A celebration for the first “West Virginia Coal Miner’s Appreciation Day,” was held during the holiday weekend at the Coal House in Williamson.

The event was hosted by the Mingo County Young Democrats, Mingo County Commission and the Tug Valley Chamber of Commerce.

On Sunday, the Mingo County Young Democrats Chapter, the primary sponsor of the event, placed a wreath on the Coal House in honor and in memory of all coal miners. The group, along with numerous elected officials, also released balloons into the air in honor of all coal miners.

The event featured several speakers asguests paid their respects to all West Virginia coal miners.

West Virginia State Treasurer John Perdue was unable to attend but sent remarks honoring West Virginia Coal Miners. Congressman Nick Rahall also sent remarks praising the Mingo County Young Democrats for their instrumental support and perseverance in getting this holiday proclaimed.

Mingo County Commissioner John Mark Hubbard addressed the crowd while holding his father’s old hard hat. He said it was so great to finally see a holiday honoring the state’s coal miners. He went on to say it was even better to see the young people there and pointed to Marcum, Larry “Yogi” Croaff who is the Mingo County Chapter’s vice president and Leslie Hobbs, the club’s secretary/treasurer because they were the voice behind the holiday.

Commissioner Greg “Hootie” Smith reiterated Hubbard’s remarks and went further by saying it was a true privilege to honor West Virginia Coal miners and was proud of the youth of Mingo Coutny who pushed for the day solely to celebrate coal miners.

Williamson Mayor Darrin McCormick said living in the “Heart of the Trillion Dollar Coalfields” everyone knew a coal miner, was a coal miner, or was affected by the coal industry.

Delegate Steve Kominar talked about the importance of coal miners and praised the Young Democrats for initiating this idea. Kominar also spoke about the governmental process and how the Mingo County Young Democrats were great in pushing this through. He also addressed the importance of coal to West Virginia.

Following the brief remarks everyone socialized, shared a cake that read “Thank You WV Coal Miners”, and the celebration continued for approximately three hours as numerous coal miners and UMWA members attended.

“It was great to see such a good turnout honoring our state’s coal miners,” said Marcum. “Being a past coal miner myself I understand what people of the industry are facing and what they go through each and every day and I will continually support coal miners.”

“Coal it vial to Mingo County and all of West Virginia,” said Croaff. “Everyone needs to ban together and support our state’s number one industry.”

“The men and women of the coal industry account for over 60,000 jobs in the West Virginia workforce,” thy explained. “Coal also accounts for over $3.5 billion in gross state product.”