Lake Michigan Rusyns

Lemko Homeland Tour

2012-01-22T15:07:00.001-06:00

For the full details, view the announcement here.

Lemko Region—July 20–August 2, 2012

Optional Western Poland—August 2–6

Seize the cultural experience of a lifetime! Discover the richness and fullness of the Lemko Rusyn heritage in the scenic and haunting beauty of the Lemko homeland, Lemkovyna, nestled in the beautiful foothills of the Carpathian Mountains of southeastern Poland.

Learn about the Lemko people, their history, culture, and the events that helped shape their lives. Enjoy their songs and dances, their delicious foods and wonderful traditions, and the camaraderie of the local Lemko people. Visit the village of your ancestors and walk in their footsteps.

C-RS tour director, Nancy Revak teams up with native Lemko cultural leaders to give you a true taste of Lemko culture and history. It's an experience you will never forget—one from which you will walk away with a deeper understanding and appreciation of your own Lemko ancestry

Don't miss out. Register NOW! Deadline is FEBRUARY 1, 2012.

This year's Lemko Tour is twelve days full of interesting experiences. Add four more days on the optional extension to Western Poland, where Lemkos were forcibly resettled in the 1947 Akcja Wisla, and where many Lemkos still live today. Attend the annual Vatra Lemkos in Exile, a traditional bonfire festival, where Lemko Rusyns from many lands reunite to celebrate their survival and revival.

This year, tour members will have the choice of departing the U.S. from two locations:

Chicago—for the convenience of those traveling from the West and Midwest
NY/NJ—for those traveling from the East

Everyone will meet up in Warsaw and continue together from there.

The Lemko Homeland Tour is sponsored by the Carpatho-Rusyn Society (C-RS) in cooperation with the Rusin Association of Minnesota. Polish American Tours (PAT Tours) will book your air travel roundtrip from your local airport and back.

IMPORTANT: If you are interested in taking the tour, IMMEDIATELY contact Nancy Revak at lemkotour@c-rs.org or 310-473-8522. EARLY SIGN-UP IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED to take advantage of current airline rates, taxes and fees, which are expected to increase significantly after the first of the year and skyrocket the closer we get to the summer peak travel season

For the full details and registration form, view the announcement here.

Lake Michigan Carpatho-Ruysn Society Celebrates Rusyn New Year

2012-01-22T14:43:00.000-06:00

Participants continue the Rusyn tradition
of providing more than enough food for guests

Candles burning in holiday centerpieces on each table added a festive touch to Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society’s Rusyn New Year celebration. Eighty people made their way to St. Peter and St. Paul Orthodox Church in Burr Ridge, Illinois on January 14 for the chapter’s second annual potluck luncheon.

The buffet table was laden with traditional dishes such as halushki (noodles and fried cabbage), pagach (flat bread with potato and cheese filling) accompanied by honey for dipping, pirohi, mushroom machunka (thick soup made with dried mushrooms), bryndza (sheep’s milk cheese), herring, halupki (stuffed cabbage), pickled beets and smoked sausage as well as salads and appetizers. As more and more food kept arriving, Paula Manzuk, who volunteered to coordinate the food, was kept busy re-arranging the tables to make room for new dishes. A separate dessert table was covered with traditional Rusyn nut and poppyseed rolls, kolachi and poppyseed cake as well as other sweets.

Prior to the luncheon, guests had the opportunity to visit the genealogy table where Arlene Dremak Gardiner assisted them in finding the villages of their ancestors. She also encouraged them to attend the chapter’s genealogy workshop which she will conduct in late summer. Arlene and her daughter Karin Gardiner Sandman also displayed some of their pysanky collection. They will offer a pysanky-making workshop on Saturday, March 24 at Descent of the Holy Spirit Orthodox Church in Schererville, Indiana. Information about both events will be posted on this blog. At the Rusyn Market, Richard Trojanowski and Ken Cuprisin offered books, T-shirt, CDs and other Rusyn items, some of which came from Rusyn villages in Slovakia and Poland.

Arlene Gardiner assists Bob Yurschak
in finding the village of his ancestors.

Some attendees gathered about a table with a display board commemorating the chapter’s late president Tim Cuprisin who died the day before Thanksgiving. It also held pictures of last year’s pysanky decorating and genealogy workshops which will be held again this year. On the table were photographs from the 1940’s and earlier of Viflejemčiki or Jasličkári, traditional Rusyn Bethlehem singers. Traditionally the Jaslichkary or shepherds, garbed in white long white garments with colorful ribbons across their chests and tall stove-pipe hats, began their visit to a home with the singing of Rozhdestvo Tvoje, the tropar for the Birth of Christ. Then they presented a short play about the Nativity and sang carols. They carried with them a small church with a nativity scene inside as they told the story of His birth.

Joan Klisch-Williams looks at old pictures of traditional Rusyn Jaslichkay.

The solemnity of the Jaslichkary was in sharp contrast to the accompanying kubi who wore old clothes and sheepskin masks and carried wooden hatchets. They chased children about the home, threatening to put the naughty ones in the large burlap bags they slung over their shoulders. The likelihood of such a happening was diminished as the bag was usually filled with food and drink from the households already visited. The singing of Mnohaja Blahaja L'ita (Many Blessed Years) concluded the visit.

After the luncheon, newly-elected president Charlotte Pribish Conjelko introduced all the board members and talked about upcoming events such as a pysanky-making workshop at Descent of the Holy Spirit Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Church in Schererville, Indiana on March 24 and a genealogy workshop in late summer. She also welcomed suggestions for programs and speakers.

A big hit at the gathering were Heather Domanski and Colleen Villasenor who wore traditional Rusyn clothing which they created. The talented seamstresses have their own business making priests’ vestments, Easter basket covers and baptismal dresses from wedding gowns.

Colleen Villasenor and Heather Domanski tell
about their Rusyn garments that they created.

After everyone had eaten, Board Member John Sutko led the singing of traditional Rusyn Christmas carols. He also created a booklet of 15 traditional Eastern European carols for those who attended to take home.

Ss. Peter and Paul choir director John Sutko leads the singing of carols after the luncheon.

The day concluded with host pastor Fr. Herman Kincaid inviting everyone to attend a Panachida for deceased Lake Michigan Chapter President Tim Cuprisin in the church and wishing everyone a safe journey home.

Fr. Herman Kincaid offers a Panachida for Tim Cuprisin.
Responses were sung by board members Fr. John Lucas, treasurer, Fr. William Conjelko and John Sutko

C-RS LAKE MICHIGAN CHAPTER ELECTS OFFICERS AND NEW BOARD MEMBERS

2012-01-17T16:44:00.000-06:00

The board of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-RusynSociety recently elected two new officers and board members. Former chapter secretary Charlotte PribishConjelko of Hobart, Indiana has succeeded the late Tim Cuprisin aspresident. Tim’s brother Ken of Lynwood,Illinois is the new secretary. Chicagoresidents Brendan Barry and Karin Sandman were elected to the board.

Other board members are Fr. John Lucas of Chicago, treasurer;Michael Baron, Joliet, Illinois; Fr. William Conjelko, Hobart; RichardGarbera-Trojanowski, Round Lake, Illinois; Arlene Dremak Gardiner, Racine,Wisconsin; Tom Sedor, Orland Park, Illinois; John Sutko, Burbank, Illinois; andLisa Terlecki, Berwyn, Illinois.

On Saturday, March 24 thechapter will host a pysanky-making workshop at Descent of the Holy SpiritOrthodox Church in Schererville, Indiana. Details will be posted on this blog shortly. A Rusyn genealogy workshop will be offered in late summer.

RUSYN NEW YEAR POTLUCK

2012-01-06T20:30:00.000-06:00

Just a reminder that Sunday, January 8 is the deadline for letting the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society know if you plan to attend its Rusyn New Year potluck.

Barbara Rolek of the Eastern European food website and her camera will be joining the festivities January 14 to learn more about Rusyns and our cooking. You can visit her site at: www.easteuropeanfood.about.com.

Those who attend are urged to bring their recipes to share with Barbara and the group. Thanks to Nancy End all of last year's recipes were typed and shared with the chapter which we will do again this year. It is not mandatory that the dish be homemade.

Details about the event and contact information are below.

Христос раждається! Christos Raždajetsja! Christ is Born!

2012-01-06T19:59:00.000-06:00

According to the Julian Calendar, today is Christmas Eve. Among the customs Rusyns brought with them tothis country were Viflejemčiki or Jasličkári,traditional Rusyn Bethlehem singers, who carried a small replica ofa church with them. Their visits tohomes during the Christmas season began with the singing of RozhdestvoTvoje, the tropar for the Birth of Christ.

Traditionally the Jaslichkaryor shepherds, garbed in white long white garments with colorful ribbons acrosstheir chests and tall stove pipe hats, presented a short play about theNativity and sang carols. Theirsolemnity was in sharp contrast to the accompanying kubi who wore old clothes and sheepskin masks and carried woodenhatchets. They chased children,threatening to put the naughty ones in the large burlap bags they slung overtheir shoulders. The likelihood of sucha happening was diminished as the bag filled with food and drink from thehouseholds.

The singing of Mnohaja Blahaja L'ita (Many Blessed Years) concluded the visit.

The picture from SS. Peter and Paul Carpatho-Rusyn Orthodox Church inCentral City, Pennsylvania is probably from the late 1940s. The Jaslichkary in the back row are John “Herbie”Pribish, Steve Evano, Ed Fetsko and Mike Strongosky. The kubi are John Muha and one of the Smolenbrothers.

Христос раждається! Christos Raždajetsja! Christ is Born!

2011-12-25T18:14:00.000-06:00

The Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society

wishes a Blessed Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year

to all of our friends both far and near.

The Rusyn New Year Pot-luck

2011-12-16T22:31:00.000-06:00

The Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society is hosting its annual Rusyn New Year Pot-luck on Saturday, 14 January at SS. Peter & Paul Orthodox Church. The church is located at 6980 S. County Line Rd., Burr Ridge, IL.

See further details below:

2011-12-08T15:20:00.001-06:00

TimCuprisin

January14, 1958-November 23, 2011

VicnijaPamjat. Eternal Memory.

Tim Cuprisin, president and founding father of the LakeMichigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society and creator of its blog, passed away Wednesday, November23 at home.

At the age of 20, the Chicago native graduated from theUniversity of Central Michigan in 1978. He started his career as a policereporter at Chicago’s City News Bureau then moved on to the Green BayPress-Gazette and USA Today before going to the Milwaukee Journal in 1986. Included in his assignments were covering theimpact of the fall of the Berlin Wall and communism on six Eastern Europeancountries. His long-time fascinationwith television programs led to a daily TV and radio column in the MilwaukeeJournal (now the Journal Sentinel). In2009, he took his writing talents to OnMilwaukee.com.

On March 13, 2010, Tim met with 15 people from NorthwestIndiana, the Greater Chicago area and Wisconsin at the Polish Museum in Chicagoto create the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society. With his vast knowledge of his Carpatho-Rusynheritage, Tim was unanimously elected president. The first event of the new chapter in June2010 drew 104 people to hear National C-RS President John Righetti’s talk “Whoare the Rusyns?”. According to Righetti,it was a record number for a first-time event held by any of its chapters.

In the year and a half since that first public meeting, morethan 300 people have attended at least one event sponsored by the chapter. Those events include hosting the author of TheLinden and the Oak Mark Wansa for the first celebration of Carpatho-Rusyn Day,newly instituted by the World Council of Rusyns in 2010. Other undertakings of the organizationinclude a genealogy workshop focusing on Eastern European resources and apysanky workshop where attendees learned how to turn eggs in works of art usingwax, a stylus and dye just as their ancestors had done in “The OldCountry”. Conversations at the Rusyn New Year’s potluckluncheon focused what was or wasn’t on the attendees' Christmas Eve Holy Suppertable now or when they were growing up. Pagach and pirohi were a big hitand quickly disappeared.

Tim's last appearance

Tim’s last public appearance was at the Lake MichiganChapter’s Carpatho-Rusyn Day luncheon in October which celebrated 100 plusyears of Rusyns in Northwest Indiana and recognition of the 100^thanniversaries of St. Michael Byzantine Catholic Church and Protection of theVirgin Mary Orthodox Church. An avidcollector of all things related to his ethnic background, his presentationfeatured early 20^th century photographs of Rusyn immigrant life, thesix churches they founded around the tip of Lake Michigan and a Pepsi Cola adwith the sales pitch in Rusyn. HistoryProfessor Jim Lane of Indiana University Northwest and the Northwest IndianaArchives explained what brought the immigrants to northwest Indiana, far fromtheir arrival ports on the east coast.

Tim’s determination to preserve his ethnic identity and hisaccess to media resources led him to create the chapter’s blog which featuresnews about Rusyns here and abroad. The hunger of Carpatho-Rusyns forinformation about their heritage and what was happening to other Rusyns brought hits from across the globe. The Lake Michigan Chapter board will continuethe blog.

At the time of his death, Tim was also working on a bookabout Andy Warhol, a world-renowned Rusyn artist, as well as a murder mysteryset in Chicago.

Tim is survived by his brothers John, Ken and Dave, a sisterElaine Black and his partner Sharon Boeldt as well as numerous nieces andnephews. He was preceded in death by hisparents John and Helen (Cordak) Cuprisin and niece Leslie Cuprisin.

A celebration of his life held Saturday, December 3 broughtabout 200 people to the Schmidt and Bartelt Funeral Home in Mequon, Wisconsin. Speakers included his brother Ken, Fr. ThomasMueller of St. Cyrill and Methodius Orthodox Church in Milwaukee, friends JimRowan, Andy Tarnoff and Meg Kissinger and his god daughter, Molly Boynton. Carpatho-Rusyn Society Lake Michigan Chaptermembers Fr. William Conjelko and Fr. John Lucas closed the memorial with leadingthe singing of the traditional Rusyn funeral hymn Vicnija Pamjat/EternalMemory.

Donations to a media scholarship in Tim’s name may bedirected to the Hoffman York Foundation, 1000 N. Water St., Suite 1600, Milwaukee, WI, 53202. Donations in his name may also be made toMayo Clinic's Melanoma Research Program at www.mayoclinic.org/developmentor mailed to Department of Development, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St. SW,Rochester, MN 55905.

On January 14, 2012, the Lake Michigan Chapter will paytribute to its first president at its annual Rusyn New Year Potluck. Details will be posted on this blog.

Three chances to hear a concert of our Rusyn religious heritage

2011-10-14T12:08:00.002-05:00

Our Carpatho-Rusyn Day celebration is Oct. 22 in Merrillville, Ind.

2011-09-20T11:43:00.001-05:00

The Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn's second annual observance of Carpatho-Rusyn Day in North America is scheduled for Oct. 22 in Merrillville, Ind.

Here are the details:

A successful first Carpatho-Rusyn genealogical workshop

2011-09-10T09:48:00.001-05:00

Arlene Drimak Gardiner and Ray Capek open the C-RS Lake Michigan Chapter's first genealogical workshop

On Sunday, Aug. 28, an unexpectedly large crowd of nearly 50 people gathered in the basement of the T.G. Masaryk School in the traditional Czech settlement of Cicero, Ill., for the first genealogical workshop sponsored by the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.

It was held with the cooperation of the Czech and Slovak American Genealogy Association of Illinois.

Conducted by Lake Michigan Chapter board member Arlene Drimak Gardiner, the event offered basic information on researching Rusyn family history, and attendees were shown the resources of CSAGI's research library, located upstairs in the Masaryk School.

CSAGI president Ray Capek welcomed the crowd to our workshop, which is just the first effort in trying to offer people in our region researching their Rusyn heritage a way to seek advice, and share their own discoveries.

The northernmost Carpatho-Rusyn settlement in our region

2011-09-09T12:34:00.000-05:00

I recently had a chance to pass through Cornucopia, Wis., the home of St. Mary's Orthodox Church, (OCA), which was formed in 1906 by Carpatho-Rusyns moving from Chicago to build a new life in Northern Wisconsin.

The church remains an active congregation, although it doesn't have a resident priest (during the warmer months, a priest visits from Minneapolis for monthly Sunday liturgies.)

You can find a little bit more about Cornucopia from Wikipedia, and from the Orthodox Church in America site's report on the parish's 100th anniversary .

The Wikipedia articles lists some of the Rusyn family names from Cornucopia: Kaseno, Celinsky, Sveda, Roman, and Pristash

August 15 deadline for our Rusyn genealogy workshop

2011-08-09T08:40:00.001-05:00

You have until Aug. 15 to register for our first Rusyn Genealogy Workshop in Cicero:

You might be a Rusyn if ...

2011-08-07T15:33:00.005-05:00

Thanks to the national Carpatho-Rusyn Society for this fine list of things that help people know what they are, not just what they aren't:

If you have no idea what your ethnicity is, there is a good chance you are Rusyn. John Righetti (C-RS President) and Elaine Rusinko, (C-RS Trustee) have compiled a list that may help you determine your identity. Any additional indicators would be greatly appreciated :). You might be a Rusyn......

if your family identified their nationality by some vague term such as "Slavish"

if your family identified as Rusnak, Carpatho-Russian, Carpatho-Ukrainian, or Lemko

if your family told you, "Well, we're not really Russian, not exactly Slovak,....."

if your family called themselves "Russian" or "Ukrainian" but could read only the Latin alphabet

if your family called themselves "Slovak" but worshiped at a Byzantine (Greek) Catholic church

if your family worshiped at a Byzantine Catholic church and the priest called them"Ruthenian"

if you can be no more specific about your origins than to say that your ancestors came from Austria-Hungary or Galicia or later, Czechoslovakia

if your ancestor's immigration documents say he was "Ruthenian"

if your ancestors came from the Carpathian mountains - Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine

if your grandparents spoke a language they didn't really have a name for. Perhaps they called it "Hillbilly Russian" or referred to it as po-nashomu (in our way)

if your ancestors immigrated from Eastern Europe to the northeastern US and found work in the coal mines and steel mills of Pennsylvania and Ohio, or the factories of New Jersey and Connecticut (or settled in Wisconsin towns like Clayton, Cornucopia or Lublin; or found industrial jobs in Chicago or Northwest Indiana).

if your ancestors immigrated between 1890 and World War I and your family worshiped at what is now a Russian or Ukrainian Orthodox church

if you eat bobalki and pirohy on Christmas Eve

if you eat hrudka and a bread called paska at Easter

if you make Easter eggs decorated with wax and teardrop shapes

if you dance the czardas and polkas at weddings. Does the music sound familiar here: http://c-rs.org/RadioPgm/

if you like kyselica and holubky

if grandma and grandpa are baba and dido (or gido, in some of our cases)

An annual church festival in Homer Glen next weekend

2011-08-06T09:41:00.001-05:00

The New York Times travels to Trans-Carpathia

2011-07-16T12:15:00.002-05:00

The New York Times has discovered our distinctive wooden churches in Ukraine's Trans-Carpathian region, posting a series of photos and an article about the architectural gems from the Rusyn heartland.

The article notes: "The area is also believed to have been the only province of the Soviet Union that was ever governed by an American, Gregory Zatkovich, an ethnic Rusyn — or Ruthenian — from Pittsburgh who was appointed governor in 1920 when the region was still part of Czechoslovakia."

Details of our Aug. 28th Carpatho-Rusyn genealogy workshop

2011-06-24T11:06:00.000-05:00

Here's everything you need to know about the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society's upcoming workshop on Rusyn genealogy:

A personal report from Prešov

2011-06-21T18:02:00.001-05:00

Karen Varian

Thanks to our Minnesota neighbor, Karen Varian, who heads the Rusin Association of Minnesota, we have a personal look at the ongoing Rusyn language and culture school going on at the University of Prešov.

Check out her blog.

Another TV spot for Rusyn identity in the Slovak Census

2011-05-19T16:33:00.000-05:00

Rusyn genealogy workshop planned for Aug. 28

2011-05-19T14:21:00.001-05:00

A survey we did last year indicated strong interest in the Chicago-Northwest Indiana Rusyn community for help in genealogical research.

In response that that, Arlene Gardiner, a board member of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society, and Mary Jaros, of the Czech and Slovak Genealogical Society of Illinois (CSAGI), will hold a workshop in Rusyn genealogy Sunday afternoon, August 28 at the group's library, 5701 W. 22nd Place, Cicero.

Doors will open at 12:30.

Check back for more information.

A TV spot pushing the Rusyn identity in the Slovak Census

2011-05-17T18:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a beautiful spot pushing the Rusyn identity in the upcoming Slovak Census...

Remembering Msgr. Basil Smochko -- as a teacher of Rusyn culture

2011-05-16T12:27:00.000-05:00

Funeral services are Friday at the Holy Spirit Byzantine Catholic Church in Parma, Ohio, with Bishop John M. Kudrick of the Eparachy of Parma as principal celebrant for Msgr. Basil Smochko, who died last week at the age of 91.

Here's a remembrance from Pittsburgh Rusyn activist Jerry Jumba of the monsignor and his cultural legacy:

"I was an altar boy with Mons. Basil Smochko in McKees Rocks for many years. He was an inspirational priest to the Holy Ghost parish there, showing the might of pirohi kitchen support to add to the sustenance of the church life and improving the inner structure and in building Holy Ghost Byzantine Catholic School in 1957. He had the cantors teach us the Rusin Chant in catechism classes to every age group. In addition, in sixth and seventh grade, I studied two years of Rusin language school - Rus'ka Shkola with Monsignor Smochko and the classroom was packed with students eager to learn. I could see him and hear him in my memory - as he spoke from the language book and waved his right hand, and as he took a piece of chalk and wrote on the green board - large - clear letters in the Cyrillic and Latinika alphabets. He wrote in block print letters - th e civic "hrazhdanka" style and in the long hand cursive - "rukopis" style.

"The class repeated his sounds his words his sentences and created sentences. He was a great teacher with his playful expressive voice that so very much loved how words well spoken articulate - can create an expressive reality. He shared his love and talent for learning languages, and the Cyrillic alphabet came alive as a beautiful frontier of hope and growth in the linguistic knowledge he provided. He showed us a 'world view' of how this beautiful language exists and co-exists with the languages that surround the parental Eparchy of Uzhhorod - Mukachevo in Carpatho-Rus'. He compared the surrounding languages with Rusin and made every class a spirited and intellectual learning experience.

"I taught the eparchial "Cultural Roots" concert performance program with three years of school concert performances at Saint Mary's Byzantine Catholic day school in Cleveland 1980 - 1983 where he was stationed. He gave encouragement and the Sisters of St Basil and the students knew that he loved to see them grow and excel in the theatrical expression Carpatho-Rus' customs, songs, dances, skits, and instrumental presentations.

"Monsignor Smochko encouraged chant studies as I studied Carpatho-Rus' Chant for five years with Professor Nicholas Kalvin - and recorded services in Holy week in and Bright Week with Monsignor Basil chanting intonations in a finely honed prayerful voice that soared straight to God and embraced all listeners with the personal cue to respond to God's presence. I recorded mostly all of Professor Kalvin's Rusin Chant cycle at St. Mary's because I apprenticed to Prof. Kalvin while Monsignor Smochko was there. I'll remember his advice filled sermons about remembering how good it is - and how good it feels - to share God's love, and that everyone is qualified to share God's love. He gently nodded his head as he spoke.

"He was a co-founder of the vigorously expressive artistic performance group - the Kruzhok Carpatho-Rusin Folk Art Ensemble - along with Bishop Emil Mihalik and Sister Monica Husovich who was the Principal at St. Mary's School. Because he is a native born Carpatho-Rusin he was very aware of the Carpatho-Rusin difficulties of sub-national status in the world surrounding Rusins. I am thankful for his support of Carpatho-Rusin historical and ethnographic information to provide a solid basis for having a positive Carpatho-Rusin cultural identity in a world whose politics thinks little of a little people who are captive to the peoples around them, and whose politics seek to assimilate Rusins away from the value of the life and culture they live.

"I traveled through Carpatho-Rus' with Monsignor Basil Smochko in 1993, and took pictures at his home parish in Znacevo. Also, we interviewed on video - the Hegumen Bishop of the Mukachevo Monastery known as Chernecha Hora. This bishop gave us a history of the monastery, and Mons. Smochko was my "native" Rusin interpreter. We also have a video of a Rusin Slavonic Divine Liturgy he celebrated in Mukachevo in 1993. He preached magnificently in his native Rusin tongue to a church filled with souls praying with their whole soul and whole mind. His embrace of these dear people, and their reaction, was inspiring.

"The next day we had dinner with his relatives at the Smochko family home near Znacevo - along the highway from Uzhhorod to Mukachevo. We, photographer Mike (Petach) Kisan myself and Mons. Smochko then stopped and took pictures at the Imstičevo site of where the martyred Bishop Romzha was attached by Soviet army communist assassins. This was before a beautiful prayer monument was erected there. Instead, there was only a small marker. Mons. Smochko made this site one of his spiritual causes to rally and inspire the prayer life in Transcarpathia - by co-sponsoring the building of a prayer shrine at this site on the road just before arriving at the town of Imstichevo."

Rallying Carpatho-Rusyns for the May 21 Slovak Census

2011-05-11T18:40:00.000-05:00

The count of Rusyns in the 2011 Slovak Census is crucial in gaining government financial aid for the institutions fostering our culture and language.

Consider emailing this statement from the Carpatho-Rusyn Society to your relatives and friends in Slovaka to convince them of how important a declaration of Rusyn identity is:

An ambitious new project to preserve the Lemko-Rusyn heritage

2011-03-28T09:04:00.005-05:00

The Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society's own Richard Garbera Trojanowski is part of a new effort catalogue the history of the Lemko-Rusyn people of southeast Poland.

Here's the full description of the ambitious project:

The Wolanska family

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society’s Oral History Research Committee seeks to preserve the oral histories and artifacts of the Lemko people, and to explore the post-World War II expulsion campaigns that resulted in the destruction of their settlements in Southeast Poland.

In order to obtain and preserve firsthand perspectives of the events, C-RS is conducting extensive fieldwork, including recorded interviews with eyewitnesses in North America, Ukraine and Poland. The research team is seeking individuals to participate in the study who meet one or more of the following criteria:

(1.) Lemkos who recall life in their villages before or during World War II;

(2.) Lemkos who experienced the post-World War II expulsions from their homeland, and who were resettled in either Soviet Ukraine from 1945-1946, or in Western Poland (former German territories) in 1947 (Operation Vistula/Akcja Wisla.);

(3.) Lemkos who were displaced in Allied-occupied Germany during the time of the expulsions in the Lemko region, and who became separated from their relatives as a result;

(4.) Former members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) who witnessed or had knowledge of the expulsion operations of Lemkos;

(5.) Polish civilians who lived in the Lemko region at the time of the expulsions and bore witness to these events; and

(6.) Others with relevant, first-hand information about the events.

In addition to locating and interviewing subject participants, the research team is interested in procuring the following types of artifacts:

(1.) Photographs (originals or reproductions) from the Lemko region, especially prior to Operation Vistula (“Akcja Wisla” 1947);

(2.) Letters between expelled Lemkos and their relatives in North America or elsewhere;

(3.) Lemko clothing and costumes (original and artisan reproductions); and

(4.) Other Lemko artifacts, such as rare literature, paintings, carvings, etc.

The oral history research project will be ongoing indefinitely; however, the committee would like to receive as many leads as possible prior to July 31, 2011 to prepare for fieldwork in Ukraine and Poland this fall.

How To Help: The committee is seeking volunteers with various skill sets to assist with interviews, transcription, and other duties. We are also accepting monetary contributions, which will be used to procure and preserve oral histories and artifacts. If you are interested in volunteering or in making a tax-deductible donation to the project, please email us at history@c-rs.org.

Historical Background:
In the summer of 1944, the pre-war Polish government was in exile in London, and the future of Poland was yet to be determined. The Red Army had “liberated” Poland by driving the Germans westward to Berlin, and a power vacuum suddenly existed in the war torn country.

During that time, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) hoped to establish an independent Ukrainian nation in the aftermath of the war, staking claim to territories of Southeastern Poland that contained a large number of “Ukrainian”2 settlements. By “Ukrainians,” the nationalists were referring to the Lemkos, east Slavic highlanders who spoke a linguistic dialect similar to the Ukrainian language. The Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), the paramilitary wing of OUN, took up arms in Southeastern Poland, recruiting and drawing support from the local Lemko population. Violence between UPA and Polish forces did not spare civilians, and terror and instability spread throughout the region.

That summer, Soviet officials and Polish communist party leaders held a meeting in Lublin to discuss the future of Poland, arriving at mutually beneficial terms for both parties. By late July, they had installed a communist government in Warsaw, agreed on the new borders for Poland and Ukraine, and developed plans to address “the Ukrainian problem” through an ethnic purification campaign. Though many of the Lemkos targeted for deportation were simple farmers rather than political activists, such matters were of little to no importance to the Polish and Soviet leaders, who carried out their mandate indiscriminately.

From 1945 to 1947, the coalition executed three major deportation operations. Some Lemkos left the region on their own volition, but most were resettled forcibly. The first two operations in 1945 and 1946 were somewhat disorganized, and UPA was successful in disrupting the operations, enabling many Lemkos to avoid deportation and remain in their villages. That would end in 1947, when the Polish government enacted the third and most comprehensive mass deportation campaign called “Operation Vistula.” Polish forces vastly outnumbered UPA partisans and effectively suppressed their activities in the region. The remaining Lemkos had no choice but to be deported, this time to former German territories that Poland had acquired as the result of the Yalta Conference (1945.) Many of the Eastern Catholic (Uniate) churches and the Lemko homes in Southeast Poland were burned or otherwise destroyed to prevent the deportees from returning.

In all three operations, Lemkos were dispersed during the resettlement process, depriving them of a sense of community with their own people in order to encourage their assimilation into communist societies.

The Research Team:
Corinna Wengryn Caudill is a professional freelance writer and editor, and the chairperson of the C-RS Oral History Research Committee. Previously, she has worked as an analyst and consultant for several government agencies in Washington, D.C. Corinna holds an MA in Public and International Affairs and a BA in Political Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Her roots are from the Lemko villages of Vola Petrova3 (Wola Piotrowa), Karlykiv (Karlikow), and Prybyshiv (Przybyszow.)

Maryann Sivak is the Chief Financial Administrator for C-RS and the Chairperson for the Cultural Center Committee, A founding member of C-RS, she has also formerly served as Vice President and Recording Secretary for the organization. Maryann was born in Jakubany, Slovakia, is fluent in Rusyn, Czech, and Slovak, and is proficient in Russian and Ukrainian.

John Schweich is an adjunct professor of Political Science at the University of Pittsburgh. For the last three years, he has conducted oral history interviews with senior officials of the US national security establishment. An avid scholar of Eastern-rite churches, he has developed an extensive collection of Rusyn and Ukrainian parish histories, and is proficient in Russian and Ukrainian.

Richard Garbera Trojanowski is a founding member of the CRS Lake Michigan Chapter. He is a production analyst for Siemens Medical, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois, and holds a BA in Russian and Eastern European Area Studies from the University of Illinois. Richard speaks Ukrainian, Rusyn and Polish and is proficient in Russian. His Lemko roots are from the villages of Koroleva Ruska (Krolowa Gorna), Tylicz, and Muchnacka Nyznja (Mochnaczka Nizna.)

Stephen Rapawy, Ph.D. is a specialist on Soviet and Russian Area Studies, and an independent scholar of Lemko history. In addition to his scholarly credentials, Dr. Rapawy brings an eyewitness perspective to the research, having been an Operation Vistula expellee. He is originally from the village of Karlykiv (Karlikow.)

Michael Buryk has done many years of research in Lemko and Ukrainian genealogy. He is a freelance writer specializing in articles about the Lemko people and the history of Ukrainians in the United States. He has been a contributor to The Ukrainian Weekly, Lemkivshchyna Magazine and other publications such as "The Ukrainian Heritage in America", UCCA, 1991. Mike holds an M.A. in Russian Area Studies from Hunter College, the City University of New York. His paternal grandparents emigrated to the U.S. in the early 20th century from the village of Siemuszowa (Semushova.)

Please email us at: history@c-rs.org or call (703) 987-0592

Practicing our Carpatho-Rusyn pysanky tradition

2011-03-26T20:18:00.002-05:00

Saturday's pysanky workshop drew a healthy crowd.

Around 60 people of all ages gathered Saturday afternoon at Nativity BVM Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in southwest suburban Palos Park, Il., for the first pysanky workshop sponsored by the the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.

Mary Ann Woloch Vaughn practicing her craft
with board member Michael Baron.

Father Basil Salkovski, the pastor at Nativity, warmly welcomed the group; and pysanky expert Mary Ann Woloch Vaughn presented an overview of the art form shared by Rusyns and other neighboring Central European people.

She then offered hands-on help to a group of people willing to try their hand the traditional Easter egg design.

In the meantime board member John Sutko marked he season by leading the group in traditional Rusyn Lenten and Easter hymns.

Another board member, Arlene Dremak Gardiner, showed off her large collection of Rusyn Easter eggs. Earlier, she had offered genealogical tips to Rusyn Americans interested in researcing their family history.

Arlene Dremak Gardiner shows off her pysanky collection.

The full day of activities included plenty of socializing, sales of Rusyn items, including plenty of pysanky kits, so the skills acquired Saturday could be practiced at home.

Rounding off the day's various treats was plenty of sampling of sweets, including board member Richard Garbera Trojanowski's delicious home-made koláčky.

Carpatho-Rusyns in Pennsylvania's Mon Valley

2011-03-24T19:25:00.000-05:00

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society has been helping The Greater Monessen Valley Historical Society with an exhibit on Rusyn settlement in the Western Pennsylvania region popularly known as the Mon Valley.

Today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offers details of the exhibition, which you may want to stop and see if you're passing through the area. The exhibition runs through mid-June.

A new Carpatho-Rusyn genealogy resource

2011-03-17T10:22:00.000-05:00

Here's a new Rusyn genealogy blog that appears to have launched in the past couple days.

Blogger Christina George describes herself as a Philadelphian whose genealogy passion was stirred by research into her maternal grandmother who wasn't quite clear on "what she was."

So far, she has two posts. Let's hope for many more.

Funeral service for Metropolitan Nicholas is Friday

2011-03-15T06:00:00.003-05:00

Metropolitan Nicholas

The American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA has announced that funeral services for Metropolitan Nicholas will begin at 10 p.m. Eastern Time (9 Central) Friday at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Johnston, Pennsylvania.

Archbishop Demetrios, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church of America, will be the celebrant.

The other scheduled arrangements are listed here.

You can watch live video of the funeral here.

Here is a touching personal account of his final days.

RSVP for our March 26th Carpatho-Rusyn Pysanky workshop

2011-03-14T14:05:00.003-05:00

We're asking for RSVPs by Tuesday for the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society's Pysanky workshop in Palos Park, Ill., if you're interested in participating in the hands-on demonstration, or reserving a pysanky kit for purchase.

Kits will be available in our Rusyn Market during the event, and you don't have to RSVP to attend the workshop and learn about Pysanky making from expert Mary Ann Woloch Vaughn.

RSVP by email to Charlotte or call Ken at 708-895-3074 and leave a message.

Once again, here's the flyer with all the details:

Metropolitan Nicholas, Carpatho-Rusyn spiritual leader, dies

2011-03-13T18:27:00.001-05:00

Metropolitan Nicholas

The American Carpatho-Russian Orthdox Diocese has announced the passing of Metropolitan Nicholas today in Johnstown, Pennsylvania:

"JOHNSTOWN, PA - His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, 75, spiritual leader of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A., reposed in the Lord today, March 13, 2011 after waging a courageous battle with cancer.

"All Diocesan Clergy and Faithful are asked at this time to remember the Newly Reposed +Metropolitan Nicholas as well as his brothers George and Michael and the entire Smisko Family in their prayers.

"May Almighty God rest His Newly Departed Servant, Our God-Loving Metropolitan Nicholas in the Heavenly Mansions, where there is neither sickness, sorrow or pain, but Life Everlasting!

"May His Memory Be Eternal!"

Prayers requested for Metropolitan Nicholas

2011-03-12T10:53:00.000-06:00

Metropolitan Nicholas

The following statement was released by the American Carpatho-Russian Orthdox Diocese:

"Johnston, PA -- Prayers are requested of all the venerable clergy and faithful of the diocese for His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas who is gravely ill. His Eminence, who has been undergoing treatment for cancer, was admitted to the hospital yesterday and is receiving hospice care.

"Prayers are especially requested at Divine Liturgy tomorrow, March 13, 2011, as it marks the 28th Anniversary of His Eminence's consecration to the Episcopacy.

"May Christ our True God, the Physician of Souls and Bodies, bestow His Grace and Mercy to His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, as he patiently endures his bodily afflictions."

NW Indiana's Dual Centennial: Gary's Lemko Sojuz

2011-03-09T06:00:00.001-06:00

In our ongoing look at the thriving Carpatho-Rusyn community that formed two churches in Gary, Ind., in 1911, here's a 1938 photograph of the Gary chapter of the Lemko Sojuz, or Lemko Association, taken from the pages of the 1940 Lemko Sojuz Kalendar, or annual.

The caption notes that the majority of the members of this chapter aren't Lemkos from southeast Poland, but from the Presov region and Trans-Carpathia in what was then Czechoslovakia.

NW Indiana's Dual Centennial: Carpatho-Rusyn advertising

2011-03-05T06:00:00.000-06:00

To mark this year's centennial celebrations of two Northwest Indiana parishes, Orthodox and Byzantine Catholic, founded in Gary by Carpatho-Rusyns in 2011, Lake Michigan Rusyns will be shining a light on the settlement that has since moved from the city to the suburbs of Merrillville and Hobart.

Today's offering is a look at some advertising target the thriving Rusyn community that was originally centered in Gary. These examples come from the Greek Catholic Union's 1930 Kalendar, an annual put out by the fraternal group. That came before the creation of St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, in 1935.

While the area's Rusyn community was made up of Orthodox and Greek Catholics, it's a safe bet that these businesses didn't draw any distinctions between their target audience.

Details of this summer's 11th Carpatho-Rusyn Heritage Tour

2011-03-02T06:00:00.000-06:00

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society has announced details of its 11th Carpatho-Rusyn Heritage Tour visitng Rusyn areas of Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine from July 14-26.

You can find all the cost information, contacts and an application at the Carpatho-Rusyn Society website.

To whet your appetite, here's the complete itinerary:

THURSDAY, JULY 14 ‑ NEW YORK (JFK) or WASHINGTON DC ‑ VIENNA Via Austrian Air (international)

FRIDAY, JULY 15 – VIENNA, AUSTRIA – KOSICE, SLOVAKIA—PRESOV, SLOVAKIA

WE ALL MEET IN VIENNA and fly to Kosice in eastern Slovakia, then board Heritage Tour private motorcoach for a leisurely ride to the Hotel Dukla in Presov Check in and, relax. Dinner in the hotel dining room featuring the local cuisine.

SATURDAY, JULY 16 - PRESOV, SLOVAKIA TO KRYNICA, POLAND

After breakfast, Go directly into the high Beskyd chain of the Carpathians AND STOP IN AN ACTUAL Rusyn villae for local Rusyn food and entertainment. Then we head to Krynica in Poland, a health spa town with mineral waters and renowned topiary. It was home to the World Congress of Rusyns in 1993 and 2005. Arrive at the Nikifor Hotel and check in. Meet local Lemko Rusyn poet and cultural leader Petro Trochanovskyj, who will highlight the day with a walking tour to the tomb of the famous Rusyn Lemko primitive artist Nykyfor Drovnjak, Then study the interesting contrasts between the newly built Orthodox Church and the older Byzantine Catholic Church – the largest Byzantine church in all of Lemkovyna. Enjoy some of this classic spa town and its shopping and ambience. Traditional Rusyn dinner at the hotel, then, practice singing for the Lemko Vatra – a traditional Rusyn outdoor bonfire – to be held the next evening with Lemko Rusyns.

SUNDAY, JULY 17 KRYNICA

.After breakfast and church of your choice, visit Kamjanna, where the traditional Rusyn honey wine is made. See the beekeepers museum and sample the honey wine. Back to Krynica to visit Nikifor’s Museum and new statue and take in the town. Walk the pedestrian zone, sidewalk cafes and general atmosphere. Return to the Nikifor Hotel and that evening, we`ll attend the Lemko Vatra – a traditional mountain bonfire, complete with food, drinks, singing and the fellowship of local Lemko Rusyns.
MONDAY, JULY 18 KRYNICA.
Those who wish go with drivers to the villages. The rest of us visit the traditional Rusyn wooden churches, including the oldest in the Lemko region. Back to Krynica for shopping and to take in the town, then dinner at the hotel and pack for tomorrow.

TUESDAY, JULY 19 - KRYNICA TO GORLICI TO DUKLA TO ZYNDRANOVA ‑ TO    DUKLA PASS TO NYZNYJ KOMARNYK, AND PRESOV, SLOVAKIA

A PACKED DAY! After breakfast we depart for Gorlici to visit the new Holy Trinity Orthodox Church and view its spectacular iconography and learn about St. Maxim Sandovych, a Rusyn priest martyred for his faith and Rusyn nationality and canonized in this very church just 15 years ago. Then onto the Ruska Bursa, or Rusyn High School, one of only three founded at the turn of the century in Lemkovyna. Taken away by the Communist state, it has now been returned to the Rusyns of Poland and is serving as their cultural center. On to the ancient mountain city of Dukla, with its charming town square then to Zyndranova to visit and view the historical and folk treasures at the Rusyn Lemko Museum there – an outdoor museum set up to resemble a Lemko homestead 120 years ago.
We cross the Dukla Pass through the mountains into Slovakia, stopping there to visit the Dukla open air battlefield where some 90,000 men lost their lives in battle during World War II. Then to Nyznyj Komarnyk, an isolated Rusyn village with a unique Boyko wooden church. Then on to Presov, cultural capital for Rusyns . Check into the Hotel Dukla Dinner and local entertainment..

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20 PRESOV—BARDEJOV -- SVIDNYK –KRASNY BROD
After breakfast, visit the new Rusyn Museum in Presov and the tombs under the Greek Catholic Cathedral. Then up in the mountains to visit the Rusyn Icon Museum in Bardejov, then the Svidnik outdoor Rusyn Museum – an entire village set up as the Rusyn lived 120 years ago!. On to Krasny Brod, site of an historic Rusyn monastery and a holy site to the Rusyns from pagan times. Stop in a little Rusyn village to experience a small town korcma (tavern) just like your ancestors did.

Dinner that evening in the Saris Restaurant in Presov with local Rusyn entertainment

THURSDAY, JULY 21   PRESOV
For those visiting the villages and relatives in Slovakia, leave early with drivers from the hotel lobby. For the rest, take a walking guided tour of the city. Learn about Presov`s colorful and challenging religious history. Finish shopping, relax and get to know Presov better.

In the evening , walk to the theater for a command performance by a Rusyn ensemble. Pack to leave for Ukraine in the morning.

FRIDAY, JULY 22 PRESOV TO UZHOROD, UKRAINE
After breakfast, leave for Uzhorod. Arrive there, cross the border to the capital of the Rusyn territory since the 600s! Check into the Hotel Uzhorod. See the ancient sites of Uzhorod, including Uzhorod castle and see where the Union of Uzhorod took place in 1646. View the museum of Rusyn folk life and then on to the Outdoor Museum of Rusyn Folk Culture which features traditional Rusyn homes from every region of Transcarpathia. Back to the hotel for dinner and local Rusyn entertainment.

SATURDAY, JULY 23 UZHOROD TO MUKACHEVO AND IVANOVCI.

Travel east by motorcoach to the city of Mukachevo, the second largest city of Transcarpathia and the religious and cultural center of Rusyns from earliest times. We stop and visit the sacred historical site for all Rusyns, St. Nicholas Monastery on Cerneca Hora (Monk’s Hill) – now home to almost 100 Orthodox nuns. The monastery church was built in the late 1700s and holds a miraculous icon.
Lunch on your own in the sidewalk cafes in downtown Mukachevo.Then to Palanok, the renowned Mukacevo Castle. The view is incredible from there and the castle is filled with a museum of local Rusyn culture. Then we travel to Ivanovci and visit the Romzha Memorial, the site where recently beatified Greek Catholic Bishop Theodore Romzha was martyred by the Communists in 1947, beginning the liquidation of the Greek Catholic Church in Transcarpathia. Dinner in hotel – then off to the Philharmonic Hall for a performance by the world renowned Transcarpathian Folk Ensemble.

SUNDAY, JULY 24 UZHOROD

Church of your choice or early departure after breakfast for those going to the villages.. For the rest, a tour of historic Uzhorod-- see the architecture of the Hungarian times, the shops and the sites. Cross the pedestrian footbridge, walk through Korjatovych Square, sample the local foods Time for walking in Uzhorod. Dinner with local entertainment. Pack for tomorrow.

MONDAY, JULY 25 UZHOROD TO KOSICE, SLOVAKIA

Breakfast then onto Slovakia’s second largest city – Kosice. Take in the sites of this spectacular city including several museums and spectacular shopping! Farewell dinner and overnight in one of the city’s hotels.

TUESDAY, JULY 26   KOSICE TO VIENNA TO NEW YORK (JFK)/WASHINGTON DC

Depart from Kosice for Vienna then for New York/Washington DC and back to wherever you call home!

More recognition of Carpatho-Rusyns from a Ukrainian source

2011-03-01T16:02:00.001-06:00

In a two-paragraph brief on its website, the Religious Information Service of Ukraine reported the visit of Metropolitan Volodymyr of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church visited Transcarpathia, and identified it as "part of the homeland of the Ruthenian (or Carpatho-Rusyn) people in the Carpathian Mountains.

It's a little thing, but every bit of recognition Carpatho-Rusyns get from Ukrainian sources is a victory.

A scholarship for Chicago-area Carpatho-Rusyn law students

2011-03-01T06:00:00.001-06:00

The Bohemian Lawyers' Association of Chicago is once again offering a $2,000 scholarship for persons of "Czech, Moravian, Ruthenian, Silesian or Slovak ancestry" enrolled in an accredited law school in the greater Chicago area.

Ruthenian, of course, means Rusyn, and the scholarship covers nationalities of the original Czechoslovak Republic.

Applications have to be postmarked or e-mailed by March 31.

You can find an application and more details at the Bohemian Lawyers' Association of Chicago website.

Slovak law change could help the Carpatho-Rusyn language

2011-02-28T06:00:00.004-06:00

The Slovak Spectator reports that an amendment to Slovakia's minority language law could increase the number of communities in the country where the Rusyn language is officially used.

According to the article, the current 68 Rusyn-speaking municipalities would increase to 113 under the proposed amendment.

Slovakia's officially recognized minority languages are Hungarian, Czech, Romani, Rusyn, Ukrainian, German, Polish, Croatian, Yiddish and Bulgarian.

Artwork from Carpatho-Rusyn children in Slovakia

2011-02-25T06:00:00.002-06:00

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society has received a selection of artwork from children between the ages of 8 and 16 in the Rusyn language school in Radvan nad Laborcem, Slovakia. Teacher Marek Gaj asked them to put down on paper what it means to be Rusyn.

Here's an example, and you can find the complete collection at the Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Center's Facebook page.

By Petro Druga, 15, of Čabiny. The wooden church in Ladomirova.

Metropolitan Nicholas: A unifying figure among Carpatho-Rusyns

2011-02-22T06:00:00.012-06:00

Metropolitan Nicholas

Metropolitan Nicholas of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the U.S.A. formally celebrates his 75th birthday today at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Johnstown, Pennsylvania with a Moleben of Thanksgiving.

The diocese is streaming video of the service, starting at 3:45 p.m. Central time.

You can also send birthday wishes to the Metropolitan at metropolitan.nicholas@acrod.org

His birthday received notice in Monday's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, where religion writer, who noted that in our Carpatho-Rusyn "religious culture plagued by in-fighting and schism, Metropolitan Nicholas ... has worked to heal rifts between Orthodox and Catholic Christians."

Metropolitan Nicholas has also been an enthusiastic supporter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.

A Dual Centennial for NW Indiana's Carpatho-Rusyns: Part Two

2011-02-21T06:00:00.009-06:00

Original church
(from St. Michael's 50th anniversary history)

The second of two parishes founded by Rusyns in 1911 was St. Michael's Byzantine Catholic (formerly Greek Catholic) Church, originally located in Gary. It's been located in Merrillville, Ind., for nearly 30 years.

Land had been bought in 1909 between Madison and Monroe by a group of that formed the core of the initial parish: Michael Prascsak, John Maszkaly, John Prascsak, Andrew Volcsko, Mike Piatak, Vaszil Majhrowich, Peter Majhrowich, Geo. Kotfer, John Horkavy, John Brugos, Simon Tihansky and John A. Dander.

The parish's history, compiled for its 50th anniversary and graciously supplied by John Schweich, reports that the parish was formally organized in 1911, with Father Basil Berecz becoming the first permanent pastor in April of that year.

He built the first wooden church, which became the parish hall in 1920, when a second church was built.

For the record, St. Michael's wasn't the first Greek Catholic Church begun by Rusyns in Northwest Indiana. That would be St. Mary's in Whiting, which was founded Oct. 1, 1899.

The third church connected to the 1911 settlement of Rusyn communities in Gary is St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, now in Hobart.

It was formed by members of St. Michael's amid the celibacy controversy that hit the Rusyn Greek Catholic Church in the 1930s and led to the creation of what is now the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese, based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

The first meeting of the St. Nicholas congregation was Jan. 13, 1935.

The flyer for our March 26th Pysanky Workshop in Palos Park, Ill.

2011-02-18T09:51:00.005-06:00

One correction: If you call to RSVP, leave a message for Ken, not Ron.

A Dual Centennial for Northwest Indiana's Carpatho-Rusyns

2011-02-15T06:00:00.006-06:00

Two churches begun by Rusyn immigrants who originally settled in Gary, Ind., are marking their centennials this year.

Both churches -- Protection of the Virgin Mary Orthodox Church and St. Michael's Byzantine Catholic Church --- have long ago moved from their original urban locations to the suburban community of Merrillville.

Gary was an attractive destination for Rusyns in the early 20th Century

A third Rusyn church, St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, also originated in Gary in 1935 and has since followed the migration of our people and is located in Hobart.

Let's start what will be a continuing look at the Dual Centennial with some history of the church popularly known as St. Mary's.

"Orthodox America 1794-1976" offers this:

"The steel industry had moved into the area just east of Chicago on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Slavs of various origins settled there around 1907 and in 1911, a group of them gathered at the home of Kondrat and Anna Krenitsky to organize and petition Archbishop Platon for a parish. Present at the meeting were Father Vladimir Alexandrov and Father John Gratson of Chicago. Father Jacob Korchinsky was assigned as the temporary pastor of the new church."

While there may have been Slavs of "various origins," the core of the congregation was made up of Lemko Rusyns from modern-day Poland.

"On Nov. 12, 1911, Father Benjamin Kedrovsky arrived in Gary to assume duties as the permanent pastor of the new church. Father Kedrovsky remained there until his death in November 1968, having led the parish for 57 years. During his tenure, three church buildings were erected to serve the growing needs of the congregation."

A history of the parish written for St. Mary's 50th anniversary (and graciously shared with us by John Schweich) notes that "among the first... Slavs who set foot in the area were Mr. Michael Frentzko and Mr. Efrem Shevcik. They arrived on March 18, 1907. These two young men were also attracted by this 'Magic City' which in a span of two years boasted 10,000 inhabitants, and where the world's greatest steel mills began gradually silhouetting the skyline."

They brought their families from Chicago and made Gary their home.

As said earlier, the parish was organized in 1911. The first formal meeting -- Sept. 28, 1911 -- featured members of the clergy and eight representatives of the new congregation: Peter Romanyak, Michael Frentzko, Vasil Misko, Efrem Shevcik, Vasil Krochta, Kondrat Krenitsky, John Shevtchuk, and Timofey Lescisin.

Church records quoted in the anniversary history show the first marriages recorded Nov. 12, 1911 were Radion Petrovich and Ludmilla Panjovich, and Simeon Pysh and Paraskeva Zrolka. On Nov. 26, Lubov Belkoff was baptized. On the same day, memorial services were held for infant Vladimir Shevcik.

An overview of the Carpatho-Rusyn national debate

2011-02-09T08:52:00.000-06:00

A website called Europa312 has posted an article that offers a look at the identity debate among Carpatho-Rusyns in the Carpathian homeland that dates back to the 19th Century.

It doesn't break new ground, but offers a look at the arguments that continue today, noting a parallel between the past and present:

"There is curious parallel between the current Ukrainian attitude towards the Carpatho-Rusyns and that of the Russian Empire towards Ukrainians in nineteenth century. The Russian Empire also denied the existence, or even the possibility of there being a Ukrainian nation, and made legal obstructions to the development of a separate Ukrainian identity."

Are your Carpatho-Rusyn roots in the village of Jakubany?

2011-02-05T06:00:00.001-06:00

Jakubany, Slovakia

If your people hail from Jakubany, a Rusyn village in northeast Slovakia, here's some early notice of a Jakubany Reunion planned for Sept. 17 and 18 at Camp Nazareth, 339 Pew Rd., Mercer, PA.

The camp is located in a peaceful wooded area near Sharon, Pennsylvania and Youngstown, Ohio.

Additional information about the festivities and reservations at the camp and local motels will be available in about a month. If you have Jakubany roots and would like to receive further information, send an email to Charlotte Pribish Conjelko.

Celebrating Mardi Gras, Carpatho-Rusyn style

2011-02-04T06:00:00.002-06:00

Rusyn Outpost: North America, a group of young Rusyns from the U.S. and Canada, is sponsoring a party marking Fašengy, the pre-Lenten celebration akin to the Western Mardi Gras in suburban Pittsburgh.

If you happen to be in the area at the end of the month, here are the details:

Czechs learning about Andy Warhol's Carpatho-Rusyn heritage

2011-02-03T06:00:00.000-06:00

Andy's mother, Julia

A new exhibition in Prague is teaching Czechs that Andy Warhol heritage isn't Slovak, but a Carpatho-Rusyn.

Both of Warhol's parents were born in the Rusyn village of Miková in modern-day northeastern Slovakia.

A touching Carpatho-Rusyn love story

2011-02-02T06:00:00.001-06:00

Michael and Leona Hrehovcik

NorthJersey.com offers the touching tale of Leona and Michael Hrehovcik, a love story that ended last month with the death of Michael, just nine months after the passing of his wife.

Their daughter says the cause of her father's death was a broken heart.

The Hrehovciks may be known to many American Rusyns for their business, Leemar Enterprises, which offers a wide range of ethnic products, including specifically Rusyn items.

A record month for Lake Michigan Rusyns

2011-02-01T09:04:00.000-06:00

January 2011 proved to be the biggest month for the Lake Michigan Rusyns, with 901 unique visitors clicking in.

That easily beat the previous high: December's 578 unique visitors. In January, we had 1,463 page views. The previous high was last June's 876.

Today, alone, with had visitors from Slovakia, Poland and, believe it or not, Thailand.

Overall, more than 80% of our visitor come from the U.S. The current stats show that 3.4% come from Hungary, 2.8% from Canada, 2.2% from Poland, 1.4% from the Czech Republic, 1.2% from Germany, 1.0% from Slovakia and 1.0% from, inexplicably, Malaysia.

One in five of our readers come from Illinois, as you'd expect, 5.6% from Indiana, 3.4% from Wisconsin and 3.0% from Michigan.

Mark your calendar for our March 26 Rusyn Pysanky Workshop

2011-01-20T06:00:00.004-06:00

I know, I know. We just finished up with the Christmas season.

But the deep, dark depths of winter are a good time to start working on your pysanky -- or at least pondering them.

The Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society has already begun planning for our next event, a Pysanky Workshop, featuring an experienced practitioner of the art form that Rusyns and our European neighbors have perfected, Mary Ann Woloch Vaughn.

She'll be leading our Pysanky Workshop on Saturday, March 26, at 1 p.m. at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church, 8530 W. 131st St., Palos Park, Ill. The workshop is designed to introduce the history and techniques of a folk art form that Rusyns hold dear.

We'll have more details as the event nears. But it's never too early to clear the date on your calendar.

Honoring our Minnesota Rusyn neighbor, Larry Goga

2011-01-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

Larry Goga

The Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Center blog has posted a nice profile of Larry Goga, the driving force behind organizing the Rusyn community, and founder of the Minnesota Rusin Association.

Larry, who has retired from active leadership of the Rusin Association, was a trailblazer in getting Rusyns together, organizing long before the Carpatho-Rusyn Society got on its feet in Pennsylania, with a much larger Rusyn community.

As Maryann Sivak writes, "Thank you, Larry. As you once told me, 'old soldiers never die, they just fade away.' In our hearts you'll never fade away. You are an inspiration and example to us of what one individual can achieve when he really puts his mind to it. Your contribution to enriching our Rusyn culture has been priceless."

The Rusin Association sponsors its 25th annual Duchnovich Day Dinner on Saturday, February 5.

A Carpatho-Rusyn feast in Niles to cap off the holidays

2011-01-16T20:08:00.001-06:00

The food line thins out a bit Saturday afternoon in Niles, Ill.

Some three dozen people gathered in the church hall at St. Michael Orthodox Church in Niles, Ill. on Saturday afternoon to feast on Rusyn delicacies, sing traditional Christmas carols and celebrate their culture at the first Rusyn New Year potluck sponsored by the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.

There was a wide variety of food available, from salads and cold snacks, like sausage and bryndza cheese, to cabbage soup and borscht, entrees that featured sauerkraut and, of course, pirohy and halushky. Deserts ran the gamut as well, offering more than enough food for the crowd.

Recipes are being collected so we can share our common food history.

Toasts were offered as well Saturday afternoon as well, with the crowd sampling vodka and home-made slivovitsa, in keeping with the Rusyn flavor of the day, marking old-calendar New Year's Day, which fell on Friday this year.

This was also a way to keep Rusyn Christmas traditions alive, with John Sutko, a member of the LMC/CRS board and choir director at St. Peter & St. Paul Orthodox Church, ably leading the group in traditional carols.

John Sutko

Among the audience favorites, the beloved "O, Kto, Kto," hymn to St. Nicholas.

The day also featured fledgling efforts to archive the history of Rusyns in the Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana area, as board member Andrea Valasek began the process of scanning photographs brought in by members and new Rusyn friends attending their first chapter event.

We'll continue to post pictures from our history on the blog and we're always looking for more. Rusyns have lived in this area since the 19th Century, and it's crucial for us to understand that we're not a new people who've just appeared on the scene.

Special thanks to Father Sam Sherry of St. Michael's, and of his parish community for hosting our event -- and participating in it.

Next up: Stay tuned for more information on our pysanky workshop planned for the afternoon of Saturday, March 26th.

We'll shortly have details on the location and our presenter.

A snapshot from Chicago's South Side Rusyn community in 1922

2011-01-12T08:00:00.003-06:00

This photograph of the 1922 first communion group at St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church at 4949 S. Seeley Ave., offers a snapshot that includes ancestors of parishioners at two existing parishes, one Byzantine Catholic and one Orthodox.

By 1931, a substantial portion of the parish would leave to create St. Peter & St. Paul's Orthodox Church at 53rd and Western, which relocated in 1998 to Burr Ridge.

St. Mary's remained until 1996, when it was merged with the Joliet St. Mary's as Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen.

I don't have any of the names of the children in the phot. But the priest is Father Max Relich, who was pastor of St. Mary's from 1908 to 1929. The cantor is identified as Vasyl Sklyar.

Counting Rusyns and Ukrainians together in Slovakia?

2011-01-09T17:49:00.000-06:00

Rudolf Chmel, Slovakia's Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights and National Minorities, tells the English-language Slovak Spectator that his government is proposing counting Rusyns and Ukrainians together, when enforcing minority language rights:

"Considering the Ruthenian minority, we propose counting them together with the Ukrainians for the purposes of minority language usage, which would mean that even the town of Humenné would become officially bilingual."

You can find the complete interview here.

A Rusyn Christmas gift from Metropolitan Nicholas

2011-01-07T12:49:00.002-06:00

From the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese website comes this wonderful audio of Metropolitan Nicholas singing "When the Brillant Star Shone"/ "Koli Jasna Zvizda." Deacon David Mastroberte, who pointed the link out, offers the English version.

Troubling news from Transcarpathia

2011-01-07T11:50:00.000-06:00

Rusyn activist Dmitry Sidor
(Radio Liberty photo)

If this story is to be believed, there's a threat of armed struggle from some Rusyn activists in the Trans-Carpathian oblast of Ukraine.

Writes Paul Gobel: "Only weeks after Russia’s consul general in Lviv called him the “Moses” of his people, Dmitry Sidor, an Uzhgorod priest loyal to Moscow who heads the Rusyn movement in Transcarpathia, declared this week that “after many years” of using only political tactics, the Rusyns are now prepared to “defend their freedom with arms in their hands.”

Христос раждається! Christos Raždajetsja! Christ is born!

2011-01-07T00:01:00.002-06:00

For those of you who follow the old calendar, the best of Christmas wishes to you!

The Nativity scene below comes from the original St. Michael the Archangel Church at 2417 N. Campbell Ave. on Chicago's North Side.

Yes, it's a very Westernized image of the first Christmas, but it reflects the period when the church -- now located in Niles, Ill. -- was formed in 1914.

The original hangs behind the iconostasis at St. Michael's. Thanks to Father Sam Sherry for allowing me to photograph it.

Images from Carpatho-Rusyn Christmases past

2011-01-06T07:53:00.002-06:00

Today is Christmas Eve, according to the Julian Calendar, which is a good time to post some photos of Christmases past from the Carpatho-Rusyn communities of Illinois and Indiana.

Both photos show Viflejemčiki or Jasličkári, traditional Rusyn Bethlehem singers. The tradition was brought from villages in the Carpathian homeland, where the costumed groups of young men would go from house to house, singing carols and performing brief plays.

The first is undated, and comes from Nativity of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church the coal mining town of Buckner, Ill., southeast of St. Louis, Mo., and comes to us thanks to Phil Chomiak.

Lying down in the photo are George Durkota and Frank Repak. Seated are Mike Beskidnek and Charles (Wasil) Spontak. Standing, with head-pieces and robes are John Bobiak, Myron Posypanko, Sam Grozik, and Steve Revak. Standing, back row, in suits, are George Orshak, Frank (Buck) Disko, and John Baligroski. The church was made by Mike Grozik.

Next is a faded image from the Holy Ghost Greek Catholic Church, located in Indiana Harbor, Ind.

I apologize for the quality of the photo, but it's a scan of a faded page from the 1936 Greek Catholic Union Kalendar.

The priest is identified as Rev. Irinij Dolhy. Parish council president Michael Primich is at left, and singing teacher Theodor Berezni is at the right.

None of the boys are identified.

A Rusyn competition on Radio Slovakia International

2011-01-04T10:03:00.000-06:00

Slovakia's Carpatho-Rusyn minority is the subject of a question in Radio Slovakia International's latest listener competion.

The competition features a monthly question concerning one of the country's minority groups.

The January question: "In which year did the Rusyns in Slovakia get the official status of an ethnic minority?"

Answers are accepted until Jan. 27 at englishsection@slovakradio.sk or by regular mail to Radio Slovakia International, Mytna 1, PO Box 55, 817 55 Bratislava, Slovakia.

The winner of the competition -- which runs until July -- gets a week-long stay for two at the water park in Poprad in Vysoke Tatry. (You'll have to get to Slovakia on your own, though).

The passing of John Warhola

2010-12-26T10:41:00.001-06:00

John Warhola in front of Andy's portrait of
their mother, Julia, at the Warhol Museum

John Warhola, the older brother of the best known of American Rusyns, Andy Warhol, died Christmas Eve at the age of 85.

He is survived by his older brother, Paul, and his sons: Donald, Mark and Jeffrey.

Here is his obituary from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Here's the obituary from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Here's the report, in Slovak, from the Slovak press agency SITA.

Vičnaja jemu pamjat!

Христос раждається! Christos Raždajetsja! Christ is born!

2010-12-24T13:00:00.000-06:00

"Rusyn Christmas," an oil painting by Michal Sirik

A little Rusyn Christmas music

2010-12-12T13:59:00.000-06:00

With two weeks left until Christmas (unless you're on the old calendar and have a couple more weeks), I'm sure holiday preparations are going on in homes across North America.

A little Rusyn Christmas music may help when you're making nut roll, or wrapping presents, and the Internet offers a couple great choices.

The archive of Jerry Jumba's old "Carpatho-Rus' Radio Show" provides a few hours of Christmas tunes here, here and here.

And, of course, there's the continuing Sunday afternoon broadcasts of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society's radio show, hosted by Dean Poloka. Here and here are last year's Christmas special.

The details of our January 15th Rusyn New Year pot-luck

2010-12-07T14:20:00.001-06:00

The Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society invites you to a Rusyn New Year Pot-Luck on Saturday, January 15 at St. Michael Orthodox Church, 7313 Waukegan Road, Niles, IL.

The doors open at noon for socializing, shopping at the Rusyn market and photo scanning.

We're collecting the history of Rusyns in the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana. You can help by bring your old family photographs and documents for us to scan and make digital copies without harming the originals. Please bring typed or printed names of the people and places and the date of the photo to include in the archives.

The feasting begins at 1 p.m., followed by some traditional Rusyn Christmas carols.

Bring your favorite Rusyn or other covered dish, or dessert. Beverages will be provided.

RSVP by January 10th the number coming and what you'll be bringing to cpconjelko@frontier.com (Charlotte) or 708-895-3074 (Ken) Be sure & leave a message.

Directions from the north: Take I-294 South to Exit IL-58/Golf Rd. Turn left on East River Rd. then left (east) on Golf Rd. Turn right (south) on IL-21/Milwaukee Ave. Make a left on Howard St. and a right on Waukegan Rd. Turn left into church parking lot across from Marathon Gas Station.

Directions from the south: Take I-90 to Touhy Ave. exit (I-Pass users stay to right as exit is immediately after tollbooth). Stay on Touhy thru Park Ridge. Turn left on Milwaukee (small park on right with Christmas display), staying in right lane and immediately after turning bear right onto Waukegan Road. Church sits back off road across from Marathon Gas Station.

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

2010-12-06T00:01:00.000-06:00

Here's a nice version of the traditional hymn to St. Nicholas, from St. George Orthodox Church in Taylor, Pa.

Carpatho-Rusyns prepare to celebrate St. Nicholas Day

2010-12-05T06:00:00.003-06:00

Traditional Rusyn image of St. Nicholas

December 6 (December 19 on the old calendar) is the feast day of St. Nicholas, one of the most beloved saints among the Carpatho-Rusyn people.

Rusyns celebrate him with the hymn that begins with the words, "O Kto Kto, Nikolaja L'ubit":

O kto kto Nikolaja l'ubit,

O kto kto Nikolaju služit.

Tomu svjatyj Nikolaj,

Na vsjakij čas pomahaj:

Nikolaje, Nikolaj!

Here's an English version:

O who loves Nicholas the saintly,

Oh who serves Nicholas the saintly.

Him will Nicholas receive,

And give help in time of need.

Holy father Nicholas!

Here's a link to the melody, if you'd like to sing along.

If you're looking for other ways to mark St. Nicholas Day -- which is honored by many other ethnicities -- you can browse through the countless and always growing offerings of the St. Nicholas Center.

Icon from St. Nicholas
Byz. Cath. Church,
Munster, Ind.

The site offers plenty of beautiful images, holiday details and other materials on the model for Santa Claus. There's a lot of information on how various ethnic groups mark the fest of St. Nicholas.

Many Rusyn-Americans have warm memories of waking up on the morning of Dec. 6 to shoes or stockings filled with little treats left by the saint the night before. It's a tradition that originates in our ancestral villages, in impoverished times when the gift of an orange was a major treat.

In a more serious holiday tale, St. Nicholas figures in the survival of hundreds of Rusyn immigrants to the United States, coal miners, who weren't in the mines when disaster struck back in 1907.

The Carpatho-Rusyn Society's Christina Duranko tells that fascinating story here.

If you're looking for a modern version of St. Nicholas, the Smithsonian Channel offers "In Search of Santa Claus," which tells the story of the evolution of St. Nicholas into the modern symbol of Christmas gift-giving.

The one-hour special is scheduled for 7 a.m. (Central) on Sunday, Dec. 5, with repeats at 9 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9, and midnight Friday, Dec. 10.

Finalizing plans for our Jan. 15 Rusyn New Year potluck celebration

2010-12-04T10:50:00.002-06:00

The site of our board meeting on the grounds of Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church.

The board of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society met Friday evening at Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church in Homer Glen to finalize plans for our potluck lunch marking the old calendar Rusyn New Year on Jan. 15.

While we'll be getting out a flyer, here are the basics:

What: A potluck lunch, with some Rusyn Christmas tunes to celebrate the old calendar New Year (which falls January 14). We're hoping for traditional Rusyn dishes, favorite family recipes to share with other Rusyns.
When: Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. Doors open at noon, lunch starts at 1 p.m.
Where: St. Michael Orthodox Church, Niles, Ill.

We're also hoping to begin collecting Rusyn family photos as we start to archive our history in Chicagoland and Northwest Indiana. We'll have a scanner on hand to make digital copies of your treasured old photos if you'd like to share them with our Carpatho-Rusyn community.

It should be a great way to wrap up the holiday season and get to know each other in a relaxed social setting.

And while it's still a few months (and a full winter season) away, the board set a date for a Pysanky Workshop: Saturday, March 26.

Pysanky

We'll announce the location and other details later. But we plan on a speaker, who will explain the traditional Rusyn craft of Easter Egg design, and offer hands-on help in making your own pysanky.

Save the date for a look at one of the most treasured traditions of the Carpatho-Rusyn people.

We'll get you more information as the plans are set.

It's just about time for holiday baking, Carpatho-Rusyn style

2010-11-29T12:55:00.000-06:00

Barbara Rolek's fine Eastern European Food Blog at about.com is moving into holiday mode, with a step-by-step photo gallery of the ladies of St. James the Less Roman Catholic Church in Highland, Ind., making the jelly roll style nut roll.

It's part of the holiday tradition of many people with roots in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire, including the Carpatho-Rusyns.

If you're looking for a basic recipe, Barbara offers Sophia Saliwonczyk's nut roll.

Here's a version from the Library of Congress.

And here is one more.

A Christmas concert with a bit of a Carpatho-Rusyn flavor

2010-11-17T19:13:00.000-06:00

The St. Peter and St. Paul Orthodox Church Choir and the Orthodox Concert Choir of Chicago will present a Christmas concert on Sunday, December 5th at 2 p.m. at St. Peter & St. Paul Church, 6980 South County Line Road, in Burr Ridge.

The concert will feature Christmas hymns and carols from Russia, Carpatho-Rus', Ukraine, Slovakia and the Czech lands.

Admission is free.

The concert is under the direction of John Sutko of Burbank, Ill. Mr. Sutko is a member of the board of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.

The 2011 summer school on Carpatho-Rusyn language and culture

2010-11-15T08:35:00.000-06:00

----

Here's everything you need to know about next summer's Carpatho-Rusyn language and culture program at Prešov University in Slovakia:

Studium Carpato-Ruthenorum 2011

International Summer School for Rusyn Language and Culture

Prešov, Slovakia

June 12-July 3, 2011

Prešov University in Prešov, Slovakia, announces its second annual three-week Studium Carpato-Ruthenorum International Summer School for Rusyn Language and Culture to be held from June 12-July 3, 2011 (applicants from North America may begin arriving from Saturday, June 11, 2011).

The program is hosted by the university's Institute of

Rusyn Language and Culture. Prešov University is the only university in the Slovak Republic offering a full-time accredited academic program in Rusyn language and literature.

The Studium summer school is intended for those interested in studying the Rusyn language and the history of the Carpatho-Rusyns, including high school (18 and over) and college students, as well as Slavists and any who wish to broaden their knowledge of

East Slavic language, history, and culture. Participants can expect to acquire a familiarity with or strengthen their competency in the Rusyn language, as well as gain a deep understanding of Carpatho-Rusyn history and culture.

The Studium Carpato-Ruthenorum is held on the campus of Prešov University, with the dormitory, cafeteria, and classroom building all located on 17th of November Street (ulica 17. novembra). Instruction is provided by university professors, distinguished Slavists, and specialists in Carpatho-Rusyn history from Slovakia, Ukraine, the United States, and Canada. The language of instruction, in parallel courses, is either Rusyn or English.

The program offers 30 hours of history lectures; language instruction consists of two hours per day of grammar and conversation, also for a total of 30 hours. Participants who complete the program receive official certificates from the Studium; transcripts will be available for students who wish to earn credits for the program through their home universities.

Carpatho-Rusyn History:

The history lecture series focuses on Carpathian Rus' and the Carpatho-Rusyns worldwide from earliest times to the present. Lecturers include Professor Paul Robert Magocsi, University of Toronto, and Dr. Valerii Padiak, Researcher and Publisher, Center for Carpatho-Rusyn Studies, Uzhhorod, Ukraine. The mini-course in Carpatho-Rusyn folklore will be taught by Dr. Patricia Krafcik, The Evergreen State College Olympia, Washington).

Rusyn Language:

The Rusyn language is offered at three levels: 1) for beginners; 2) for students who have some knowledge of Russian, Ukrainian, or another Slavic language; and 3) for native speakers of Rusyn. These classes are intended to help participants acquire an understanding of the theoretical linguistic aspects of the Rusyn language, as well as to develop proficiency in the spoken and written language. Instructors include Professor Stefan Pugh, Wright State University (Dayton, Ohio), and from Prešov University: Dr. Vasil' Jabur, CSc., Dr. Kvetoslava Koporová, and Dr. Anna Plišková, Ph.D.

Extracurricular Activities:

The following activities take place after classes and include:

--presentations on Rusyn traditions, folklore, and the socio-cultural life of Carpatho-
Rusyns in Slovakia, including a visit to the Medzilaborce Folklore Festival and
Rusyn cultural institutions in Prešov;
--presentations on Rusyn folk architecture and culture, including visits to museums,
skanzens, and wooden churches;
--a Rusyn literary evening;
--visits to the Alexander Dukhnovych Theater and film viewings;
--pysankŷ (wax resist egg decorating) and folksong workshops;
--excursions in Prešov and the Prešov Region of northeastern Slovakia where Rusyns
reside.

Housing and Meals:

Participants are housed in a Prešov University dormitory in standard 2-bed/2-room suites with Internet access for laptop computers and dine in the university cafeteria. The dormitory provides a communal kitchen with refrigerator, washing machines, and dryers. Wireless Internet is also accessible in the cafeteria building.

Available in the university neighborhood are grocery stores, a pharmacy, restaurants, Internet cafes, bookstores, and easy access to city transportation.

Applications:

Applications and a complete program schedule for the Studium may be found at http://www.unipo.sk/9040 and http://www.c-rs.org.

Applications will be accepted online until February 1, 2011, and should be sent to the

following email address: urjk@unipo.sk.

The online application process is preferred, but

hard copies may be sent to the following postal address:

Prešovská univerzita

Ústav rusínskeho jazyka a kultúry

Nám. legionárov 3

080 01 Prešov

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Cost:

The cost for the three-week session, including tuition, housing, three meals daily, all excursions, and all museum admissions, is 1200 Euros or $1668 (at an exchange rate of 1 Euro/$1.39). A non-refundable administrative deposit of 100 Euros or $139.00 is due by April 15, 2011. This fee will be applied to the total cost, with the remainder of 1100 Euros or $1529.00 due by May 15, 2011.

Participants are responsible for their own travel costs to and from Prešov.

Payment by bank check is preferred and is to be sent to the following address:

Slovenská asociácia rusínskych organizácií

Duchnovičovo nám. 1

080 01 Prešov

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Bank transfers are also possible to:

Československá obchodná banka, a.s.

pobočka Prešov

Hlavná 96

080 01 Prešov

SLOVAK REPUBLIC

Account name: Slovenská asociácia rusínskych organizácií

Account number: 4010764555/7500

BIC - SWIFT: CEKOSKBX

IBAN: SK 50 7500 0000 0040 1076 4555

Contacts:

Within Slovakia and Europe, contact Mgr. Timea Verešová, Ph.D. (also English speaking) for information, at urjk@unipo.sk, tel.: +421 (51) 7720 392, +421 915 412 917.

Within North America, contact Dr. Patricia Krafcik, at krafcikp@evergreen.edu.

Interested in possible group travel arrangements from North America? Contact Nancy Revak at NSREVAK@aol.com.

A traditional Slavonic Divine Liturgy at Munster's St. Nicholas Church

2010-11-01T11:54:00.001-05:00

With the successful celebration of Carpatho-Rusyn Day at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Munster on Saturday, we can't complete our visit to Northwest Indiana without noting what may be the last regular weekly Church Slavonic Divine Liturgy among Byzantine Catholic churches in the U.S.

Father Frank Korba celebrates the Slavonic liturgy at 8:30 a.m. each Sunday, and the parishioners participate in the true Rusyn manner, singing our traditional prostopinije in congregational style.

It's not 100% Slavonic, but it's pretty close.

St. Nicholas is one of three Byzantine Catholic churches in Northwest Indiana founded by Carpatho-Rusyns.

According to the parish history, St. Nicholas church was not incorporated as a Greek Catholic church in union with Rome until 1922, with the parish history noting that it had both Orthodox and Greek Catholic priests serving there until then.

The original church was located in Hammond, Ind., ultimately moving to Munster in 1962.

Father Korba is an enthusiastic advocate of his Carpatho-Rusyn identity, and has been a generous supporter of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.

The interior of St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Munster.

More than 100 mark Carpatho-Rusyn Day in Munster, Indiana

2010-10-30T20:59:00.007-05:00

The crowd began gathering an hour before the 1 p.m. event began.

More than 100 people gathered at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church Saturday afternoon to mark the first Carpatho-Rusyn Day in North America with the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society.

The program was headlined by author Mark Wansa's presentation on his novel, "The Linden & The Oak," but began with a program that opened with the singing of "Ja Rusyn Byl," and included remarks from Dana Hunatova, the Consul General of the Czech Republic in Chicago.

Hunatova told the audience she had two reasons for accepting the invitation to the event. First, she recognized the connection between the Carpatho-Rusyns and the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1939), and second, her Czech father was born in Trans-Carpathia.

Dana Hunatova

John Sutko, a member of the board of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society, used his skills as choir director at St. Peter & St. Paul Orthodox Church to lead the audience in the Rusyn anthem, the folk song "Červena Ruža Trojaka,"and, in closing, "Mnohaja L'ita."

Mark Wansa

The hospitality of the St. Nicholas Parish was noted on many levels, from the comfortable facilities to the hot dog and sloppy joe lunch provided by the parish women. The pastor of St. Nicholas, Father Frank Korba, welcomed his guests by leading the singing of "Carju Nebesnyj" in Church Slavonic.

But the main focus of the afternoon was Wansa's illustrated presentation on the research he did to turn his family story into the expansive novel "The Linden & The Oak."

Wansa repeatedly touched common chords with the audience, composed of Rusyn-Americans, some of whom drove two hours to attend the day's festivities.

Another Lake Michigan Chapter board member, Michael Baron, and his cousin, Jim (Pudlik) Lilek, helped prepare a fitting gift for Wansa to thank him for coming from Albuquerque, N.M., for his presentation -- a bottle of homemade slivovitza that was sampled by members of the board after Saturday's event.

Tasting the homemade slivovitza

Greetings on this first Carpatho-Rusyn Day in North America

2010-10-26T10:47:00.000-05:00

Today, Oct. 26, is the official observance of Carpatho-Rusyn Day in the U.S. and Canada.

While we're marking the day Saturday at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Munster, Ind., here's a rendition of the the Carpatho-Rusyn anthem by the Slavjane folklore group from Pittsburgh to get the juices flowing:

Welcome the Carpatho-Rusyn American to cyberspace

2010-10-26T09:42:00.000-05:00

Duchnovyč

The Carpatho-Rusyn American was published as a quarterly journal from 1976 to 1996, and that collection of articles on Rusyn history and culture is being reprinted on a regular basis in blog form, as "another look at classics of Rusyn scholarship."

The first reprinted piece is a quick bio of Alexander Duchnovyč, the 19th Century "national awakener of the Carpatho-Rusyns."

It looks to be another great resource to get your grounding in Carpatho-Rusyn topics.

A Chicago-area family history event for Czechs, Slovaks, Rusyns & others

2010-10-23T08:00:00.002-05:00

The Czech and Slovak American Genealogical Society is sponsoring a family genealogy workshop for Saturday, Nov. 6 from 1 to 3 p.m. at T.G. Masaryk School, 5701 W. 22nd Place in Cicero.

CSAGI can be a great resource for folks doing family history research from the former Czechoslovakia -- including modern-day Transcarpathia, when it was a part of the first Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1939).

Here are the details on their workshop (click for a larger copy):

Ukrainian news agency notes Rusyn event in Mukachevo

2010-10-22T13:15:00.002-05:00

It's rare when an official Ukrainian entity refers to Rusyns as simply and straightforwardly as this dispatch from Ukrinform/Укрінформ:

KYIV, October 22 /UKRINFORM/. The 12th Rusyn Culture Festival has opened in Ukraine's western Mukachevo with almost 30 Rusyn folk teams.

In his opening speech, Mukachevo Mayor Zoltan Lendyel said the Rusyns of the Transcarpathia have an opportunity to safeguard and develop their language, songs, dances and hand them over to next generations.

The Rusyns are an Eastern Slavic ethnic group who speak an Eastern Slavic language or dialect known as Rusyn. They live in Ukraine, Slovakia, Poland, the Serbian Province of Vojvodina, and in Hungary.

Some classic advertising from the Carpatho-Rusyn press

2010-10-17T18:07:00.001-05:00

I love old advertisements, and while I was doing some research today in the microfilm version of the Amerikansky Russky Viestnik -- once the main source of Rusyn news in the U.S. -- I came up with a few ads for mostly familiar products to share.

The Chilean mine rescue stirs up a Carpatho-Rusyn immigrant story

2010-10-13T17:09:00.000-05:00

The miraculous rescue operation ongoing in Chile has brought to mind story from my family that's not uncommon for Carpatho-Rusyn immigrants, the story of my grandfather and his life and death in the mines.

I blogged about it as part of my day job,

George Cordak and his family in Clymer, Pa. My mother, Helen, is the youngest child.

A Carpatho-Rusyn celebration in Pittsburgh this weekend

2010-10-11T08:49:00.001-05:00

While our attention is focused on the Oct. 30 Carpatho-Rusyn Day celebration at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church in Munster, Ind., let's not ignore the festivities this Saturday, Oct. 16, at the National Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Center in suburban Pittsburgh.

Here's the schedule of activities:

11 a.m. - 3 p.m.
Rusyn Fall Festival with Rusyn food vendors, artisans and ethnic items Costume display from Spis¹ County One day display of the art of the Warhola Family.

4 p.m.
C-RS Annual Meeting with Guest Speakers - Ted Zatkovich Gregg and Connie Zatkovich Ash - children of the first governor of Subcarpathian Rus'.

6 - 10 p.m.
Rusyn Dance Party featuring the music from Rus'kyj Muzikanty. Dance instruction available from Slavjane's Dean Poloka. Rusyn food and drinks for sale. BYOB.

For more information, call 412-567-3077, or email president @c-rs.org.

Sunday is election day for the Rusyn minority in Hungary

2010-10-01T11:25:00.002-05:00

Hungarian flag

Members of Hungary's 13 recognized ethnic minorities -- including Rusyns, go to the polls Sunday to elect local authorities. Each of the 13 -- Romas, Germans, Slovaks, Croats, Romanians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Slovenes, Poles, Greeks, Bulgarians, Rusyns and Armenians -- have local authorities.

The Hungarian Act on National and Ethnic Minorities provides minorities of at least 1,000 people who have lived on Hungarian territory for at least a century legal rights to participate in public life. In addition to forming local units of government, they can foster their culture and ethinc identity, through use of their native language, including in street signs and public notices.

An estimated 1.2 million Hungarian citizens profess to belong to a minority, but some 228,000 have registered for Sunday's vote.

Post-communist Carpatho-Rusyn writer Mária Maľcovská dies

2010-09-26T08:56:00.006-05:00

Mária Maľcovská

We've received word from the Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Center of the death of Mária Maľcovská. She was 59.

Maľcovská was the editor of the Rusyn-language newspaper "Narodny Novynky," launched after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia. She was also a professor of Rusyn literature at the University of Presov in Slovakia.

Services are planned for Tuesday in Ruský Potok, Slovakia.

Planning for our Oct. 30 event in Munster, Indiana -- and beyond

2010-09-19T09:14:00.001-05:00

The board of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society met Saturday, September 19, in the basement of St. Michael's Orthodox Church, in Niles, Illinois, to make final arrangements for our October 30 event to mark the first Carpatho-Rusyn Day in North America.

The headliner for that event will be Mark Wansa, author of "The Linden and the Oak," and the board assured that we'll have sufficient copies of Mark's novel on hand to sell to those in attendance at St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, in Munster, Indiana.

Planning also began for a potluck lunch celebrating Rusyn New Year's Day, scheduled for January 15, in the church basement at St. Michael's in Niles. We'll have more details as that event nears, but the potluck will mark the traditional New Year's under the Julian Calendar (January 14).

We'll ask folks to bring their family favorites to share, in a relaxed environment. If possible, they can bring the recipes, which we'll share with our members.

And if you haven't seen it, here's the flyer for the October 30th event:

A common Carpatho-Rusyn tale of questions and more questions

2010-09-17T14:58:00.000-05:00

This interesting blog explores one Rusyn's quest for information on what it means to be a Rusyn. It's a journey that most of us take, in one way or another. Whether we were raised with some sense of our identity, or have come to understand it in adulthood, it's often a confounding road to discovery.

Thanks to the Carpatho-Rusyn Society, there's an organization that transcends some of the complicating factors of religion that have confused and divided our people for so many decades, here in North America.

A weekend of free genealogical research

2010-09-04T16:18:00.001-05:00

Ancestry.com is offering free access to its immigration records this Labor Day weekend. It's a great opportunity to do some family history research.

Vladimir Lenin transmogrified into pioneering Carpatho-Rusyn bishop

2010-09-03T14:52:00.000-05:00

Bishop Andrey Bachinsky

Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

Interfax reports that the Užhorod City Council has presented a monument to the October Revolution, and its main leader, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, to the Greek Catholic Church.

It's not that the church has any interest in Lenin. The monument is being recast and turned into a memorial to Andrey Bachinsky, the 18th Century Rusyn bishop who moved his residence and seminary to Užhorod.

The Bachinsky monument will be set up in Užhorod Cathedral Square.

Johnstown Tribune-Democrat looks at the Carpatho-Rusyns

2010-08-30T01:20:00.003-05:00

The newspaper in Johnson, Pa., The Tribune-Democrat, published a package of stories in its Sunday edition looking at the Carpatho-Rusyns as part of an on-going project called "Homelands," which studies the ancestral homes of the residents of Western Pennsylvania.

Here's the link to the package, which offers a nice overview of our people. It has a few weaknesses, like the Spanikopita recipe included in a list of Rusyn recipes. That spinach pie is Greek, not Rusyn. But the effort is appreciated.

Check out "The Daily.sk" for news from Slovakia

2010-08-18T11:04:00.001-05:00

I was checking the readership stats for the blog today and came upon a burst of readers from Europe yesterday.

All were referred from an English-language news outlet called The Daily.sk from Bratislava, which linked to the post on Streator, Illinois, in a post on the closing of what may be the oldest Slovak Roman Catholic parish in the U.S.

So, thanks to The Daily.sk for the increased traffic, and be sure to click on them if you're interested in news from Slovakia.

Jerry Jumba: a cultural resource for Carpatho-Rusyn Americans

2010-08-18T10:34:00.001-05:00

Jerry Jumba is certainly the greatest living storehouse of Rusyn secular and religious music in North America, and the breadth of his knowledge is outlined in a website profiling Pennsylvania folk artists.

A click on the web site will let you hear some of Jerry's singing and playing, as well as his description, in his own words, of the meaning of Rusyn religious chant.

Says Jerry, "As an inheritor of this song tradition, I try to keep its joy and beauty alive, and creative."

If you'd like to hear more of Jerry, check out the archive of his Carpatho-Rus' radio show.

A little Rusyn church on the prairie

2010-08-12T08:00:00.002-05:00

Annunciation Byzantine Catholic Church, in Homer Glen, Ill., traces its roots to Rusyn parishes in Joliet and Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood.

In Chicago, an empty lot was often dubbed a "prairie." But in the wide open spaces of Homer Glen, the church is located on an actual prairie, hence the parish's annual Prairie Fest.

As the flyer at left shows, events are planned for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and you can expect some good Rusyn food, along with some Central European music.

"The Goulash Train" stops in Andy Warhol's Rusyn backyard

2010-08-10T22:01:00.011-05:00

The Warhol Museum of Modern Art

The Goulash Train, an interesting blog on travel through Central and Eastern Europe, has a piece today on a stop in Medzilaborce (Medžilabirci in Rusyn), the town near Andy Warhol's ancestral village of Mikova in northeast Slovakia. The blogger, "Wildroo," calls Medzilaborce's Warhol Family Museum of Modern Art one of the "stranger places of interest" in Slovakia. Unlike many visitors to the region, Wildroo gets the background of Andy and his ancestors just right.

A lost piece of Carpatho-Rusyn history in Streator, Illinois

2010-08-06T08:00:00.006-05:00

Word of the impending demise of one of the oldest Slovak Roman Roman Catholic parishes in the U.S., shines a light on some nearly forgotten Rusyn history in Streator, Illinois, about 90 miles southwest of Chicago.

St. Stephen's in Streator, Ill.

First, the situation at St. Stephen's, a Roman Catholic parish that was founded in 1883 by Slovak immigrants to what was a coal-mining community. Some sources consider it the first Slovak Roman Catholic parish in the U.S.

The Times, the local newspaper, reports that St. Stephen's, St. Anthony, Immaculate Conception, and St. Casimir (remember that name, because St. Casimir is the Rusyn connection) are merging into St. Stephen's church building, with the new consolidated parish renamed St. Michael the Archangel.

St. Stephen had been offered to the Slovak Union, but the expense of maintaining the building killed that idea.

Such church consolidation is a common thing as small parishes can no longer survive. But it means the loss of a landmark for the descendants of immigrants -- even if the building, which dates from 1896, survives.

Now, onto the Rusyn part of the story.

That St. Casimir church that's part of the merger originally occupied the structure that had been home to the Three Hierarchs Orthodox Church, a parish that was formed in the late 19th Century with a strongly Carpatho-Rusyn foundation.

At the time of its formation, the Streator Orthodox parish was one of only two "Russian" Orthodox churches in Illinois. The other was Chicago's St. Vladimir -- now Holy Trinity. And the uniqueness of the Streator settlement was honored by the Tsarist Russian government, which gave the parish the edifice of an Orthodox church built for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

Here's the account, from "Orthodox America: 1794-1976:"

The Russian Exhibition at the 1893 World's Fair

"The chapel, which had been built in Russia, dismantled, and brought to the Exposition, was moved again: to Streator, Illinois, where another small community was established to service the church on a regular basis.

"A number of Slovaks -- Catholic and Uniate -- settled in Streator... in the late 1890s. Knowing of the return of Uniates to Orthodoxy in other parts of the country, Father John Kochurov began to learn their dialects in order to do missionary work among them. An Orthodox community was formed and Father Michael Potochny, who had been the choir director for Father [Alexis] Toth in Minneapolis, was assigned as the first pastor of the congregation."

Father Kochurov, by the way, is an Orthodox saint.

Father John Kochurov

Of course, we know that those "Slovaks" described as "Uniate" (or Greek Catholic), would have been Carpatho-Rusyns.

The next chapter in this bit of Rusyn history comes from William Furry, executive director of the Illinois State Historical Society. He wrote an article on the roots of Orthodoxy that appeared in Illinois Heritage magazine and, later in Springfield's "Illinois Times."

Furry wrote that the structure had been originally ordered by Tsar Alexander III, who "commissioned his favorite architect, Petrovo Ropette, to design the Russian Pavilion."

The architect is actually Ivan Petrovich Ropet, who pioneered the Russian Revival style. Here's a link in Russian, on the architect. And if you prefer English, here's the Wikipedia article on Ropet.

Furry wrote: "Father John arranged for the facade, tower and traditional ornamentation of the Russian Pavilion to be shipped to Streator, where all were reassembled as the new sanctuary for the Three Hierarchs Church, officially listed in the 1901 Steator city directory as the Russian Greek Catholic Orthodox Church. Although the church's sanctuary was of simple construction, its ornate facade turned heads in Streator.

The lost church of Streator, Ill.

"After Father John left America in 1907, the church passed into the hands of a fringe Baptist congregation, which sold the structure in 1916 to the Polish Catholic community in Streator, which renamed it St. Casimir's. The church was demolished in the 1960s and a new modern building erected in its place."

And, also apparently lost was the Rusyn community of Streator.

In "The World's Columbian Exposition: A Centennial Bibliographic Guide," it's noted that "over the years, every detail of [the] ornate wood facade disappeared. At the time of its demolition in 1964 to make way for the congregation's present church, every surface of the original building had been covered with brick patterned asphalt siding."

An interesting footnote to this story is the fate of the bell from the Russian exhibit at the 1893 World's Fair.

The fine Orthodox History blog details the story of the bell, that was given to Chicago's Orthodox Church and would have made it into the belfry of what's now Holy Trinity Cathedral, founded largely by Lemko Rusyns.

Quoting Chicago Tribune articles of the time, the post details the theft of the bell in May 1902, as the new church, designed by Louis Sullivan, was nearing completion. Three men, including at least one parishoner, were believed to have rolled the bell onto a wagon and taken it away -- presumably to be melted down for its metal.

It's not clear if that ever happened, or if the bell survived somewhere, and the author of the piece is still looking for answers:

"Alas, I haven't been able to track down the rest of the story," writes Matthew Namee. "If anyone knows what became of the bell, please send me an email."

And my plea is the same. Do any remnants of the architectural oddity that was Three Hierarchs church survive? While the building is long gone, perhaps a piece or two remains. At least, there have to be some later, and better, photographs of this unusual relic.

If you know anything, send me an email.

Our October 30 headliner will be author Mark Wansa

2010-08-03T08:00:00.016-05:00

Mark Wansa in his father's village in Slovakia

Mark Wansa, the author of "The Linden and the Oak," a novel of Carpatho-Rusyns in the homeland in the World War I era, will headline the Lake Michigan Chapter's October 30 event marking the first celebration of Carpatho-Rusyn Day.

Mark will read from his book, as well as answer questions on the novel, and its setting.

Wansa's epic novel, which tells the story of young Vasyl Rusynko from the fictional village of Stara Polyanka, is peppered with bits of Rusyn language that will be familiar to anybody who heard their baba or gido chattering away in our mother tongue. The well-researched book is also chock-full of our customs and bits of folk wisdom.

Most important to readers, it's an exciting and entertaining novel set against the backdrop of war, and the excitement of emigrating to a new land. You can order the book from Amazon by clicking on the link at left, and we're hoping to get some books in stock locally, so you can read it before the Oct. 30 event.

The most interesting recent review of the book came from Ginny Parobek in Jednota, the Slovak-American newspaper, who calls it a "sweeping epic." She tells readers to "turn off the TV and dip into this rich treasure of Rusyn culture."

That's high praise from a newspaper that, in the past, has not exactly been a proponent of the Rusyn identity in Slovakia.

UPDATE: Thanks to the hospitality of Msgr. Frank Korba, we've finalized the location for the event, St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, in Munster, Ind. Tentatively, the doors will open at noon on Saturday, October 30, with the program beginning at 1 p.m.

First Slovak Folklore Festival planned for September in Hillside, Ill.

2010-07-30T17:39:00.001-05:00

What's being billed as the "First Slovak Folklore Festival Chicago 2010" has been scheduled for 4 p.m., Sept. 11 at 4550 Roosevelt Road, Hillside, the building of the Sheet Metal Workers International Association.

The event will feature performances by the Veselica & Veselicka Folk Ensembles, the Vychodna Slovak Dancers, the Pajtasi Music Group, the Siumni Highlander Group, the Omladina Folk dancers, the Balkanke Igrie, and Fujara player Drahos Dalos.

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. Seniors 65 and over are $19, and kids under 10 are free.

You can buy tickets here, or call (312) 404-8104 for more information.

Carpatho-Rusyns on Radio Slovakia International

2010-07-29T09:02:00.001-05:00

English-language Radio Slovakia International has aired a 10-minute look at the Rusyns of Slovakia.

You can listen to the broadcast here.

An overview of "The Carpatho-Rusyn Greek Catholic Churches"

2010-07-28T15:36:00.001-05:00

This new article from One Magazine is written from a Catholic point of view, but it provides a balanced primer on how the Carpatho-Rusyns moved from Orthodoxy to the Greek Catholic/Byzantine Catholic church, starting with the Union of Užhorod in the 17th Century.

Author Michael J.L La Civita notes that differences between the Ukrainians and Rusyns were apparent even before the Union:

"Though they shared the same customs and rites as their northeastern neighbors (modern Ukrainians), Rusyns adapted these rites, making them their own. Fortified by the monks of St. Nicholas Monastery, an ancient foundation located near Mukačevo (a town in modern Ukraine), Rusyns built their unique wooden churches, wrote their icons and sang their plainchant, or prostopinije, all contributing to the creation of a distinctive Subcarpathian Rusyn Orthodox church.

A steamy Saturday in historic Whiting, Indiana

2010-07-26T08:00:00.010-05:00

Thanks to the hospitality of Father John Kovach, the board of the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society met Saturday in air-conditioned comfort in the parish hall of St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church in Whiting, Ind.

The current church at 2011 Clark St. in an undated illustration.

After Saturday's meeting, a short walk to Whiting's annual Pierogi Fest led me to the historic image (at right) of St. Mary's, parish founded in 1899 by Rusyn immigrants.

It's the oldest Byzantine Catholic parish in Northwest, Ind., and is considered the mother church to a number of parishes in Indiana and in Chicago.

Daphne Myers pointed me to this bit of parish history from "The Standard History of Lake County, Indiana and the Calument Region," published in 1915:

"St. Mary's Greek Catholic Church, in charge of Rev. Valentine Balogh, is an organization of American-Ruthenians, which since 1907 has been under the jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1899 they bought the church and parish house which had been erected by the German Reformed Lutherans and established an independent organization.

"The pastors of this first society were Rev. Father Seregelyi, Rev. Eugene Satala and Rev. Father Parscouta. The appointment of Father Balogh, in 1907, came through Rt. Rev. S. S. Ortynsky. who had been selected from Rome as bishop of the Greek Catholic Ruthenians in the United States.

On account of legal complication with his predecessor, Rev. Father Parscouta, he did not take active charge of the church until May, 1908. Since that time the progress of the parish has been steady and smooth."

The current church was dedicated in 1918, as the corner stone shows.

St. Mary's in Whiting, Indiana today.

Save the date: Saturday, October 30

2010-07-25T10:37:00.002-05:00

The Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society will mark the first Carpatho-Rusyn Day in North America with a public event on Saturday, October 30.

UPDATE: Thanks to the hospitality of Msgr. Frank Korba, we've finalized the location for the event, St. Nicholas Byzantine Catholic Church, in Munster, Indiana. Tentatively, the doors will open at noon, with the program beginning at 1 p.m.

You say pierogi, we say pirohy

2010-07-22T08:00:00.001-05:00

Whiting, Indiana's annual Pierogi Fest starts its three-day run on Friday, July 23 in the heart of the Northwest Indiana community.

And while it's not a Rusyn festival, there are plenty of us in the neighborhood, so we'll be eating our pirohy, while our Polish-American friends are nibbling on their pierogi.

Here are the details for this year's fest.

In fact, the Lake Michigan Chapter of the Carpatho-Rusyn Society is holding a board meeting at noon Saturday in the shadow of festival, in the parish hall of St. Mary's Byzantine Catholic Church in Whiting. The location enables those of us who want to sample some delicacies shared on both sides of the Carpathians -- before or after the meeting -- to partake.

Let's hope for cooler weather than we've had of late. And as we organize our new group, let's hope we can have presence at next year's Pierogi Fest.

To show the pan-Slavic nature of the festival, here's a short video from last year's festival showing a Slovak dance group (ignore the title):

Some great press for the Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Center

2010-07-21T12:06:00.001-05:00

At Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural Center: Slovak mayor enjoys dance

You can find the Slovak translation of the article over at the Cultural Center's blog.

Here's a little sample:

V Kultúrnom centre karpatských Rusínov

Slovenský primátor má rád tanečnú zábavu

Napísala Kelly Fennessy
reportérka Daily News

Kultúrne centrum v meste Munhall získava vďaka špeciálnemu hosťovi medzinárodné uznanie.

Takmer 100 ľudí prišlo v piatok večer do budovy Národného kultúrneho a vzdelávacieho centra karpatských Rusínov na Dickson Street na úplne prvú typickú rusínsku tanečnú zábavu.

Zábavy sa zúčastnil aj špeciálny hosť, primátor slovenského mesta Prešov Pavel Hagyari, ktorý svojou zastávkou v tomto centre zakončil svoju šesťdňovú návštevu regiónu mesta Pittsburgh. Prešov a Pittsburgh sú partnerskými mestami.