I do edit the comments down to what I think will be of interest to readers. I really appreciate all the compliments and back pats, but figure others might get a bit bored with them.--Mark
- My family loved both the movie and the audio book. My 9 year old son checked the real book out of the library to read for a living book report. He even found a plastic rocket and is determined to portray Sonny for his stand-up book report. We may have to help him get through the book as it's pretty big for a 9 year old.--Jonathan Leslie 11/7/00
- To say I was surprised to find information on the web about Coalwood is an understatement. The movie gave the strong impression the the town was gone, a ghost town. I was very pleased that Coalwood is still there. I've never been there and probably
never will, but it was important to me to learn that it's still alive. I think Coalwood stands for
all the hometowns out there. We grow up and move away, but in the back of our minds we are always
partly back in each of our own Coalwoods. Mine was Estill Springs, Tennessee, population 1500.--James Crabb, The hills of North Mississippi 10/28/00
- I attended the Coalwood Festival last Saturday, and met the Rocket Boys (and some other former Coalwood residents). I particularly enjoyed a long chat with Mrs. Dantzler, Sonny's music teacher.
I grew up in Raven, VA, which is only about 24 miles (as a crow flys) from Coalwood. My father was a coalminer during my early years. Though we (fortunately) did not live in a coal camp, I still remember them well. Terrible-looking places! Coalwood was definately not a typical coal camp.
I now live near and work in Huntsville, AL, and have been in the space
industry since 1985.--Frank Grose 10/10/00
- Friends and I traveled from Morgantown to October Sky Day in Coalwood this past Saturday. Even though I am back in Morgantown, part of me is still there. During the festivities, a significant donation was announced (in conjunction with a center at Bluefield State College) to improve the quality of advising that high school students receive about college. I was impressed.--Peggy Kovac 10/10/00
- I was born in Welch and rised in Caretta. My father worked for Olga Coal Co. for many years. His name was Patrick Curtin and we lived on Tennesse Ave. in Caretta. My mother, Bertha Curtin, ran the Trailways bus terminal in Welch. I remember Red picking up our trash behind the house. Growing up in Caretta was the best time of my life. Reading your web site has brought back many memories. I graduated from Big Creek HIgh in 1972 and have lived in Fredericksburg Va. for 28 years, my sister still lives in Welch and my brother-in-law, Benny Mullins is the manager at Goodsons supermarket in Welch.Thanks for the memories.--Sonny Curtin 10/7/00
- I lived in Mullens and Besoco in the very early 1930's. Have lived, worked, and traveled in
every coal camp from Beckley to Bluefield to Bristol. Was born in Jewell
Ridge, Va. and have a family picture or two made in front of those four room
coal company houses in the early 1920's.
The Rocket Boys of Coalwood was of special interest. Been there a number of times while working out of Bluefield, and Coalwood is only a few air miles from Jewell Ridge. Virginia Tech published a good article about them a couple years or so ago. After moving to Florida I worked for six years at Cape Kennedy, all during the moon shots, and until after the moon landings.--Earl Shaw 10/5/00
- This is a follow-up to the email below.--Mark I left one item out. Two years ago two representative from Budweiser's corporate headquarters visited the Rock View Bar. According to my father-in-law, they heard about Jake the rooster and that he only drank Bud (which is true). Cecil had Jake demonstrate his skills to the two representatives, which are identifying money and only drinking Budweiser. Six months later Budweiser came out with a commercial showing a rooster walking across a street to a bar requesting Budweiser. Cecil has never heard from Budweiser since that incident.
We are looking forward to the release of Homer Hickman's new book "The Coalwood Way" on October 10, 2000.--William P. Ronayne 9/8/00
- My wife the former Marie Elaine Johnson graduated from Big Creek High School in 1956. For the next thirty-six years she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. Her sister the former Linda Johnson graduated from Big Creek High School in 1967. She is also employed by the Central Intelligence Agency and now is assigned to NRO.
Cecil Johnson the owner of Jake the rooster and the Rock View Bar in War, West Virginia, is the father of these two girls. Last week after reading one of the comments on your web page about Jake breaking his leg after a night of drinking with his friends at the Rock View Bar, my wife called her father to check on Jake's health. The local veterinarian advised Cecil that Jake needed a hip replacement and that his leg was not broken. I am happy to report that Jake is back in the Rock View Bar drinking with his friends and counting money. Jake has the ability to tell the difference between a $1.00, $5.00, $10.00 and twenty-dollar bill.--William P. Ronayne 9/7/00
- Hi Mark, Our website at www.homerhickam.com was recently redone to be
more user-friendly and extensive and has lots of new pictures, interviews, moving letters, links, RBoy gifts and more so have a look and please bookmark it, as it will change often. Your Coalwood Today is still
there of course - we have a COALWOOD button now!
... Jeff Orloff, the "Senior Manager Worldwide Education Product Marketing" at Apple wants to feature the Rocket Boys on his educator's website www.ali.apple.com for the month of October and come film videos for this project at the October Sky Festival too. As we are avid Mac users and educators have embraced the RB story so, we are very excited about the match ...
The U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health
Administration crew filmed Homer last week at the Space and Rocket Center
here. They had contacted us about doing something for them and Homer
said of course. They had him do 4 Public Service Announcements, 2 for
Black Lung detection and 2 "Winter Alert" for methane safety in the mines
that will start running in October (in areas with lots of mining) If it
will save only one miner's life..... I am sure Homer Senior is smiling in
heaven over this....Linda Terry Hickam 8/30/00
- I lived in Coalwood from 1935 to 1940. (Age 5 to 10) They are my fondest memories and the book brought them home with great joy. My father was the only non Carter Coal Company employee living in town.--Don Albasi 8/29/00
- So, you cried too, huh? Of course, there were the true triggers for myself: that whole little southern WV town thing ...I never really got over having to leave Beaver in Jr. High when I first moved to Wheeling, and then again, coming back to Wheeling 8 years ago.
It was kind of neat to even see the period Greyhound Senicrusier in the movie. Not always having a car, my mother and I rode buses often during that period, between Beckley, Charleston, and Wheeling. You can imagine the appeal of going "upstairs" on one of those monsters when you are a kid.--Jan Worthington 7/28/00
- I went to Coalwood over the 4th of July weekend. I plan on going there again on
October 7th to meet Homer. I had a nice chat with Cecil Johnson (owner of the Rock View Bar). Jake ( Cecil's pet rooster) is no longer allowed to drink beer. He got drunk one night and broke his leg!!!--Tom Hoehn 7/8/00
- I would love to be linked to your site! I built the rockets for October Sky. Thirteen total. I have a website at http://the-rocketman.com that has lots of articles on projects that I have created through the years such as rocket powered cars, boats, snowmobiles etc . . .--Ky Michaelson, Rocketman since 1951, 6/29/00
- I work in a bookstore on the east coast of Virginia (the Norfolk area) and have spent the last couple of years recommending the book to anyone and everyone. I was quite surprised to hear that Coalwood is still there; I got the impression that it was a ghost town now. It was a nice surprise to hear it's still bustling (in a small-town way).--Greg or Denise Holloway 6/9/00
- I just set up a Professional Development day for 45 high school staff, and we showed the movie at the end of the day (after supper, actually). We enjoyed it very much. I will point them to your site. Some of us will use the movie, and I will point my kids to your site in the fall.--David Harkness; Winnipeg, Manitoba 6/8/00
- Mark having grown up in Coalwood and graduating from Big Creek High School, class of 1953, it gave me great pleasure to view your Coalwood today website. The more I see of our little town and the accomplishments of our fellow students and classmates, the prouder I become of being from our little town.--Clarence P. "Corky" Miller 4/1/00
- This week my husband, daughter and I traveled from Romney in the eastern panhandle of WV to visit Coalwood. Homer, Linda, and the Rocket Boys were in town along with a crew from Universal Studios filming a DVD that will be issued as part of a special edition October Sky DVD.
We waited quite awhile at the Country Corner Store for the Boys to arrive but it was one of the most rewarding afternoons we've ever spent.
Peggy Blevins was so graciously hospitable as were the residents gathered there. We met Mr.and Mrs. Bolt, Red, Mr. Turner and several other people who had known Homer and his family and who had lived in Coalwood for many years. We heard precious stories of the town and its citizens. The ladies in the gift shop were also very friendly and we were awed by their acceptance of 'outsiders' invading their town. We, too, took lots of photos of the area and of course, of the Rocket Boys.
Homer and Linda are lovely, generous people, patient with all those who asked for autographs. They seemed like folks you'd like to just sit and talk with. We were grateful and impressed by the warmth of the Coalwood citizens and hope to go back again. I suspect we will be welcomed as friends and it will be like going home.
There have been some changes since you were there such as the launch site being restored. We hope that the Restoration committee gets funding to help restore other landmarks and provide a positive replication of WV history.
By the way, the Country Corner Store serves delicious food! There are two special days coming up...Rocket Boys' Day 2000 on June 24th and the October Sky Festival on October 7th.--Alice Rice 3/11/00