Ukrainians preserve their history
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- Published on Tuesday, November 18, 2014
By Sheila Runions
Banner Staff
In a March 2010 edition it was reported that Rivers Ukrainian Society had officially disbanded and all remaining funds ($43,000) were given to Riverdale Health Services District Foundation. That column was never corrected as in error so a pleasant surprise came last month when members of Rivers Train Station Restoration Committee Inc. (RTSRC) received a donation from the society.
President Peter Citulsky says, “We had stuff from the hall, like our cabinet and a lot of Ukrainian pictures, that was sitting at the post office and we wanted to put it in a museum someplace. We saved that money so we’d have some to donate to a museum to help with the upkeep in displaying our stuff. We didn’t care where the museum was really, as long as it would be shown in years to come, that there was a Ukrainian Society in Rivers. Now that the train station is going to be a museum, we decided to give it to them.”
Rivers Ukrainian Society was formed in 1929 and thrived until the late 1990s. Their hall, built in 1931, was sold in 2009 and in 2010 the few remaining members followed the rules of their charter by giving remaining funds to health care. Their last act as a group was on Oct. 30 when treasurer Sylvia Maloney, president Peter and his wife Jean (Citulsky) gave their final $3,152.11 to RTSRC. Their donation is significant to the committee’s fundraising efforts. Because Parks Canada has designated the station a federal heritage site, exterior work must be restored as such; interior work is not subject to strict regulations so the committee has many ideas, including a museum.
RTSRC chairperson Donna Morken says, “This money will be used to assist in the preservation and renovation of our national heritage train station, with a museum inside. Many of the men who worked on the railroad and at the station were of Ukrainian heritage. They were a part of the first settlers of this community and the Ukrainian Society wanted to preserve that history by making a donation to the committee. There are also some artifacts from the society, and their years in the community, that will be stored and placed in the museum when it is completed. What a wonderful way to commerate the memories of those Ukrainian families who came to work and settle the area.”
