The Saskatchewan Provincial Council of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (SPC-UCC) will honour two Yorkton residents November 3 at its Annual Nation Builders & Community Recognitions Awards Luncheon in Regina.
Father Methodius Kushko and Merle Maximiuk will be recognized for their meritorious service to the Ukrainian community with awards for Cultural Preservation & Development and Volunteerism and Cultural Preservation & Development respectively.
Father Kushko is currently assistant pastor of St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Parish and teaches with Yorkton Ukrainian School of Language. His service includes being a board member for Habitat for Humanity a former member of the Advisory Committee on Saskatchewan-Ukraine Relations. He is a fourth degree Knight of Columbus and hosts Ukrainian Hour on Yorkton radio and Access Communications. He is also a former Saskatchewan deputy minister of education.
Father Kushko was not available for comment as he was out of the country.
Mrs. Maximiuk is a member of the Transfiguration Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Women's Association. She has been a long-time promoter of Ukrainian culture as a resource person for youth camps, a former president of Troyanda Ukrainian Dance Association and former co-editor of Sasktanets. She is also a past president of the UCC Yorkton Branch and has helped many people from Ukraine settle in Yorkton.
She said she felt very rewarded on hearing about the award, but that her true reward was doing the work in the first place. "It's something I enjoyed doing for the years I did it," she said. "It kept the Ukrainian community together and brought the culture to the forefront for other people to enjoy."
Mrs. Maximiuk is encouraged by new Ukrainian immigration to the area hoping it will lead to a renaissance of the culture. "Hopefully the new immigrants will become the leaders of the future," she said.
