The Friends of Coal has partnered with the B.A.S.S. Nation of West Virginia as a major sponsor for 2013.  Friends of Coal materials and signage will be visible at B.A.S.S events, to include the upcoming Northern Qualifier tournament to be held Oct. 5-6 on the Mon River at Prickett’s Fort near Fairmont.

The annual Rocket Boys Festival will be held Oct. 4-6 in Beckley. The event celebrates the lives of the four original “Rocket Boys” whose story was told in the award-winning movie, “October Sky.” This year’s event will begin October 4 with a screening of the film at 9 am in the Governor Hulett C. Smith Theatre at Tamarack. Later that day Rocket Boy Homer Hickam, whose book was turned into the movie, will host a writer’s workshop at the facility. At 7:30 a concert featuring Johnny Staats and the Delivery Boys will be held at the Woodrow Wilson Auditorium in Beckley.  Friends of Coal Spokesmen, Coach Don Nehlen and Coach Bobby Pruett will also participate in this year’s event.

The Friends of Coal and Consol Energy are prominent sponsors of this year’s West Virginia National Hunting & Fishing Days Celebration, taking place September 28-29, 2013 at Stonewall Resort State Park, near Weston.

Recognized as our state’s main celebration of West Virginia’s outdoor and sporting heritage, we encourage all Friends of Coal to come out, bring their family and enjoy two days of outdoor activities and demonstrations by some of the world’s top outdoorsmen and women.

Our very own Derek Keeling, son of Roger and Sandi Keeling, who most recently was the Broadway star of the revival of GREASE, appearing on NBC’s “You’re the One That I Want,” and portraying Johnny Cash in the international tour of Million Dollar Quartet will be doing a “Tribute to the Music of Johnny Cash” on Saturday, September 28, 2013 in South Charleston at Labelle Theater, 311 D Street, South Charleston.  It will begin at 7 p.m. The general admission will be $35.00 and can be obtained online at:  www.derekkeeling.com (all major credit cards accepted).  Purchased tickets will be available at will call at the theater only.  A portion of the proceeds will go to HospiceCare.

The West Virginia Coal Forum with co-hosts the Chamber of Commerce of Martinsburg & Berkeley County, Jefferson County Economic Development Authority, Berkeley County Economic Development Authority, the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce and the Eastern Panhandle Business Association conducted a meeting on Wednesday, September 4th to discuss the significance of the coal industry and coal exports to the Eastern Panhandle, our state and the nation at the Martinsburg Holiday Inn. Coal Forum Co-Chairmen Chris Hamilton, WV Coal Association, and Fred Tucker, UMWA, welcomed the more than 70 event attendees and set the stage for the meeting.