Aaron Tippin
Sure, there will be a wide variety of musical entertainment, the fireworks, the carnival, parade, mine machinery displays, junior and miss pageants, food vendors, and other forms of entertainment that the public has come to enjoy during the past 16 years, but the recent mine disaster on April 5, just across the Boone County line in Raleigh County, will have an effect on everyone this year.
Twenty-nine miners lost their lives in the recent explosion at Performance Coal’s Upper Big Branch Mine, and that tragedy obviously will weigh heavy on everyone’s mind during the upcoming Festival.
“This will be the most difficult service that we’ve ever faced,” said Delores W. Cook, coordinator of the Coal Festival’s Miners Memorial Service, which will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 16 on the front lawn of the Boone County Courthouse.
Since the last West Virginia Coal Festival, 31 coal miners have been killed in West Virginia.
The West Virginia Coal Festival Planning Committee met last week to continue making plans for the five-day event that is held annually the third week of June, and most of the discussion focused on the tragic events of April 5.
This year, it will be very difficult to come up with a memorial tribute to the victims and their families. The usual format is to have the name of the deceased mine victim announced on the public address system followed by the lighting of a candle in their memory. This year’s solemn memorial will be a difficult task for the committee and the entire community as well.
West Virginia Coal Festival President Joy Underwood announced the major entertainment for this year’s festival, which includes the legendary Aaron Tippin on Thursday, June 17; Highway 101 on Friday, June 18, and Savannah Jack on Saturday, June 19.
Tippin will wow the Coal Festival audience with his vigorous enthusiasm. Fresh from unveiling “He Believed,” his exclusive album for Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores, Tippin recently released a second collection of songs, one that salutes America’s truck drivers. It’s called “In Overdrive,” and features all the trucker classics, including “Eastbound and Down,” and “Driving My Life Away.”
For more than 20 years, Tippin has been crusading for the working man and woman since he ripped country music wide open with his great hit, “You’ve Got to Stand for Something.”
Highway 101 will be making their second visit to the West Virginia Coal Festival. They will be performing some of their big hits, including “Whiskey If You Were A Woman,” “Are You Still Mine,” and “One Step Closer.”
On Satuday, June 19, Savannah Jack will be the main attraction. The male trio is being hailed as the next “Alabama.” Their big hit is entitled: “I Know.”
Another main attraction at the festival is the mine machinery equipment, which is always
displayed on the parking lot across from the Boone County Courthouse. James R. “Jimbo” Clendenen, coordinator, said he has been in contacted with many of the same vendors from past festivals and they definitely want to be in attendance. Many miners bring their families to the display so they can get a look at the equipment they work on underground.
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