The celebrations were the brain child of Ron Hungar, a Bellevue native who had worked in the mines.

This last August 29 to 31st, the second of two celebrations of the history of coal in the Crowsnest Pass was held at the Coleman Legion and up the Miner’s Path. Part One was held a year earlier, covered the areas of Bellevue/Hillcrest and drew many together who have a solid bond in being part of this story. The celebrations were the brain child of Ron Hungar, a Bellevue native who had worked in the mines. Ron has now published two commemorative photo books chock full of Pass memories and scenes as well as written five coal mining songs.

The Coleman event on Labour Day weekend at the Legion featured the spectacular personal coal mining collection of Bob Crawford from Grand Cache, one that filled two covered pool tables with artifacts, books and pictures. Bob spoke to the crowd of working in some pretty unusual conditions during his career, including mining a two foot coal seam lying on his side in the Hilltop Mine in Lancashire, England. Amongst his collection of hardhats was one that had a wick and used whale oil. Later on guest Gary Taje, long time UMWA official, gave a wonderful talk, reminiscing on his personal memories of growing up in a thriving Coleman. After supper there was also an interesting slide show presented of photographs taken by John Kinnear in his 30 plus years at the Line Creek Mine north of Sparwood.

The next morning relatives of the Sikora family from Regina gathered along with John Kinnear at the Miner’s Path trailhead and set up two related displays prior to an interpretive walk up the path. One display carried full details of the Joe Sikora story, a young man killed in the McGillivray Mine in 1950. It also had a separate display that presented the medal that Joe was awarded in 2007 from the Canadian Institute of Mining. It is awarded to those who show great bravery in trying to rescue their fellow miner. In Joe’s case his attempt to save his partner cost him his life. The second display was a mock-up of what will eventually be a commemorative plaque on a large rock at the trailhead. It will carry the names of all 58 men killed in McGillivray Mine throughout its history. It is all part of an acknowledgement process that includes 11 different mines within the Pass, with plaques located in some proximity to them. It is an expansion of the Hillcrest Memorial in that it ensures that every single miner who died in Pass mines will have their name posted somewhere. The comprehensive process is supported by the Museum and the Crowsnest Heritage Initiative. The Miner’s Path displays were eventually moved to the Legion where a Sunday brunch was held and sister to Joe Sikora, Agnes Fuchs gave a highly emotional speech outlining the sequence of events that led to Joe’s passing. John Kinnear also spoke to the gathering, outlining his personal concept for all miners to be recognized.