Appalachian Spring Festival

The 7th annual Little Cities of the Black Diamonds Appalachian Spring Festival took place May 9, 2009. The event is held each year in the Eclipse Company Town outside of Athens.

State Senator Jimmy Stewart spoke at the beginning of this year's event. The senator, who shared that coal put bread on his table growing up, came out to honor the efforts of the group in preserving the area's history.

Little Cities of the Black Diamonds is a local organization that promotes the preservation of the mining community, and towns in the area. They have published books about the coal industries' history, and are working on an ongoing miners registry. The Little Cities also offers guided history tours of the area. Through their promotions the organization hopes to keep traditions alive and enrich the future of the region.

After all the opening speeches, the celebration began a ribbon cutting ceremony for the newly restored company store. Inside the store people were able to enjoy food, and participate in an auction with money going to benefit the Little Cities.

The "Voices of the Little Cities" performed two different voice documentaries, stories retold from written accounts of historians, newspapers, and people who lived in the region. One performance featured storied of the women who lived in the coal towns. The other told the stories of the labor movement, and formation of unions in the Hocking Valley that eventually lead to national unions.

The event also featured booths of local artisans, and historical authors. Wayne National Forest was of the many booths, as participants of Little Cities of the Forest. There was also a group of Ohio University students attending the event to promote and raise money for their class project- getting a historical marker placed in the coal town of Rendville, Ohio.

The event had a large attendance with over 100 people, and was fun for all ages.