HOLYOKE — Former mayor Daniel J. Szostkiewicz was being driven through the western Ukraine in 1997 when he saw a piece of Holyoke.
"They had a net set up in a backyard and they were playing volleyball, the sport invented in Holyoke," said Szostkiewicz, the former mayor, recalling a trip taken to a country that is in the news again today.
Szostkiewicz, who was mayor from January 1996 to January 2000, established a sister-city relationship between Holyoke and the Ukrainian city of Svalyava.
It appears little in the way of continuing the ties has continued since Szostkiewicz was defeated for a third term as mayor. But, he said, it has been easy to think about his trip there since Russia's recent headline-dominating annexation of Crimea, in the southeastern part of Ukraine.
The people he met in Ukraine were very friendly, he said, and it became clear they wanted the same things Americans wanted: to help their families and improve the lives of their children.
"They were some of the nicest, most respectful people I've ever met," Szostkiewicz said.
Former Holyoke Mayor Daniel J. Szostkiewicz shows items he collected on a visit to Ukraine in 1997.
"They're people. They're human beings. They want what we want," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in early March announced the seizure of Crimea, two days after voters in that semiautonomous territory approved a hastily called referendum on separating from Ukraine, according to CNN.
"Crimea, which has an ethnic Russian majority, has long been a semiautonomous region within Ukraine. It has had its own Parliament, but the Ukrainian government had veto power over its actions," the CNN report reads.
The United States and other governments have denounced Russia's actions in Crimea, which is more than 17 hours and about 800 miles away from Svalyava.
The sister-city relationship developed out of discussions Szostkiewicz had at the time with Ukrainian visitors who were in the area meeting with officials at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in April, 1997.
Several weeks later, Szostkiewicz received a letter from the mayor of Svalyava inviting him to visit with the hope of establishing the sister city relationship including a student exchange program. Szostkiewicz spent two weeks in Ukraine that fall with Jack F. Hunter, former city planning director, and Alex Borelli, former principal of Peck Middle School.
Some of the areas they visited lacked paved roads, refrigeration and indoor toilets; the few rest rooms that could be found looked like janitor's closets, Szostkiewicz said.
"It was nice, but it was wasn't particularly clean," he said. He and the others in the Holyoke contingent learned to carry toilet paper, clean wipes and soap.
Americans were popular, he said, recalling the screaming students and hugs they received upon visiting schools and other areas.
"We were celebrities," Szostkiewicz said.
He moved back to Holyoke more than a year ago after having lived in Springfield and Southwick. He ran again for mayor in the November election but lost. He still practices law, he said.
Having collected books, postcards, Ukrainian carvings and other items from the trip, he said, he would be happy to address a class about Ukraine if any Holyoke school teachers are interested.
"I would love to go talk to kids about Ukraine and what's going on," he said.
Mayor Alex B. Morse said Ukraine has been on minds of many Americans.
"It is chilling to think that we may be on the precipice of a 21st century cold war. Holyoke supports the residents of all our sister cities, and wishes them only the best," Morse said.
Former Holyoke Mayor Daniel J. Szostkiewicz shows off items he got form a visit to the Ukraine in 1997. Szostkiewicz established a sister-city with Svalyava in far western-Ukraine.