C O A L F O R C H R I S T M A S
Saturday, December 17, 2005
Miami County Fairgrounds, Troy, Ohio
BY KEN COLEMAN
Sixteen tons and what do you get? One great big pile of blacksmithing coal.
The folks at SOFA have done it once again. Early Saturday morning, starting around 8:00 a.m., approximately 35 members of Southern Ohio Forge and Anvil showed up at the SOFA building for the delivery of what turned out to be 17.93 tons (35,850 lbs.) of pea sized stoker coal from the Green Valley Coal Company, down West Virginia way. Sixteen tons had been expected, however, the load ended up slightly larger. The work commenced early when club members Daryl Thayer & Daryl Thayer Jr. helped out with the aid of their front loader removing a lot of snow from around in front of the SOFA building where the coal was to be dumped.
By 9:00 a.m. all preparations were complete. Buckets, shovels, and workers were in place. The truck arrived about 9:20, dumped its load, and the work began. 18 tons of pea size coal dumped in one big pile in front of the club's building is truly an impressive sight. Even more impressive was that in two hours time, the entire load was just a memory. Twenty-one of the approximate thirty-five individuals who showed up to work took almost 10 tons of coal home with them. The remaining 8 tons was placed in the storage room for the club to use and sell. It was elbows and shovels for two hours straight.
Due to the increased cost of coal this year, the board is anticipating raising the price of coal (per 50lb. container) that is available for sale through the club. Many thanks and a tip of the hat to Steve Roth and Daryl Painter for organizing and arranging the delivery of this year's coal supply. This goes for the members and volunteers as well who gave up a Saturday morning to do the grunt work which will benefit all club members down the road.
