"Team Member Spotlight"

The Asst. Zookeeper's company puts out a quarterly newsletter. He and his brothers were featured in the latest mailing.

Team Member Spotlight

by Hank Parke

THE MILLER BROTHERS

Underground Coal Miners

Brothers are often very competitice and have many things in common. Tim, Dan, and Todd Miller are no exception. The three grew up in Westmont and it seems that they have a long history of following in each others' foot steps. All three brothers are underground miners: Tim is a section mechanic at Quecreek, Dan works at the Miller Mine ad chief electrician and Todd is assistant mine foreman at Quecreek. They are fourth generation miners and proud of it. Dan began mining first and he said, "Once Tim saw how much I liked it, he began his mining career." Todd was the last one to get into mining, starting in July 2003 at Quecreek.

All three of them are Eagle Scouts. As Dan explained, "We grew up in scouting. We started as Cub Scouts and as we grew up we worked at scout camp in the summers." All three brother and their wives enjoy riding motorcycles along with their parents, Krista and Robert. Todd said, "We ride just about any time of the year." Dan and his family also like both flat water and whitewater canoeing. They go on summer canoe camping trips at Kinzua State Park.

Both Dan and Todd have their EMT certification and Tim is currently taking class. Tim is the last brother to take the class because he was off work for two years undergoing kidney dialysis. On April 23, 2008 he received a kidney from his brother Todd. "Both my brothers were willing and Todd was the best match" said Tim. He added, "I really missed mining during that time. I'm underground again now and I'm happy."

Although many families end up scattered all over the country because of job availability, all three Miller brothers still live in Cambria County. The mining industry has kept them close to their parents and their long mining tradition. Tim, Dan, and Todd wouldn't have it any other way.

There was additional note in the newsletter concerning Dan's mine:

Miller Mine has been the shining star of the deep mines for the past several months. After completing the seal and cut-through project, which seemed to last forever, production and conditions have been better than expected. Congratulations to all the men at Miller for a job well done.

A Rainy Afternoon

It's Wednesday. It's the last full day of school for the older two Heathens - and my last day of relative peace until August returns them to school. :) I'm thrilled to have them for the summer.

Today it's rainy and foggy. I'm just sort of sitting around and wasting the day. I have one cat in my lap and purring like a well-oiled engine. A second cat is visible out the window where she is skulking in the flower beds. A third cat is walking around my feet and winding her way around my legs. Who knows where the other feline is at the moment - my guess is close to the food dish. The Duchess is around the Zoo somewhere as well. She's easier to find - simply say her name, and she appears. Instantly.

The younger two Heathens are playing nicely in the basement. I told Heathen #2 to head out the door for the bus this morning. He said okay and I quit paying attention at that point. This was at 8:15 this morning. At 10:30, he walked into my bedroom and announced that he had missed the bus!!! Apparently, he stayed in front of the morning cartoons and never headed to the bus stop.

If I was a "good" mother - I would have taken him to school as soon as I discovered that he was still home. But, what could he possibly be missing on the second to last day of school? So, he's home with Heathen #3. Thank goodness I never applied for that "good mother" title!

This past Saturday, I woke up and laid in bed thinking that it was going to be a regular Saturday at the Zoo. We were going to get up, go to the soccer field for Heathen #2's game, and then spend the day working in the yard. Wow, was I wrong.

After the Asst. Zookeeper got home from work, he borrowed his father's backhoe to help one of our neighbors. They brought it down to the house and parked it in front. He then jumped into the van and drove down to the neighbors to check somethings before he took the backhoe down. During all of this, I was mowing the grass at the Zoo. Our Heathens and the neighbor's three kids are all in our yard playing.

And then this happened:

While parked, the backhoe popped out of gear, and then drifted across the road (in front of a VERY surprised Cable truck) and rolled over the hill and into the creek across the street!

I'd like to say that I watched this very calmly, but I didn't. I shrieked and started counting children. Thankfully, none of them were anywhere near it and everyone was okay!

So, I called the Asst. Zookeeper and his father both and explained what had happened. They both arrived in a few minutes and decided that they couldn't drive it out. So they called for a wrecker. Moxham Mobile's wrecker arrived about an hour later - but couldn't budge it. In fact, one of the tow cables snapped in the attempts. After about an hour of trying with no success, Moxham Mobile left.

During all of this, I was collecting neighborhood men and children in front of my house. The longer it went on, the more people we collected.

Our neighbor's son, Jake, directed traffic for us!


Then the wrecker arrived from Cernic's - the one used for big rigs. They hooked onto the backhoe and LIFTED it out of the creek as though it really didn't weigh much of anything!

The Past Month at Our Zoo!

Since my last post, the Zoo has been INCREDIBLY busy!!!! Here's what we've been up to, along with the photos as evidence! (These are in order of what pops into my head!)

New Furniture Arrives!

And it wasn't even in the house an entire five minutes before they started to shed on it.

Climbing at REI

We hold a membership at REI - it makes it nice to know when the sales are coming! About three weeks ago, the Asst. Zookeeper and I took the Heathens down to the store in Pittsburgh for a sale. And the nice benefit of being a member is that members get to climb the wall for free! The Heathens LOVE when we go visit. Heathen #1 made it up two of the four routes. Heathen #2 made it about half way up. And Heathen #3 gave it a try for the first time and did very well for being so little!

Bridging to Wolf Cubs!

At the May pack meeting, Heathen #2 bridged from Tiger Cubs into Wolf Cubs. While on one hand I was thrilled for him, it was a little sad to realize just how fast this year has gone.

Memorial Day Bicycle Parade

Every year, Westmont Boro sponsors the Memorial Day parade in our area. The children decorate their bicycles in patriotic colors and meet at the middle school at 7:30 am. Then, they ride their bicycles in the parade to Grandview Cemetery (1 mile away). Children of all ages participate. There are toddlers on tricycles that peddle the entire way. We take part every year and it is something that the Heathens look forward to - despite the early start time!

Maiden Voyage

Heathen #1 received a kayak for Christmas from his grandparents. This weekend, we took the Heathens to Shawnee State Park and it had it in the water for the very first time. If he didn't love it before we went, he definitely does now!

Soccer Season 2009 Begins

Playing three days a week, we've added a family member to the soccer field this year. Skinny Minnie, my niece, is on the same team as Heathen #2. And they are on the same team as our friends' children as well. Needless to say, the sideline is anything but quiet!

Landon's Spring Program

Last Friday, 4/24/09, Heathen #3's school had their annual spring program. Everyone ages 15 months and older was part of it.

They sang several songs and they really did a great job. For anyone who has never gone to see a program of this sort - you are definitely missing a great evening.

Both grandmothers, Heathen #2 and I were able to attend. I took this photo on our way into the building for the program. At this point, Heathen #3's shirt was still tucked in. If you look at the first photo (the first time he appeared on stage), it was already untucked. Oh, well! I tried!

The Problem with Patches

Nothing looks nicer than a man in uniform- especially when that uniform is properly maintained and worn with pride. In that sense, I don't think anything looks better on boys, than a scout uniform. Their sense of pride in their accomplishments is visible in the way they stand.

Unfortunately, there is a HUGE difference between a man in uniform and a boy in scout uniform. A man has to maintain his own uniform. A scout's uniform falls into the world of "the Momma." And unfortunately, that's me!

I HATE SEWING PATCHES!!!!!!!! It's not that the patches are so hard to sew on. It's trying to find out WHERE on the stupid uniform they are supposed to go! And they have to be taken off and replaced with newer patches on a regular basis. Once I've managed to sew on a patch, it should stay on there FOREVER.

You can't tell I'm getting ready to sew on patches for this weekend's camporee, can you?

The Blues Brothers

Every year, the Easter Bunny puts new church clothes in the Heathens Easter baskets. Our Easter Bunny isn't all that big on candy as he knows the Heathens really don't eat it. This year, this is what the Bunny brought for the Heathens:This was what they wore to church that morning. You should have seen the older church ladies making a fuss over the fact that the boys wore hats to church and knew to take them off as they came in the door. (The taking them off part involved a discussion the entire way to church and was only accomplished with threats of loosing their hats.)

They had a great Easter morning. Here are some of the other photos that I took this year of the Easter festivities:

You HAVE to east the bunny ears first - household rule!

Trying on their new gear!