Carpatho-Rusyn Society Membership Drive

As we enter our fifth year, we are pleased to announce that membership in the Society has grown beyond our most optimistic expectations. We would like to thank each and every one of you that has chosen to join C-RS over the past four years and encourage others with Rusyn ancestry World-Wide to please join our ranks.

Current members are encouraged to help spread the word to their friends and neighbors and with your help we will continue to grow!

Some of our accomplishments in the short time we have been in existence are:

• Meetings in both Pittsburgh and Cleveland featuring nationally and internationally noted speakers like Tom Peters, certified genealogist and Dr. Paul Robert Magocsi, world renowned expert on Rusyn cultural life, as well as local speakers on Rusyn topics.
• Humanitarian Aid and Relief for the Carpatho-Rusyn people in Europe. The organization has established a program with Brother's Brother, a non-profit international aid organization based in Pittsburgh, PA, to ship pharmaceuticals to the Transcarpathian region. The Society has paid for the first shipment of medicines and continues to coordinate these types of relief efforts.
• The creation of a C-RS Branch in Cleveland, Ohio that has undertaken the task of renovating the Rusyn Cultural Garden located in Cleveland
• Our first annual Rusyn Day Picnic that saw more than 250 people in attendance!
• The creation of an official newsletter "The New Rusyn Times", published bi-monthly
• The creation of a wide variety of cultural materials and video tapes on Rusyns and aspects of Rusyn culture
• Co-sponsorship of the Rusyn cultural display at the Pittsburgh Folk Festival
• Established dialogue with the Duquesne University Tamburitzans to assist them in developing authentic Rusyn material for their well known East European performances
• The development of a basic genealogical function to assist people in "rediscovering their roots"
• Assisting people in translating ancestors' personal documents and locating relatives in Eastern Europe
• Worked with the Western Pennsylvania Historical Society to completea Rusyn display in the newly completed museum
• The development of a substantial internet presence as well as an official Home Page for the Society and its members
• The development and continued publication of an exemplary newsletter which is now professionally printed
• A day long educational conference on Rusyn genealogy - sold out and attended by people from across the nation
• A day long celebration of Rusyn culture developed in conjunction with the nationally noted Andy Warhol museum. Assisting the Warhol Museum in developing an authentic Carpatho-Rusyn cultural night for its major sponsors
• Support of Rusyn cultural activities in Europe
• Participated in the renovation of the Rusin Cultural Garden in Cleveland
• Displays on Rusyn culture at numerous ethnic festivals. The development of an enormous Rusyn cultural display which was featured at many local events, University festivals and national conventions, educating Rusyns and non-Rusyns about the Rusyn cultural experience
• Membership meetings in Pittsburgh, Clifton NJ, Cleveland OH, Younstown OH and Beaver PA

And much much more.....

We truly appreciate what each of you has made to make this possible and look forward to your continued support. Included in your next newsletter will be a renewal form for membership in the Carpatho-Rusyn Society - please be sure to return this as soon as possible and also encourage friends and relatives to join.

While all Officers and Board Members are volunteers - your support provides the organization the funds required too accomplish its many worthwhile activities.

Persons not currently members can use our on-line application to join us.

We have ambitious plans for the future and look forward to having you grow along with us

Thanks!

Carpatho-Rusyn Society

Last modified on July 27, 2000
URL:http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/crs/elec.htm
Greg Gressa [ggressa@carpatho-rusyn.org]
The Carpatho-Rusyn Knowledge Base