Delegations of Ukrainians have visited Springfield over many years through a collaboration between the Springfield Commission on International Visitors and the U.S.-Ukraine Foundation. Typically, five to six delegates and a translator visit for seven days, staying with host families. In 2018 Barb and Lee Malany hosted Ivan Fedorov, who was a member of the Melitopol City Council and later elected mayor. He was here to learn more about urban planning and improving housing and utilities. In March Federov was abducted by Russian soldiers and later released.
Over the years delegates have included Anton Senenko from the Institute of Physics at the National Academy of Science of Ukraine, city council members, leaders in youth policy, Ukrainian state experts in education and science innovation, consultants and assistants to the Ukrainian parliament and representatives of nonprofit groups and the media. These visits are part of the Open World Program, administered by the U.S. Congressional Office of International Leadership, established in 1999 to bring emerging world leaders to U.S. cities.
Barb and Lee Malany have stayed in touch with several Ukrainians who visited Springfield. Through daily contacts via Facebook, Barb knows that Anton Senenko drove his wife and child to the border, returned to Ukraine and, along with other non-soldiers, drive others to the border on a daily basis to escape the atrocities. “We just have to believe,” he tells her. Barb is also in daily contact with Kira Tolstiakova, a TV editor who visited Springfield in 2020.
The Malanys, Mayor Jim Langfelder, Janet Kenney (board chair of the Springfield Commission on International Visitors) and others are bringing visibility to Springfield’s friendship with Ukraine. One example is the blue and yellow light display every night at the Illinois Realtors Bicentennial Plaza. The Malanys are also leading a collaboration with local Rotary Clubs to install blue and yellow banners on poles in downtown Springfield. To help with this project or for more information, email barbmalany@yahoo.com.
This article appears in Fifty years of Doc Helm’s photos.
