(Updated: July 1, 2016)

When we stop to think about what happened 58 years ago, the heart starts to beat faster about the fondest of memories when being eighteen was an exciting age and of many an opportunity.

Growing up in Saskatchewan in a Doukhobor family and living in one of the Doukhobor communities, I always wondered how it all came to be. Where did this ethnic group come from and why was Saskatchewan chosen as the home?

I was born in Canora but Pelly was my home town. I had relatives in Canora, Veregin and Kamsack, but I had no idea that there were Doukhobor Communities that included Blaine Lake and Langham located somewhere in the West near the City of Saskatoon. Yes that there was also a history that included Doukhobors in British Columbia. This was further confused by stories from elders of kinfolk left in Russia with references to the now country of Georgia.

My immediate family could not be classed as religious and so the neighbors consisting of Ukrainians, Poles and Anglo Saxon became a mosaic with the many Doukhobor families. I just knew that we must be different as there was school yard references to “Dirty Douk”, to which I never could get an explanation but I gathered, it had something to do with our vibrant Doukhobor past.

My parents spoke Russian at home and I learned a bit of English before I entered Grade 1 and then I had to survive in an environment where speaking anything but English would be reprimanded with a strap administered by my Teacher.

I was 15 when a rumour abounded that a man named Harry Vereshchagin was invited by the local Doukhobor Elders to organize a Doukhobor Youth Choir. I was asked to join even though I did not know any Russian songs nor could I read Russian and be able to follow same. I would also add, that my ability to follow a tune was at best a challenge. It was from this background that I became involved in a Doukhobor Youth Choir in Pelly with about sixteen other youth.

Harry Vereshchagin, did an excellent job with the disorientated youth as we were at that time. Within a few months we were scheduled to perform at “Festivals” in the Communities of Veregin, Canora and Kamsack, along with Youth Choirs from each of these communities.

Now I cannot comment on whether we sang well or otherwise but we did perform with established senior choirs from these same areas. What was achieved was an environment where singing on stage was not out of the ordinary. We also met a great deal of young people which we would not have met otherwise. This proved very much an influence on the way I grew up and matured in my future life.

We understood that this Choir Leader had organized choirs in Blaine Lake and Langham as well. So when I did get the opportunity to qualify for entrance to the University in Saskatoon, I thought that perhaps making contact with these young people may be something that would make my first venture away from home, less of a frightening experience and finding friends a little easier.

So it was in the late Fall of 1958, I took a bus to Avenue I, to the Saskatoon Doukhobor Prayer Hall for a scheduled evening that I was able to establish after many phone calls to Doukhobor names of people as chance information. Yes, there would be a gathering this one Sunday evening, I took the bus and waited there in the fall rain and snow flurries until someone showed up.

I met with everyone that I did not know. Soon it was apparent that I had made the correct move. It was here that I met my future partner, Marilyn Verishine, a student a Teachers College and many others who had come to Saskatoon to pursue education after High School in many fields as well those from the farms seeking jobs in the urban community.

Yes there was also a farmer or two and one was Mitch Ozeroff who farmed his father’s farm near Langham. I also met Keith Tarasoff who eventually became a room-mate as I was able to stay with his family in those adolescent years.

Attendance varied between thirty to forty youth from every Doukhobor community in Saskatchewan. This youth choir was invited to sing in Langham and Blaine Lake and organized Spring a Variety Night in Saskatoon with invited choirs from all of Saskatchewan to perform. It was always well attended and became a fund-raiser for various choir functions.

The choir organized a travelling show complete with a play, that was taken to Canora, Kamsack and Pelly over the Christmas holiday in 1960.

We invited the Union of Youth from British Columbia and a bus load of Doukhobor Youth attended our Variety Night that year in 1962. This expanded our knowledge of our Doukhobor history as well as realize that there good-looking young people in British Columbia as well.

We learned to enjoy each other and at least 28 Choir members married each other, resulting in 14 couples.

  1. Chernoff, Peter F. + Samarodin, Irene
  2. Cheveldayoff, Jack + Kasahoff, Florence
  3. Cheveldayoff, Lawrence + Perversoff, Kathy
  4. Fedosoff, Ivan + Borisinkoff, Delphine
  5. Holoboff, Leonard + Boolinoff, Diane
  6. Kabatoff, Alfred + Sishkin, Betty
  7. Ozeroff, Mich + Sookeroff, Dorthy
  8. Popoff, John + Chernoff, Mae
  9. Postnikoff, Alex + Kabatoff, Marlene
  10. Rebakin, Gary + Negrave, Betty
  11. Rebin, Willie + Rebalkin, Mercedes
  12. Salekin, Nick + Bonderoff, Kate
  13. Tarasoff, Keith + Konkin, Sonia
  14. Verigin, Elmer + Verishine, Marilyn

I write this recollection of wonderful events and I want to note that perhaps this was an interesting sociological event from these positive perspectives for the intermarried couples:

  • All were second generation Doukhobor families from parents who were the first generation born in Canada
  • All were all raised on a farm
  • All were part of the first Doukhobors to seek a career other than farming
  • Most of the Youth had similar circumstances in their communities
  • All the youth were born before TVs
  • Most were born before electrical power on the farm
  • These teenagers organized themselves without parental guidance into a strong group complete with executives and operating committees
  • All eventually lived their married lives together without divorce or separation
  • Is there a common denominator here?

There were many members of this Youth group that did not marry within the choirs. This personal recollection of Elmer Verigin, Mitch Ozeroff, Nick Strukoff and Mae Popoff is not meant to discriminate them in any fashion as, they too, found good partners and have lived harmoniously.

I publish this in my blog with the hope that my Readers will recognize this article and be able to comment and / or add to this historical event.

It would be a great subject for some Writer to take this information to the next level and I may suggest:

  • Contact these people and find out what careers they did take
  • The achievements reached
  • Many other opportunities

Mitch has been able to copy the old tapes and transpose same unto CDs which may be of interest to those reading this blog. You may contact Mitch at mozeroff@sasktel.net Phone (306) 283 4726 (H) (306) 222 1511 (Cell)

On April 5, 2015, the first draft of all our work was published online, and updated several times since:

Saskatchewan Doukhobor Youth Festivals, 1955-1968
Summary of history, communities, choirs, singers, recorded songs and photos.
By Koozma J Tarasoff, Mich Ozeroff, Elmer Verigin and Andrei Conovaloff.

Contents
1. Introduction
2. Doukhobor Singing
3. Songbook
4. In The Doukhobor Inquirer
5. Maps of Community Halls
6. Choir Members
7. Song Albums Notes
8. More in the Saskatchewan Archives
9. Your Comments

Related files

History of this blog:

  1. First draft by Elmer on December 30, 2014
  2. A sixty year celebration of Saskatoon Prayer Home took place on September 06, 2015 with many of the former SDY in attendance
  3. A private gathering of the former SDY took place on September 05, 2015 where much of the contact information was collected
  4. EWV is attempting to ensure that all information is correct with a mail out September 23, 2015 and encourage all to send in emended information
  5. A final edit will be posted back on my blog as of September 30, 2015. Thank you to those that assisted.
  6. EWV is drafting an appreciation of the September 5 and 6, 2015 events and will be a separate posting on his blog
  7. EWV conducted a few structural changes to the dated draught on January 26, 2016
  8. Willy and Mercedes Reibin were in phone contact January 25, 2016 and advised that they are reviewing this blog entry with the intent of providing corrections as well as more information. EWV will enter this upon receipt
  9. In March 2016, my list of 150+ names was copied to a spreadsheet online by Andrei Conovaloff, who was helping Mich Ozeroff and Koozma Tarasoff with the following report.
  10. Saskatchewan Doukhobor Youth Festivals, 1955-1968 was posted on April 5, 2016, with a link to this page.
  11. Mich Ozeroff and Koozma Tarasoff added corrections, June 25, 2016.
  12. Andrei Conovaloff edited this page on July 1, 2016, removing the long list of names, which are now at Choir Members — Saskatchewan Doukhobor Youth Festivals, 1955-1968, so only one master list will be online.