CYM Canada’s 75th anniversary was celebrated on Saturday, April 29, at St. Joseph’s Banquet & Conference Centre in Oakville with the participation of over 400 guests. The program began with a short performance by the youth members of the Southwestern Ontario Branches, entering the hall with flags to the CYM anthem “Vhoru prapory”. Melania Schturyn from Etobicoke and Sofia Strouk from Mississauga led a brief overview of the activities of CYM Canada over the last 75 years before the entire hall sang the Ukrainian and Canadian national anthems.
Tamara Tataryn, President of CYM Canada, welcomed all the guests and led a moment of silence in honor of all the members of CYM Canada and the defenders of Ukraine who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. Eparch of the Toronto and Eastern Diocese of the Ukrainian Catholic Church, Bishop Brian Bayda, blessed the meal.
During dinner, photo montages prepared by Tamara Hrycyshyn were shown featuring the multifaceted activities of CYM in Canada over the past 75 years. The guests also had the opportunity to buy tickets for a raffle with interesting prizes from which all proceeds were dedicated to CYM’s Humanitarian Fund.
MC for the evening and member of the Mississauga Branch, Zoriana Kilyk, welcomed everyone present, starting with the former presidents of CYM’s National Executive – spouse of the late Dr. Matej Huta – Anna Huta, spouse of the late Bohdan Baran – Stefa Baran, Halyna Holowka, Nadia Tataryn, Iryna Mycak, Olyana Grod, Tamara Tataryn and Yuri Broda, the clergy, representatives and heads of Ukrainian organizations, and delegates and participants of the Leadership Seminar, who gathered from all over Canada in conjunction with CYM Canada’s AGM.
Greetings were delivered by President of the Ukrainian World Congress and member of the Toronto Branch, Paul Grod, Member of Parliament for Etobicoke Center Yvan Baker, Consul General of Ukraine in Toronto Honorable Oleksandr Shevchenko, Vice-President of CYM’s World Executive Harry Nesmasznyj, Chief Executive Officer of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Ihor Michalchyshyn, and Chair of BCU Foundation, the main sponsor of the celebrations, Roman Medyk, a long-time member of the CYM Etobicoke Branch.
The highlight of the evening was a series of video interviews by CYM members of different generations, from different parts of Canada, members who have been in CYM their entire lives and those who have only recently joined the ranks, speaking on what CYM means to them. This video project titled “In the words of CYM Members” consisted of five themes that addressed the meaning of CYM.
We would like to express our gratitude to those who contributed to the realization of these videos. Among them are Kostyantyn Snitsar, Andriy Mazepa, Marko Boychuk, Stepan Bandera and Danylo Moussienko, and the CYM members who gladly shared their thoughts. This project is just the beginning and throughout the year we will encourage other CYM members to participate in this documentary project.
At the end of the official program, Eerka Shust-Dankowycz, President of the first CYM Branch in Canada – CYM Toronto, named after Roman Shukhevych-Taras Chuprynka, thanked all present for their kind greetings and participation in the celebrations, and our numerous sponsors for their financial support. The chaplain of CYM Canada, Fr. Andrij Figol, closed the formal program with the singing of the prayer “Bozhe Velykyi” and “Mnohaya Lita” to CYM Canada on the way to its centennial. After that, the audience had fun to the sounds of two bands, “Zapovid” and “Tysk”.
You can find additional photos in our photo album Banquet СУМ75.
