UCWLC - St Demetrius

06/18/2026

June 14, 2026: Thanks to the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, Toronto Branch, for honouring the 100th Anniversary of Iryna Senyk’s birth by staging „Metelyky Spohadiv” (Butterfly Memories) at the Huculak Centre. Our 1992 project „White Aster of Love” with embroidered dresses based on Iryna Senyk’s fashion sketches and her poems was included in the presentation of Iryna’s life story. Actress Larysa Bajus played Iryna Senyk in key moments of her life. The culmination was Iryna portrayed in a blue dress holding a spray of white asters just like the dissident poet wore at our Premiere of the “White Aster of Love” book in 1992. The entire presentation written by Natalka Popovych, presented in a multimedia format with visuals, slides, narrators, singers, dancers was very powerful. One really understood Iryna’s tortures and resilience through 34 years of prison and exile afterwards.

LUCW, Toronto branch, also just donated a bench in Iryna Senyk’s honour in Lviv, as shown. Brilliant gift!

10 “White Aster of Love” books were sold. We still have a few books available! Joyce Lesyk brought her Iryna Senyk original with shoes to match. Bozhena Iwanusiw wore her rose-coloured dress. Maria Rypan’s mother embroidered an Iryna Senyk oak leaf design on the blouse she's wearing.
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Ліга Украінок Канади, відділ Tоронто, вшанували 100-ліття Ірини Сеник від дня народження величавою презетацією MЕТЕЛИКИ СПОГАДІВ. Вдячна ім, що «БІЛА АЙСТРА ЛЮБОВИ» була включена в презентаціі бо «це вже історія».

Photo credits: Maria Rypan

06/15/2026

06/08/2026

May 31, 2026. Lviv. Ivan Franko Park near the University.
Opening of a memorial bench of blessed memory of Iryna Senyk, on the occasion of her 100th anniversary.

Monuments and memorial plaques are erected to prominent people, and the League of Ukrainian Women of Canada, Toronto branch, put up a bench in the park, and, as Lviv residents noted, it was the first time, the first time a named bench was opened.
Iryna Senyk - Madonna of the Ukrainian Resistance - member of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, plastunka, member of the Union of Ukrainian Women and the All-Ukrainian League of Ukrainian Women, Hero of the World, poet, embroiderer, honorary resident of Boryslav and Lviv.
Iryna Senyk was in captivity for 34 years for wanting to see Ukraine free, to write poems and embroider freely...

The opening of the bench was extremely family-like and emotional. Iryna Senyk wrote “I unfold life like a scroll of canvas…”. So did we, unfolding the program like patterns or lace: Iryna Senyk’s biography, memories, poems and songs.

The Iryna Senyk Memorial Bench is not just a place to rest. It is a place to meet history. There is a QR code on the bench, by scanning which, every passerby will be able to take a moment to look into Iryna’s fate and learn about a woman who could not be broken by any regimes or decades of camps. The world of a poetess who carried the bright colors of the Ukrainian soul through the grayness of the Gulag will open to you.

Sincere gratitude to everyone who joined, who knew Iryna Senyk and shared poignant stories, who read her poems and memories, who sang songs.
We thank the City Council, Lubov Fito, Halyna Mykitchak, Roman Lobay, and the Kalyna Volunteer Center for organizational assistance,

06/04/2026

It is important to come and honor Iryna Senyk for all that she has done for Ukraine through her tireless work.
The St. Demetrius ​​branch of the Ukrainian Catholic Womens League of Canada had the pleasure of working with Ms. Iryna Senyk to translate her sketches into embroidered dresses. Her poems have been translated into English and published together in the book "White Aster of Love". Everything was presented at a grand premiere in September 1992 with the participation of Ms. Iryna who flew in from Ukraine for the gala event. There will be "White Aster" books for sale at the event on August 14th.

Важливо прийти вшанувати Ірину Сеник за все що вона зробила для України через іі невтомну працю.
Свято-димитріівський відділ ЛУКЖК мав приємність працювати з п. Іриною Сеник, щоб втілити іі екзкізи в вишивані сукні. Іі вірші переложені в ангійську мову і друковані разом в книжці «Біла айстра любови». Все було презентовано на величавій премʼєрі у вересні 1992 з участю пані Ірини яка прилетіла з Украіни на торчественну подію. Будуть книжки «Біла Айстра” на продаж на подіі 14-го серпня.

05/25/2026

Happy Birthday to our wonderful and beyond dedicated Costume Mistress, Pani Lida!! ❤️✨

Yavir would not be what it is without you. Thank you for always making every dancer look their absolute best, and THANK YOU for spending part of your birthday at Yavir working on costumes. Your love and dedication mean the world to us.

Многая літа!! 🎉