History and legacy
Monument to Cape Breton miners unveiled
GLACE BAY — Davis Day has always been tinged with sadness for Norma HallMacNeil.
Her father, Albert (Allie) Hall, was one of the 12 men who died because of injuries from the Feb. 24, 1979 explosion at No. 26 colliery in Glace Bay.
However, for the 2022 Davis Day ceremony on June 11 at the Cape Breton Miners Museum that sadness also had a hint of happiness because it was the official unveiling of the memorial monument for the victims of the 1979 explosion.
"Sad part about it, (Davis Day) means loss," said HallMacNeil who was at the ceremony with her aunt and husband.
"Even after 43 years, you don't get over them being gone. I rarely come to these things. It's too hard. I came this year because it is for them."
FINALLY UNVEILED
The monument in memory of the 12 men was supposed to be unveiled at Davis Day ceremonies in 2020, however, the COVID-19 pandemic caused delays.
Along with supply-chain issues causing delays in deliveries of materials, public health protocols lead to the cancellation of the in-person Davis Day event.
Even for the unveiling on Saturday at the first Davis Day ceremony held since 2019, the plaque with the information about the sculpture and names of the victims of the explosion hadn't arrived.
Ontario-based artist Timothy P. Schmalz created the sculpture in memory of the miners. Made of bronze, the centrepiece shows the men working in the coal mine on one side — a wife and child waiting for their miner to come home on the other side.
"Every Feb. 24, I am that child again. My seven brothers are that child again," said Joanne Shepard, a member of the No. 26 Colliery Committee who inspired the initiative to get the monument erected.
In a circle around the centrepiece are lunchboxes and bronze sculptures with the names of each of the 12 men who died engraved on the top.
"The past can't be rewritten. It can't be undone. But it could be forgotten and we must never let that happen,'' said Shepard during her speech outside after the wreath-laying.
"It is important to honour our past and never forget our history and the legacy of our coal miners."
SERENE PLACE
Being the second-oldest in the family of five, Hall-MacNeil had recently turned 14 when the explosion at No. 26 happened.
“My first recollection that day was coming downstairs and seeing my aunt vacuuming and crying,” said Hall-MacNeil.
“It was just awful,” said her aunt Wendy (Hall) Curtis. “It sticks with you forever. My brother left behind a wife and five children aged 18 months to five years. The two youngest don’t remember anything about him.”
Allie MacNeil didn’t die the day of the explosion. Taken to hospital in Halifax, he lived for a month and did regain consciousness.
Curtis spent time in the hospital with her brother. She said he didn’t want his children to see him in hospital with the injuries he had. He wanted them to see him when he was better.
Hall-MacNeil and her siblings waited for that time to come, but it didn’t.
“Every happy occasion is marred by the fact he’s gone,” she said, her eyes welling up with tears.
However, the memorial monument is a place where Hall-MacNeil has found some solace even though it does bring back painful memories.
“It is hard to come here.
The first time I came here, I couldn’t stay. I have to leave,” she said.
“But there was a serenity that was here. I could feel this sense of serenity.”