Kaniv, Ukraine, an historic, culturally rich city of 35,000 is located on the Dnipro River about 120 km south of the capitol of Kyiv. Taras Shevchenko, the famous poet laureate of Ukraine, is buried in Kaniv on Taras Hill, where thousands from many nations come annually to pay homage to this great man. The Sister City relationship between the peoples of Kaniv and Sonoma is based upon a literary bond linking the writings of Taras Shevchenko and our own Jack London.
The mayors and numerous delegations from both cities have taken part in official visits, the most recent occurring in 1994. Three student exchanges have been conducted since 1989. A humanitarian "Lions in Sight" program in 1993, under the direction of Dr. Wayne Cannon, examined the eyes of over 2,500 children and adults in Kaniv, and provided free eyeglasses to those in need. Sister Cities International and the Reader's Digest Foundation awarded this program a prestigious Humanitarian Aid Award in 1994. We have discovered the Ukrainian people are much like us; through the many student, municipal and cultural exchanges, we have established warm and lasting friendships.
When we formalized our Sister City relationship with Kaniv in 1987, we had no way of knowing what great future changes would occur. On August 24, 1991, Ukraine was the first Republic to declare its independence from the Soviet Union, establishing itself as a free nation. This action led others to declare their independence, and to the final disolution of the Soviet Union, thus ending the Cold War. Perhaps the many Sister Cities exchanges and visits contributed to these new relationships...and opened the gates of freedom.
Ukraine, a nation of 52 million people, has an ancient history dating from the Scythians. Christianity was embraced in Kyiv in 988 A.D., almost 300 years before the city of Moscow in Russia was founded. Since 1991, Ukraine has moved from Communism to Democracy, has adopted a new parliamentary Constitution, a new currency called the 'Hryvna', and restored 'Ukrainian' as its national language.
A special Ukrainian program will be presented during the fabulous Sonoma Film Festival on October 18th at 2:00 PM in the Sonoma Plaza Amphitheater. The Ukrainian Heritage Club of Northern California, under the direction of Yuriy and Ola Olynyk, will present a Bandura concert by their youth group with solos by Ola Olynyk, a well-known instrumentalist and recording artist. The children, dressed in Ukrainian costume, will also perform colorful folk dances. There will be traditional Ukrainian food and folk art for sale. We'll see you there!
Pacific Online