By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
On Oct. 22, Helper City Mayor Lenise Peterman announced that the city had been awarded $ 5,000 to improve the Castle Gate Cemetery. This award matched an already raised $10,000 for cemetery renovations.
Mayor Peterman, alongside Utah Power Credit Union CEO Ryan Pollick, joined the KOAL newsroom to discuss the meaning behind the project, the public-private partnership that made it possible, and to announce a call to action to assist with renovations.
“It reflects the history of the community,” said Mayor Peterman of the property. “You know, we had a big event last year on March 8, which was the 100th anniversary of the Castle Gate explosion, which killed a huge number of people. We want to make sure we’re honoring that heritage and the hard work that they did and the danger they put themselves in.”
Added Polick,” I think the story that’s told here is the community supports the community. We have been working for over a year on community-driven fundraising efforts. And the best part is that as we’ve been doing these fundraisers, folks say, ‘How can I help? How can I come and actually do some work in addition to the money?’ And so we’re really excited for that aspect as well. It shows that it’s an important asset for the county and we’re just so excited to get started on this project.”
Peterman also shared appreciation for the assistance provided by private entities for the renovation: “I just want to point out what a great public-private Partnership this has been and in small rural communities. That’s really paramount to bringing about positive change. So Helper City’s thrilled that Utah Power and Ryan (Pollick) have stepped up and done a large bulk of the fundraising, and so what little we could do working with the Carbon County Tax Advisory Board, we were happy to support the efforts.
Looking to the future, Pollick previewed the next steps for the project,” We will be working with United Landscape out of Emery County who will be doing some of the improvements that will start on Nov. 11. And we’ll be doing some repairs to the fencing, some pathway improvements and some gravel improvements, but then we’re going to really call back on the community come spring to get their shovels and their rakes and their hose and come out and help us some more because there’s more to do.”
Looking at the journey as a whole, Peterman shared what she appreciated most throughout the process,” Just really the community support is paramount for projects of this nature, and it’s so very important, it’s what binds us together as communities, helps us see value in each other.”
Pollick echoed this sentiment,” In addition to that, I love anything community-focused, as the mayor said. But personally, I’ve learned a lot about my own personal history. I actually was given a photograph of my great-grandfather standing in front of number two, which was where the explosion occurred. He was on the first crew that went back into that mine. Those stories are everywhere here. Everyone has a connection to Castle Gate and the mine, and that’s why it is so beloved, because we all understand the history and the sacrifices that were made up there.”
Closing our conversation, Pollick stated,” See you in the spring. We’re so excited to get this underway and are very grateful for everyone’s support. Stay tuned, because we’ll need some more help from you.”