For 12-27-92 
Boycott Baseball? Ok, Fine -- But You Go First 
It Doesn't Seem So Long Ago That Kirby Puckett Created A Fuss By Becoming The 
First Baseball Player To Collect A $3 Million Salary.

What About 
Those Raises?

Monday, December 21, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 3A QUICK WORDS: HOLIDAY TRADITIONS 





Family keeps old customs alive &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ukrainian Christmas is relived each year at the Ewasko home &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ************* &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 TIMES LEADER/PETE G. WILCOX &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Holiday greeting -- Helen and Paul Ewasko greet each other with a kiss and
share fresh bread and honey. The Glenburn Township couple are among those in
the area who celebrate Christmas in the Ukrainian tradition************* &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 By MITCH MORRISON &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Times Leader Staff Writer s a child, Helen Izak and her four siblings
rushed outside to catch a glimpse of the first star on Christmas Eve. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 When the stars arrived, the Rev. Bohdan Izak corralled his family together,
passing out morsels of bread dipped in honey while extending the greeting
"Khrystos Razdayetsia," Christ is Born. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The tradition continued even as the family left its native Ukraine in 1944
and eventually settled in the United States in 1948, where Bohdan Izak became
pastor at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Catholic Church in Scranton. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This Christmas day, Helen Izak Ewasko will celebrate her 55th birthday with
her husband, Paul, and their five grown-up children in the family's Glenburn
Township home. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "We don't look for the stars anymore," she jested. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But the family retains much of its ancestral heritage. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The night before Christmas, Paul and Helen, dressed in traditional
Ukrainian attire, will introduce Sviata Vechera, the Holy Supper, by passing
out honey-dipped bread and greetings to about 20 guests. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The tradition is only the first in a Ukrainian Christmas Eve. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ukrainian carols waft from the living room, providing a soulful backdrop to
lively conversation in the dining room. A loaf of bread with a cross swathed
across its midsection sits in the center of the table. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The bread, called Kolach, is not eaten during the meal, but remains as a
centerpiece symbolizing Jesus as the "Light of the World" and the "Living
Bread" who nourishes the soul. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The bread, bordered by two candles, rests upon a bed of hay that
commemorates the manger scene. By night's end, the gathering will consume 12
courses that stand for Jesus' 12 disciples. The foods will include borscht,
three varieties of fish and perogies. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "There's something so special and unique about Christmas Eve," said Paul
Ewasko, 57. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "There's a special feeling celebrating Christmas with your ethnic
traditions," he said. "I would hope that our children would continue to pass
down the customs." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Paul Ewasko, who is personnel director at the Friendship House in Scranton
which services emotionally disturbed children, derived his fondness for
Ukrainian customs from his father, Paul Sr., who was raised in the west
Ukrainian county of Zbarazh. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Now, Paul Jr. is a member of the Ukrainian Heritage Council, which recently
performed a Christmas reenactment at the Pennsylvania Anthracite Heritage
Museum. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Although his father is dead, Paul's mother, Ann, will celebrate the holiday
with the family. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "This is the one day of the year when the entire family gets together and
relives the Ukrainian spirit," he said.

Family Keeps Old Customs Alive 
Ukrainian Christmas Is Relived Each Year At The Ewasko Home 
************* 
Times Leader/pete G. Wilcox 
Holiday Greeting -- Helen And Paul Ewasko Greet Each Other With A Kiss And 
Share Fresh Bread And Honey. The Glenburn Township Couple Are Among Those In 
The Area Who Celebrate Christmas In The Ukrainian Tradition.