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April 20, 2003 at 9:33 PM

       Pysanky, the colorful Ukrainian egg decorating art, will be the hands-on topic for the Thursday, April 3, meeting of the DuBois Area Historical Society. The program begins at 7:30 in the E.D. Reitz Museum, 30 West Long Ave., DuBois. The program is free and open to the public.

       Jeanne Curtis of Punxsutawney will speak about the legends and traditions of this traditional Ukrainian art form that predates the time of Christ. “I want to demonstrate and display pysanky eggs and I want everyone at the meeting to try their hand at making their own pysanky,” says Curtis. “An egg can be completed in one evening.”

       Curtis plans to provide everything needed from the raw eggs to the “kispka” the writing tool used on the eggs. The eggs are covered in black wax and then drawn on using the brighter colors, yellow, green, red, and purple. Each time a new color is added, part of the wax is melted off and the color shows against the black background.

       At the en d of the evening, Curtis will take the eggs with her to apply the necessary varnish, and hollow out the eggs. They will be returned in time to be used as decorations for Easter.

       Twenty-five members and guests attended the March meeting of the DuBois Area Historical Society. At the meeting, an amendment to the Society’s constitution changing the organization from a fiscal to a calendar year was approved. Gary Gilmore of Luthersburg was the guest speaker, talking about “Forests of Sandy Township:  Past, Present, and Future.”            

       The final meeting for 2002-03 is May 29 at 7:30 p.m. Galen Kilmer, local history teacher at DuBois Area High School, will present the annual program, “DuBois Area High School Local History Projects.”