Ukrainians mark 20 years as a nation
Celebrations of her Ukrainian roots were much more common when Anne Konecky was a girl.
"A big factor is that Ukraine has its independence now, so you don't have the struggles for freedom which you had in the past," she said.
"It is a free country and people are doing their own thing."
But that, perhaps, is the best reason to rejoice, so from noon to 9 p.m. on Aug. 28, the 20th Anniversary of Ukrainian Independence Celebration will be held at the Alpine Club, 220 Alpine Drive, South Fayette.
Besides ethnic food, there will be a program of reciting patriotic poems, ethnic music and after-dinner dancing to the Mosaic Orchestra from Canada.
Proceeds benefit various Ukrainian charities.
The family-oriented event commemorates Aug. 24, 1991, the day this former Soviet republic in eastern Europe declared itself an independent state -- and a few months before the Soviet Union formally dissolved.
For Mrs. Konecky's husband Bohdan Konecky, 71, the day is especially significant in light of his family's painful history.
He said that when he was a boy in Ukraine during the Stalinist era, the Internal Security Forces -- predecessor to the KGB intelligence agency -- herded his family into a cramped cattle car packed with other so-called "enemies of the state" and transported them north.
While his parents and older sister worked as slave labor in the forests, young Bohdan attended elementary school and later vocational school, where he studied metallurgy.
He came to the United States in 1962 and earned a master's degree in metallurgy at the University of Pittsburgh.
About the same time, he met his wife; both were members of the Youth of Ukraine dance group.
Mr. Konecky said his birth country's independence has been marked annually at civic events and with religious services.
There are 35 Ukrainian Christian parishes in the Pittsburgh area that are either Ukrainian Orthodox or Ukrainian Byzantine Catholic.
A focus is raising funds to ensure the permanent status of the Ukrainian language program at the University of Pittsburgh. The fundraising goal is $250,000.
"The Ukrainian community is coming together to collect enough money to form an endowment so the program goes on for years," said Mrs. Konecky, 64, of Green Tree.
But of all the means of preserving their culture, perhaps none is as heartfelt as the independence celebration to those with vivid memories.
"When we became independent, it was like a miracle," Mr. Konecky recalled.
Admission for the 20th anniversary event is $10 for adults and $1 for students through college age. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 412-343-0309. To donate to the endowment, make checks payable to "Ridna Shkola of Pittsburgh, Ukrainian Language at the University of Pittsburgh," and send to: c/o Ukrainian Credit Union, 95 S. Seventh St., Pittsburgh, PA 15203.
Margaret SMYKLA
