Miner memorial becomes reality
A pie-in-the-sky idea of creating a memorial to honor coal miners who worked strenuously in the black pits of the earth for decades has been turned into a reality by students of a Washington County school.
Tom Shimrock sat back in a chair in the fine arts classroom at Bethlehem-Center High School, near Fredericktown, smiled at a miniature model of a miner seated on a block of coal, and said, "It took us two years, but we did it -- my kids did it."
Shimrock, the school's fine arts teacher, said the memorial is finished and final preparations are being made to a grassy site in front of the high school building on Crawford Road in Deemston Borough, where the 2,000-pound bronze memorial will be placed as a tribute to miners in Fayette, Greene and Washington counties.
The memorial will be unveiled during a dedication ceremony scheduled to start at noon Saturday. "We'll have local dignitaries as well as officials from the United Mine Workers of America on hand," he said. "In addition, the school band will perform, and we'll have a pictorial chronological happening (of the project) from beginning to end.
"But, we're not going to unveil the memorial until halfway through the program. We want this to be a fitting dedication for who it stands for and for their future."
The project was designed, conceived and constructed by Beth-Center High School students.
"It originated in November 2001," Shimrock said. "It was a kind of a pie-in-the-sky classroom type of idea. But we soon were excited when we discovered that people had enough confidence in us to make enough $50 pledges to make this happen. We ended up with 900 pledges and altogether raised a total $93,000 for the project. We got the added funding through grants secured by local lawmakers, several regional coal companies and private patrons, and the United Mine Workers."
He said the total cost for the project "is about what we got, and we're spending any extra on final preparations."
The instructor described the monument as a 71/2-foot bronze coal miner, seated on a 16-inch piece of granite. Positioned behind it are three 81/2-foot black Pennsylvania granite pillars where the names of all the pledged miners -- past and present -- are engraved. Another wall of architectural concrete will encompass the piece. Brightening the landscape are 14 Irish juniper trees.
"It's a showpiece -- a true monument to those who worked tirelessly to help shape this area," Shimrock said.
Shimrock said he had a core group of students, about 30, which has been with the project the whole time. "But, I'm sure there's not a kid in any of my (fine art) classes, from ninth to 12th grade, who hasn't touched it in some way, shape or form, and we're talking about a couple of hundred over the years."
Alan Cottill, a Washington, Pa., artist, added the finishing touches and bronzing to the sculpted model in his Zanesville, Ohio, foundry.
A student donned miner's gear and was photographed in various poses, with the class selecting the one with the miner seated and reading a book with lunch bucket, safety lamp and pick at his side. "The idea behind this," Shimrock said, "is the fact that most of our forefathers who came to this country did not speak English, so it was key for them to learn to read so they could understand and advance in life."
The pick depicts the older era of miners. "We wanted to try to encompass all eras of coal mining as much as we could," he said.
The son of a Marianna coal miner, Shimrock said he can remember his father prodding him constantly to study. "We thought that (the miner with book) was real important, even up to this day.
"If it weren't for a bunch of learned coal miners, the Quecreek miracle would have been the Quecreek disaster," he said, referring to last July's rescue of nine miners trapped in a mine in Somerset County.
"Ninety percent of the kids here had or still have someone in the mine." he said. "Although (there are) not as many jobs today, the area is still known for its coal production."
Allen Bebout, a senior taking his fourth year of art, has been involved with the project since the start.
"I helped Mr. Shimrock with the different poses of the miner, as well as the sculpting and casting. I'm proud of the project and it's something I'll equally be proud of in the future. The name of my grandfather, Jack Akers, is on there."
Sophomore Christina Gregg wasn't involved initially, but went out with pick and shovel to prepare the site.
"I feel Mr. Shimrock has done a lot for us, so we needed to show a little appreciation and do something for him. I'm proud of the memorial and what little I did to help out."
Even though invitations have been sent out to those who contributed financially to the project, Shimrock said the public is certainly welcome to the dedication. "This is a community project and represents those who had a hand in helping to fuel this growing nation. The monument will be here to remind future generations of the hard life and times endured by the American coal miner."
