On the chilly winter morning of December 26, 2003, 10 counselors and 45 campers met at Palatine CYM, packed their supplies into several vehicles and began the 3 hour journey to Baraboo, Wisconsin for this year's Chicago-area CYM Winter Outing. This year's participants included members from the Chicago, Palatine, and Detroit branches of CYM. We safely arrived at the Baraboo oselia and prepared for 5 days of fun and friendship. After getting settled in to our accommodations, we enjoyed a campfire, which included practicing Christmas carols. Since it was very cold outside, we decided to retreat to the warm living room of the "brown house" to enjoy the rest of our evening.

The next day's main activity was skiing! We left shortly after breakfast and spent most of the day on the slopes. Everyone had a chance to take a free lesson and then headed out to the slopes for a day of skiing and snowboarding. Although there were so many of us, we were fortunate not to have a single injury. Everyone was tired from skiing all day, so in the evening we ate a huge dinner and participated in discussion groups - "hutirky". There were three different themes which the campers were allowed to choose to attend. Druh Zirko talked about the science of snow and skiing, Druh Victor presented winter survival tips, and Druhs Andrij and Yurij led a discussion about how our greeting "Hartujs'" applies to our everyday lives.

On Sunday, December 28th, a local church invited us to attend their service. The afternoon was filled with activities such as, snow football, tobogganing, group pictures, snowball fights, and general fun. After dinner, everyone gathered to discuss "Why do we go Christmas Caroling?" The counselors were pleasantly surprised, as "yunatstvo" gave many reasons why caroling is important. We didn't need to lecture, they already knew! After a short caroling practice we visited local Ukrainian homes in the Baraboo/Wisconsin Dells area and spread holiday cheer. Our final stop was the Mayflower Motel, owned by a local Ukrainian-American family and after we finished caroling, they invited us to use their pool, sauna, and game room. Of course, we accepted the offer!

December 29th was the last full day of camp, and we started off the day with ice skating at the local ice rink. We then returned to the oselia for another round "hutirky". Druh Adio discussed the importance of examining the world around you, using an orange to illustrate his point, Druh Marko led a discussion about the recent events involving Walter Duranty and the New York Times, and Druhs Yurij and Andrij analyzed the practical applications of "Chestj Ukrainy! Hotov Boronyty". The participants were encouraged to actively participate in all the discussions. As evening approached, we prepared for the final big event - night skiing! This is something "yunatstvo" looks forward to, because the slopes are less crowded in the evening, and this year the weather was perfect.

The next morning everyone was sad, as we began to pack our bags to return home after 5 days of having fun and being with our CYM "family". I'm sure that everyone is eagerly looking forward to next year's Winter Outing.

This excursion would not be possible without the help of our volunteers, which were: Organizer - Marion Kolody; Komandant - Adrian Blanarovich; and Counselors - Yurij Striltchuk, Deanna Fedaj, Andrij Kosowsky, Natalia Kolody, Slavko Wereminskyj, Marko Czerniuk, Victor Groszko, Zorian Pasika, and Danylo Terleckyj.

written by: Andrij Kosowskyj

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