Folk Arts Festival in St. Catharines

Last weekend staff at Ukrainian Credit Union Limited's St. Catharines branch took part in the Folks Art Festival. Saturday afternoon, they set up a table at the Ukrainian Open House held at St. John Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Performers entertain at the Ukrainian Open House at St. John's Church

Odarka Kish-Pryshlak shows off some
of her icon-based art

 Folk Arts Festival is Canada's oldest continually-running Heritage Festival. This festival is a beautiful blend of the cultures and people that make Canada a nation to be envied. During the festival the multicultural community opens its doors and its hearts and welcomes you to experience the beauty and uniqueness of their cultures, traditions, art, music and food.
At the Ukrainian Open House guests enjoyed delicious Ukrainian food and an outstanding entertainment by Kalyna and Dunai dancers. Watching one of these performances was breathtaking as well as rhythmic. The theme of this event was Icons - Their Symbolism and Importance. Icons are visual form of prayer that seeks to tell us something true about God and the saints. They follow a long tradition of truths that are communicated visually rather than through words, a theology passed from one artist to the next. Guests had an opportunity to view the various icon displays created by Odarka Kish-Pryshlak, member of UCU.

Svitlana Rudenko and Vlad Pasternak at the UCU table

You can see more photos on our FB page in the Folk Arts Festival album.

Real estate seminar in Oakville

Last week we held the first of what we hope will be several seminars on real estate at the St. Joseph Ukraine Catholic Church and Heritage Centre in Oakville. Lesya Babiy, UCU's branch manager at our Mississauga location hosted the event. The main speaker was George Dlugosh of Prudential Town Centre Realty Inc.

George Dlugosh talks about the particularities of the Oakville real estate market

If you want to live in Oakville, be prepared to pay a premium the closer you live to a good school. During the seminar George displayed a set of maps that showed a very close correlation between school rankings and house prices. Clearly a lot of younger families are moving into the area. If you don't have children, you can get a bit of a bargain if you look for areas that are not close to good schools. However, most schools in Oakville have a pretty high ranking!

Ukrainian Credit Union Limited has now held real estate seminars with a half-dozen different real estate agents, each targeting a slightly different audience. Some were focused on first-time buyers, some on new immigrants, some on selling rather than buying a house. What strikes us is that every agent that runs a successful business has an angle that provides value. We always learn something new at each seminar.

One of George's differentiators is that he does a lot of research on "why" a house sold for a particular price, so he can advise his clients on whether the asking prices are reflective of the market in the area. He also tracks the average inventory of houses in a particular price range very carefully to see how much leeway his clients have when it comes to making a bid. While many agents do this as well, what struck us as different is that George gets much more granular in the price ranges and rather than tracking low, medium and high prices ranges, he has a good eight or ten price bands.

On a separate note, we should mention that the Terrce Cafe at St. Joseph's Church has very delicious food on sale every Thursday.

More pictures of the event can be found on our Facebook page.

Ukraine Pavilion - Carassauga 2013

The 2013 edition of the Ukraine Pavilion at Carassauga was a big hit once again. Hosted by the Dormition of the Mother of God Ukrainian Catholic Church (St. Mary’s) on Cawthra Road in Mississauga the pavilion is a perennial crowd favourtie. It has been the winner of  “Best Overall Quality" in 2005 and 2006. The pavilion also won the “2010 Carassauga Singing Star Contest”. Other awards over the years include: Best Entertainment; Best Cultural Ambiance and Décor; Best History & Geography.

Barvinok Ukrainian Dancers provided the entertainment at the pavilion

Ukrainian Credit Union Limited was proud to sponsor this event in 2013 as in previous years. This year our staff from the UCU Mississauga branch hosted a Kids' Corner. The branch, headed up by Lesya Babiy also held a raffle with the main prize being a cook set from CuisineArt.

Children participate in the Kids' Corner activities

Mississauga Branch Manager Lesya Babiy and MSR Iryna Zaglyadina
at the UCU table at  Carassauga's Ukraine Pavillion.

You can see  lot more photos of this event on our FB page in the "Ukraine Pavilion- Carassauga 2013" album.

If you've somehow missed Carassauga and want to know more about it, please visit their website. The description of the Ukraine Pavilion on the Carassauga website follows:

As you pass through the doors, you will be engulfed by the spirit and hospitality, which has been the traditional of the Ukrainian people. You will find yourself traveling through time, quickly and magically from the early days of Rus’ to be the beautiful and modern country now known as UKRAINE! You will feel its spirit and splendor, its warmth and culture. Get caught up in the infectious excitement of our stage shows. Be a part of our energy and excitement of our very own Barvinok Ukrainian Dancers. Allow our dancers, food& music to take through centuries of the development of the rich heritage of Ukraine.Let the Zoloti Struny Ukrainian Youth Ensemble engulf you with a traditional melody of Ukraine’s national instrument, the bandura. Let us entertain your children with traditional Ukrainian art & crafts activities. Visit our exhibit depicting cultural traditions, clothing and dance costumes, beading and musical instruments. Experience the beauty and history of the architecture of a country more than a thousand years in the making.

Melanie Drozdowsky - Michael Rebryk Memorial Scholarship winner

The final scholarship awarded this year was The Ukrainian Credit Union Limited Board of Directors' Memorial Scholarship Award, in Memory of Michael Rebryk. It is also valued at $2,500.

This year’s winner of the award is Melanie Drozdowsky. Melanie is a 4th student of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba. She began her studies at the University of Toronto and transferred to UofM for her last year. She was brought up in a very athletic family and has been a competitive swimmer for 16 years. She swam for the University of Toronto Varsity Team, making a Canadian National Standard during her swimming career. She has also coached other swimmers and workers as a life guard. Melanie is an active member of PLAST. She continues helping the organization in planning the annual Malanka, working as a counsellor at summer camps as a podruha in PLAST Winnipeg. She was the Vice-President of the University of Toronto Ukrainian Students’ Club in 2010-2011 and is an active member of SUSK. Melanie Drozdowsky, please come up to accept your reward.

About the Michael Rebryk Memorial Scholarship

Michael Rebryk (1927-2010) was first elected to the UCU Board on February 20, 1966 eventually becoming its second president/chair in 1981, a post he held until 1997. Upon his retirement from the Board on January 26, 2000, the Board honoured Michael for his over three decades of active service to the credit union by appointing him an Honourary Life Director. He continued to attend Board meetings of the credit union in an advisory capacity until his deteriorating health no longer permitted him to do so.

Michael was a particularly active member of the Ukrainian National Federation and the broader Ukrainian community in Toronto. He was a sports enthusiast who was a onetime basketball and volleyball coach and who helped introduce baseball into Ukraine in the early 1990’s. He had a great tenor voice and loved to sing and was a past member of the UNF Boyan Choir and the St. Demetrius choir for many years. In recognition of his lifelong interests in sports and the performing arts, this award will be made to a candidate of Ukrainian heritage who is enrolled full time in a post-secondary institution in a field of study that will lead to a career in:

1. Sports, recreation, physical education and related disciplines
2. Sports medicine, kinesiology and related disciplines, OR
3. Music, dance, drama, or any of the performing arts disciplines

and who shows above average academic skills, and demonstrates leadership and community involvement.

This is the last of the 2013 scholarship winners that we have profiled over the last two weeks on the blog. You can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Ivanna Franko - Wasyl Sytnyk Memorial Scholarship winner

Now we move on to the first of our two larger scholarship awards. These awards are granted in memory of two very important builders of Ukrainian Credit Union Limited, Wasyl Sytnyk and Michael Rebryk.

The winner of the The Ukrainian Credit Union Limited Board of Directors' Memorial Scholarship Award, in Memory of Wasyl Sytnyk in 2013 was Ivanna Franko. The scholarship is valued at $2,500.


Ivanna Franko is enrolled in the Bachelor of Business Administration at Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo. She has actively put that education to good use in her community work serving both as the Treasurer of the Ukrainian Youth Organization of Eastern Canada (CYMK) and as the Treasurer of the Laurier Residence Council. She is a member of Enactus (formerly Students in Free Enterprise) a non-profit organization that connects leaders in business to university students to help them make a difference in their communities. She has filled various positions with the organization including Director of Program Development. She has been an asset to the Waterloo Ukrainian Community helping to revive the Rosmaj School of Ukrainian Dance as a way to pass along the joy of Ukrainian dance and culture to a new generation.


About Wasyl Sytnyk
Wasyl Sytnyk (1907‐2000) led Ukrainian Credit Union through its early years, serving as its first President of the Board from 1944 until 1979. Upon his retirement from the Board in 1987, Mr. Sytnyk was appointed Honorary Director for Life for his outstanding contribution to our credit union. In recognition of his exemplary service to Ontario's credit union movement, Mr. Sytnyk was awarded the Credit Union Central of Ontario's Distinguished Service Award in 1982. In addition to his role as UCU President, Mr. Sytnyk was a long‐time president of the Council of Ukrainian Credit Unions of Canada, The World Council of Ukrainian Co‐operatives, and was very active in the church and organizational life of the Ukrainian Community.

In recognition of his lifelong interests this award will be made to a candidate of Ukrainian heritage who is enrolled full time in a post-secondary institution in a field of study that will lead to a career in the fields of business, finance, banking, IT, marketing, computer science or wealth management, and who shows above average academic skills, and demonstrates leadership and community involvement.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Mariana Marta Teslyuk - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

The 10th and final recipient of our 2013 Community Leadership Award is Mariana Marta Teslyuk. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Mariana is in the 3rd year of a Science degree at University of Manitoba focusing on Microbiology and Biology. She is the vice-president and Secretary of St. Andrew’s College Student Council and also a member of the University of Manitoba Ukrainian Students’ Association. She served as the secretary of the Ukrainian Youth Association Council in 2011 and 2012. She has volunteered for Break for Jesus and at the St. Joseph’s Health Centre in Toronto. Mariana has won numerous awards in the past, most recently the William and Olga Danyluk Bursary.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Natalia Sandul - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

Natalia Sandul is the ninth winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Natalia Sandul is in the 5th year of a Concurrent Teacher Education Program in Music at the Faculty of Music at University of Toronto. She is a choir member at St. Demetrius Church and helps out with church events like Yarmarok. She is also a member of the Ukraina School of Arts dance ensemble. She was an active member of CYM where she applied her musical talents as a music instructor for the 5-14 year-old members of the organization.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Christine Saly - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

The eighth winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award is Christine Saly. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Christine is in the 2nd year of a Masters of Museum Studies at the University of Toronto. She also holds a Fine Arts Diploma in Cultural Resource Management form the University of Victoria and a Combined Honours BA Anthropology and Sociology from McMaster University. Christine has been a volunteer at the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Ontario Branch and at the Brant Museum and Archives. She has performed with the Kalyna Dance Ensemble and the Junior Chaika Song and Dance Ensemble, both based in Hamilton. During her studies at McMaster she was an executive member of the Ukrainian Students’ Association. Christine has co-authored a paper titled Promoting Archeology through Cultural Resource Management and Museums: Case Studies from Ontario, British Columbia and Great Britain, and has taken part in man Archeological symposia.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Juliana Obal - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

The seventh winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award is Juliana Obal. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Juliana Obal is in her 3rd year of the Bachelor of Commerce program at McGill University in Montreal. She is majoring in Accounting. In 2011-2012 she was named to the Golden Key Society and Dean’s Honour List which are awarded to the top 15% and top 10% of students respectively. Recently, she participated in the McGill Management International Case Competition during which she lead a team of 12 students. Before leaving for Montreal, she was a dancer and teaching assistant for Barvinok Ukrainian Dance School.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Petro Lysyk - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

The next winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award is Petro Lysyk. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Petro Lysyk is a 1st year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in Oshawa. His community involvement includes membership in ODUM – the Ukrainian Canadian Youth Association where he acted as a counsellor at the camp at Oselya Ukraina. Petro is also very involved in the 151 Chadburn Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Cadets. Currently he is in charge of the recruit training program and heads up a staff of 4 sergeants. Petro is also a former recipient of one of UCU’s Building Community Matura Video awards given in conjunction with Western Union. He shared third place in the contest in 2011.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Olana Lovell - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

Our fifth winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award is Olana Lovell. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Olana Lovell is a 2nd year student at McMasters Bachelor of Nursing Studies Program. She spends some of her free time volunteering as a Big Sister for the “In-school Mentoring Program” at St. Patrick’s Catholic Elementary school in Hamilton. She is also a member of the McMaster Ukrainian Students’ Club, the Barvinok Dance School, and the Ukrainian Youth Association – Mississauga branch where she helps out as a counsellor at the Veselka Summer Camp.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Simon Dolega - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

The fourth winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award is Simon Dolega. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Simon Dolega is a 3rd year Honours Bachelor of Sciences – Geology student at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay where Ukrainian Credit Union Limited’s farthest outpost is located. He is an active participant in the local Ukrainian community. As a member of the Holy Cross Youth Group he sings with the Church choir and volunteers at church events like the “Pancake Breakfast”. He also teaches dancing at the Chaban Ukrainian Dance ensemble in Thunder Bay. Earlier, he was a member of the Toronto-based Ukrainian School of Dance and the Zoloti Struny Bandura Ensemble.Simon unfortunately was not able to make it to our gala, so you won't be able to see any more picturesof him, unlike the other candidates.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Rox Chwaluk - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

The next winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award is Roxolana Chwaluk. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Rox is in the 1st year of the Master of Education program at Brock University. She also holds a bachelor of Education and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree, both from Brock University. Rox has a lot of experience as an organizer and participants in many workshops and conferences, particularly as a key organizer and session leader of the 8th Annual North American Bhopal Conference. You can read more about her volunteer work in both India and Jamaica on the UCU Blog “Building Communities”. Rox is a past vice-president of MYHO Toronto and a past President of the Brock Ukrainian Students’ Club.

You can read more about Rox in a previous Spotlight we published on her Spotlight on Roxolana Chwaluk.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Halyna Chumak - UCU Community Leadership Award winner

The second winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award is Halyna Chumak. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Halyna is a 2^nd year student of Arts & Sciences majoring in Criminology and English Literature with minor in philosophy at the University of Toronto. Currently Halyna is the Vice-President of the University of Toronto English Students’ Club and an associate editor of IDIOM the Undergraduate Journal at U of T. She is a member of the U of T Ukrainian Students’ Club. 

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Inga Bekbudova - UCU Community Leadership Award winner.

Our first winner of the UCU Community Leadership Award is Inga Bekbudova. This award is in the amount of $1,000 and is given to qualifying candidates of Ukrainian heritage who are enrolled in a field of study such as political science, business, communication, theology, or international studies and who show above average academic skills. The winners must also demonstrate leadership and community involvement.

Inga Bekbudova is a 1st year Performance/Theatre production student at Ryerson University. Inga is very active in the Ukrainian Community in Toronto and has been a key participant in the youth programming on the weekly Kontakt TV show.  She is very artistically talented having participated as a dancer, wardrobe assistant and teaching assistant in the Arkan Dance Company. She has also taught piano at the Ontario Conservatory of music, sang in the Prolisok Youth Ensemble and played with the Baturyn Concert Marching Band. Currently she is a member of the Ukrainian Students’ Club at Ryerson.

We will highlight each of the winners in blog posts over the next few days where you can read a bit about them. In the meantime, you can see lots of photos from the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala on our Facebook page. You can read more about the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Gala here.

Congratulations to all the winners! You are all very talented and deserving of praise! Keep reading the blog for more about this year's scholarship winners. And if you didn't apply this year, why not think about it next year? Visit our Scholarship page on our website for more details. The call for application normally goes out in late December, early January and the deadline is the end of February.

Oakville Homebuying Seminar!

1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala

Scholarship winners and Scholarship Committee. From left: Inga Bekbudova,
Melanie Drozdowsky, Olana Lovell, Julianna Obal, Natalia Sandul, Peter Lysyk,
Mariana Marta Teslyuk, Scholarship Committee member Walter Kish, Christine Saly,
 Halyna Chumak, Scholarship Committee Chair Andre Sochaniwsky, Ivanna Franko
and Zenon Chwaluk who picked up a Community Leadership Award on behalf
of his daughter Roxolana Chwaluk who was not able to make it to the gala. Not pictured:
Simon Dolega, winner of a UCU Community Leadership Award who was unable to attend.
Image by Jerzy Kukulski ipickart.com

Olenka Harasymowycz was the
MC of the evening

On May 10 Ukrainian Credit Union Limited celebrated the academic achievements of 12 talented students. Every year Ukrainian Credit Union Limited awards scholarships to the most deserving young members of our credit union. In the past we gave these awards out at our AGM. However, since the AGM typically takes place during exam season, this made it difficult for students to be present to receive their scholarships.

This year we decided to announce the awards at our AGM as in previous year, but delay the actual award ceremony to a later date. Thus was born the 1st Annual UCU Scholarship Award Gala!

This year we held the ceremony at Campbell House in downtown Toronto. Olenka Harasymowycz, one of last year's UCU Community Leadership Awardees, was the emcee of the evening. Slawko Boys delivered the keynote speech. He is the newest and youngest member of the Board of Directors at UCU. He was elected to his position at the 69th Annual General Meeting of UCU which took place just two weeks ago. He is also an active member of UNF, currently serving as the President of the Ukrainian National Federation – Toronto Branch as well as a the National Secretary for the UNF Board of Directors and as the Vice-Chair of the UNF Recreation and Education Society.

Thank you Mothers!

Yesterday was a very special day for Mothers around the world. A day of thanks for all the hard work they've gone through raising us, feeding us, teaching us, punishing us when needed, and loving us.

Here's a couple of pictures of Mother's Day Teas at Tsiopa Palijiw Ukrainian Saturday School in Toronto. The children prepared a beautiful concert and the fathers served tea and cookies to mothers and grand mothers.

Mothers and grandmothers enjoy tea at Tsiopa Palijiw School

School principal Daria Bila addresses the guests

Children at the school prepared a number of songs and poems celebrating mothers and grandmothers.

Desna's Spring Showcase

Desna Ukrainian Dance group wants to remind you that their Spring Showcase is this weekend!

Details are on the flyer above and on the DESNA Showcase FB page.

Tickets are on sale at UCU's BLOOR and ETOBICOKE branches as of today afternoon (May 8). Hurry up, tickets are selling quickly