The City of Wamac has put together a program to remember the Centralia #5 coal mine disaster 75 years after it occurred.
Mayor Butch Mathus Jr. says the program will begin at 2:30 Friday afternoon at the Coal Mine Memorial in the Wamac City Park. The keynote speaker will be the President of the United Mine Workers Local 9819 Jody Hogge. The Mayors of Wamac, Centralia, and Central City will each lay a wreath. There will be a reading of the names of the deceased miners. The song ‘The Dying Miner’ will be performed. It was written by American folksinger Woody Guthrie about the Centralia mine disaster.
Mathus is hoping all of the churches in the Centralia area will join in the ringing of their bells at 3:27 Friday afternoon, the exact minute the coal mine disaster occurred. Three minutes of silence will follow.
Mathus has a goal for the program.
“We want to let the families of those deceased that they are still in our hearts and we care about them”.
The program will conclude with a Final Tribute and the playing of Taps.
