Eastern European Community’s Contribution to Ohio Gains Senate Recognition

David Boston of Dayton, Ohio, who serves on the Ohio Eastern European Congress' board of directors, hand-cranks homemade Hungarian sausage with Kim Kovacs on March 5, 2022, for the Magyar (Hungarian) Club of Dayton. Boston has been supporting and promoting Senate Bill 46 that recently was passed by the Senate to better recognize Eastern European communities in the state. The proposed bill, which was introduced in February 2021, next will be heard in the House of Representatives. Michael Sakal/The Epoch Times

Ohio’s Eastern European Community is gaining traction to be more recognized as a key player in the state’s past, present, and future.

A bill that was co-sponsored by Sen. Kenny Yuko (D) of Ohio’s 25th District in the state’s northeast was passed by a 32-1 vote in the Senate on March 3, and helped pave the way to establish the Office and Commission on Eastern European Affairs.

Sen. Niraj Antani cast the lone dissenting vote against SB 46.

The bill, which was co-sponsored by Sen. Michael Rulli (R) of northeast Ohio’s 33rd District, is considered the foundation for the Buckeye State’s large but under-represented Eastern European population’s leg up on being recognized on an equal level as other ethnic groups.

Legislators who are supporting the proposed bill with strong bi-partisanship, consider the first step of its passage as timely since April is recognized as Eastern European Month in Ohio.

More than 1,000 people converged in downtown Cleveland for rallies the weekend of Feb. 25 to Feb. 27 to support Ukraine and condemn Russia's invasion. Michael Sakal/The Epoch Times

The bill, which was introduced on Feb. 3, 2021, is planned to help establish Eastern European education as part of the curriculum in public schools, especially in larger cities such as Cleveland, Columbus, Toledo, Cincinnati, Dayton, and Youngstown.

If ultimately passed, the bill would pave the way for Gov. Mike DeWine to appoint members to serve on the Eastern European Commission.

Eastern Europeans from Poland, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Romania, and Ukraine who emigrated to the United States in the latter part of the 1800s and the first quarter of the 20th Century, helped solidify America’s success as a manufacturing world power and center of innovation.

They established their own churches, lived in neighborhood enclaves, and worked hard in America’s many factories to chase the American Dream.

David Boston of Dayton, who serves on the board of directors on Ohio’s Eastern European Congress, and also on the Magyar (Hungarian) Club of Dayton’s publicity committee, told The Epoch Times he has been supporting the bill as it has progressed.

Boston is of Hungarian descent and has been a member of the Magyar Club for more than 30 years and is a past president.

“I think it’s great,” he said of the bill’s passage in the Senate. “This will help bring more of an awareness to the Eastern European community through education and facilitating anything that’s Eastern European.”

“There’s Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick’s Day, OctoberFest, and the Juneteenth Festival, but the Eastern Europeans really don’t have a day where we’re collectively recognized,” Boston added.

“We’re trying to bring an understanding and more exposure to the ethnic groups of the Eastern European community.”

The 60-year-old club is a non-profit organization and promotes the culture through participating in language classes and preparing ethnic foods for the events it hosts throughout the year.

Most recently, members of the Magyar Club made 450 pounds of Hungarian sausage as part of its Easter fundraiser, a tradition that goes back decades within its churches and organizations.

Boston said he hopes younger generation Eastern Europeans take notice of SB 46 and that more members of the younger Eastern European community become involved.

“Everything is cyclical,” Boston said. “All ethnic groups strive for ethnic identity when they come to the United States. Then, after time, it goes away, but eventually comes back through other generations who become interested.”

Ohio Sen. Kenny Yuko (D) has been pushing for the establishment of an Eastern European Commission in the state that helps promote awareness of under-represented Eastern European communities. Courtesy of Sen. Kenny Yuko's Office

In a statement issued by Yuko’s office, he said, “ I would like to thank Senator Rulli for sponsoring this bill with me. SB 46 will allow us to support and advocate for more than 1.1 million Ohioans who have Eastern European ancestry, including the tens of thousands of Ohioans with Ukrainian ancestry.

“I also am pleased that we voted to adopt a resolution to condemn Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation for waging war on the sovereign nation of Ukraine,” Yuko added. “These pieces of legislation couldn’t come at a better time. I stand with the people of Ukraine, and I was proud to wear a pin with the colors of the Ukrainian flag on the Senate floor.”

Ohio’s large Eastern European presence recently was in evidence during the weekend of Feb. 24 to Feb. 27 when more than 1,000 people converged for prayer services and rallies in downtown Cleveland to show support for its large Ukrainian community. Thousands of Ukrainian refugees are continuing to flee their homeland because of Russia’s invasion that has killed hundreds of innocent people including children.

Larissa Reidy (L) and her brother, Alex Pohuliaj (R), both of Lorain, Ohio, have been bringing awareness to the Eastern European community of their Ukrainian heritage. The Reidy and Pohuliaj families have been attending events that support Ukraine and condemn Russia's invasion of it. Reidy is collecting supplies to be sent to Ukraine to help displaced people there. Here, Reidy and Pohuliaj are pictured at St. Vladimir Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Parma for a prayer service on Feb. 25, 2022. Michael Sakal/The Epoch Times

Whatever is collected will be taken to St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in the nearby west Cleveland suburb of Parma that is home to Ukrainian Village, one of the largest Ukrainian communities in the United States.

So far, wheelchairs, clothes, baby strollers, diapers, diaper wipes, food, Pedialyte, vitamins, protein drinks have been collected.

Reidy’s and Pohuliaj’s father, Konstantin Pohuliaj, emigrated to the United States in 1952 after being forced to work as a slave dentist, first by the Germans during World War II, and later by the Russian communists.

His family, including five siblings, was massacred by the communists in the late 1930s. Konstantin was not at home that day and survived.

“I’m devastated,” Larissa Reidy told The Epoch Times of what’s going on in her late father’s homeland after it had been free since 1991.

“I can’t believe this is happening. Hopefully, the rest of the world will find a way to put an end to it.”