A truck carrying lumber travels up 22 Mine Road on Holden Mountain. A reclaimed surface mine site on 22 Mine Road is the site for the upcoming Friends of America rally, which will feature Fox News’ Sean Hannity, performances by country music stars Hank Williams Jr., and John Rich of the country duo Big and Rich and an appearance by rocker Ted Nugent, who will emcee the event set for Labor Day. Photo/Michael Browning
The rally, being held in support of coal mining and jobs, will be held on a reclaimed Arch Coal surface mine site on 22 Mine Road at Holden, which sits just off of U.S. Route 119 on the Logan-Mingo County line.
Kirkendoll said the reclaimed surface mine site is symbolic.
“I think it’s symbolic because it shows what post-mine land can be used for,” Kirkendoll said. “You’ve got a wood products park and an industrial park right there on that reclaimed mine site that shows the value of post-mine land use and coal mining.
“We wanted a site that will show coal mining is a great profession and, even after you’ve extracted the coal and taken care of people’s energy needs, the reclaimed surface mine land is still very beneficial.”
Reclaimed surface mine sites in the area have been used for the Fountain Place Mall and the James H. “Buck” Harless Wood Products Park at Holden and a reclaimed site in Mingo County is being used for the new consolidated high school that will house Matewan, Burch, Williamson and Gilbert students in one facility.
“Our next big hope and desire is to put some affordable housing on one of the post-mine land sites,” Kirkendoll said. “We’ve already proved you can put sustainable businesses on post-mine lands by leaving the infrastructure there. It’s a win-win for everybody. Hopefully, in years to come, we’ll have everybody in these flooded areas of our county that will be able to live on post-mine lands so they will never be flooded again.”
Kirkendoll, said that as of early this week, more than 26,000 people had signed up to attend the free Labor Day rally, which will feature Fox News’ Sean Hannity, performances by country music stars Hank Williams Jr., and John Rich of the country duo Big and Rich and an appearance by rocker Ted Nugent, who will emcee the event.
Kirkendoll said he expects the rally to be one of the biggest gatherings in support of labor in the country.
Kirkendoll said he expects more than 100,000 people at the rally.
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