CANORA - As part of Community in Bloom celebrations, Canora’s Ukrainian Heritage Museum held an open house on Aug. 13, featuring museum tours, coffee, and a traditional Ukrainian singalong.
Dorothy Korol, museum board member, said they wanted to be part of Community in Bloom, and also “encourage people to come and see our treasures.”
Visitors could tour the museum and take in a comprehensive assortment of items highlighting the history of the local Ukrainian committee.
One of the most popular items was a buckwheat mill built by Anton Cerkowniak of Mikado in 1915. According to information provided by the museum, many pioneers from as far away as 50 miles utilized the mill to prepare buckwheat for their domestic use. The mill could remove the outer buckwheat shell as well as ground the buckwheat grain itself.
A recent addition to the museum is a display case for the works of Taras Shevchenko.
“He was a well-known artist, poet, and musician,” said Korol. “He was a hero because he spoke to the people in the language they knew.”
Among the items in the display case is Shevchenko’s poem Testament written in 1845. Below is the English translation.
When I die, bury me
Atop a mound
Amid the steppe’s expanse
In my beloved Ukraine,
So I may see
The great broad fields,
The Dnipro and the cliffs,
So I may hear the river roar
When it carries hostile blood
From Ukraine into the azure sea…
I’ll then forsake
The fields and hills-
I’ll leave it all,
Take wing to pray
To God Himself… till
Then I know not God.
Bury me, rise up,
And break your chains
Then sprinkle liberty
With hostile wicked blood,
And in a great new family,
A family of the free,
Forget not to remember me
With a kind and gentle word.
During the traditional Ukrainian singalong, rich harmonies filled the building, which brought back the tradition of years past where singalongs were an integral part of many Ukrainian social gatherings.
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