all-encompassing, non-partisan community based organization focused on the preservation and development of the Ukrainian identity and culture here in Canada. The political divisions and conflicts that divided the Ukrainian community in the past are now irrelevant, and the UNF must now focus on how to attract the younger generations of Canadian born Ukrainians back into active roles within our branches.

Congratulations go to Ann Prybyla, the Master of Ceremonies and prime organizer of the event, for an enjoyable and interesting afternoon.