May 16 - 22, 2022

May 16 - 22, 2022 Vol. 30 No. 20

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$1.10 + Tips go to vendor

100% of the profits benefit StreetWise and StreetWise Vendors

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Arts & (Home) Entertainment

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SportsWise

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Cover Story: Ukrainian Village

More and more events are happening in Chicago, and we want you to know about the best of the best!

The topic of bowling keeps the SportsWise team's minds out of the gutter.

StreetWise Vendor A. Allen and Editor-In-Chief Suzanne Hanney explore the Ukrainian Village neighborhood on Chicago's West Side.

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Inside StreetWise

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The Playground

Vendors Lee A. Holmes and Paula Green wed at the StreetWise offices!

ON THE COVER: Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Church, 739 N. Oakley Blvd., mosaic depicts him decreeing the baptism of the Ukrainian people as Christian in 988.

THIS PAGE: Traditional Ukrainian garb, for sale at Delta Gift Shop, 2242 W. Chicago Ave. (Suzanne Hanney photos).

DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or positions of StreetWise.

Dave Hamilton, Creative Director/Publisher

dhamilton@streetwise.org

StreetWiseChicago @StreetWise_CHI

Suzanne Hanney, Editor-In-Chief

suzannestreetwise@yahoo.com

Amanda Jones, Director of programs

ajones@streetwise.org

Julie Youngquist, Executive director

jyoungquist@streetwise.org

Ph: 773-334-6600 Office: 2009 S. State St., Chicago, IL, 60616

LEARN MORE AT streetwise.org

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS Compiled by Cora Saddler

Choo Choo!

'Two Trains Running' Benefit Join the National Public Housing Museum (NPHM) at 7:30 p.m. May 18 for a performance of August Wilson's "Two Trains Running" at the Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave., to benefit the museum's Oral History Archive. The archive is a collection of compelling stories of people from across the nation, dating to the 1930s. It is an intimate narrative that reveals the ambitious and deeply troubled history of the United States and documents people not typically included in mainstream records. Members of the Oral History Corps are diverse and have been trained by the NPHM in media, ethics and interviewing. “Two Trains Running” centers on Memphis Lee and his restaurant during the Civil Rights Movement. It explores Black identity in the late 1960s and showcases Wilson as one of the most essential voices in the U.S. Tickets are $100 at nphm.org.

Dance Like Everyone is Watching!

South Chicago Dance Theatre Celebration of the South Chicago Dance Theatre’s five-year anniversary calls for an evening of dance like none other, marking SCDT’s first concert as a resident company at the historic Harris Theatre for Music and Dance, 205. E. Randolph St. SCDT is a multicultural organization that blends classical and contemporary dance styles while also maintaining and preserving historic dance works. The 90-minute performance will feature five world premieres by five choreographers: SCDT Founder and Executive Artistic Director Wade Schaaf’s “Coeurs Séparés,” Kia S. Smiths’ “In Lieu of Flowers,” Stephanie Martinez’s “On a Lark,” Crystal Michelle’s “Lit-anies,” and Ron De Jesús “Hybr:ID Line.” 7:30 p.m. May 20. Tickets start at $15. More information at harristheaterchicago.org.

The Jury is Out!

ENTERTAINMENT

'To Kill a Mockingbird' All rise for Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin’s adaptation of Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterwork “To Kill A Mockingbird,” the New York Times Critic's Pick as “the most successful American play in Broadway History.” With direction by Tony Award winner Bartlett Sher, and Emmy-winning actor Richard Thomas as Atticus Finch in the national tour, this production will run May 17-29 at the James M. Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St. This classic follows the coming of age story of young Scout Finch, her brother Jem, and their widowed father, Atticus, a prominent lawyer in a sleepy Alabama town, who is appointed to defend a Black man falsely accused of rape. Tickets start at $35.More information at broadwayinchicago.com.

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Weekend in the Park!

Northbrook Art in the Park The Northbrook Village Green, 1810 Walters Ave., is a beautiful outdoor shaded venue perfect for showcasing more than 85 artists featuring paintings, sculptures, jewelry, ceramics, and more, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 21 and 22. There's live music in the gazebo, festival food, youth art activities, free and accessible parking. Admission is FREE. Attendees are invited to bring gently used wall art, which will be donated the Chicago Furniture Bank, for people transitioning from shelters to permanent housing.

Bark in the Park!

BARK The 28th Annual Anti-Cruelty Society BARK (formerly called Bark in the Park), 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at Soldier Field, 1410 Museum Campus Drive, is Chicago’s oldest dog-friendly, outdoor fundraiser, with more than 1,200 human and canine participants. BARK is expected to raise $150,000 to support animal welfare and humane education, a celebration of the Anti-Cruelty Society’s 123-year community of caring. BARK will begin with a 2.5-mile walk along the lakefront, followed by a pup-party with food, beverage and cold beers, a micro-music fest hosted by Aspire Healthy Energy Drinks, family activities, dog-friendly demonstrations, canine agility courses, dog massages, and family-friendly crafts. Admission is $40+ ($10 kids 3-12) at anticruelty.org.

Craft Talk!

Renegade Craft Fair Andersonville Building a creative community since 2003, Renegade events are produced, juried, and curated by a small team of artists inspired to cultivate access to a vibrant community platform and to inspire conscious consumerism and sustainability. The first time Andersonville is hosting a Renegade event, the fair will run 11 a.m.- 6 p.m. May 21 & 22 on Clark Street, between Bryn Mawr and Edgewater avenues. Expect to find a curated artist lineup, food, drink offerings, shoppable links, and more.

Dance All Weekend!

National Tap Dance Weekend + M.A.D.D Rhythms and Chicago Tap Theatre Tap, tap, tap, your way to the Harold Washington Cultural Center, 4701 S. King Drive, May 21 for National Tap Dance Day, presented by M.A.D.D. Rhythms and Chicago Tap Theatre.

Workshops from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. will be led by Bril Barrett, Donnetta “LilBit” Jackson, Jay Fagan, Mark Yonally, Molly Smith, Nico Rubio, Starinah “Star” Dixon and Sterling Harris.

M.A.D.D. (Making a Difference Dancing) Rhythms is a tap dance collective whose “SOLE” purpose is to spread the love of tap worldwide. Comprised of a diverse group of young, versatile tap dancers from all over Chicago, its mission is to preserve and promote this beloved art form, to teach its history and to make a difference to underserved communities by connecting to youth through dance. For more information, see maddrhythms.com.

Cheers, Cheers, Thanks A Lot!

Toasting the Revolution Raise a glass to the revolutions! On May 17, join the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton St., from 6-7:30 p.m. in Ruggles Hall, for the interactive “Toasting the Revolution / A brindar por la revolución.” Historian Caitlin Fitz and Newberry curator Will Hansen will discuss the practice of toasting during the Age of Revolutions in the first half of the 19th century and what it reveals about US attitudes towards the American Revolution and others in the Americas. Fitz is the author of “Our Sister Republics: The United States in an Age of American Revolution” and notes how Latin America’s independence wars shaped the early US understanding of race, rebellion, and republicanism. Actors from the Shakespeare Project of Chicago will lead the audience in performing early toasts. FREE to the public. For more information, see newberry.org.

Shop Local!

Lincoln Roscoe Art + Craft Fair New North Side event, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. May 21 & 22, on Lincoln Avenue between Roscoe and School Streets, will feature art for the home including paintings, sculptures, fiber pieces, décor, jewelry, and more handmade by artists and artisans. There will also be live music by the Ron Steta Trio and Michelet, festival food, a broad selection of brews, and art activities for kids. Attendees are encouraged to bring their gently used wall art to be donated to Chicago Furniture Bank, a non-profit that distributes furnishings and arts to those transitioning from shelters to permanent housing. FREE.

www.streetwise.org

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Vendors Russell Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

John: Fun note about bowling, fellas. I just watched both bowling versions of the US Open in Houston, Texas, on ABC, in 1981 and, in 2022, in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Fox Sports 1 (FS1)—it’s fascinating how much bowling has changed.

Patrick: What was different?

John: Well, Chris Schenkel and Nelson Burton, Jr., did the 1981 telecast, and Rob Stone and Randy Pedersen did the 2022 telecast. The 1981 telecast was a polite event—applause like on a golf course.

SPORTSWISE

Russ: Except when Tiger’s out there.

John: True. And in 2022, the telecast featured fans as loud as those at a rock concert. But the 1981 telecast I enjoyed more. The reason?

Nelson Burton, Jr., was a better analyst than Randy Pedersen, plus Burton, Jr., had a segment where he would teach you how to be a better bowler since he, himself, was one. Now, mind you, the 2022 telecast had more stateof-the-art videos, so…

Donald: Well, my bowling discussion is going to center on my own bowling. While I

need to find someone else to keep score and I throw quite a few gutterballs per game, my scoring is only in the hundreds on a scale of 300, so I'm not a very good bowler. What I’ve found is, bowling takes a ton of a lotta stuff I just don’t have anymore. Concentration. I mean, I have a lil’bit, but not nearly enough. It also takes a ton more balance, of which I have none at the moment. My three strokes took a chunk out of me, but one thing I know I’ll always feel that bowling was—and still is—fun.

was rolled toward the pins, it would hit the balls in the perfect spot. Every. Single. Time.

Patrick: I can vaguely remember watching bowling growing up. If memory serves correctly, it always felt like it was on channel 7, on ABC. Every rolldown looked to be the same—from both players. For a long while, I couldn’t understand how the ball would always break at the same time and, then, it seemed every time the ball

Russ: Y’all know, I expected to come out and talk about all of the history points I researched—but, instead, I’ll hit a couple of the ones that most moved me. One, the Professional Bowlers Association, the PBA, was founded in 1958 and started its first season in 1959. Just recently, I watched the Kia PBA Finals—pretty good action. Shoot, those

Russ: Can you play?

Patrick: I can a little bit. None of that amazing curveball stuff.

John: Of course not. Actually, I never bowled much.

My sister, on the other hand, did and does. And while I’ve had a decent game or two in my time, she’s had a lifetime of goodness. Love watching her play.

bowlers got down. It was fun and very exciting to watch! I Rashanah Baldwin swear I’d never seen so many strikes in my life—and I played baseball!

Donald: You still watch it?

Russ: Well, I haven’t recently.

But bowling’s definitely coming back. Shoot, I wouldn’t mind the four of us getting out and doing our thing.

Patrick: What’s your best memory of bowling?

Russ: When I was younger, I worked downtown, so, mostly every day—at Marina City—I’d get in a few games.

My dad used to love to bowl; before long, friends joined us.

Awesome times.

John: Get my sister out there with your dad—that would be something to see.

Any comments or suggestions?

Email pedwards@streetwise.org

The History Behind Chicago's Ukrainian Village

by Suzanne Hanney

Andrew Oleksiuk began his understanding of what it means to be Ukrainian at 7 years old, when his father showed him a Ukrainian postage stamp canceled with the CCCP of the Soviet Union.

“Is this really a Ukrainian stamp?” Oleksiuk asked. His parents had come to the United States as immigrants after World War II and eventually settled in Highland Park.

Oleksiuk gave a personalized, beyond-the-headlines, historic view of Ukraine. Representatives of UIMA and the Ukrainian National Museum provided more grassroots background on Ukrainian history and the Ukrainian Village when StreetWise vendors toured there.

In full disclosure, my maternal grandmother was a second wave (World War I-era) immigrant from Ukraine. She died more than 20 years before I was born, so I learned about

Ukraine has always been multicultural and multiethnic, with the three major monotheistic religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism—and ties to regional and world history narratives, Oleksiuk said. Many people think France is the largest nation solely in Europe, but Ukraine is, with a population of 42 million people.

The earliest settlements in what is now Ukraine, Moldova and Romania were just north of the Black Sea. According to bbc.com, the Trypillians of 7,000 years ago comprised more than one million people in an urbanized culture that created large buildings and worshipped goddesses. Oleksiuk diverged from history at this point to discuss Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan the Barbarian, “a kind of proto Ukrainian,” based on the Cimmerians of classical antiquity, who were related to the Scythian people, Iranian-Eurasian nomads who lived north of the Black Sea and east toward the Caspian Sea. Greeks also established settlements on the Black Sea between the 6th and 3rd centuries BCE. Present-day Ukraine was on ancient trade routes, both north-south and eastwest. The Vikings used the Dnieper River to go from the Baltic to the Black Sea and across it to Constantinople.

COVER STORY

“’Sort of, but not really,’ was their response,” said Oleksiuk, who is media technology specialist for exhibitions and events at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, during a presentation on “Postmarked in Ukraine: 1000 Years of History” for the Museum (ilholocaustmuseum.org). Oleksiuk’s illustrated history via Ukrainian postage stamps mirrored his earlier talks for the Chicago Philatelic Society and for the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art (UIMA) on the 30th anniversary of Ukrainian independence last August.

the culture from high school friends. The Chicago of my childhood was heavily Ukrainian, Polish and Lithuanian -known locally as “captive nations” under the Soviet Union.

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FROM LEFT: Stamps from the talk "Lunch & Learn: Postmarked in Ukraine: 1000 Years of Ukrainian History" presented by Andrew Oleksiuk (Illinois Holocaust Museum photo).

Inside the Ukrainian National Museum, a sign explains Kyivan Rus (Suzanne Hanney photo).

Traditional garb on display at the Ukrainian History Museum (Suzanne Hanney photo).

A map of post-war refugee camps at the Ukrainian National Museum (Suzanne Hanney photo).

St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in Ukrainian Village at 835 N. Oakley Blvd.

(Discover With Dima photo).

PAGE 7: Sts. Volodymyr and Olha church mosaic depicts him decreeing Ukrainian people baptized Christian at the Sts. Volodymyr & Olha Ukrainian Catholic Parish, 739 N. Oakley Blvd. in Ukrainian Village. Olha was Volodymyr's late grandmother, who had become a Christian and who had sought Christian missionaries from the German emperor (Suzanne Hanney photo).

Kiev was a Slavic settlement when Viking ruler Oleg seized it in 882, and because of its strategic location on the Dnieper River, named it the capital of Kievan Rus. Every winter, Kievan princes visited tribes to collect tribute – furs and slaves – which they transported downriver come spring. This Rurik Dynasty became thoroughly Slavic and reached its height under Vladimir I (Volodymyr) in 980, according to brittanica. com. It was Volodymyr who had his people baptized Christian in 988, bringing them out of the pagan world. Over the next 400 years, Kievan Rus princesses left to become queens of France, Hungary, Norway and Denmark.

Saints Cyril and Methodius, meanwhile, had come to the area south of Ukraine near what is now Bulgaria in 850 and created an alphabet based primarily on Greek. Variations of the Cyrillic alphabet came to be used for more than 50 languages: Ukrainian and Russian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, and more.

Oleksiuk, meanwhile, describes Ukrainian syntax – sentence structure – as different from Russian.

In the 13th century, Mongols came out of the east. Led by the grandson of Genghis Khan, they sacked Kiev in 1240 and ended its power. A successor state was the Crimean Khanate, which accepted the emperor of the Ottoman Empire in 1475 and made Islam the state religion. The khanate lasted until 1783, when Catherine the Great of Russia annexed it.

Other parts of the Kievan state were absorbed by the PolishLithuanian Empire.

But under their rule, conditions for peasants deteriorated.

More people became enslaved as serfs. Others fled to the “wild fields” of the southern steppes, where men had customarily gone hunting, fishing and honey-gathering. They became known as “Cossacks” after the Turkic term “kazak” for “free man.” Cossacks wrote a constitution and elected a “hetman” in a general assembly. The Cossack Hetmanate lasted until 1764.

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Polish rule over Ukraine came to an end with three partitions: the first by Austria in 1772 and two more by Russia in 1793 and 1795. Catherine the Great, meanwhile, had issued the Pale of Settlement in 1791, which determined that Jews could live in roughly half of Ukraine.

Fast forward to World War I. Ukrainians gained independence for two years before they were absorbed into the Soviet Union in 1921.

Both Oleksiuk and Jerry Nestor, a volunteer at the Ukrainian National Museum, described Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s early 1930s use of terror to force Ukrainians to collectivize their farms and to crush Ukrainian nationalism. Under the "Holodomor,” (which means “death by hunger”), Soviet officials took all the food – down to the last seed for planting – and dispersed it to cities. As many as seven million people starved to death in this manmade famine.

An entire room at the Ukrainian National Museum explores the famine that never made headlines abroad. Nestor blames New York Times reporter Walter Duranty for deliberately lying about the famine and says the Soviets bribed him with women. Others say that Duranty enjoyed the celebrity status among Paris and New York cultural elites that came with his coziness with the Soviet regime. Malcolm Muggeridge, on the other hand, a reporter for the Manchester Guardian, went to Ukraine to see for himself: hungry people contained in their villages by secret police. Because he was contesting Duranty’s conventional wisdom, however, he was discounted.

World War II started in September 1939 with a Soviet-Nazi nonaggression pact, which the Nazis reneged on in June 1941.

As Adolf Hitler was closing in on Kyiv from the west, “war” became one of the first words in Gdalina “Lin” Novitsky’s vocabulary. Novitsky was 3 years old and her parents were listening to the radio, wondering what to do, she said, in a telephone interview via the Illinois Holocaust Museum.

Novitsky and her mother boarded a boxcar, with no water and no food, on a train headed east toward Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, her disabled grandparents stayed behind. Her grandfather died of illness, but her grandmother was dragged out of her apartment by Nazis, beaten, and buried at Babi Yar, with thousands of other Jews.

“I know all the cities which right now are on fire” – especially Bucha, Novitsky said during the recent siege of Kiev. After the war, her family returned to Kiev, close to where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers his speeches.

Watching the war coverage on television causes her post traumatic stress.

“I call [Russian President Vladimir] Putin Hitler No. 2,” she says. “If I were only 50 years old, I would go help.” Because Soviet prejudice against Jews limited her education and career opportunities, she and her husband came to the United States in 1979.

Nestor, the Ukrainian National Museum volunteer, was born in 1952, a year after his parents came in the third wave of Ukrainian emigration after World War II. They had been among the seven million Eastern Europeans in refugee camps in Germany run by British, French and Americans.

After years of waiting, Nestor’s family was accepted into the United States. He told StreetWise vendor Lee A. Holmes how hurt and angered he had been when another Ukrainian American youth called him a “displaced person, a DP.” It was like using the n-word, he said, for someone fresh off the boat – or up from the South.

Nestor is a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, a veteran of Iraq and Desert Storm. “In my opinion, Putin is doing this war out of ego. He wants to rebuild a Russian empire that doesn’t exist anymore. There are 145 million people in the Russian republics; 1/3 are not Slavic. If he can take over Ukraine, he would increase the number of Slavs.”

“Every Ukrainian you talk to has a very personal story of how they came here. Many were displaced persons,” says Christina Wyshnytzky, the granddaughter of post-World War II immigrants. She is assistant curator of UIMA, founded 51 years ago. Its collection is 75 percent Ukrainian diaspora and 25 percent local artists, some of whom have donated their work.

UIMA’s eastern gallery is its permanent collection – at the moment devoted to protest art, to which visitors can add their sentiments. Its western gallery hosts six to eight shows annually. From June 18-September 25, it will host a survey exhibition on the career of Michel Andreenko, a Paris-based Ukrainian refugee modernist: non-representational work of the 1920s, surrealistic naturalism, his “Vanishing Paris” series of the 1940s-50s, and a return to non-representation.

A recent graduate of DePaul University, Wyshnytzky said in her youth she knew all the neighborhood grandmas. Between stores, churches and schools, literally, “it felt like a village in Ukraine. It was self-sustaining and allowed us to express ourselves.” Emigres could preserve their culture in a way that was no longer possible in the old country.

Gentrification has changed that a bit, and so has the relatively cheap cost of a suburban home compared to rent. Still, plenty of homes have been passed down and held by families. Wyshnytzky lives close by, and so do all her best friends.

Stores and museums are sufficient to bring people back to the neighborhood, she said. Between church on Sunday and Ukrainian dance ensembles on Saturday, the whole weekend can be devoted to the community.

Terrible as the war is, it has brought people together, Wyshnytzky said. St. Nicholas Cathedral School has 50 refugee children. People are finding them homes and clothing, gathering on Facebook to fill countless other needs.

www.streetwise.org

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Old Lviv Restaurant

by A. Allen

Old Lviv is a cozy restaurant that serves homestyle Ukrainian cooking, whether you order á la carte or from the buffet.

I looked at the buffet and it all looked strange to me. I said to myself, “this is definitely foreign food, because it doesn’t look recognizable to me.” But thanks to Ms. Hanney’s recommendation, we ordered the beet soup and some varenyky, dough pockets filled separately with chicken and with cabbage. Other choices were pelmeny (meat dumplings, $9) and chanakhy (meat and potato stew, $7.50).

The mixed plate of 12 varenyky ($9) were browned in butter and came with sides of grilled onions and a soft sour cream that was more like crème fraîche. I put hot sauce on the varenyky and salt and pepper and they turned out to be good, like ravioli without the red sauce.

I don’t like beets, but I still tried the soup ($5). The combination of spicy, hot and sweet was a surprise. It was good and awakened my tastebuds. Ms. Hanney said that it came the way her maternal aunt made it: dark magenta with a dollop of sour cream in the middle that you stir around until it turns bright pink. Beets made up the soup stock, but potatoes and red cabbage were a welcome addition. I ate most of it and then wished I had finished it, because I could still taste it.

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I looked around and another couple came in who seemed to speak Ukrainian. They were at home in the restaurant, as were a mother and daughter carrying flowers, which had been distributed that day at a nearby Ukrainian school.

Comprised of just five tables and a bar that seats nine, the restaurant is snug, with paneled walls, rustic wooden tables and chairs, and woven table runners.

The bill for three of us (one mixed plate of 12 varenyky, three soups, two sodas and a tea) was $30. The restaurant also serves a hot buffet ($17, or $19 on weekends) that changes daily. When we were there, it consisted of pork goulash, baked fish, cabbage rolls, liver and onions, mashed potatoes, mushroom gravy, sauerkraut, beets, carrots, cucumber salad, oranges, blintzes, and more.

It was a pleasant experience and the environment and service from the two workers was good.

Old Lviv is located at 2228 W. Chicago Ave., open Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m., closed Mondays; 773.772.7250 — Suzanne Hanney contributing

FROM LEFT: Old Lviv Restaurant; buffet; interior; Borscht (beet soup); Varenyky (Suzanne Hanney photos).

Pysanky: A Symbol of Pride Story & photos by Cora Saddler

These are not your average Easter eggs. The assortment of dazzling eggs at the Ukrainian National Museum of Chicago have a glossy, waxy exterior and are painted in an array of vibrant, contrasting colors that could warm the soul in even the coldest climate. They’re intricately designed, with miniscule lines and curves that seem to dance off the shell and brighten your spirit. Whether from chicken, ostrich, or quail, these Ukrainian eggs—known as pysanky (which comes from the word pysaty “to write”)—are a symbol of pride, perseverance, and peace that demonstrate the traditions of this enduring art form.

According to the museum, the oldest surviving pysanka, a simple egg made from brown clay with yellow decorations, was found in the church ruins of Tsarynch, in western Ukraine, dating from the 12th to 13th century. Their rich history, however, pre-dates Christian times by thousands of years and stems from the ancient practice of sun worship.

This originally pagan tradition has mystical roots: the revered pysanka was said to hold great power as a source of life, the sun, and the universe, all within its delicate, fragile shell.

Adding colors and symbolic designs, the pysanka became a talisman against evil and a protector of the human race. An ancient text transcribed by Martaa Zielyk on Hutsul folklore (an ethnic group in parts of Ukraine and Romania) attests to the pysanka’s powerful influence: “when people stop making pysanky, [an ancient monster] will be set free, and evil will rule the world.”

With the acceptance of Christianity in Kyiv in 988 AD, the pagan rituals were combined with symbols of Christ’s resurrection into the tradition of Ukrainian Easter eggs. Later, under communism, the art form pysankarstvo was forbidden and pysanky-related artifacts were removed or destroyed.

As symbols of religious faith, the pysanka became an act of rebellion as Ukrainians continued creating pysanky in secret while under Stalin’s rule. Passed down from mother to daughter, the tradition of pysankarstvo survived through the perseverance of Ukrainian women.

It “confirms the ancient belief that the Ukrainian nation will grow and prosper so long as Ukrainian women continue to decorate pysanky,” according to the Ukrainian National Museum.

The art of creating pysanky is time-intensive, and the Ukrainian Museum offers pysanka classes to preserve this beautiful tradition. The most popular method is a wax-resist process in which symbols and elaborate motifs are written on an emptied egg with melted beeswax via a stylus or copper funnel called a kistka. The eggs are dyed in layers of colors, with more wax designs in between, and progressively darker dyes. The last color is always the backdrop of the egg.

The final step is to warm the waxed eggs over a candle and then polish with a cloth to reveal all the brilliant colors hiding beneath. Varnish or other protective coats preserve the egg and add a glossy luster.

Traditionally, only natural dyes in red, yellow, and black were used, but more colors and chemical dyes were introduced into the process. Ancient pysanky were typically two-toned, but pre-Christians believed colors gave the eggs greater talismanic power. Pre-Christian era pysanky ascribed the color yellow with the moon, stars and harvest; red with the sun, happiness and hope; and green with spring, youth and fertility.

Christian-era pysanky used yellow to symbolize reward and recognition; red for divine love and passion of Christ; and green for victory of life over death. Symbolically, solar motifs were meant to protect the owner from sickness, bad luck, and the evil eye. Geometric motifs like the ladder, basket, and sieve represent man’s search for happiness, motherhood and knowledge, and the separation of good and evil, respectively.

Some pre-Christian motifs were adapted to Christian motifs to celebrate Easter: dots represent the tears of the Virgin Mary and triangles the Trinity. Pysanka of all shapes, color, sizes, and motifs are on display in the Ukrainian museum and eggs from Ukraine are on sale, too. www.streetwise.org

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Tryzub Restaurant

by A. Allen

Tryzub was amazing, from the time I entered and the dazzling red lighting and Ukrainian artifacts caught my attention.

Ferris wheels loaded with infused vodkas, or the larger Ferris wheels for mixed drinks.

“Tryzub” in Ukrainian means trident, the three-pronged spear that is a symbol of Ukraine. The restaurant itself is like a crash course in Ukrainian history and politics by someone who passionately wants you to understand his country. But it is carried out in a fun and natural way.

Because I wanted to watch the college basketball championship game, I took my Chicken Paprikash ($17.08) to go.

When I got home, it was still warm and truly good. It had big chunks of chicken, which made it tasty and filling, like a soup, mildly spicy with sour cream. Suzanne’s party stayed and had the Beef Goulash ($18.61), with thick chunks of meat and crunchy carrots in a rich broth; the crispy Pork Schnitzel ($17.08); and the Cabbage Rolls Stuffed with Wild Rice and Ground Pork ($16.48). Kvass, made from rye bread, was a non-alcoholic alternative to beer that tastes like the real thing. Slightly sour at first sip, it goes down sweet.

Meal prices reflect important dates in Ukrainian history, and there’s an answer key on the menu.

I didn’t understand a lot of it, but there were some things that were self-explanatory, such as the lounging sofas with embroidered pillows near the bar and restrooms. Located just inside the restaurant, with a huge assortment of alcohol, the bar is like a separate country.

The corridor leading to the restrooms is decorated with Ukrainian-embroidered peasant blouses and shirts hanging from the ceilings. On the walls are political cartoons, about the Budapest Memorandum signed in December 1994, for example. President Clinton is shown with his arm around Russian President Boris Yeltsin with the caption, “And then we told Ukraine, ‘You won’t need these nukes. Russia and the U.S. will guarantee your safety.’”

Another cartoon shows Russian President Vladimir Putin with a rifle in each hand between maps of Georgia and Ukraine. Underneath are the maps of Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland. “Who’s next?” it asks.

A photo of what happens “when a Slav drinks with a foreigner” in the men’s room was hilarious. The Slav was standing up alone in a bedroom. Everyone else was laid out on the floor. There was also a pillow headrest over the urinal. I remember when I used to drink, I rested my head against the wall while urinating, so I immediately knew what it was.

The restaurant was crowded: some tourists like us, some Ukrainians. All I know is, once you came through the door, it felt as if you were in another country. Most people seemed to linger over dinner – especially if they ordered one of the

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Dessert alternatives included fluffy Cheese Pancakes with House-made Berry Sauce ($14.90); Citrus Avocado “Not So Cheesecake” with mixed nuts and dates that was glutenfree, dairy free and that tasted like key lime pie ($12.56); and Chocolate Frangelico Mousse Dome with liquid caramel inside and hazelnut toffee crunch ($12.56). Suzanne’s party of three shared one – and ordered a second.

There are large tables for five or more as well as smaller tables for two to four. Bits of Ukrainian trivia are scribbled onto their surface. For example, Lviv is the “soul of Ukraine,” with 1,500 restaurants. And as a nation, Ukraine has been under Austrian and Soviet rule, but independent for the last 30 years.

Going to this restaurant was truly an exciting experience.

I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone seeking something different.

Located at 2201 W. Chicago Ave., Tryzub is open 5-9 p.m.

Tues-Thurs, 5-10 p.m. Fri, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sun; 773.698.8624; tryzubchicago.com.

–Suzanne Hanney contributing

FROM LEFT: Tryzub Restaurant; Chicken Paprikash; Chocolate Frangelico Mousse Dome; Interior (Suzanne Hanney photos).

Vendor A. Allen Other Points of Interest in the on the Ukraine Ukrainian Village Touring the Ukrainian National Museum with our guide, Jerry Nestor, a retired U.S. Army veteran born in New York, was very interesting. As a Black man, I immediately could relate to Ukraine’s struggle to be free.

Blacks have had their struggles in this country, and many lives have been unnecessarily “taken” for the sake of freedom. As we continued the tour, we began to look at how Ukraine is now free and independent and how Russia under President Vladimir Putin decided to invade Ukraine on February 24. It was a major escalation of the Russo-Ukraine War that began in 2014, following the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity.

The war has got to be hard for Ukrainians, because they have tasted the freedom of democracy and now Russia wants to take it back. Reverting back to communism would be really hard, in my opinion, because once you have tasted freedom, there is no turning back.

I can relate not only from the Black perspective.

I think also of the 13 colonies in the early United States and their quest to be free from Great Britain. Freedom and independence are rights that are hard to reverse because once tasted, they become sweet to the mouth and a blessing to the soul.

Some things are impossible to change or to return to a previous condition.

I also studied the works of Tim Lambert, a six-time recipient of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) National Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence. In the 19th century, Ukraine was under Russian control. In 1918, while Russia was engaged in civil war, Ukraine was free, but in 1921, the Russians forced Ukraine to become part of the Soviet Union. In the late 1980s, Ukrainians became increasingly dissatisfied with rule from Moscow. In 1989, the RUKH Ukrainian Peoples’ Movement for Restructuring was formed. Demonstrations began the next year and the break-up of the Soviet Union followed in 1991. Ukraine once more became independent. https://localhistories.org/a-brief-historyof-ukraine/ Now, I think Ukraine is at the point like in the old Tareyton cigarette commercials from 1963 to 1981: they’d rather fight than switch.

Ukrainian Village is compact, with the main commercial strip on Chicago Avenue between Leavitt (2200 W) and Oakley (2300 W). In addition to Old Lviv and Tryzub Restaurants in this block (see stories, page 10 & 12) you can find: Ann’s Bakery & Deli, 2158 W. Chicago Ave. More of a minimart, it offers traditional baked goods like braided breads and deli items, beverages, jars of prepared foods and ice cream specialties. 773.384.5562 Delta M, 2242 W. Chicago Ave., whose website calls it the largest and oldest Ukrainian gift shop in the U.S. Established in 1960, it’s on its third generation of owners, and offers Easter eggs, embroidered clothing, jewelry, dishware, religious icons and more. Hours: Tues-Fri 11-8, Sat 10-5, Sun 9:30-3:30, Mon closed. delta-ukrainian.com 773.235.7788.

One block south is Sts. Volodymyr and Olha Ukrainian Catholic Church, 739 N. Oakley Blvd., www.stsvo.org/, built in 1973-75 and modeled after Hagia Sofia in Constantinople.

One block north is St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral, 835 N. Oakley Blvd., modeled after the 11th century St. Sofia Cathedral in Kyiv and built in 1913-15 www.stnicholaschicago.com/ Shokolad Pastry & Café, 2524 W. Chicago Ave., www.shokoladpastryandcafe.com 773.276.6402. Here you’ll find varied varenyky (Ukrainian pierogi) from potato and cheese to mushroom potato and tarragon; as well as panini, omelettes, salads and crepes. Dessert offerings range from Pecan Balls to Dark Chocolate Dipped Macaroons ($1 ea), to Raspberry Cups in Pure Chocolate ($2.75) to slices of cake starting at $6.50: Drunken Cherry, Opera Cake (almond cake with espresso ganache and coffee buttercream) Midnight Cake (espresso cake with chocolate mousse and passion fruit macadamia nut filling). Hours: Tues-Fri 10-5, Sat 9-5, Sun 10-4.

Lawn Restaurant, 1141 N. Ashland. Ukrainian-owned burger place designed to be neighborhood-accessible and affordable. The 6-oz. burgers are $9.99, up to $12.99 Portobello Burger with goat cheese, arugula, honey, tomato and house-made sesame teriyaki sauce. Other house-made sauces include sweet and spicy chili garlic; and Tarasa-mayo, mustard, grain mustard, pickles. BYOB. Outdoor seating.

773.904.8608. lawnrestaurant.com. Hours: Sun-Thurs 11-9; Fri & Sat, 11-10.

Ukrainian National Museum, 2249 W. Superior St., ukrainiannationalmuseum.org, 312.421.8020. Hours: Thurs-Sun, 11-4. Admission $10 adults/$5 seniors and students, under 12 free.

Ukrainian Museum of Modern Art, 2320 W. Chicago Ave., uima-chicago.org, 773.227.5522. Hours: Wed-Sun, Noon-4.

Admission $5.

www.streetwise.org

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StreetWise is for lovers Photographs by Kathleen Hinkel

INSIDE STREETWISE

On Tuesday, May 3, StreetWise Vendors Lee A. Holmes and Paula Green tied the knot... right in the StreetWise offices! They were married by a Cook County Circuit Court Judge via Zoom, and it was witnessed by their fellow vendors, staff and members of the YWCA Metropolitan Chicago Board of Directors. Paula and Lee met at StreetWise, and they knew it would be the perfect place to celebrate their love.

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1 to 9.

Streetwise 4/25/22 Crossword

Sudoku

To solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 1 to 9. ©2022 PuzzleJunction.com

44 Adversary 9 Dog treats 45 Twitch 10 “C’___ la 47 Happens vie!”

48 Church bench 11 DiCaprio, to 49 Cries of fans sorrow 12 Deface 50 Three (It.) 20 Horned 51 Thumbs-up goddess 53 Grade 22 Modify 55 Casbah 23 Owns headgear 24 Tolkien beast 25 Stadium cheer 58 Applications, e.g. wn 26 “___, 60 Beaut 1 Lulu humbug!”

62 Poker holding 2 Mode starter 28 Greek letter 63 Go yachting 3 Bureaucratic 29 Tank 64 Blueprint stuff 30 Needle part 65 Author Levin 32 Toil 4 Time period 66 After expenses 5 Blue-pencil 33 On-looker 67 Romaine 36 Harbor craft 6 Affirmative lettuce action 38 Biddy 69 Be in arrears 7 Martial artCopyright 42 ©2013 Implied PuzzleJunction.com 43 Conclude 8 Way, way off 70 Bird of myth

7 8 1 2 3 4 5 6

Ariz. neighbor ___’easter Action word Linear unit Lubricate Low card Bit of butter 12th graders (Abbr.)

7 Canny 8 Dry, as wine

Copyright ©2022 PuzzleJunction.com

©PuzzleJunction.com

lastSudoku week's Puzzle Answers Solution

Solution

Sudoku Solution

Find your nearest StreetWise Vendor at www.streetwise.org

PuzzleJunct

Crossword Across 1 Occupations 5 Mongrel 9 Bird’s beak 12 All square 13 Run ___ of the law 15 Actress Sorvino 16 Baltic port 17 Like Vikings 18 Doing business 19 Chess piece 21 Toast 23 Craving 24 Historic time 26 Supersized 30 Strikes 32 Risks 33 And others (Abbr.)

35 Engage 37 Sister 38 Paul Hogan played him 42 Bud’s bud 43 Fragrance 44 Famed loch 45 Aimless 48 Jacket material 50 Pasta topper 51 Opposite SSW 52 Hiatus 55 Loathe 59 Farm 61 Watch face 64 Fine fiddle 66 Dinghy or dory 67 Small whirlpool

68 Georgia city 69 Madame Bovary 70 Silent assent 71 Russo of Outbreak 72 Blue-green water fowl Down 1 Dried beef strips 2 Sheeplike 3 Start 4 Glitch 5 Slogan 6 ET carrier 7 Rocky peaks 8 Ivory source 9 Bite 10 Anger 11 Prohibit

©2022 PuzzleJunction.com

14 Sign before Virgo 15 Back tooth 20 Salutation 22 Barley brew 25 Garden pest 27 Peels 28 Pastes 29 Feudal worker 30 Anatomical pouch 31 Farm buildings 32 Foot (Prefix) 33 Eat away 34 Some vacation trips 36 Summer TV offering 38 Applaud 39 Flyspeck

40 Below 41 Maiden name 46 Vesuvius locale 47 Watch chain 49 Propulsion item 52 Fairy tale figure 53 Small lizard 54 Corolla part 56 Prosciutto 57 Poet Khayyám 58 Marathon, for one 60 Support 61 Retreat 62 Altar vow 63 Append 65 Freight weight

How StreetWise Works

All vendors go through an orientation focusing on their rights and responsibilities as a StreetWise Magazine Vendor. Authorized vendors have badges with their name, picture and current year.

Buy the Magazine, Take the Magazine Vendors purchase When you buy the magazine, take the the magazine for $.90 and sell it for magazine, and $2.00 plus tips. The read the vendor keeps all of magazine, you are supporting our their earnings. microentrepreneu rs earning an income with dignity.

New vendor orientation is every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at 2009 S. State St. Find your nearest vendor at www.streetwise.org

THE PLAYGROUND

StreetWise exists to elevate marginalized voices and provide opportunities for individuals to earn an income and gain employment. Anyone who wants to work has the opportunity to move themselves out of crisis.

StreetWise provides “a hand up, not a handout.”

Soluti

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36

th

ANNUAL INTERFAITH MEMORIAL OBSERVANCE

FOR INDIGENT PERSONS

Held to commemorate the lives of our neighbors who were buried by the Office of the Cook County Medical Examiner

PLEASE COME AND JOIN A CELEBRATION OF LIFE! “To live and die alone is a human tragedy, but not to be remembered and mourned after earthly life is an ugly blemish on human dignity.”

Keynote Speaker DR. KATHLEEN ST. LOUIS CALIENTO President & CEO, Cara Collective

Wednesday

W. Earl Lewis (1949-1999) Founder, The Interfaith Memorial Service for Indigent Persons

May 25, 2022 12:00 Noon - 1:00 PM

Chicago Temple

First United Methodist Church 77 West Washington — Chicago