Students at Grundy High School were so moved by the recent Sago, WV mining tragedy, some wrote letters of condolence to the son of one fallen miner.
        Thursday, he decided to say “thank you.”
        Nick Helms lost his father, Terry, in the West Virginia disaster that claimed the lives of 12 coal miners.
        After receiving dozens of letters from GHS students, Helms traveled from his home in Myrtle Beach, SC to Grundy last week to speak to the student body gathered in the gymnasium.
        “This is the least I could do,” Helms announced.
         “I’m just honored to come see all you guys.”
        Helms, who received a massive standing ovation, was introduced to the students by GHS Principal Leslie Horne.
        “I stand here not only as your instructional leader, but as a coal miner’s daughter,” Horne said, pausing to keep her composure. “I was overwhelmed that Nick would travel all the way to Buchanan County from Myrtle Beach.”
        To display to Helms the similarities between Grundy and mining communities like Sago, Horne asked for a show of hands from the students for anyone with a family member employed by the mining industry. As a sea of hands rose from the bleachers, many in the packed gymnasium failed to fight back their tears.
        “Every letter that I received ... I’ve read every one of them,” Helms said after taking the microphone.
         Helms began describing his father, a commanding six-foot, two-inch man who weighed nearly 260 pounds.
        “My dad, he was a strong man,” Helms said. “But he was always tired.”
         Helms told of how he would often come home to find his father asleep in a porch chair, apparently too tired to clean up and rest in the house.
        “They do it all for you guys,” he said, of parents, uncles and grandparents who work themselves that hard in the mines.
        “My dad, he wanted the best for my sister and I,” Helms continued. “He told me to get out of West Virginia, go where it’s warm and play golf.”
         “They all have one mindset, that’s to give their families the best they can,” Helms said of coal miners. “ They’re working in that coal mine to better your life, not to better their lives.”
        Helms, who hopes to play golf professionally in the future, said he’s following that dream because his father encouraged him to do so. Soon, Helms will be enrolling in the San Diego Golf Academy, where he hopes to hone his skills enough to compete at golf’s highest level.
         “I’m down there (Myrtle Beach) because that’s where dad wanted me to be.”
 

       Work is well underway on the Mountaineer’s annual progress edition, Buchanan Neighbors.
        A deadline of March 17 has been set for news and advertising for the special edition which has tentatively been set for publication in mid-April.
        Last year’s edition didn’t arrive on newsstands until June 2 due to the Mountaineer’s move from Main Street to the Grundy Plaza. However, this year, Publisher Lodge Compton said plans are to return the issue to its early spring publication timeframe.
         Businesses who would like to become a part of the special issue, who have not yet been contacted by the Mountaineer, are encouraged to call now to reserve space in the special issue which provides a comprehensive look at the community and what it has to offer.
        In the past, the edition has been enthusiastically received by the community and it is used as a mailer by the Buchanan County Chamber of Commerce to respond to inquiries about the community. It has also been recognized by the Virginia Press Association in the past for overall excellence.
        For information about the issue and how to become a part of it, interested persons may call the Mountaineer at 276-935-2123.

       Approval was given Monday to allow the Buchanan County Sheriff’s Department to purchase three new vehicles, including two trucks to use in transporting K-9 officers.
        Sheriff Ray Foster asked for and received $70,000 to make the purchase, after noting the department has several Blazers with in excess of 200,000 miles on them.
        Foster said the maintenance to keep the vehicles in safe running condition was becoming more and more costly.
        He noted the money he was requesting would be used for one deputy vehicle and two pick-ups for the transport of the K-9s.
         The pick-up’s he suggested would be better for transporting the dogs than the Blazers. The vehicles come specially equipped to allow for the dog to be housed in one part of the air conditioned and heated truck bed and supplies to be stored in the other half.
         Garden Supervisor Buddy Fuller made the motion to approve the $70,000 appropriation for the purchase and Knox Supervisor Pat Justus seconded the motion. The vote was unanimous.
         However, before the vote, South Grundy Chairman Roger Rife expressed concern about vehicles being used by employees to ride to and from work.
         "I’ve never had one furnished to me to ride back and forth to work," Rife said of his work history. He added that most people who have jobs do not have that benefit.
        Earlier in the meeting Justus had relayed a request from Circuit Judge Bob Williams that a vehicle be assigned to Randall Lester, who is in charge of courtroom security and who Justus said drives in daily to unlock and lock the courthouse, among his other duties.
       In other business related to the sheriff’s department, board members approved a resolution allowing the sheriff’s department to enter into competitive negotiations in seeking to purchase equipment using a $59,737 grant recently awarded to the department.
         Equipment to be purchased includes a VHF 100 watt repeater for the Hurley area; a repeater antenna and cable; 15 portable ICOM radios with scramblers and chargers; 15 weatherproof speaker/microphones; nine portable ICOM F-70T P 25 compliant with scramblers and chargers; nine speakers and mics for the weatherproof F70 T; nine portable 50 watt repeaters; 15 high capacity battery packages; and one battery powered megaphone.

For more of the story, see the print edition of the Mountaineer, on sale at newsstands now. For more information on how to subscribe to the Mountaineer, call 276-935-2123 today!