TALLMANSVILLE, W.Va. -- Convenience stores are often referred to as a meeting place for small communities, and never is that more true than when tragedy strikes. Such was the case when 12 miners died in a mining accident in the small town of Tallmansville, W.Va.,last week. From helping families waiting to hear the outcome of the rescue mission to acting as a shoulder to cry on for those who lost a loved one, retailers in this close-knit community have stepped up to the challenge.
They were providing water and food throughout the whole ordealat the church [image-nocss] that was kind of the hub for all the families, Janet Vineyard, executive director of the West Virginia Oil Marketers& Grocers Association, Charleston, W.Va., told CSP Daily News. That's a very small community, very close-knit. Everyone seems to be outpouring everything they possibly can.
At the Go-Mart c-store in nearby Buckhannon, W.Va., where miners often stop for coffee or food, the sign outside that usually displays cigarette prices or lottery jackpots read, Pray for our miners' families, according to a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer. The store's manager had lost her uncle in the mining accident. Executives at the Go Mart corporate headquarters in Gassaway, W.Va., told CSP Daily News they were not prepared to discuss their efforts to help both their employees and the community pull through the tragedy.
Meanwhile, customers in the store found the location an apt spot to talk about the accident and their feelings, according to the newspaper report.
Michele Nicola, 29, was buying snacks at the Go-Mart and said she was a friend of one of the miners who died in the accident. She said the entire community had seemed sad since the accident. "You can just tell by looking at people," she told the paper. She said that if her four children, all younger than 10, ever tried to work in the mines, "I would tell them No'. "
Thirteen miners were trapped 260 feet below the surface of the Sago Mine by a January 2 explosion early. Family members, friends and other area residents kept a vigil at a church near the mine as rescue workers tried to get to the men.
Late Tuesday night, families began streaming out of the church, yelling "They're alive!" The church's bells began ringing and families embraced, as politicians proclaimed word of the apparent rescue a miracle, according to a report from the Associated Press. As an ambulance drove away from the mine carrying what families believed was the first survivor, they applauded, not yet knowing there were no others and that the earlier news had been wrong. That news was delivered about three hours later, devastating the entire community and the nation.
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