(UE. Kingston). — Several dozen well-wishers and VIPs gathered in the private dining room of Kingston's River Mill Restaurant on Friday, 9 March, to honour Danylo Luciuk, presented with the "Mykola Mikhnovsky Medal of Merit" for his more than half century of service in the cause of Ukraine's independence and ongoing commitment to the good of the Ukrainian community in Canada.
Born in Volosiv, western Ukraine, in 1912, Danylo Luciuk was a member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUNb) and a political refugee who emigrated to Canada from a Displaced Persons camp near Munich, in 1949. In Kingston, along with his late wife, Maria, he became one of the founders of the Kingston Branch of the Canadian League for the Liberation of Ukraine (now the League of Ukrainian Canadians), served as the treasurer of St Michael's Ukrainian Catholic Parish and later for the Ukrainian Canadian Club of Kingston.
After welcoming remarks by Dr Lubomyr Luciuk and a prayer by the Reverend Dr Petro Galadza, the medal was presented by Orest Steciw, president of the League, aided by Dr Oleh Romanyshyn, editor of Homin Ukrainy, who also read a letter of congratulations from Stefan Romaniw of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists.
Speaking after the ceremony Mr Luciuk said: "I am proud to have served my community and never expected to be recognized for it. Of course I am deeply moved and honoured to receive the Mikhnovsky Medal, named after the father of modern Ukrainian liberation movement. I do not think one can dedicate a life to any greater cause than the struggle to free one's nation from oppression."
