Last Updated: Friday - 09/24/2010
Week of June 30, 2008
Mundare museum celebrates 50 years
Ukrainian Basilian Fathers Museum honoured in DVD
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- photo supplied
Br. Stephen Krysak moderates a question and answer panel during the 50th anniversary celebration of the Ukrainian Basilian Fathers Museum in Mundare.
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By DAGMAR RAIS
Special to the WCR
Mundare
An anniversary is a unique and significant event, whether it occurs in the life of a person or in the life of an organization.
"Over the hill," they say, when it comes to half a century in the life of a person, but half a century in the life of an organization seems to be still going uphill.
The latter sentiment certainly applies to the Ukrainian Basilian Fathers Museum in Mundare - one of few museums in Alberta that can boast 50 years of existence - which celebrated the climax to its golden jubilee on May 25.
Dignitaries present included Archbishop Lawrence Huculak, head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church of Canada; Bishop Paul Chomnycky of New York and Premier Ed Stelmach.
The celebration began with a short service at the Sts. Peter and Paul Church, followed by an evening program in the museum.
Instead of greetings and speeches, an interactive panel comprised of Metropolitan Lawrence and Bishop Paul (the first and the second directors of the museum), Stelmach (the local MLA), and Dagmar Rais (curator and associate director) answered questions posed by master of ceremonies Brother Stephen Krysak.
DVD documentary
The recollections presented by the panel were followed by the unveiling of the 60-inch HD flat screen donated by the Knights of Columbus, Bishop Greschuk Assembly 2248 of Edmonton.
It was immediately put in use, with the first showing of the DVD documentary, Fifty Years Gone By: A Curator's Reflections, prepared specially for the occasion.
The jubilee celebration marked one of the most memorable events ever staged by the Basilian Fathers Museum, and although the crowd is gone, the evening's flavour can still be experienced.
The DVD documentary, Fifty Years Gone By, has joined the repertoire of short films offered during the regular museum tour and the new display prepared in conjunction with the anniversary, Father Jean's Curiosities, is the fourth permanent exhibit to be installed.
More information about the museum is online at www.basilianmuseum.org or by phoning 780-764-3887.
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