20 Years of Venture to Vegreville Riders!

The Venture To Vegreville (V2V) Trips was born in the Summer of 2003 when Greg Udod and his little family were travelling back from a weekend in Vegreville, AB. Greg had performed at the annual Pysanka Festival in Vegreville with the band Shoom that year. As the little family had enjoyed the Vegreville area over the weekend and had an awesome experience touring the Ukrainian Heritage Village located close to Vegreville, the idea came to Greg that it may be an absolutely fantastic experience for students of the English-Ukrainian Bilingual Program (EUBP). With the recent increase to the Middle Years EUBP, Greg could see the opportunity for a perfect age of students to be away from home for a number of days!

That fall, Greg “floated” the idea to the 14 students in his EUBP class. The students got VERY excited and soon planning started for the first trip. Greg approached Manitoba Parents For Ukrainian Education (MPUE) for some assistance. The trip took the form of “a culminating event for students graduating from the EUBP” and was expanded to include all interested EUBP schools in Manitoba.

As plans started to come together for the first V2V, MPUE really came through to support the trip. MPUE booked 2 beautiful buses for our use. The different School Boards also helped out with granting permission and providing substitutes where needed so the teachers of the EUBP could be away for a couple of days. Schools came on board and the trip was planned for May 7 – 10, 2004.

In the early hours of Thursday, May 7, the two busses pulled up into the Garden City Mall lot and students started to come on board. Greg had a song already for the trip, ‘Bus Tour To Vegreville’, his guitar, a song book for each participant, and a LOT of enthusiasm. As it turned out, both busses were only a bit past half full so everyone had plenty of room!

We headed out and made our way to Dauphin to pick up students and their teacher from Mackenzie Middle School EUBP. From there, we followed what was to become the annual route to Yorkton, Saskatoon, North Battleford, and finally Vegreville, AB. There were stops along the way to view beautiful Ukrainian prairie churches, as well as meal breaks. That first year was definitely a learning experience for all involved.

The next day, Friday, May 8, we toured the Ukrainian Heritage Village, went to see the World’s Largest Kubassa in Mundare, AB., then a quick trip into Edmonton to experience the ‘World’s Largest Mall’. Then it was back to Vegreville for a tour of St. Vladimir’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church where the parish came out in full force to greet the Ukrainian students from Manitoba. The parish put on a full meal supper for us strangers and had gifts for us as well! It was an overwhelming experience for many of us. Good old-fashioned Ukrainian hospitality! We also took pictures at the World’s Largest Pysanka that evening and had a brief history shared to us by one of the individuals who had been on the planning board back in the 1970’s.

The next day, Saturday, May 9, we boarded our busses and set off for Saskatoon to get ready for a great evening at that year’s Vesna Festival. The Festival again greeted us warmly and had special reserved seating for our tour. Shoom was a featured band at that year’s festival and so Greg was busy performing while the students were enjoying the festival and dancing up a storm. The next day we made the long journey home back to Winnipeg. That first trip will always be remembered as a very special experience by all who were participants.

There have been small changes to the itinerary over the 20 years. For many years we were fortunate to have a behind the scenes tour of Stawnichy Mundare Sausage where participants got to see how the famous sausage was made. Unfortunately, this is no longer an option due to food processing restrictions. Mundare, AB is an added stop to visit the Basilian Father’s Museum and Monastery. In 2019 Vesna Festival was replaced with UFest in Edmonton, AB. Students also get to participate in a leather workshop and cook hotdogs over a fire for lunch with the Ukrainian Viking, Sky Hoffos, at Cooking Lake-Blackfoot Provincial Park.

In 2025 the Ukrainian Heritage Village experienced a fire. Fortunately, no heritage buildings were destroyed but that was the only year where the itinerary did not include this cultural gem in Alberta.

In the past five years we have had many V2V Riders. The below numbers include teachers, parents and students and an MPUE representative.

· May 27, 2026 to May 30, 2026 – 77 Riders

· May 28, 2025 to May 31, 2025 – 67 Riders

· May 22, 2024 to May 25, 2024 – 46 Riders

· May 25, 2023 to May 28, 2023 – 55 Riders

· May 28, 2019 to May 31, 2019 – 53 Riders

 

Over the years since there have been a few “gap years” when the trip didn’t happen due to one reason or another, but it has evolved over time and has become something that students of the EUBP who are graduating really look forward to every year! The Ukrainian Express keeps on rollin’!

MPUE would like to sincerely thank Greg Udod for the vision of an adventure that crosses over three provinces filled with cultural learning experiences for the graduating students of the EUBP. Greg was a teacher, tour guide and MPUE rep for the trip for approx. 15 years. MPUE continues to coordinate this trip lead by a dedicated volunteer, Barb Bencharski, who takes joy in knowing that this is a trip that will create memories and lasting relationships that will build the Ukrainian community in Manitoba. And certainly, this trip could not be possible without the support from the EUBP teachers and schools.

Bus Tour to Vegreville – Sung to the tune of “Bus Tour To Nashville’ by the late great Stompin’ Tom

” – Lyrics written by Greg Udod.

Bus Tour To Vegreville

1.) There’s a bus tour going to Vegreville,

Leavin’ at 7:09,

That’s just a little too early,

But we gotta be there on time,

Down at Garden City,

We’ll board with such a great thrill,

When we board the bus in Winnipeg,

To get to Vegreville!

 

Chorus

 

Here we are, on a big bus rollin’

Stop in Dauphin, get everyone goin’,

All the way to Vegreville,

We’ll have to drive all day,

We’re off to see the Pysanka,

Now we’re on our way!

 

2.) Well, we’re goin’ to see The Pysanka,

Just how big can it be?

Then to some museums to see what we can see,

The World’s Largest Kobassa,

Then to the biggest mall,

Back to Veg.,

To St. Vladimir’s,

We’re tryin’ to see it all,

 

Chorus

 

Here we are, on a big bus rollin’

Stop in Dauphin, get everyone goin’,

All the way to Vegreville,

We’ll have to drive all day,

We’re off to see the Pysanka,

Now we’re on our way!

 

3.) We’re a bunch of crazy Ukrainians,

Just tourin’ round and having fun,

Rolling ‘cross the prairies,

Good times for everyone!

The Ukrainian Express is rollin’,

Everyone climb on board!

Bowling, shopping and pyrohy,

We’re ready to see some more!

 

Chorus

 

Here we are, on a big bus rollin’

Playin’ guitar, get everyone goin’,

Back to Manitoba,

By evening in Dauphin we’ll be,

(And then it’s back to Winnipeg,

I hope they remember me!) x2