Hope for The Six Hangs On

James L. Davis

Hope can be a fragile thing. And since the early morning hours of Aug. 6 hope has been one thing the Emery and Carbon county communities and with them the rest of the nation and world have struggled to hang on to. Hope for six miners trapped beneath a mountain in the Crandall Canyon Mine.

The collapse of the mine and the fate of The Six has drawn the focus of the world to Emery County as rescuers work tirelessly to reach their fellow miners. As they work the world watches and the communities that know and love and support them sit by their televisions or anxiously read the daily newspapers for some new bit of information that will foster that buffeted but still alive sense of hope.

By week’s end the hunger for new information was largely unsatisfied and the families, friends and loved ones of The Six were exhausted as a rescue effort made slow progress but provided little in the way of details as to the fate of the miners.

Bore holes drilled to where The Six were anticipated to be revealed a livable space but limited oxygen supply and inside the mine rescue workers continued to try and clear a path to reach their fellow miners.

In a week of unrelenting stress and media attention, Emery County and its people have been in the spotlight as it struggles to come to terms with a mix of emotions that has united the community in an embrace of mutual caring.

From candle light vigils, to religious gatherings for the faithful, the community has rallied to support one another and shown a strength of resolve that has surprised those unfamiliar with the area. But while those unfamiliar with what it is like to live here may be surprised by the unity apparent, it is not a surprise to those who call the area home.

And at the mouth of the Crandall Canyon Mine, the mine rescue workers come and go, working every moment that they can to do whatever they can to help. Standing as sentinels against a throng of media and the curious, the men and women of the Emery County Sheriff’s Office try to keep the roadway open for rescue operations and the lines of communication open for the press. After more than a week the strain on the faces of all involved is beginning to show.

“They all put on a pretty good show, but every one of them is impacted by this in some way,” said Emery County Sheriff Lamar Guymon of his deputies who have struggled to protect the families of The Six throughout the week and protect the roadway leading to the mine from intrusion that could slow the rescue effort.

The sheriff’s office has been on the scene since the collapse first happened and deputies have stood watch 24 hours a day not only at the mine sight but at Canyon View Junior High School, where many of the family members wait for word on their loved ones.

In the days since the mine’s collapse Sheriff Guymon has been on sight at the mine the majority of the time and has watched as the mine management and the federal officials of the Mine Safety and Health Administration have worked to coordinate the rescue effort. He said he has been impressed with their resolve.

“I truly believe they are trying to do everything they can possibly do. They’re willing to do whatever it takes to get to the miners,” Sheriff Guymon said.

During the long and frustrating week since the mine’s collapse the sheriff said he has seen things that have aggravated him, that he wasn’t willing to talk about, but he has also seen things that have inspired him, which he was willing to talk about.

What has inspired him the most is the quality of the people working to rescue The Six.

“I’ve been up there a lot of the time and I have not heard one of the coal miners say I wish I was somewhere else. The opposite, in fact. They want to get in there and do something. That’s been inspiring. Even with my own deputies, I haven’t heard any of them say I can’t do this. People that live here, how they have come together. That has been inspiring. Even some of the media have been inspiring. Most of them have been pretty positive and have tried to stay upbeat,” he said.

In an effort to help in any way possible, donations are being accepted for the families of The Six at Huntington City Hall, at ???? and at ????. A special country concert, organized by the Lions Club is being held on Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Huntington City Park.

As the rescue efforts continue the community of Emery and Carbon counties have countless examples of little acts of kindness toward the families of The Six, the mine rescuers and all of the support staff working to bring the miners home. From late night pizza deliveries to a soft spoken word of encouragement, to a shoulder to cry on and a smile to revitalize hope, the community is working together with one common goal: Bring The Six home.

County Copes with Media Onslaught

James L. Davis

The whirlwind of media attention that has engulfed the Emery County area as a result of the Crandall Canyon Mine incident has been an educational experience for the residents of the county as well as the media.

As media from across the nation and around the world have descended on the county the perceptions by the county on what a representative of the media is like and the media perception of the people that call the area home has changed during a stressful week.

In Huntington businesses have posted signs outside their establishments asking for the media to please respect the privacy of their patrons in response to media overwhelming shoppers with questions as they searched for new angles on the trapped miner story.

At Canyon View Junior High School law enforcement stands outside the school grounds to keep the media at bay as family members wait for word on their loved ones and other members of the press use telephoto lenses to zoom in on family members walking the track or sitting on the lawn of the school.

Some of the media’s tactics have left a bad taste in the mouth of many Emery County residents, many of whom remember confrontations with the media during the Wilberg Mine fire. Those memories have left many of the community leery of talking to the media at all, which in turn caused many of the media to wonder if the silence by the community was being forced upon it by a heavy handed mine management.

For Sheriff Lamar Guymon, who was sheriff during the Wilberg Mine disaster, said the media he faces today is better than the media he faced then.

“The media was terrible during Wilberg. But I don’t know that we did as good a job then as we are doing now. I know I didn’t have a lot of education in media relations. This group has been pretty respectful of the families,” the sheriff said.

Not to say that there haven’t been cases where the media it is felt overstepped their bounds. Reports have surfaced of media attempting to gain access to one family member’s home during the middle of a child’s birthday party and of another incident where a family member was called and asked for their address for a flower delivery. When the address was given the delivery was made by a member of the press.

In the first days of the incident one media outlet, after being denied a trip to the mine site, gained access by hiking in from Forest Service property. Sheriff’s office deputies, not amused, escorted the press out of the area.

The ironic twist to the unauthorized trip by the media is that shortly after their hike the press was taken in to the mine site.

“If they had just been patient they would have gotten what they wanted,” Sheriff Guymon said.
Many in the community, especially in Huntington, have grown tired of fielding questions from the media and are only interested in getting answers, answers as to the status of The Six and how the rescue is progressing.

For Sheriff Guymon, the mass of press for the incident is invaluable training for his people.
“They’ve gotten to see people being interviewed by the press and what happens when you misspeak even one word. When you’re talking to the national media you don’t realize that you’ve misspoken until it’s all over the nation. They can also see that the media people are trying to do a job just like the rest of us. This has been the best media training I’ve had in a long time,” Sheriff Guymon said.
With, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CNN and a horde of print media crisscrossing each others’ path in the past week, the community has learned a lot about how media the operates, both good and bad.
With every hotel booked solid in the area, some homeowners have put up members of the press during the week and like the members of the sheriff’s office, have learned that the media is trying to provide information on a story with world-wide interest. They have also learned that some members of the press will gather information anywhere they can get it.

At the Youth City Council Lamb Fry in Castle Dale last week youth city council members related how one member of the press pressed a microphone in the middle of the group as they talked idly while frying scones. Others have reported watching with amusement as members of the press eavesdropped on conversations during lunch.

While the community has received a crash course in Media Relations 101, members of the media have also learned that when it comes to Emery County, you can’t easily pigeon-hole the community.
“I think they have been surprised that the community has come together as much as they have,” Sheriff Guymon said.

Nielson Construction’s Growth Continues
as it Reaches 300 Employees

James L. Davis

If there is a common theme in the past seven production years for Nielson Construction it is that every year has been busier than the last.

The same is true for the construction company this year as its employees feverishly work to complete jobs stretching north, south, east and west. Take a map of the Emery and Carbon County area, stick a pin anywhere on the map and there’s a good chance that a Nielson crew will be working nearby.

As the company approaches the midway point of its summer production schedule it has reached a milestone with 300 employees on staff, the largest in the companies 40 year history and cementing the company’s position as the largest locally owned company in the Emery and Carbon County area.

Currently Nielson Construction crews can be found on the tops of mountains as crews continue work on a seven mile section of Skyline Drive for Dominion Exploration. The project has called for the regrading and graveling of the road and the installation of new culverts through the section of the rugged and scenic roadway as other crews work to complete a location for the oil and gas company.

Other major projects the company is working on this production season include a more than 7 mile project to rebuild Consumers Road in Carbon County that involves the installation of new culverts and the widening of the road and will culminate with new asphalt when construction is complete.
On SR-10 the project to improve a section of the highway from Ferron to the Muddy Creek Bridge near Emery continues, with asphalt crews providing an overlay of the highway while construction crews work on shoulder widening improvements. This project is expected to be complete by the end of October.

In Rilda Canyon two Nielson crews are at work, one working on the Rilda Canyon road while another works on the coal yard and crews are preparing to start the next phase of the South Moore project, which will bring to a completion a multi-phase construction project for the road from SR-10 to I-70. Nielson Construction finished a section closest to I-70 last year and this next phase will link the two earlier phases and leave only the asphalt paving phase, which is expected to go out for bids in the next few weeks. That will only leave a phase to improve the linking of the Moore cutoff with SR-10, which is still in development. Nielson crews are expected to begin the construction phase of the project by mid September or early October and work on the project throughout the winter.
Crews likewise continue to work on the Huntington Cleveland Irrigation Company project to bring pressurized irrigation to the Huntington, Cleveland and Elmo areas. With two massive storage ponds completed earlier this year, crews continue to work on the pipeline in this multi-year project.

Numerous other projects keep the men and women of the company scattered at remote locations throughout the two-county area and regular work for the company’s oil and gas customers, the coal haul division and a legion of support and maintenance personnel keeps the company stretched to the limits and the ability of the company to continually meet the challenges placed before it surprises even Wayne Nielson, company president.

“Everyone has stepped up this year to get things done. It’s been unbelievable what we’ve been able to accomplish,” Nielson said. “Everyone has worked together to get the job done.”

Knowing that a massive production season awaited them, the management of the company decided to focus manpower and equipment on several jobs early on to complete them early and allow the company to meet production schedules for other jobs during the summer. The Emery County City Streets Project, for example, normally stretches throughout the production season, but this year the company focused extra manpower on the project and has all but completed it in record time.

“We still have a few odds and ends to wrap up,” Nielson said.

As the company pushes to get the job done, Nielson said it is the people of the company that are the most impressive.

“It’s a credit to our people that we have been able to accomplish so much this year. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re knocking them out,” he said.

Art Lovers to Gather in Helper

Josie Luke

The untold work of numerous volunteers has resulted in the Helper Arts and Music Festival becoming an anticipated community event. In its 13th year the festival will draw people from many parts of Utah and western Colorado to Helper City Aug. 17-19.

The Festival Co-Director, Melanie Steele, who also handles public relations for the event explained that the festival is run solely by volunteers. A 12 to 15 person committee comprised of community members put in time as committee heads, and others in the community volunteer in setting up for the event.

“There’s no one person who helps the Art Festival happen,” said Steele, who further explained that the work of past directors and volunteers has brought the festival to this point. She also expressed the importance of the Helper City Staff and Helper Police Department in managing the event.
In her second year as director, Steele believes that the main goal of the festival “is really about getting people out and celebrating the area,” whether that is in seeing the art, or participating in the competitions.

The committee brings together many activities for people to participate in. According to its website, “The Helper Arts and Music Festival stands out as an unparalleled art and music experience. It combines a phenomenal, free musical lineup, art competitions, exhibitions, and educational experiences, and wonderful art, craft and food vendors.”

With the help of the police department, Main Street in Helper is closed down for the event in order to have room for 45 booths for vendors, stages for musical performances, and outside painting and sculpture competitions, along with art exhibitions held in many of the older buildings that line the street.

The festival features the work of many local artists including; Cliff Bergera, Janet Bergera, David Dornan, Lindsay Frei, David Richey Johnsen, Marilou Kundmueller, Charley Snow, Ben Steele, Thomas Elmo Williams, Scott Yelonek and David Richey Johnsen, along with visiting artists; Erin Westenskow Berrett, John Erickson and Ryan K. Peterson.