WINONA, Minn. – A rally to show Winona solidarity with the war-devastated people of Ukraine will begin Saturday at 11 a.m. The organizers — City Council members George Borzyskowski and Steve Young and high school social studies teacher Dwayne Voegeli — said the event, “Rally for Ukraine and Democracy,” will be at the Lake Park bandshell. The itinerary includes a Ukraine native who lives in Winona, Young said. There will be fundraising for Winona’s Polish sister city Bytow , Young said. An estimated 200,000 Ukrainians have fled to Poland, some to Bytow. A photo of the rally , Young aid, will be posted for Ukrainians to see. The photo will show that even Small Town America knows what’s going on, despite Russian disinformation, and recognizes the Ukrainian cause and their pain, he said.

Sister cities

Winona has two sister cities through the organization Sister Cities International – Misato in northern Japan and Bytow in northwest Poland. In all the organization has arranged relationships between 2,000 communities in 140 countries. Delegations visit each other from time to time.

Connection to Bytow

Bytow, with 16,000 people, is in Poland’s Kashubian region. The region has a distinctive language, food and music. Winona has a large Polish population. About 5,000 Kashubians settled, mostly in the East End, beginning in 1859. Winona has dubbed itself the Kashubian. capital of the United States. Winona organizers planned a Kashuian celebration for 2020, but it was waylaid by the CoVid pandemic. A feature was to be the March of Pomeranians, a parade of the spitz-like Kasubbian breed of dogs. Another event was to be a Bloedow’s doughnut-eating contest. Planners of the event, who went to Bytow in 2019, were Michelle Alexander, a City Council member; Tim Breza, a Kasuhubian Pole and former City Council member; and Scott Olson, president of Winona State University. In 2018 Bytow’s mayor led a delegation to Winona with stops at St. Stanislas Basilica on the East Side, the nearby Polish Museum, and across the river to Wisconsin and the Polish communities if Independence and Pine Creek.