On March 15, 2018, the 15th General Assembly of the Lemko Research Foundation (LRF) was held in the Ukrainian Center in Passaic. The President of LRF, Andriy Khomyk, opened the meeting, congratulating all the members and guests. The Chairman of the Mandate Committee, Vasyl Harhaj, confirmed the quorum according to the number of members present. Selected to preside over the meeting were Mark Howansky as president, Stefan Kosciolek as deputy and Halyna Semenyak as secretary.

After reading the minutes from the past General Assembly, reports from the outgoing Board of the LRF were heard, namely from the Deputy Chairman, secretary, financial adviser, and Control Committee. Speakers talked about their work over the last 2 years in their reports.

The final report was given by Andriy Khomyk, who emphasized the new forms of LRF’s activities, in particular: the sale of electronic excerpts from the books “Martyrology” (Book of Memory of Lemkivshchyna) by Yaroslava Halyk and “Lemko Dictionary” by Chelak and Krasovsky; the successful sale of books at festivals and on the Internet; and the collection of “Electronic Archives” of materials about Lemkivshchyna. He also mentioned the publication of the English-language book “War Comes to Karlykiv” by Stepan Rapawy, the winner of the first LRF book publishing competition.

He said the balance of the LRF bank account, despite sponsorship costs, has not diminished, but on the contrary, is growing, which it was not too long ago. The LRF webpage has also expanded on the Organization for the Defense of Lemkivshchyna (OOL) website, where, he noted, it is finally possible to find a Ukrainian translation of the LRF Statute.

The President of LRF also expressed his gratitude to all the LRF members, especially to the Board, for their aid and cooperation, without which nothing could have been achieved, and he outlined desired directions and goals of work for the future government.

Then, “Уділення абсолюторіїˮ was approved unanimously, which, in modern language, means that the work of the outgoing executive was recognized.

It was also important that the Chairman of the Statutory Committee, Mark Hovansky, introduced amendments to the LRF Statute. Created more than 40 years ago, the Statute does not entirely take into account the realities of today, with the electronic capabilities of communication and the dissemination of information on the Internet. The Statutory Committee, after the approval of the amendments, also received a professional assessment from Mr. Askold Lozinsky. The meeting discussed in detail all the items where changes were proposed and adopted unanimously.

Finally, a new Board and Board of Directors of the LRF were elected, which included:

President: Andriy Khomyk

Vice President: Diana Howansky Reilly

Secretary: Halyna Semenyak

Treasurer: Vasyl Harhaj

Board of Directors: Anna Harhaj, Mark Howansky, Ivan Gres, Petro Gres, Petro Kosciolek, Bohdan Kykta, Theodore Pyz, Mykhailo Chomyk.

Education Council: Diana Howansky Reilly, Mykola Duplak

Control Committee: Stefan Kosciolek, Petro Rusinko, Stefan Pzybylo

Burlaw Court: Chairman – Stefan Kapitula, Anna Harhaj, Lena Howansky

The head of the meeting, Mark Howansky, congratulated the newly elected government and wished them success for the future. And the newly elected head, Andriy Khomyk, thanked everyone for their trust and encouraged everyone to cooperate.

At the end of the meeting, everyone present sang the hymns of Ukraine and Lemkivshchyna.