By Courtney D. Clark
Register-Herald Reporter
March 1, 2010 — To celebrate the community of Layland and remember the largest coal mining disaster in Fayette County history, the fourth annual Layland Celebration will be held Tuesday at Layland Baptist Church.
Organizer Bobby Ayers II of Rainelle says the March 2 event is taking place on the 95th anniversary of an explosion where dust ignited and blew out through Layland Mine No. 3, owned by New River & Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Co.
“A lot of my family are from Layland,” Ayers said. “My great-great-grandfather actually died in the explosion.”
The first year the event was a dedication of a roadside historical marker Ayers erected.
“I’ve kept it going each year to celebrate what the town used to be and remember the victims of the mine disaster itself,” he said Wednesday.
There were 112 victims in the 1915 mining disaster, he added.
“Layland is one of those former coal towns where there’s just nothing left to tell you this huge historic event happened there,” Ayers said. “This is a way for people who don’t know much about the disaster to come and learn.
“It’s different every year.”
According to the organizer, the actual entrance to Mine No. 3 is located behind Layland Baptist Church.
“They have kept the church open down there and fixed it up,” Ayers said. “It’s nice that they allow me to come in and kind of take over there for an evening. They offer a hand with refreshments and anything else they can do to help.”
The event will kick off at 6 p.m. with photo, document and video presentations.
“I have tons of pictures from the time of the disaster to later on in history,” he continued, “and I usually play a DVD I made myself showing Layland then and now.”
Everyone is welcome.
For additional information on the Layland Celebration, contact Ayers at 304-438-6038.
