LOSIE KERMESH 2011 WHEN: Sunday, August 28, 2011 Noon to 6:00 p.m. WHERE: Campground 70, one mile north of Bentleyville, PA (between Washington and Belle Vernon, PA) Exit 32-B off of I-70 & follow Kermesh signs WHAT: The Losie Kermesh (picnic/celebration) is for Lemko descendants representing villages from the Northern slope of the Carpathian Mountains in present-day southeastern Poland and formerly (until 1918) the province of Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire. Villages include: Bielanka, Blechnarka, Brunary, Czarna, Dolina, Hanczowa, Jaszkowa, Klimkowka, Kunkowa, Leszczyny, Losie, Nowica, Petna, Pryslop, Ropki, Snietnica, Stawisza, Uscie Ruskie, Wawrzka, Wysowa Past representation by surnames: BARNA, CHOMA, DOLINSKY, DUDYK, FEKULA, GAL, GYZA, KAREL, KARPIAK, KRILL, KRUTILLA, MALECKI, MITUS, MONITA, NOWAK, PAWLACK, PERUN, POPOVICH, ROGOTS, SHLANTA, SZMONCHAK, TELECH, TREMBACH, WACHNOWSKI, WOYTOVECH, WOZNIAK, YEWUSIAK, YOUSHOCK, ZURO, ZURAW ADMISSION: Bring a covered dish & any genealogical info or old photos you would like to share. There will be a Chinese auction, half the take, etc., and a group photo will be taken. MORE INFO on the downloadable flyer (.pdf) at <http://www.checheche.com/LosieKermesh2011.pdf> Please pass on this info to anyone you think may be interested!!! Thank you from the Losie Kermesh 2011 coordinators. ....... An article from the Valley Independent in 2004: By Emma Jene Lelik For The Valley Independent Wednesday, September 1, 2004 In September 1941, The Daily Independent printed an account of the first kermesh (reunion) held by Lemko Rusyns who had emigrated to the Mid-Mon Valley from the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe. Attended by some 500 persons, it was held at the Russian Club in Pricedale. This was the first formal gathering since the immigrants began coming to the area 65 years earlier and they intended to stage the reunions annually. Ironically, with the outbreak of World War II and the untimely death of one of the organizers, John P. Yewusiak of Charleroi, that was the first and last gathering. That is until 57 years later, in August 1998, when descendants of the 1941 kermesh held the second one at Campground 70, near Bentleyville. The reunions are now annual and Joe Perun, one of the promoters, said there were about 100 present for the kermesh conducted during the past weekend at the campgrounds. In 1941, there were 55 families from the town of Losha, Galicia, which was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire before World War I, living in Pricedale. These Lemko Rusyns, whose homeland is present-day South Eastern Poland, are part of a larger group of Rusyns who inhabit the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Slovakia and Western Ukraine. The Rusyns are an ethnic minority who do not have their own country. They have been called Russians, Ruthenians, Rusnaks, Ukrainians and Rusyns. Some have taken the nationality of the country of their origin. Their faith is either Orthodox or Byzantine Catholic. Mary Visniski and Morris Maksemetz had original pictures of the 1941 kermesh, taken by the former Rehula Studio of Charleroi, and Perun had additional copies made. Family members were able to identify many relatives. In 1998 Walter Trembach, who was in the original picture, showed it to his cousin, Audrey Deitz of McKees Rocks, and she started doing genealogy on her grandparents, the Yewusiak and Trembach families. Soon others were tracing roots and what started with a handful of names has grown to over 7,000. Some of the surnames represented are: Barna, Basilwich, Chowansky, Digon, Dolinsky, Dudra, Dudick, Dutka, Fekula, Furtak, Gal, Geeza/Gezzer, Gornik, Homa/Choma, Hubiak, Karel, Karpiak, Kostecki, Krill, Krutilla, Jurila, Malecki, Mitus, Monita, Moskwa, Nowak, Olesniewich, Paluch, Pawlak, Popovich, Rogots, Shlanta, Spulnik, Swist, Telech, Trembach, Wachnowsky, Wozniak, Yewusiak/Youshock, Yuschak, Zak, Zawislak and Zuraw. ******* Che Zuro Whiting