Saturday was Heavy Equipment Day at the Haines fairgrounds. The event is organized by the Alaska Miners Association to spark interest in the mining profession.
The fourth annual Haines Heavy Equipment Day drew a steady crowd of onlookers on Saturday.
Liz Cornejo is with the Alaska Miners Association, she organized the event.
Cornejo: “To inspire the next generation of operators, talk about responsible equipment operation, so that it’s safe for humans, workers and the environment.”
Families were strolling through rows of heavy equipment. Kids were climbing, getting behind the wheel. Some already knew a lot about equipment.
Cima: “It goes through that hose, and it goes through the tire.”
James Sage is also part of the Alaska Miners Association, he works at the Greens Creek mine . He arranged for the various pieces of equipment to be displayed at the event.
Sage: “So that is a D7 dozer, it’s a fairly new model, it’s got rippers on the back in case you get into hard dirt that you need to soften up to move. This piece here is called a side dump, it probably hauls 25 yards of material, and it dumps off the side. Brush cutter, it will chop down everything from grass to probably three or four inch alders.”
The event was intentionally set before the construction season gets too busy. This allows vendors who bring in their equipment to meet potential employees.
Sage: “Over here, we got a semi truck.”
Lucille: “It’s a semi truck!”
Cornejo said this type of display is especially effective with children.
Cornejo: “When I first started working here and working with the operators, they were telling me when they were kids, this is how they got interested in being operators. It was a really grass roots event of saying how do we inspire new operators, and we do it by providing these hands-on experiences.”
Cornejo said there are different pathways to becoming an operator. Some companies provide on the job training, and there are vocational training centers. The Heavy Equipment Day helps people connect with those opportunities.
