Olga, left, and John Sendecki, at The Ukrainian Slava Centre in North Battleford, Monday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Cultural connections

Ukrainian group selling Slava community hall in N.B.

Jul 22, 2019 | 2:15 PM

For John Sendecki and his wife Olga, saying goodbye to The Ukrainian Slava Centre will be bittersweet.

They know there aren’t enough members to raise funds to sustain the building. But they have cherished memories of their time spent there, sharing Ukrainian traditions and their roots, so it will be difficult to see it go.

Association President Olga said selling the hall makes her “very sad.”

The building in North Battleford has been for sale since spring. The Battlefords Ukrainian Seniors’ Association purchased it around 1980, but the club’s membership declined significantly over the years.

Olga said members used to make perogies and cabbage rolls in the centre for fundraisers that used to be a huge success to raise revenue to help with the building maintenance costs. But today, the aging members don’t have the energy for that project any more. And the younger generation is not interested in taking up the work.

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Olga said she and her husband, both in their mid-70s, are among the youngest in the group.

“We can’t do it ourselves,” she said.

Others in the group who are older “have done their share of work over the years” for the centre; so she understands they need to rest more now. Not having someone to take up the cause leaves her feeling dismayed. But Olga said “we go with the flow,” and has resigned herself to the situation.

John, the treasurer, said it’s a challenge to bring in new members.

“We don’t have enough participation as far as membership,” he said. “Most of the people are elderly. A lot of them have passed on. And a lot of people are not able to attend because of their age.”

The facility, which includes a full kitchen, a place for dinners downstairs, space for meetings and dances upstairs, used to be more popular.

John said at one time the association boasted a membership of 125. Now it has only about 20.

“We’re to the point you don’t need to be Ukrainian. We accept anyone who would like to be a member,” he said. “Everyone is welcome to join. But today’s society, it’s kind of a different world. People are doing something else. They are not joining [clubs].”

For themselves, the Sendeckis said they have now also joined North Battleford Senior Citizens Action Now which has a centre at 15 Ave. on 101 St.

—

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW