Published: August 08, 2007 12:46 am      

Monongah beautification project under way

Planting flowers part of ‘labor of love’ for Heroine Committee

MONONGAH — Tuesday afternoon, members of the Monongah Heroine Committee were busy planting flowers around the town’s monument.

Mitch Mason of Hauge’s Flower Store in Fairmont donated the plants to go inside the brick and concrete plaza that surrounds the marble statue.

Denise Roncone made the arrangements to obtain the flowers, which were placed in three planting areas in the corners of the plaza. The Monongah Heroine Statue sits next to the Monongah Town Hall and honors the wives and mothers of the victims of the Monongah Coal Mine Disaster of Dec. 6, 1907.

The Monongah Heroine Committee started work on the $75,000 project four years ago. Committee member Russell Bonasso said the Italian government has underwritten the major cost of the monument, and the state of West Virginia has also participated in the funding. Cook Brothers Building Co. donated the land for the statue, and Petrucci Brothers Contracting built the monument. Stewart Granite Works was also involved in the project.

“You see what this group has done. It’s really been a labor of love for all of us,” Bonasso said. “We’re proud to have a place to recognize the Monongah Heroine and all the women who had hardships in the early 1900s.”

These flowers are part of Monongah’s beautification efforts in preparation for upcoming events. This year, the town’s festival, Monongahfest, is being combined with activities in remembrance of the 1907 mine disaster.

Roger Huffman, mayor of Monongah, said new windows have been installed in the town hall. To spruce up the building’s interior and get it up to date, the walls were painted and new fans were added. Landscaping work has been done outside the town hall, and the state recently paved the road in front of the building.

“The monument is up,” Huffman said. “You’re going to see the town is looking really refreshed. It’s looking really good.”

The commemorative events will start with the Monongah Mine Disaster Centennial Remembrance Dinner at 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 16, at Westchester Village. Gov. Joe Manchin will be the guest speaker for the event, and state Sen. Roman Prezioso, who is chairman of the Monongah Mine Disaster Centennial Remembrance Committee, will also speak. Prezioso and Marianne Moran, director of the Convention and Visitors’ Bureau of Marion County who is also on the committee, organized the dinner.

The dinner will cost $30 per person, and individuals must make reservations with the CVB at 368-1123 by this Friday. As of Tuesday morning, 90 people had already made reservations for the event.

“It really not only affected the town of Monongah, but the whole mining industry as a whole,” Moran said. “It’s certainly not a celebration — it’s a very solemn occasion — but it’s a remembrance.”

After a prededication of the Monongah Heroine Statue at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17, visitors can attend a reception and a candlelight vigil at Mount Calvary Cemetery where many miners were buried.

Monongahfest will take place Saturday, Aug. 18. Festival activities include a country breakfast in the Monongah Town Hall, parade, Christopher’s Buffet in the town hall, entertainment, arts and crafts, children’s activities, food vendors and fireworks.

The remembrance activities will conclude with a Mass with Bishop Michael Bransfield at 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 19, at Holy Spirit Catholic Church, followed by a memorial walk to Mount Calvary Cemetery. Buses will also be available.

A dedication ceremony for the Monongah Heroine Statue is slated for the week of Columbus Day. All of these events will culminate with the Monongah Mine Disaster Centennial Remembrance Ceremony Dec. 6.

“Those plans are being formulated now,” Moran said of the ceremony.

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timesw.com.