Ground breaking for Miners Memorial

By PATSY STODDARD Editor

A ground breaking ceremony was held at the Museum of the San Rafael in Castle Dale for the new Miners Memorial.
This memorial will honor all of those coal miners who have lost their lives in Emery County mines during the history of coal mining in the county.
Dennis Ardohain and LoriAnn Larsen as well as the Miners Memorial committee has been working diligently to raise the funding for the Emery County Miners Memorial. The Carbon County miners memorial was dedicated on Labor Day weekend 2015.
The Emery County memorial is progressing and will be dedicated after the Emery County Fair parade on June 11. All Coal miners have been chosen as the grand marshals of this year’s fair parade and they are invited to ride or walk in the parade.
There will also be a dove release at the conclusion of the dedication program. The miners angel statue which will be part of the monument is seen releasing a dove. All miners families who have had a lost miner or anyone wishing to can take part in this dove release. The cost is $25 per dove and you must let LoriAnn Larsen know you would like a dove at 687-5458.
Emery County Commissioner Paul Cowley welcomed everyone to the ground breaking ceremony. He expressed his gratitude for those involved in making the monument a reality. “We are excited to see it erected. I would like to thank the coal miners in Carbon and Emery counties. There are many who have lost their lives in the coal mines and it has impacted both of our counties. Coal mining is so much a part of our counties. We honor those who work and have died in the coal mines,” said Commissioner Cowley.
LoriAnn Larsen said she would like to recognize and thank everyone for their support of the Emery County Miners Memorial. “The Emery County Commission has been very supportive. They supported the fund raising dinner we held and bought their tickets and then donated them to a family who had lost a miner. All of the cities have been very supportive and the citizens. When we first started out we were selling hats and hoodies at booths at events and holding raffles, without the support of our corporations and Sen. Hinkins, we would still be doing that. Everyone has stepped up to make these memorials a reality.
“People have asked me why I have worked so hard on this project. I have lived in Emery County my whole life. There is a vein of coal that runs through these mountains. Without that we wouldn’t be here. The farmers haven’t been able to earn a living without supplementing their incomes with jobs in the mines and other industries. My grandpa worked at Hiawatha for 31 years. My father before he would go to work in the mine would always seek out my mother and give her a kiss. I watched them without really knowing why, but as I got older, I figured it out that coal mining comes with inherent risks. Coal miners risk their lives every day. This memorial will be dedicated in June to all those miners who didn’t come home.
“These monuments are important to us. We are going to clean the Wilberg Monument and get it ready for the dedication, too. We invite everyone to plan to come to the dedication on June 11,” said Larsen.
The next step will be getting the cement slab poured for the monument. The miners statue is ready and the miners angel will be ready in two weeks. The black granite has been ordered. The donor plaques will be prepared after the monument is dedicated. The miners names will be engraved on plaques and placed on the black granite.
During the monument dedication there will be bleachers brought over and you’re encouraged to bring your own chair and shade because a large turnout is expected. After the dedication there will be a hotdog lunch.
At the dedication ceremony there will be speakers, the Huntington Glee Club will sing and Cecil Roberts from the National United Mine Workers will speak. There will be an unveiling of the monument and then a group will sing Amazing Grace and then the doves will be released.
Everyone gathered around as the commissioners and committee members as well as elected officials and the Emery County Business Chamber took the first shovelfuls of dirt from the site to officially break ground for the Emery County Miners Memorial. State Senator David Hinkins took part in the ground breaking. He was instrumental in securing funding for the Carbon/Emery memorials from the state legislature.
Those in attendance from the committee included: Dennis Ardohain and Frank Markosek, Lori Ann Larsen, Lorie McElprang, Rhonda Peterson and Barbara Metelko.