“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

Anger over the war in Ukraine is echoing as far as Cranbrook where people sympathetic to the Ukrainian cause have come together to fight back using  products Ukrainians are famous for – perogies and borscht.

On Sunday, March 27, the East Kootenay Ukraine Support Group will be holding its fifth candlelight vigil in Rotary Park with another “borscht and a bun” fundraiser to support the Ukrainian cause and help refugees from the war-torn country to escape the carnage by emigrating to Canada.

“We need money and we need it now,” said Tamara Cartwright, the main organizer of the group. “I’m just so sick and tired of this I decided to use my anger and do something positive with it.”

People attending the vigil can purchase a delicious bowl of borscht, a bun and a cup of tea for a minimum donation of $5 and they can also buy a bag of a dozen frozen potato-and-cheese perogies for $10 to take home.

And if you run out it won’t be a problem because Cartwright says she plans to continue the vigil “until the war is over.”

In doing this, she says she’ll be working with some local Ukrainian families as long as is needed to bring their Ukrainian relatives to Canada to escape their plundered homeland.

In sponsoring the vigil, Cartwright’s group has teamed up with Auntie Barb’s Bakery Bistro on Cranbrook Street which is supplying their commercial kitchen to do all the baking and cooking for the borscht and bun event.

Asked why she became involved with the fund-raising venture Auntie Barb (Barb Smythe), who is the part owner of the business, said she’s also disgusted with the war launched by Russia. “I’m just a human being but I don’t mind saying  I find it (the war) ridiculous and heartbreaking.”

Smythe (pictured above) and her partner Tod DeBoice, who are moving their business to 600 Industrial Road #1 in mid April, got a unique insight several months ago into how Ukrainians feel about the war when they searched the Net for a “dough sheeter,” a device with metal rollers that flattens dough for pot pies and does the same for making perogies. To their surprise, they got a response by email from a fearful baker in Kyiv, who was planning to get out of Ukraine because of the looming war.

In a poignant email, the distressed baker said, “Due to the war in my country shop is not working. If there is any problem with your order please contact me. I will do my best to resolve it after Putin stops this terrible action to my country. Hope he will die soon.”

However, Smythe said she received  a Facebook message this week that the baker had escaped Ukraine. “But I don’t know where he is now.”

DeBoice said the baker comes across like a younger man and a good guy. “He seemed almost like a friend. Who knows? Maybe he’ll decide to come to Canada and start anew. Someone in Cranbrook may even sponsor him.”

Bonnie Spence-Vinge, who helped bring refugees to Cranbrook during the Syrian civil war, says she’s working again with a group of about a dozen people to do the same for Ukrainian refugees. But little can be said until the federal government gives “clarity” on the process, she says. But it’s highly likely the bulk of the refugees will be women, children and seniors because the Ukrainian government requires men under 60 to stay and fight the Russian invaders. However, Spence-Vinge says she’s heartened by many offers of aid pouring in from Cranbrook citizens.

Meanwhile the war grinds on killing thousands on both sides. Despite this, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he’s willing to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin, but added a chilling message should the negotiations fail.

“If these attempts fail that would mean that this is a Third World War,” he said in a CNN interview last week.

Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who believes this is the closest the world has been to war since the Cuban Missile Crisis, which only ended when the West made it clear to the Russians that it was ready to go to war.

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