Osinna Prohulka 2013

Blessed with bright sunshine and unseasonably warm temperatures, the third annual Ukrainian American Youth Association (CYM) Osinnya Rodynna Prohulka (Fall Family Outing) took place from October 12-13, 2013 on the grounds of the CYM Oselia in Ellenville, NY. Approximately 40 children of varying ages attended the outing with their parents, which was organized by Viddil (branch) 54 of CYM “Khersones” in Stamford, CT.

The weekend began with a formal CYM Apel and went on to include a short hutirka (presentation) on the characteristics and traits of CYM members. The presenter, Father Ivan Kaszczak, discussed these typical characteristics that all Sumivtsi can and should strive to achieve in their personal, academic and professional lives, including traits such as kindness, honor, courage and self-determination. Following this presentation, there was time to play a quick and friendly game of soccer – children vs. parents. Afterwards, the children remained on the sports field where they awaited a surprise guest, specifically a long-time Sumivets from the oseredok in New York, NY and professional skydiver, Ivan Kaczor. While the children waited impatiently on the ground, Ivan jumped from a plane over 13,000 feet up in the air and parachuted safely down, landing directly on the sports field where the children were standing. What an exciting event and not something you see everyday! The children (and parents!) had a multitude of questions for him, of course, which he patiently and gladly answered. Later that day, there was also a presentation on first aid, a topic you can never know enough about. As evening approached and dinner was devoured, everyone sat down to enjoy the epic Hollywood blockbuster film “Taras Bulba”, which was shown on a big, open-air screen. After the film, as is already tradition, the Sumivtsi from Stamford danced the night away to the fantastic sounds of our hometown DJ and father of two lovely young girls in the viddil, Andriy Solonynka.

Following Mass at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Kerhonkson, NY on Sunday morning, the rest of the program continued. The children and parents drove to the nearby Oselia Runviry “Oriana” where they had a chance to visit their small but impressive collection of Trypillian artifacts. After a brief discussion with the collection’s curator, Iryna Forostyak, the children were given clay and instructed on how to make their own birds and other symbols in nature. Finally, the weekend’s activities came to a close and reluctantly, everyone packed up and headed home – undeniably feeling like they’d grown closer to one another as a CYM family over the course of the Prohulka.

Many thanks go to the Administrators of CYM Oselia who facilitated the outing, to all the CYM parents who helped organize the weekend and especially to the participating guest lecturers without whom there would have been no program: Severyn Hummeny from CYM Stamford, CT, Father Ivan Kaszczak, Pastor of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church, Kerhonkson, NY, Ivan Kaczor, Oseredok CYM New York, NY, and Iryna Forostyan, Director, Fund for Research of Ancient Civilizations. We are already looking forward to next year’s great event!