Those Kids from Kimball had their yearly reunion this weekend and their activities have already hit the local newspapers:

Community spirit fills Kimball as old and new faces visit
By BILL ARCHER
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

— KIMBALL — In just a few short years, the tragedy of the July 8, 2001 flood that seemed to rip the very heart out of McDowell County has spawned a celebration of life, families and communities in the heart of southern West Virginia.

Back-to-back floods in 2001 and again on May 2, 2002, washed away many of the buildings of downtown Kimball, but the spirit of the community proved to be stronger than the brick and mortar foundations of former structures that lined U.S. Route 52. For the past five years, a group called “Kimball Kids” has returned to Kimball to celebrate the virtues of their hometown. In addition, the “Kimball Coal Camp Reunion” emerged three years ago to provide even more activities.

The highlight of the combined three-day celebration is the Kimball Reunion Parade that is led by the Kimball Junior High School Alumni Marching Band. “I came here as the guest of one of the young ladies marching in the alumni band,” Fred Tyler of Kettering, Md., said. “She wanted me to see her hometown band meet her family,” he said of his friend, Marlyn Pounds.

“The people here are fabulous and real friendly,” Tyler said. “This is my first time in this part of the country. The people I have met are very nice.” Tyler retired from the U.S. Air Force after serving 23 years.

Friends were greeting friends around every corner. Jean Lockhart of High Point, N.C., beamed with pride as her mother, Ethel Grego Alger, as well as two of her grandchildren rode in a convertible that led the parade.

“This is the fifth year that I have returned for this event,” Lockhart said. “It’s great.”

Dan Zaccagnini of Hemphill said that his Kimball friends invited him to attend the event. He proclaimed that the event represents much more than a celebration of Kimball’s resilience, but also represents the positive can-do spirit of all the people from the southern West Virginia and southwestern Virginia coalfields.

“When I was serving in the 82nd Airborne division, people wondered why I wasn’t afraid to jump out of an airplane,” Zaccagnini said. “I told them that if a person can survive working in a coal mine, they can do anything they want to in life.”

Zaccagnini graduated from Welch High School in 1950, worked for a time in the coal mines, served in the Korean War, and studied at both Concord University as well as Columbia University. He said his primary connection to Kimball was that he once dated a girl from Kimball. “Her dad was the post master back then,” he said.

After completing his graduate work at Columbia, Zaccagnini served as chief-of-staff to the late U.S. Senator Charles McCurdy “Mac” Mathias Jr., the famous liberal Republican Senator from Maryland from 1969-’87 who championed civil rights efforts and led the fight to establish the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Zaccagnini was proud to say that his son Anthony Zaccagnini, was born in Princeton. The younger Mr. Zaccagnini served as legal counsel for Linda Tripp during her legal challenges some years ago, according to Dan Zaccagnini.

Two friends traveled with Zaccagnini to experience Kimball and the surrounding area. Frank “The Doctor” Luber, co-host and news anchor of one of Baltimore’s most popular morning drive radio stations, WCBM made the trip to Kimball along with former Baltimore Deputy Police Commissioner Michael Zotos, who started his career with the Baltimore PD in 1959 as a beat cop, and retired in 1994 as deputy commissioner.

“This is a beautiful community, filled with friendly people,” Zotos said. “I have truly enjoyed this.” Zotos got the opportunity to converse in Greek with Markella (Balasis) Gianato, who owns Ya’Sou Restaurant in Kimball along with her husband, Jimmy Gianato, director of Homeland Security and Emergency Services.

Luber said he learned a great deal visiting the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine earlier in the day, and was looking forward to attending the Bluefield Orioles game Saturday night at Bowen Field to see Baltimore’s Rookie League team in action. “This really is a special community,” Luber said.

– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.

A large number of WHS graduates grew up in the Kimball area. Most likely getting the chance to do more than just drive through Kimball enroute to Welch gave them the opportunity take a few steps back and really relate to their younger years when they attended school in Kimball. Please don't forget to share your memories AND your reunion pictures with the rest of us.


Donnie