b'Sales Of Beautiful CardsTOM By Estonian Refugee SOOMREWill Help Ukrainian RefugeesAn Estonian refugee, Toomas (Tom)The79-year-oldPortPerryresi- Iknowhowitfeelstobea Soomre knows from personaldent has designed a card featuringrefugee,commentedTom,who experience what the Ukrainianhis artistic original painting. All ofempathizeswiththeplightofthe refugees are going through, and he isthe pro ts will go to the UkrainianUkrainian people since the Russian doing something positive to help. Humanitarian Crisis, said Tom, whoinvasion.planstoprovideassistancetotheIn1944,duringthewar,Toms Ukrainianrefugeefam- family ofveed from the capital of ily settling in Port Perry. Estonia, Tallinn.Tom painted a colour- TheRussianswereshootingat ful image of asun owerus, he said. We were civilians. Its with the Ukrainianthe same as what is happening in theag whichcomeswithanUkraine today.envelope sized 5 x 7.Itwasanatrociouswar,when Thereare125oftheseStalin took over and murdered peo-(blankinside)greetingple, said Tom. The situation in the cardsprintedforthisUkrainetodayisarepeatofwhat fundraisinginitiative.happened.Tom hopes to raise $500. Imagine what it was like for Toms To keep himself busyparents Juri and Elvine. They escaped duringthepandemicthrough the forest to Germany with lockdowns,Tompur- their three young children, Tom and suedcreativeprojects.hisoldersistersImmaandVilme, Hediscoveredthatheseeking refuge in a strange country, had a real talent for art. with nothing more than the clothes Hestartedoutmak- on their backs.ing models of cars andBombs were going owhen they trucks and airplanes. Heran through the bushes, said Toms graduated to fashioningwife Judy. Its the same thing you canoesandteepeesoutsee on TV today.ofbirchbark.ThenheYoung Tom was a real survivor. boughtsomepaintingNot only did he survive these attacks, supplies. he survived being born prematurely I just went to the dol- without the medical care available to larstoretobuypaints,preemies today. He was only two lbs. brushes and canvasses,when he came into the world on May Tom said. 12, 1943. UsinganAudubonFood was hard to come by dur-birdbookasreference,ing wartime, he noted. As a baby, I Tompaintedover24was fed milk and honey. My crib was intricatelydetailedre- a dresser drawer.alisticimagesofbirds.InGermany,twofamilieslived If anyone knows what it is like toee aHe also paintedtogether in one room. owers. country, its Tom. Now he wants to help theHis cheerful painting of the nationalWhen they relocated to Sweden, Ukraine family that recently moved here.young Tomrst attended school for ower of the Ukraine, the sun ower, inspired him to use his artwork as a fundraiser to help Ukrainian refugees. Please turn to page 4FOCUS - JULY 20223'