Release from the Town of Pineville

PINEVILLE, W.Va. – On April 13, 2022, West Virginia Delegate Tony Paynter presented a check to Pineville Town Attorney Josh Thompson, Council Member Mike Clay, and Recorder Victoria Knight Clay from the Local Economic Development Assistance Grant of the West Virginia House of Delegates.

This money is to be used to assist with refurbishment of the Adam Morgan Pavilion located at Palisades Park in the Town of Pineville and replacement of the Adam Morgan Memorial Bench that was destroyed by vandals several years ago.

Currently, Palisades Park is used as a Covid-safe outdoor venue for church events, children’s birthday parties, town meetings, school-based workshops, Bible School, sorority meetings, class reunions, etc.
Palisades Park was transformed, after the Upper Big Branch mining disaster, as a memorial to the lost Wyoming County coal miners’ lives. Pineville resident Adam Morgan was a coal miner who lost his life during this unfortunate mining disaster.

Replacing this bench and updating the pavilion is both Pineville’s and Delegate Paynter’s way of placing, in a public place, a bench to commemorate Adam.

This bench will offer our town, who gives over the loss of this coal miner’s life, a sense that they are giving back to our community because we know the bench will be used and appreciated by many people.

The bench will hold the engraved memory of Adam, who meant the world to our town, of which will include his picture engraved in the granite structure’s back rest. It will be identical to the original bench erected at Palisades Park in honor of Adam. It is a gift to Pineville that will last a lifetime, and it is the kind of gift that can be shared with the rest of the world as tourists and residents alike utilize the Palisades Park pavilion. Everyone who walks past or sits on the bench will get a glimpse of this wonderful and remarkable person the bench is dedicated to, a memorial that will last for generations to come.

The loss of a loved one is, no doubt, one of the most challenging experiences of life. It is never easy losing someone who has been a big part of our lives and community and someone who toiled to make coal king and meant so much to the citizens of Pineville.

While we realize that nothing we say or do after Adam’s passing ever seems enough, we all have a way of wishing we could have done more for our loved ones only after they have passed. Our hope is that this memorial Bech will serve as a quiet spot for reflection – an invitation to rest and be still for a moment or an afternoon. This bench will be enduring and stay with the property in which the Palisades Park pavilion is situated for a long time after any knowledge of its origin may have passed.

The Town of Pineville appreciates the efforts of both Delegate Tony Paynter and Attorney Josh Thompson in securing this grant money.