Ukraine Independence Day
3pm, Thursday 24 August 2023
McKenzie Park, 330 Quarry Rd, Comox
In 2004, Canadian Steve Thiessen assisted in setting up Florence Centre, a Family Service agency in
Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, patterned after the work of Communitas Supportive Care Services, the
organization of which he was the director in Abbotsford until his retirement in 2013.
In September, 2019, he and Vange were invited to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Florence Centre. While in Zaporizhzhia, the Thiessen’s visited the famous 700 year old Zaporizhzhia Oak tree. Encouraged by their Ukrainian host, Steve took some of the trees’ fallen acorns back to Canada and successfully grew one into a little oak tree.
Sharing the story with the Comox Men’s Shed, the men collectively decided to donate it to the Town of Comox with the request that it be dedicated as a “Welcome Tree” to recent Ukrainian immigrants, especially those dislocated by the Russian-Ukrainian war. The tree is now planted by the Town of Comox in McKenzie Park, aka Quarry Park, in north-east Comox.
Join us, together with the Town of Comox, to dedicate the Welcome Tree on August 24, Ukraine Independence Day.
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