life has changed considerably for Rochester resident Viktor Chornobay and his new bride Chornobay, 45, is a Gates Chili High School graduate. He met Bondar at a bar while visiting family in Kyiv, Ukraine, in March 2021 "She was shy and pleasant and I was attracted to her naturally," he said adding that the pair met up several more times in the weeks after that first encounter But it was her personality that won him over — her family values and her simplicity the couple made plans to reunite in Mexico to celebrate the New Year Chornobay popped the question on New Year’s Eve — and the couple got engaged they planned to spend the winter vacationing in Mexico But they didn’t plan on what happened next Russia began its invasion into eastern Ukraine in the largest invasion in Europe since World War II the couple knew it was not safe for Bondar to return to Ukraine at the end of their trip Ukrainian-born Chornobay became an American citizen more than a decade ago He first came to the area as a student athlete as a member of a Ukrainian youth soccer team participating in an international tournament in the town of Chili in 1990 Chornobay returned to Rochester with teammates for a monthlong visit the following summer and in May 1993 moved in with the Oehlbeck family of Chili as an exchange student He was one of seven student athletes from the Kyiv team to return and make Rochester his home The boys fell in love with the community as much as the community fell in love with the boys, said Julie Oehlbeck part of the host family that took Chornobay in. Since she never planned to leave her native country during the getaway she had only the items she brought with her which did not include important personal papers such as her birth certificate and worried, how Bondar could enter the U.S The pair consulted numerous attorneys for advice – and each offered different suggestions on how to proceed – but the situation often changed rapidly The couple spent weeks at a long-term rental at a small beach town near the Guatemalan border they repeatedly traveled to Mexico City to meet with embassy officials and lawyers to seek entry to America for Bondar The situation was chaotic, Chornobay said. the couple married in a small ceremony in Cancun arranged by a colleague of Julie Oehlbeck. The marriage took place several months ahead of schedule with hopes that it would help Bondar’s case to enter the country as the spouse of a citizen Bondar sought and was granted humanitarian parole and safely crossed the U.S Chornobay temporarily remained behind – he returned the pair’s rental car and completed several other tasks before he crossed the border the following day “It’s such a big relief,” he said Chornobay said he was overwhelmed with the number of people in the Mexican border city reaching out to help Ukrainian refugees “They are helping displaced Ukrainians connect with family,” he said One man drove us from San Diego to Los Angeles to reach our friends.” What’s next for the couple?After graduating from Gates Chili Chornobay attended Hartwick College in Oneonta where he played Division 1 soccer on scholarship and spent several years teaching in the Rochester City School District then several more years teaching and coaching soccer in Los Angeles flipping houses in Rochester with a business partner Bondar was trained as a teacher but had been working as a salon manager in Ukraine The newly married couple have been making major life decisions on the go for months Among them, signing marriage documents in a tourist town that didn’t require them to display their birth certificates “We’re deciding everything about what to do next in our lives including where we want to live,” Chornobay said After visiting friends for a week in Los Angeles with plans to rent an apartment on or near a beach you’d never bet against because he will always figure it out,” Oehlbeck said "Drop him in the middle of Antarctica and he would find a way to sell ice.” The neighborhood where Chornobay’s parents lived near Kyiv came under fire – weeks after his father witnessed the bombing of a nearby military airport as Russian soldiers parachuted to the ground They connected with his sister and her family and fled in a car lent by the family one of Chornobay's former soccer teammates “Now they’re trying to determine whether they have homes to go home to once this is all over since the area where they lived was under heavy attack,” he said Contact Victoria Freile at vfreile@gannett.com Follow her on Twitter @vfreile and Instagram @vfreile. This coverage is only possible with support from our readers. She will be lovingly remembered by her daughters Norma (Marcel) of Winnipeg She is pre-deceased by her one sister and twelve brothers New Brunswick the daughter of the late John King and Evangeline King on June 2 Mona and Rudy loved their family wholeheartedly and would pack up their camper van and travel from West Coast Canada to East coast Canada visiting family Mona always had a warm smile and the sweetest laugh Mona would often befriend strangers with a smile and a friendly hello I’m so sorry to hear of the loss of your Grandma Anna Marie My heart goes out to you and your family❤️ Assistant Superintendent of Personnel & Education Services Mr Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Email Us Map & Directions Email Us Map & Directions Email Us Map & Directions Email Us Map & Directions Email Us Map & Directions Made with ❤ by Ashlean Notices are posted by 10 am Monday through Saturday Adjust Text Size: A+ A- As published in Winnipeg Free Press on Jul 10 Share your memories and/or express your condolences below Unfortunately with the need to moderate tributes for inappropriate content your comments may take up to 48 hours to appear Sign In Subscribe Now Jason Chornobay has been working in the prospecting and mining industries since he was 15 years old Now he thinks he may have found a site that will pay off long-term The site that Chornobay calls ‘the Holy Grail’ was bought by the Prospect Ridge Resources Corporation in 2021 It extends north from about 10 kilometers north of Terrace Just northwest of the properties is the southern tip of the Golden Triangle a historically lucrative area known for not just gold a professor at the UBC department of mining engineering “The success rate for exploration companies to convert a deposit to an operating mine is very low,” Klein said If a project does come to fruition however mining companies will typically begin a process of working with any local communities “Local employment is often important to development of mining projects — the term used is Social License to Operate,” said Klein “It usually involves engaging local communities at early stages to discuss the plans This opportunity has taken many years in the making for for Chornobay “I started out with grunt work in the camps There’s no part of prospecting and exploration I haven’t worked.” Chornobay says he’s set to start drilling this spring Drilling at the nearby Knauss Creek property started in August Prospector’s endure long hours in difficult situations but for those who have caught the gold bug Chornobay thinks the challenges are worth it working 20-hour-days seven-days-a-week,” said Chornobay “You have to love it when it’s pouring rain Chornobay received up front royalty payments from Prospect Ridge and if the project is successful he stands to receive ongoing payments of 3 per cent of net smelter returns “I believe junior exploration has got a bad rep from amateur prospectors and geologists who aren’t really passionate about it,” said Chornobay It’s what I love to do… Mother nature never gives up the gold easy Dialogue and debate are integral to a free society and we welcome and encourage you to share your views on the issues of the day. We ask that you be respectful of others and their points of view, refrain from personal attacks and stay on topic. To learn about our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines Toronto-based mining company Goliath Resources Ltd is prospecting for gold in several areas near Bella Coola The company calls the area “The Big Show Zone” and it’s located on their “Gold Standard Property” four kilometres north of Bella Coola The Gold Standard property is 100 percent owned by the DSM Syndicate of which Goliath Resources Limited owns a 10 percent interest The DSM Syndicate a private precious metals project generator in British Columbia that owns 100 percent of six properties inclusive of the Gold Standard property Goliath is a precious metals project generator focused in the prolific “Golden Triangle” and surrounding area of northwestern British Columbia It controls four highly prospective properties that include Bingo Lucky Strike and Copperhead covering 44,003 hectares The “The Big Show Zone” is not covered in detail on the company’s website as it is in prospecting stages only and therefore has not been afforded much coverage other than press releases indicating the discovery of the “Big Show Zone” vein system and grab sample assay results of up to 110 grams per tonne gold (3.21 ounces per ton gold).” Bill Chornobay is the Senior Exploration and Corporate Development Consultant with Juggernaut Exploration Limited He said that the chances of the prospecting actually evolving into a mining operation are around one in a million Read More: Newmont Mining to buy Goldcorp to create one of world’s biggest gold producers what we’re doing is no different than what prospectors did 100 years ago,” Chornobay said “The only advantage is that we have a helicopter.” The prospecting work Chornobay is conducting takes place under what is known as “free entry,” a law that many consider to be heavily in favour of industry Nuxalk/Secwepemc woman Jacinda Mack is a spokesperson for First Nations Women Advocating Responsible Mining (FNWARM) and the co-founder of its current Stand for Water campaign She says that provincial mining laws are in desperate need of reform and that the exploration currently taking place in Nuxalk territory is a perfect example of why “‘Free-entry” essentially privileges mining laws over basically any other law,” said Mack “Companies can just pick up a mineral licence without any conversation or relationship with anybody Polley tailings pond breach in 2014 in her home territory of Xat’sull (Soda Creek) Since then she has toured the province extensively speaking on all aspects of the mining industry She said lack of consultation with Indigenous communities remains a major issue especially as many of these proposed projects are located within remote First Nations communities and territories “These companies and their prospectors are not required to consult with Indigenous communities or any local community for that matter,” said Mack “We as communities and Indigenous peoples need to get in front of that conversation to say Chornobay said that company isn’t required to enter into any consultation processes yet as they haven’t engaged in any exploratory drilling “We are planning more prospecting in 2019 and that will include taking some samples to see if we will engage in any drilling,” he said “If we decide to undertake some drilling that’s when the permitting and consultation process would begin.” Read More: B.C.’s Mount Polley Mine to suspend operations due to sliding copper prices Chornobay said the recent discoveries are located in alpine areas that haven’t seen the light of day in over 25,000 years “All of this new geologic terrain has been buried under snow and ice for thousands of years,” Chornobay explained there has been a lot of snow and glacial recession which has exposed these areas for the first time.” Chornobay wasn’t willing to point the finger at climate change as the reason for this massive glacial recession but recent studies have discovered that glaciers across B.C and the Yukon have been retreating at an alarming rate Canada research chair in glacier change at the University of Northern B.C said the glaciers are recession is undoubtedly due to global warming and that many of the smaller ones are beyond recovery Many of these retreating glaciers are located in Goliath’s “Golden Triangle” in northwest B.C and have enabled the company to increase its prospecting in these areas “Those glaciers in and around the Golden Triangle are thinning about half a metre to a metre a year This doesn’t sound like a lot but taken over 30 years we’re talking about 100 feet of lowering,” said Menounos Where Menounos sees the effects of climate change Goliath Resources CEO Roger Rosmus sees opportunities “It’s only the last three to five years that we’ve been able to take advantage of the glacier recessions the permanent snow pack is no longer there,” said Rosmus in an interview with CBC in August of 2018 copper and silver deposits right at the surface in the Golden Triangle Chornobay confirmed this also happened at the Bella Coola site coupled with the push from mining companies in the face of glacier recession is more than enough reason for communities to get active and engaged with the issue “Immediate actions must be taken,” said Mack We also need both the provincial and federal governments to honour their UNDRIP obligations that embrace reconciliation with the land and Indigenous peoples.” Do you have a comment about this story? email: cmnews@caribooadvisor.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page.