Photo by Bob Coakley
People are usually surprised when I give them a piece of coal. But they start to like the shiny piece of energy, that was formed during the Carboniferous period over 290 million years ago, after I explain why I’m about to give 200 other pieces of it away. I, and others in the Chipman and Minto areas, have been finding ways to honour the coal miners who worked the Grand Lake coal mines from 1639 until 2009.
The Grand Lake Coal Basin has been recognized as the site of a National Historic Event for being the source of the first coal to be exported in America. A plaque on Main Street in Minto, NB states Grand Lake coal was shipped to Boston by water before 1650. The facts are clear, but the details are scarce.
My idea was to find details about early coal mining and to honour the miners by sharing those details as widely as possible. I have found information, which has not yet been written about, that explains why a fishing boat was sent from Boston to get Grand Lake coal in 1639. I have identified possible family connections between two current local families and the two Boston Ship Captains responsible for taking a ship load of Grand Lake coal back to Boston in 1643. I’ve published 7 newspaper articles to explain how and why coal was mined here in the 1600’s and later. I have tried to explain how important Grand Lake coal was to our country’s early development. I have had success with most of my first 11 promotional activities since 2014.
Coal being prepared for distribution
Now, I’m just days away from completing a very exciting new activity! I’m using 200 pieces of actual Grand Lake coal that I dug by hand and coated with White Shellac, and 200 copies of a Coal Mining Information Sheet that I wrote based on my research. I’m giving them to Mountain Bike Racers taking part in the 2017 Coal Miner’s Lung MTB Race and Festival at the Centennial Arena in Minto.
Coal and history packages distributed by Bob Coakley
The June 17 and 18 Festival is the third and biggest race organized by Mountain Bike Minto in the last year. They have created over 20 Kms of world class mountain bike trails, and male and female Racers from New Brunswick and several other provinces are expected to compete in 60, 40 or 20 Km races. There will be 3 live bands, food and drinks, on-site camping and lots of fun for Racers and spectators. The race and other excitement starts at 2 PM on June 17th and will probably end sometime on the 18th.
Eloie Thibodeau with models of mining equipment at 2016 Mountain Bike Race
Most of the race course is carved out of land that was mined for coal in the early 1900’s. Since the first race, the Organizers and local groups understood the value of promoting both the modern and historical uses of land in and around Grand Lake (the largest lake in NB). All three race names have had a coal theme. Scale models of large coal mining equipment (left) from the Minto Museum will be on display again during this race. Now, extra details about coal mining and pieces of coal will be available for the Racers to take home.
Please visit Mountain Bike Minto on Facebook for details on this and future Events.
After the Race, I’ll share news here on the other coal history promotions I have done and the new one being planned for later this summer.
