UNWLA Branch 53 celebrates ‘Golden Jubilee’

WARREN — In February 1973, a group of Ukrainian women with the desire to help others gathered for their first meeting.

With founder Lydia Kolodchin at the helm, they formed the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America Branch 53, which is part of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America based in New York City.

Kolodchin died last year at age 96, but her legacy and that of Branch 53 continues. Currently, there are 21 active members in the charitable and cultural organization.

Branch 53 will celebrate its 50-year “Golden Jubilee” at 1:30 p.m. Oct. 8 at the Ukrainian Cultural Center, 26601 Ryan Road. The event, open to the public, will include a luncheon and a fashion show featuring clothing made by Maryana Priymak, who designs clothing from her studio in Lviv, Ukraine.

Priymak uses the hand-looming cloth technique to make men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, purses, wallets, belts and shawls. She will not be at the luncheon, but is sending the clothing, which will be available for purchase.

The Golden Jubilee gives the members a chance to celebrate the group’s history and share Ukrainian culture with others. Golden Jubilee tickets are $65 each and must be purchased by Sept. 27. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the UNWLA humanitarian and scholarship funds.

Over the years, Branch 53 members have held countless fundraisers, Easter raffles and other events that have raised money to provide scholarships, medical care, food, financial assistance and care packages to local residents and people living in Ukraine. They’ve also been known to help widows in need, support summer camps for orphans and lend a hand to injured soldiers undergoing rehabilitation.

“The big emphasis now is to help those people impacted by the war,” said Ola Movchan Novak, of Warren, who has been a Branch 53 member for 50 years and is the Golden Jubilee chairperson. “There are millions of people that had to leave their homes in the east. During the winter, the water supply was damaged and compromised, and now there are more medical needs. We feel good to be able to help the community.”

When the Golden Jubilee Committee met Sept. 7, the members reflected on Branch 53’s traditions, describing the Ukrainian people as “friendly, generous, musical, artistic.” Many still have family in Ukraine. Two Branch 53 members were born in Ukraine, while several were born in Germany where their families lived in displacement camps after World War II. Some members were born in the U.S.

Through a sponsor, Helen Palmer, born in Germany, came to Cleveland as a young girl with her parents and brother.

“My dad had $12 in his pocket,” Palmer remembered.

The family toughed it out to start a new life in America.

“Ukrainians are survivors. We have survived all these years. People have tried to dominate us for a very long time. We survived,” said Palmer, of Rochester Hills. “Our parents and our grandparents want us to remember the history. We remember the love of country. We remember the country. It means a lot to us. It’s in our hearts.”

The group’s social/welfare chairperson, Janet Tymczenko-Zuyus, a Warren resident who was born in Germany, came to the U.S. on a Navy ship at age 10.

“I remember when I was young, my dad would show me a picture of the Statue of Liberty. When you see that, you’re in heaven,” he often told her. “To him, America was heaven.”

So when her family left Europe — her father stayed behind for three years — Tymczenko-Zuyus’ eyes teared up when the ship approached the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor.

“I was crying because my dad wasn’t with us,” she said, although she adjusted “very well” to American life and eventually reunited with her dad.

Many of the Branch 53 members have visited Ukraine. Vice President Martha Jovanovic, of Sterling Heights, toured parts of the country with her mom and brother in the early 1970s, which she said was the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic at the time.

Recording Secretary Luba LePage and President Sophie Koshiw — both original members of Branch 53 — also traveled to Ukraine prior to the recent war. They still carry the memories of those trips with them.

“It was fantastic,” said LePage, of Clinton Township, who visited Lviv, Kiev and the Black Sea. “I went to the village where my mother is from.”

“I stayed in the villages on my family’s property. I was also in Lviv,” said Koshiw, of Bloomfield Hills. “Going through the villages, it’s very nice.”

All the members are looking forward to the Golden Jubilee next month.

“We are excited about it because we have been planning it for so long,” LePage said.

For tickets to the Golden Jubilee, contact Vice President Martha Jovanovic at (586) 939-8166.