“We have a long history of supporting Ukraine,” said Maplewood Township Committee member Vic De Luca at the June 4, 2025 TC meeting, as he and members of the TC pledged to continue that support.
De Luca addressed his comments to members of the Maplewood Ukrainian community at the June 4, 2025 Township Committee meeting before reading a proclamation declaring June 8, 2025, as Maplewood Ukrainian Day in the Township of Maplewood.
“For years, we did the flag raising on August 24th out here,” said De Luca. August 24 is Ukraine’s Independence Day, commemorating the country’s official declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. De Luca said that the practice had fallen by the wayside — until the attack on Ukraine by Russia in 2022.
That event “rekindled” Town Hall’s relationship with the Maplewood Ukrainian community, which is centered around Holy Ascension Church on Irvington Avenue.
“Since that time, … we put the Ukrainian flag up there. And for three plus years that flag has been flying. So until this war is over, we’re going to keep flying that flag,” said De Luca.
Rev. Sviatoslav Hot of Holy Ascension thanked De Luca, Mayor Nancy Adams and the Township Committee, and said, “Each of time when we pass by the Ukrainian flag waving under the strong American flag, it gives us the hope, and we understand that we are not alone. We feel this support all the time. We thank God for all this and for everything which you have done since the war has started.”
2025 MAPLEWOOD UKRAINIAN DAY PROCLAMATION
WHEREAS in 1918, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Holy Ascension was established in Newark, New Jersey, and served the needs of its faithful for 106 years; and
WHEREAS in 1924, the church marked history by hosting the meeting of the Ukrainian Orthodox clergy and faithful during which 14 parishes and 18 priests formerly established the Ukrainian Orthodox diocese of the United States of America; and
WHEREAS also in 1974, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Holy Ascension moved to a newly built church at 652 Irvington Avenue, Maplewood, and for the past 50-plus years, the Maplewood church has ministered to and supported the spiritual and physical needs of Ukrainian immigrants and their descendants, and preserved the Orthodox Christian faith and Ukrainian culture; and
WHEREAS since the Russian invasion in 2022, the Township of Maplewood and its residents have stood strong with the members of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Holy Ascension in support of the people of Ukraine;
Now, therefore, I, Victor De Luca on behalf of Nancy Adams, Mayor of the Township of Maplewood and the entire Township Committee, do hereby proclaim June 8, 2025 as Maplewood Ukrainian Day in the Township of Maplewood.
Photos via Rev. Hot:
