$1.25
your homegrown newspaper
Vol. 18, No. 26
March 16, 2022
Citizens march in show of support for Ukraine By Kristi Niemeyer for the Valley Journal
Brewery news pg. 5
Ronan choir pg. 14
Sports pg. 20
POLSON — More than 30 people, bundled up and bearing blue and yellow flags, banners and sunflower bouquets, braved the cold last Monday to walk back and forth across the Polson bridge in support of Ukraine. The march was organized by Lake County Democrats and billed as a non-partisan event. “As Montanans, we all share a love for freedom and democracy,” sponsors said. “Let’s show our support and encourage leaders to give the Ukrainians the support that they need to defend their country.” One woman had yellow and blue bandanas tied to each arm, another had a tiny Ukrainian flat laced into her shoe, while a man, wearing shorts, crossed the bridge in his wheelchair. Protestors waved signs reading “Montanans Stand with Ukraine,” “Freedom and Peace for Ukraine,” “Stop Putin, Stop War.” Passing vehicles offered a chorus of encouragement,
“
To stop evil we have to call it what it is.” - Elisabeth Mollica
KRISTI NIEMEYER PHOTO
As the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces intensified last week, concerned citizens marched with Ukrainian flags across the Armed Forces Memorial Bridge in Polson to show support for the democratic country.
with honking horns and thumbs up. For at least one participant, the walk was deeply personal. When Russia invaded the independent nation of Ukraine Feb. 24, it stirred a wasp nest
of memories for Elisabeth Mollica, a resident of Wood’s Bay and a refugee of Soviet-era oppression. Mollica’s grandparents are buried just a few miles from Ukraine’s
w w w.va l le yj our na l.net
border with Hungary, near the quaint and previously peaceful village of Uzhhorod, on the river Uzh. Her family of four children and parents, plus a grandmother and aunts and uncles, were expelled
from Hungary in 1945 when she was five years old. By the time she was six, they were in their third refugee camp. “Whenever the trains see page 2
