“ That broke me ,” Dameron said . “ My mom had died that year , and now my nephew .”
She had been thinking about loved ones before the holidays , when she made coal ornaments to sell at the Exhibition Coal Mine ’ s Coal Country Christmas .
“ This ornament had angel wings on it ,” she said , “ but after that , I could not bring myself to sell those ornaments . I just gave them to people . It was something to help me heal through my grief . He was only 44 . But I realized so many people were grieving , and that ornament just became something I felt like I was just meant to make for those of us who were feeling pain .”
Even the piece hanging around Dameron ’ s neck reminds her of loved ones . It ’ s made from a piece of $ 1 American Coal Company scrip that happened to have her own birthday faintly printed on the backside — a different year , 1914 , but the same day . It is artfully joined with coal and crystal and features the letter C , her first initial . “ This piece just follows me wherever I go ,” she said . That ’ s often to local gift shops and shows throughout the region .
“ I ’ d say my number one top seller would be my Gauley Coal cross ,” she said . It gets its name from its place of origin , the Gauley Bridge area , where an island on the Gauley River features three crosses . “ The second would be the pickaxe and shovel cross necklace , or the earrings . Or maybe the check tag . The history pieces , people are eager for that .”
Coal stud earrings are also popular and among her lower priced items at $ 10 . Other pieces , especially those featuring rare scrip , sell for around $ 175 . And her spinner rings , made from scrip , are gaining popularity .
“ I took a metalwork class , and it just lit a fire ,” she said of the rings . “ People see the Slab Fork spinner ring and they think of Bill Withers , or they have their own fond memories of that community , and they love it .”
Though most of her customers may be West Virginians , Dameron has shipped her coal jewelry to every state .
“ It took me 10 years to get at least one customer from every state , but I did it ,” she said .
“ It took some hustle . Before I got into all this , I was so naive . I had worked at the same place ( Grandview Country Club ) for 19 years . Then we had a tragic turn of events ,” she said , explaining that her husband was confined to a wheelchair for 7 months after he was in a car accident .
“ That forced me to realize I don ’ t want to do the same thing forever ,” she said . “ I want to do something
Dameron creates a variety of jewelry for all seasons and occasions .
that I want to do , so I left the country club and started sewing , which evolved into the jewelry .”
Along the way , Dameron learned the ways of business — paperwork , networking , marketing , taking risks .
“ I realized that if you don ’ t take a risk every now and then , you ’ re just going to be stuck . You may be content and happy , but you can become complacent ,” she said . “ My mind is full of ideas . This gives me the opportunity to experiment , to make the things to see what works and what fails . And I never feel bad about having a failure while I ’ m learning . Everything is a lesson .”
This fall , for example , she researched shipping her products outside of the United States after a successful vendorship at the Mine Academy introduced her to coal miners from all over the world .
“ It was an international mine rescue competition , and it was phenomenal . I met customers from Australia , Canada , Poland , Columbia , Indiana , Missouri ,” she said . “ Diamonds in the Rough is an all-female mine rescue team from Canada . They were rock stars , and they loved my stuff so much they asked me if I could ship to Canada .
“ I ’ m researching how to do that now ,” Dameron said . “ Always learning .”
48 ❖ SOUTH ❖ NOVEMBER - DECEMBER ' 22