A blank billboard at the point lands near Bridgeview Marina in Point Edward has been transformed into the Ukrainian flag.
Fred Mast, who lives at the marina, gathered a group of friends Wednesday morning to paint a wood sign that had been sitting blank for years.
"I watched the news from the night before at 6 a.m. and man I had to turn away from the t.v., and I looked to my right and there was that sign," said Mast. "It struck me that we could do this, make a huge flag that's seen internationally, no controversy, just something to keep it in our conscience."
He said he wanted to show support for the country, which is also home to a very dear friend of his.
"Brian Drewitt, an old roommate of mine, married a lovely Ukrainian girl," said Mast. "Over the last year and a half, his brothers-in-law and family built them a beautiful log-cabin in Ukraine. They sold everything here in Canada, packed up and moved towards Ukraine three weeks ago, and were still vacationing when the invasion occurred."
He said Drewitt is now in Slovakia, with the women and children in his wife's family, while the men stayed behind to fight. Mast said he called his friend right after they were finished painting.
"I immediately sent him pictures and the video so he would've been the first person to see it," he said. "He was very thankful, brought in his wife to see the video and she was thankful and cried. He said keep up the good work and he was going to keep it up down there, and pray for Ukraine was his message back to me."
Josh Saunders, Terry Glover and Tim Kozachuk helped out with the project Wednesday.
"I got quite emotional and couldn't really speak to my wife at the time when I came up with the idea," said Mast. "It was pretty amazing the friends that backed me up, some chipped in money for the paint and a couple of them were here bright and early in the morning. We took a wheelbarrow full of paint and rollers out there and had at her."
