The Club of Interesting Meetings at the Thiya Community Center gathered for another meeting. This time, local historian and volunteer of the Hesed Besht Foundation Leonid Zapadenko prepared an interesting presentation about an extraordinary person – the only cabman in the former Proskurov, who, by analogy, was also the only Jewish cabman in our community. Balagula – a private carrier, became the central figure of the meeting, which evoked many memories and emotions among those present.
At the beginning of the meeting, Leonid Petrovich demonstrated two video clips of his own editing with views of the former Jewish Proskurov. Then the conversation smoothly moved into the plane of transportation by wheeled carriage - the substantive work of the balagula. Those present were introduced to the rights and obligations of modern carriage drivers, since this type of transportation has a regulatory basis in modern legislation. It turns out that the driver of the carriage must know not only the rules of the road, but also have veterinary knowledge, monitor the cleanliness of both his own uniform and the appearance of the driving force of the carriage - the horse.
There is not much material left about the first and only official Proskuriv cart driver. However, some information about him has been preserved in the works of famous writers. There was also talk of a modern cart driver in our city: Khmelnytskyi residents and guests of the city have repeatedly seen him in the Chekman Park, where a modern-day cart driver rides everyone who wants on his cart. In the fall, employees of the Hesed Besht Charitable Foundation met him in person when a festive video clip was shot for the organization's fifteenth anniversary (can be viewed here).
After the presentation, the guests of the Club of Interesting Meetings expressed their memories and emotions regarding the topic of the gathering. Boris Shlain was the first to thank Leonid Petrovych for the good story and the Chesed Besht Foundation for the opportunity to gather, and also shared his memories of the carriage drivers of the past with whom he had dealt. Zelman Yelevych, who is rightfully the elder of our community at 94 years old, made corrections to the story of the local historian, referring to his own memories. He told how the carriage driver drove his vehicle in the city, where there were parking lots or turns. And Sofia Abiesinova also shared with those present memories of the times when a horse and carriage were a common sight on the city roads.
Overall, the meeting was interesting and emotional. Our clients will look forward to the next club meeting and Leonid Petrovich's speech, as it is always interesting, useful, and informative.
