A Sunday walk in Schuylkill County included exercise and a chance to connect to a disaster that happened 50 years ago.
Several dozen people participated in the Schuylkill On the Move walk that also gave recognition to the rescue workers at Oneida Slope No. 2, the site of the Sheppton Mine Disaster on Aug. 13, 1963. The mine collapse gained international attention.
Because of the collapse, David Fellin, Henry "Hank" Throne and Louis Bova were trapped underground. Fellin and Throne were later rescued, but Bova was never recovered. Bova's tombstone sits at the location of the collapse. His burial plot includes one acre owned by his family, surrounded by privately owned coal company land.
Some walked with umbrellas or wore a hat as rain drops fell briefly from a darkened sky. But the damp weather didn't appear to keep many from enjoying the walk on a path partially made with large stone and the rest through foot-trampled grass.
Sharon and Forest Phelps, Womelsdorf, were among the crowd, enjoying the walk as they have others in the past. When the disaster occurred neither was in the area yet. Sharon was in high school in upstate New York and Forest was serving in the Coast Guard. Neither one was aware at the time of the trapped miners in Pennsylvania.
Today the landscape of the rescue site looks different than it did 50 years ago, according to one rescuer, who followed the walking group to give them a history on the mine rescue.
J. Ronnie Sando, Beaver Meadows, said he worked at a mine in Jeanesville during the disaster. He was 25 years old.
Aside from Bova's headstone, which Sando said sits near where Bova was last seen, the site of the mine had been filled in and now is covered with trees and grass. The mine has also been the victim of illegal dumping as various items could be found at its base, down a steep slope.
Sando said though he is happy two men were rescued, he still carries with him a sadness for not being able to find Bova.
"It was a miracle to get two guys out," he said. "We tried our best."
He gave John Bova, Louis' son, a hug at the site, passing along his sympathies that he couldn't save his father.
John, who recently spread his mother, Eva Bova's, ashes at his father's burial site, said his mother remained ever faithful to his father, even after his death, never having dated or married. Tears welled up in his eyes as he said they are now together for eternity.
Bova was thankful such a large group turned out for the walk. He was happy people were interested in the story, noting, ""Coal miners made America."
Sando said there should be plaques or historical markers in the area. Others at the walk agreed, including the family and friends of the miners. Some suggested attending the next East Union Township supervisors meeting to encourage the supervisors to see that a tribute is erected. Most even signed a spontaneously organized petition after one of Bova's friends began passing around a pen and paper asking for signers to support the tribute.
Carol Zielinski said Fellin, her uncle, was in his 80s when he died in 1990 and was remembered as a fun, feisty and clever man who would "really get a bang that you're all here," adding she had the feeling he was watching. She touched on the stories that recalled Fellin and Throne seeing visions while trapped. Fellin, she said, would often tell her the story of his visions and that story never changed.
She recalled Fellin telling her he "demanded" God to tell him what he did to deserve being entombed underground and soon after a world opened up to him - he began having an out of body experience.
Barbara Malloy, Beaver Meadows, said Throne was best friends with her father, Joe Planutis. She said though both were good humored men, Throne's laugh was a contagious one. The long-lasting friendship continued after death as Malloy said her father's wishes were that his family continue to take care of Throne after he passed. Malloy and her brother continue to fulfill their father's wishes by taking care of Bova's grave site, she said.
Malloy joined the walk with her daughter so she could finally see the site she grew up hearing about. She said she also came to represent Throne.
Patrick M. "Porcupine Pat" McKinney, education coordinator for the Schuylkill Conservation District, said the walks held through the SOM program promote health and wellness and history. McKinney said the program began in 1994.