Holmdel Cub Scouts Go Underground

The Cub Scouts of Holmdel Den #5 visited the Sterling Hill Mining Museum in Ogdensburg, NJ on Oct. 22 to learn about geology. 

The Holmdel boys got to walk through a cool mine shaft, see fluorescent rocks glowing underground, touch the wet walls of the mine, and hear the echo of rocks being dumped from a mine cart. 

And perhaps most eye-opening thing of all, they learned that there once was a day when young boys their own age worked in the mines --  a dark, scary and dangerous place, said some of the scouts.

The idea to walk through a mine and discover rocks was organized by Troop Leader Darlene Seaman, a self-confessed “rock hound” who travels to special places in the United States to hunt for beautiful rocks to incorporate in her handmade jewelry. She knew that a visit to the inside of the largest zinc mine in the United States would be a blast. “It's interesting to learn what’s under our feet,"  she said.

For 10-year old Anthony Saporito, the most interesting part of the guided tour was the glowing walls of the Rainbow Room, where brightly fluorescent zinc ore was illuminated by ultraviolet light. He learned how ore was gathered. “They put all these little explosives on a wall, and they used them to blow the walls up to make more tunnels,” he said.

Ajay Movva, 9, was impressed by the marble. He got to take a sample home. "It's as heavy as a nice-size rock," he said. "It sort of looks like glass,”

It was so dark the boys could not see very far. While they were on a rickety bridge, the tour guide dropped a stone and surprised the boys. “We heard a splash. We didn’t know there was water. And then when he turned the light on we could see there was water beneath us,” said Jack Hipschman, 9.

Connor Ledo, 9, found it interesting that miners had to be wary of deadly gas in the mine. They carried lanterns and a singing canary in a cage, he said. “He keeps singing. When he stops singing, he dies. That means there’s gas in the cave and you have to get out."

Even the parents learned something. Den Mother Lynn Saporito said, “I learned what a Widow Maker is. It’s a drill they used to drill into the walls and stone." It got its name, she said, because "unfortunately the men would inhale the dust from the drilling and die, and leave their wives and children behind.”

The boys came back from the trip with souvenir boxes full of rocks they collected in a treasure hunt. The boys were encouraged by the tour guide to find examples of coal, garnet, basalt, marble, sandstone and slate. “He told us we had to find all the rocks outside in a fenced in area in big piles, and we had to identify them,” explained Daniel Yuan, 10.

Michael Seaman said there was a surprise. “Some of us got some fool’s gold. I thought it was actual gold,” he said. “I still felt happy because I can’t find fool’s gold in New Jersey.”

The scouts said they recommend a trip to the Sterling Hill Mine Museum to other curious about geology.

“Unless you don’t like dark and damp places, said Daniel Yuan.

Editor's Note: This article was written with the assistance of the Holmdel Cub Scouts mentioned in this article, who learned about journalism from Holmdel Patch editor at their Den meeting Wednesday night.