SOUTH CHARLESTON – The Friends of Coal spent a great day at the South Charleston location of Cabela’s Saturday, August 31, celebrating Coal Miner Appreciation Day.
West Virginia Coal Association Senior Vice President Chris Hamilton, Sen. Art Kirkendoll (D-Logan) and bow expert Frank Addington, Jr. were on hand to greet the shoppers at the store along with staff from the Friends of Coal organization.
More than 400 new members were signed up for Friends of Coal during the day-long activities and Hamilton was interviewed by three radio stations, WQBE, WCHS Radio and K-Rock as well as WCHS TV- 8 and WOWK-TV , providing wall-to-wall coverage of the event.
“We are very proud of our hard working coal miners and their families,” Hamilton said. “It has been a difficult time for many these past couple of years as we try to weather the storms created by the Obama regulatory war on coal. This is just one way we are trying to bring a little bit of happiness and give them some encouragement.”
Anyone who had a miner’s ID card or stopped by to sign up for Friends of Coal was given an in-store discount of up to 40 percent.
Neil DePugh, interim marketing manager for the South Charleston Cabela’s store, said the store wanted to recognize the contributions of our area’s coal miners.
“I know its been said a million times but they really do keep the lights on... for the state and for our store,” DePugh said. “We know they are some of our most loyal customers and we are thankful for the support they provide.”
Sen. Kirkendoll, whose senatorial district has been hard hit by the job losses brought on by the Obama regulatory onslaught, spoke to the crowd during a lunch break.
“Our country depends on coal,” Kirkendoll said. “Our state and our communities depend on coal being mined. It is our most abundant natural resource and provides cheap, affordable electricity. Our nation’s economy is struggling but Obama seems determined to throw even more people out of work. It doesn’t make sense.”
Kirkendoll said he hopes the day’s festivities were enough to help the people of the region put those problems out of their minds for just a little while.
“We are in the middle of a fight,” he said. “It’s a fight to survive and it’s not one we can afford to lose. But sometimes you just have to let that go for a while and enjoy the day. And it has been wonderful day.”
Hamilton told the crowd that he just wants to make sure that each and every coal miner, truck driver, barge worker, electric utility worker, maintenance worker and machine shop employee, and anyone else whose job helps make the coal industry understands how important they are and that their work is appreciated.
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