The first thing we did was to write out and send out the invitations. Then we wrote out and colored a large banner that said "Welcome War Veterans". The next thing to do was to prepare the lunch. We ourselves chopped and cooked borsch, kovbasa and kapusta, rolled the cold cuts and cheese, and cut up various fruit. The mothers provided the baked goods.

The luncheon was held on April 29, 2001 in the hall of St. John's church in Whippany. We came earlier to set up the tables, put out the food buffet style in the back. 32 people attended. First, we welcomed everyone to the luncheon. We then asked Mr. Bilanych to tell us a little bit about all the Upivtsi that were present. Then the Vietnam veterans presented themselves. After a prayer, all were told to help themselves to the food.

During the luncheon, we entertained everyone with a short program. We sang three UPA songs, recited a montaz, and then we played a medley of UPA songs (clarinet, saxophone, keyboard). We then brought out the coffee, tea, and baked goods. All the veterans were very thankful and many told us how grateful they were that the younger generation still remembers the veterans. This was a great learning experience for us also, since we had only learned about UPA and Upivtsi from books and hutirky. The whole luncheon was a great success!

And by the way, our rij won first place for this project in the konkurs rojiv category.