In 2019, before the world changed, I headed out to the Rockton World’s Fair, a century-and-a-half-old event and annual tradition, which at the time everyone including me assumed would continue yearly. (It didn’t).

The outing to the small town of Rockton near Hamilton, Ontario also piggy-backed on my twice-a-year pilgrimage to the Rockton Potters Gallery – home to Pavlo Pottery, a necessary stop along a rural highway since 2007.

Annual Mug Design

Every year, Pavlo Pottery selects a different charity and creates a series of 500 handcrafted mugs sold as an all-proceeds-fundraiser for the chosen charity. Mugs are designed with unique stamp-like images celebrating the work of that particular non-profit.

The day I stopped by in 2019, there were dogs on the mugs – two dog heads in profile. Yes, that year’s selected organization was National Service Dog (NSD), striving to be Canada’s premiere service dog provider. And the mugs were dog-themed.

Of course, I left with a well-crafted dog mug (that I use almost daily) and promoted that NSD fundraiser on this site.

This year, things have dramatically changed.

Both Pavlo Tsarynny and Oksana Pogorila, owners and artists at the Rockton Potters Gallery, were born and raised in Kyiv, Ukraine. Family members still live there, some bunkering in bomb shelters.

You have some idea where this is going….

I can’t begin to imagine their anxiety. I can’t imagine the toll of the injustices that country is experiencing. I can only imagine they poured their hearts into this year’s creative project:

Mugs of Hope Fundraiser for Ukraine with all proceeds benefiting the Canada-Ukraine Foundation, an organization supporting humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Two styles of this unique mug are available this year – one featuring a sunflower, the national flower of Ukraine, and another featuring wheat, the national crop. Mugs are $40 (Canadian) and available in several finishes and colours. Each is numbered.

Mugs of Hope Fundraiser for Ukraine begins online March 24, 2022 and in-store March 25, 2022. Likely, this year’s mug will be in extra high demand.

Visit the Rockton Potters Gallery, 776 Old Highway 8, Rockton, Ontario (Also at the St. Jacobs Market in St. Jacobs, Ontario). The gallery shop is open daily 10:30 am to 5 pm, but ships throughout Canada and the USA.

Slava Ukraini! (Glory to Ukraine)