Miner statue has permanent home at Mountain Ridge High School

Jul. 22—FROSTBURG, Md. — A life-size bronze statue of a miner, five years in the making, now stands in front of Mountain Ridge High School.

The idea for a miner statue came from the school's principal, Danny Carter, who enlisted the help of art teacher Kathy Anderson for a drawing to base the design on.

"When I came here in 2018, I was aware of the fact that Allegany (High School) had a bronze statue of a camper, Indian," Carter said. Thinking it was a fitting tribute, he looked into a similar statue to recognize Frostburg's history and Mountain Ridge's nickname.

"So with the mascot being a miner, I thought maybe we'll see about trying to create something here in the likeness of a miner," Carter said. "I did some research and looked at different pictures and photographs and things. After that I went to Kathy and asked her to come up with some type of sketch of a miner."

Anderson, a Beall High School graduate, began teaching art at Mountain Ridge when it opened in 2007.

"I thought I could do something for it when he first told me," Anderson said. "I knew what his idea was. I went online and looked at images to come up with it. After I made the drawing and gave it to him, it kind of slipped my mind as the years went by."

Anderson, and Carter, knew raising the money for the project would take a few years, and it did. With the help of the Mountain Ridge Student Council and the Frostburg American Legion, bake sales, spaghetti dinners and other fundraising activities were held until the funds were finally raised.

With the drawing in hand and a total of $40,000 secured, Carter began searching for a designer and sculptor.

"I finally hooked up with this Raymond Gibby out of Utah," Carter said. "I looked at his work and he was highly recommended."

The statue, modeled and cast by Gibby of Spanish Fork, Utah, features a miner, with his cap and head lamp, standing with his pick, shovel and lunch pail looking like he's ready for work.

Carter contracted with Drew and Kara Bot of Bot Monuments in Wyoming to create two stone slabs, which stand behind the statue. The slabs detail the story behind the project along with inspirational quotes from leaders such as President George Washington.

Gibby made a few changes to Anderson's drawing. She had drawn the miner with a hard hat and electric-style lamp.

Carter said the miner was based on the time period around 1900 when the coal industry was booming in the area. So Gibby opted for a canvas hat with an oil lamp, and he placed a mustache on the miner, which was keeping in line with the times.

The engraved stones arrived in late June followed by the statue on July 10. "When we saw it, it was great," Carter said.

"First I was notified by the secretary it was here and she sent me a picture," Anderson said. "I looked at my phone and I just cried. To know (the miner) was a two-dimensional drawing and now he is 3D. I got myself together and came down to see him; that's when more tears came."

Carter is from Eckhart and had ancestors who worked in the mines with some perishing as a result.

He said shops around Frostburg made and sold the equipment the miners used. A store called Zais made the hat head lamps with Prichard's selling miners lunch buckets, Carter said.

"It's one of the rare occasions where the mascot matches the heritage," Carter said. "If you look at the George's Creek coal seam in the region, it runs from Corriganville southwest to Lonaconing clear down to Westernport. It's basically the Mountain Ridge School district. That is where all of our kids come from."

Anderson said Mountain Ridge was almost nicknamed the Raiders.

"I think one of the best things the board of education did was to change our mascot to the miner," Anderson said. "Originally, it was supposed to be a raider. It was voted on and raider was chosen initially. But there was some issues when they tried to figure out a mascot so they said let's rethink this.

"I think the statue represents the pride of this area," she added. "We are a community that has come together for this school and we have long history in mining. The statue is a representation of that pride."

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.