REMEMBERING KING COAL!

 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6TH,

REMEMBERING KING COAL!
 
     This is a day that should get a
lot of attention around these parts.
Yet I doubt most people even
know about it.
      December 6th., is National
Miner's Day. And, by the way, it
is official! A resolution designating
the day was passed by the U.S.
Senate in 2009.
      Other than occasional visits to
the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour
my only experience with mining
came as a reporter a few years
back. It was in Schuylkill County
where a team of brothers operated
a coal mine some 500 feet below
the surface.
      My photographer and I were
invited inside so, after putting a
set of coveralls over my business
suit, I joined my cameraman and
one of the brothers on a ride straight
down into the mine standing on a
ladder inside a giant coal bucket!
     There was a long tunnel at the
bottom with a set of tracks and a
small engine used to haul a sting of
coal cars. We road in one of the
cars and had to duck every few feet
so our head didn't smack a timber
or one of the light bulbs that provided
the only glow inside that long cave.
     Water dripped everywhere and 
I couldn't help but notice the way we
came in seemed to be the only way
out. That's when I stated to wonder
if I really needed to be there.
      That thought hit me again when
the miner said he was about to set
off a charge! That's dynamite to us
lay people!
      I made it back out with a good
story and a much deeper appreciation
to those men who spent the better
part of their lives laboring in tunnels
like that to provide for their families
and our communities.
      Up till then I figured a "Beaker
Boy" was the kid that flipped the
switch to get the lights back on!
       I'd like to see today's minors learn
more about the miners we're suppose
to be honoring!
       Hope we all remember them and
that all your NEWS is good!