Western Mass. vodka maker heading to Poland to aid Ukrainian refugees

Updated: Mar. 03, 2022, 4:36 p.m. | Published: Mar. 03, 2022, 4:36 p.m.

By Ron Chimelis | rchimelis@repub.com

HADLEY — Paul Kozub said his conscience and his commitment to the people of Eastern Europe made the decision for him.

“I feel I have to go Poland,” said Kozub, whose company, Valley Vodka Inc., will donate $1 for every bottle sold in March to assist refugeees from war-torn Ukraine. 

Valley Vodka, headquartered in Hadley, is the maker of V-One Vodka, an award-winning brand that Kozub created. He is expected to arrive at the V-One distillery in Kamien, Poland on Sunday.

The distillery is located about two hours from the Ukraine border, where refugees have been crossing the border in droves.

“I feel such a connection to Eastern Europe. This will be my 60th trip in 17 years, but only my second in the last year and a half,” Kozub said. “I’m overdue. I used to go three or four times a year, but then COVID-19 slowed us down. My last trip was in June of 2021.”

He is not only going to the distillery he owns with a partner, but bringing $5,000 of his own money to support the refugees pouring over the border from war-torn Ukraine. The current exchange rate for currency will work favorably, he said.

“The exchange rate is usually about 3-to-1. But with all that’s been going on, it’s up to around 4-to-1, so my money will be worth 25% more,” Kozub said.

Announcement of his support has been posted on Facebook and other social media outlets. It was not a hasty decision, and the region’s volatility gave Kozub pause.

“I have a wife and four children under 8. I began to think that maybe I shouldn’t go. But I have to go,” he said.

”My life was forever changed for the better when I made my first trip to Eastern Poland 17 years ago to start my craft vodka business. In 2019, I purchased a distillery in Kamień, just a few hours from the Ukrainian border. I feel compelled to do something to help the people of Ukraine.

Kozub owns 51% of the distillery in Kamien. In addition to visiting the plant, he will travel to the Ukraine-Poland border to meet directly with refugees.

His partner in the Kamien distillery has a cousin near the border, where long lines of refugees have been reported. Altogether, Kozub will be in Poland for a week.

“I hear there’s been something like a half a million immigrants crossing,” he said.

Kamień is 219 miles (352 kilometers) southeast of Warsaw.

V-One Vodka has been crafting small batch vodka in Eastern Poland since 2005. It was the first craft vodka made from 100% spelt, a type of grain related to wheat, barley and rye.

It was won several awards and competitions and launched six successful flavors since 2012.

“We’re launching a new flavor, so I was ready to return to Kamien,” Kozub said. “Now, with what has been happening, I feel I have to go.”

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The Strange Evolution of an Old Copy Line for the Hummer H1

From conspicuous consumption to spiritual mindfulness

By Shane Hutton of Arcana Academy on Dec 06 2021 – 7:00am

When I first became a spiritual guru, I was working in Boston on a series of print ads for the Hummer H1. It was 2001, pre-September, everybody’s Chakras were still relatively aligned.

The Hummer H2 was soon to launch to the masses. To help broaden appeal to a larger audience, we wanted to soften the oversized, aggressive image the brand had at the time.

In essence, we decided to use the H1 campaign to shift the brand’s dosha a little away from fire and a little closer to air. 

To find images that fit the tagline “Like Nothing Else,” we traveled to the four corners of the world and depicted the biggest, baddest truck on the planet, dwarfed by the landscapes it was designed to conquer.

Places so remote really do make you “Feel small,” as one headline invited the audience to do. The isolation reminds you of your insignificance and makes you introspective, softly forcing you to be present in the moment and consider your place in the vista.

The headlines reflected my inner monologue, asking the high-net worth iconoclasts attracted to the Hummer brand, “What good is the world at your fingertips if you never actually touch it?” and “How’d my soul get way out here?”

Tying all the headlines together was a “bridge line” (in the bottom left of the ads) that summed up the sentiment in the clean, symmetrical, circular style copywriters like: “Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere. And sometimes in the middle of nowhere you find yourself.” 

I don’t know how. I’m not sure when. But in the two decades since the ads ran, the line has taken on a life of its own. It studied yoga, did Ayahuasca in the Amazon with a shaman, slept in a Yurt and went to Burning Man back when it was still cool. Today, it is a wellness advisor and lifestyle coach, while I’m co-founder and ECD of a creative agency in L.A.

Last weekend I wanted to show a friend the H2 ads, so I typed that bridge line into a search engine and this is what came back, attributed to “author unknown.” 

It’s all good. I will consider it as my selfless service. Namaste.TAGSARCANA ACADEMYAUTOMOTIVEHUMMERMODERNISTA!MUSINGSADVERTISING

Shane HuttonShane Hutton is co-founder and executive creative director at Arcana Academy, a Los Angeles-based creative advertising agency with a full post-production and audio suite.More from Shane Hutton