A myriad of emotions were tapped on Saturday as young and old marched to celebrate and remember.
After years of hard work, the Miners' Memorial was dedicated. While it has taken about three years to get to this point, Linda Digby of the Atlas Coal Mine said there have been people waiting the better part of a century to see something in place to honour the men.
An emotional walk from the Badlands Community Facility to the new Memorial saw incredible participation as miners and families of miners past gathered to dedicate the park.
“We join with communities throughout the world where similarly miners have lost their lives and engage in the work today. These names, now etched in stone, even as they are fixed forever in the hearts of those who knew them best and loved them most, are woven into the very fabric of life here in the Drumheller Valley,” said Rev. Jan Richardson at the dedication.
One of the main drivers of the memorial was Olga Skrlik, whose young husband John Myers and his brother died in one of the most terrible accidents in Drumheller mine history. She was on hand to take part in the ceremony.
“This has finally come full circle,” she said. “I wanted this so much for John’s sons and grandchildren. He is not here, they never got to know him, but his name will always be here.”
The Rosebud Men’s Choir performed at the event, and renowned photographer Lawrence Chrismas read the honour roll of the 207 men whose names now appear on the Memorial. Artist and former miner Marcel Deschenes was commissioned to create a mural to go along side the memorial in the park beside what will soon be the Drumheller Town Hall. It was unveiled by the hands of miners on Saturday as well.
The official dedication was complete when families of the fallen miners christened the memorial with coal.
“We began researching the names about three years ago," recalled Digby. “When staff and volunteers dug into archives and records, we noticed some men who perished in our coal field left a large circle of family behind to mourn them, while others, many who crossed the ocean on their own, simply disappeared from the family record. After their brothers from the mine, who gathered to pay their last respects to these men, there was no family there to place a stone on their grave. Today we recall all of them.”
Miners and family members of miners participated in the May Day Mach on Saturday to the dedication of the Miners Memorial, led by piper Dave Daly.
A mural by Marcel Deschenes was unveiled during the Miners’ Memorial dedication on Saturday.
Families placed a piece of coal on the Miners Memorial on Saturday to remember a fallen family member and to dedicate the monument in downtown Drumheller.
Although it may not necessarily look like it on the outside, the inside of the Drumheller Civic Centre is buzzing with activity.
