Not long before this special event, already a Volynian brand, took place, the citizens of the oblast center received a present in the form of a footbridge. This bridge connected the two banks of the small Sapalaivka River that runs across the city center. Now people that live on the opposite banks have a shortcut. The opening ceremony was held according to all the rules of such solemnities: with cutting the red ribbon and air balloons as decorations. It was built on the money from charity, with the assistance of the fund headed by Oleh Chernetsky, a well-known businessman and public figure from Lutsk. Chernetsky said that they had to take out 40 trucks of trash. It has been an old dream of Chernetsky to connect the two banks of the city river and, in this way, two parts of the city. He would like his example to be an encouragement for others to do good things.
At the awarding ceremony of the first Volyn independent prize in 2009 Chernetsky became a laureate in the category “The Citizen of the Land” for his high professional and public achievements. He received multiple Wing of Inspiration statuettes awarded to the laureates because he was also honored as the patron of the year.
The Person of the Year in Volyn Land prize has been awarded for a couple of years now. The Lutsk Society Svit founded it in 1997 within the framework of the same kind of the prize but on the national level. It was done in order to reveal new talents among Volynians.
Since that time the award hasn’t lost its popularity. This means that the expert council that is considering thousands of applications submitted by common residents of Volyn chooses worthy candidates. The contest nominations vary from time to time, but here are the main ones: Public Man of the Year, New Name of the Year, Justified Hope, Personality of Volyn, Businessman of the Year, Young Talent of the Year, and others. The art show Night at the Lutsk Castle, the UEFA Cup presentation by Anatolii Tymoshchuk, who was born in Lutsk, and the Ukrainska Vyshyvanka (Ukrainian Embroidery) event were awarded in the Event of the Year nomination.
The Humane Action of the Year award went, in different years, to the organizers of the following events: opening of the monument to World War I soldiers on the initiative and with the support of the charity fund Ostannii Soldat (The Last Soldier) and the visit to Lutsk of the children from the Georgian twin town Gori after the South Ossetian War.
It was a great pleasure to find the names of the people known to the readers of The Day among this year prize laureates. Anatolii Kvasiuk, restorer at the Volyn Museum of Local Ethnography, became a laureate in the nomination Artist of the Year. The ten-year restoration of the Miracle-Working Icon of the Mother of God of Kholm became the labor of his life. The Day had a number of articles about this and had named him the Man of the Year 2009. The sculptor Vasyl Ryzhuk was awarded in the Action of the Year nomination, because he planted marigold not only along Volyn roadsides but also a few kilometers along the Kyiv highway. The award in the Justified Hope nomination went to the mayor of Volodymyr-Volynsky, Petro Sahaniuk. He has been in office for almost 20 years, serving the community and the old city now has such a European view that even Volyn residents go there on tours.
The awarding ceremony began with presenting the prize to the laureate in the Pride of Volyn nomination. Last year Yevhen Sverstiuk was recognized to be Volyn’s pride. This year it was awarded to The Day’s editor in chief Larysa Ivshyna, who comes from Volyn and has never lost her connection with the native land.
