The Centennial Planning Committee is busy getting ready for its May Day celebration, following a tradition of miners over the years.
Jay Russell of the Atlas Coal Mine said May Day holds a special place in the history of labour and especially miners.
“May 1 has traditionally been a day of celebration across the world for workers, and of course miners in the Drumheller valley always commemorated May Day,” said Russell. “It is my understanding if May 1st landed on a school day, even though it wasn’t official, kids knew there would be a sports day, they knew there would be a march, all kinds of activity… there would even be the rare chance they would get an ice cream cone, they would skip school.”
“We picked it because it is an important day for miners and their families.”
He said since the advent of Labour Day in September, May Day was typically observed as a more serious day for union and labour issues, while Labour Day evolved into a family holiday.
“Of course this year we are using it as the May Day Miners Festival, so we are looking at it as a more jubilant kind of day,” said Russell.
Activities on Saturday, April 30 will be centered around East Coulee.
“Even though we are the Atlas Coal Mine National Historic Site, ourselves, we don’t just remember the Atlas Coal Mine, our mandate is to remember the entire Drumheller district from Nacmine to Dunphy to Willow Creek to here. It is fitting that some of the celebration of the Miners Centennial should be spread thought the existing communities today,” said Russell.
Of course, the Atlas Coal Mine will be open for visits and tours on this day starting at 10 a.m. At 2 p.m. the East Coulee School Museum will be hosting activities and serving ice cream.
At 3 p.m., there will be a book launch of Lawrence Chrismas’ latest project. In addition, Joe Vickers, who has been commissioned to write an album in celebration of the centennial of coal mining, will perform.
This is followed at 4 p.m. by a Hungarian Fruit Dance.
“To my understanding, at certain times of the year when they have this dance, they would hang fruit and goodies down above the dance floor, and if you picked them and got caught, you would have to pay for them. If you didn’t get caught you got to keep them,” explained Russell.
The celebration will continue as Lothar the Magician will be debuting his new ghost walk in Downtown Drumheller. There will also be opportunities for the ghost walk on Sunday.
Vickers will also be performing at the Last Chance Saloon at 9 p.m.
On Sunday, festivities will be in Downtown Drumheller with a pancake breakfast leading into a street festival. There will be costumed characters, music and entertainment. The DVSS graduating class will be hosting a barbecue during the event. Organizers are asking those with vintage cars from the days of mining to come down and show them off. Organizers insist the cars need not be in pristine condition, but like they would have been in the day of coal.
May Day will also be the relaunch of the driving tour signs of historical sites. The Drumheller Rotary Club installed these signs throughout the valley many years ago. They have funded a refurbishing of the signs, in cooperation with the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which designed the new signs. They will be unveiled on this day, and will also be turned over to the Atlas Coal Mine, which will take on stewardship of the signs.
At 1 p.m., there will be a miner procession in Downtown Drumheller in the spirit of May Day. This is for miners and all their descendants who have a little coal dust in their blood.
Linda Digby, taking a line from a song given to her by a descendant of a miner, “We rise again through the faces of our children.
“This is what the procession is really all about because there will be miners, miners’ children, miners’ grandchildren and we are even expecting miners’ great grandchildren. That is what tied them all together.”
During the afternoon, residents can also learn more about the make up of the valley and its dozens of mines. Fred Orosz has teamed up with Wild West Tours to present a guided tour of the valley relic mine sites.
Russell outlined the significance of marking the centennial.
“It is important that while we still have those families we connect with them and celebrate in remembrance of the contributions they made not only to our community, but building this part of the country because of our community,” said Russell.
