We Can Go Home Again

Several "Descendants of David" were homesick and longed for a community that no longer exists.David, Kentucky was a small coal camp--on Middle Creek in Floyd County, East Kentucky--that flourished during the WWII era and on through the 1950s and early 1960s. The community sprung out of rural Middle Creek with its rich heritage and employed workers from all over the Floyd county region. By way of church, school, sports, and holiday events the children came to know each other very well. When the company closed, a few of the original inhabitants purchased the abandoned company homes and continued to live in David. They became part of a new community that sprang up, but the original community was gone forever. It was time for a reunion so more than a hundred descendants converged into Floyd County on July 20, 2013. Our primary--and common--purpose, which we accomplished, was to pay tribute to our parents--the coalminers who worked on their knees in coal as low as 24 inches, the housewives, who literally kept the fires burning,the carpenters,teachers, electricians, plumbers, company store employees and other workers who kept the camp active. It had been more than 50 years for most of us--as many as 60 years for others. We longed to see our childhood home again--although the coal camp as it was (1940-1965)no longer existed. In so many ways, David was an ideal place to grow up. Our parents showed us the value of a solid work ethic, we had leaders of integrity, we had teachers who knew what real intellectual development was about, we had company workers and management who sincerely cared about the welfare of the coal miners' families. One recurring theme was that of fathers & mothers making sure the company didn't hire their boys to go inside the mines.Very few of the coal camp boys became underground miners. At our reunion we paid tribute to the brave second generation miners who had, indeed, gone to work in the underground mines in David. The hollows, trees, and hills are still beautiful, but the physical place is not recognizable to most of us. Gone are the Company store, the fountain and movie theater, the church, the school, the Boy Scout and Girl Scout cabins, the swimming pool, the tennis court, and many of the camp homes--all gone. But, we were "there". When asked to speak at the Descendants of David Reunion,Francis Harmon said, "I'm Home". We all seemed to feel at home with each other.We came to a realization that we, and not the place, are and will forever be the community of David that we experienced as children. The community exists in our love, respect, and support of each others' lives and validation of our heritage. We are proud of each other, as we are proud of our parents. We are the "Descendants of David". We can go home again. Judy Bussey Dec 20, 2013