The City of Copperhill and Members of Polk County's Joint Economic Community Development and Industrial Economic Development Boards will celebrate the United States Semiquincentennial grant TN250 by hosting a fundraiser on Juy 11 to cover the additional costs of the Copper Miner Memorial Statue. The city received $25,000 from the TN250 grant and is seeking to raise an additional $3,800 to cover the remaining costs for the bronze statue.

Festivities at Buck Bald Brewery, located in Copperhill's downtown, begin at noon with speeches starting at 3:30 p.m.

from JECD Board Chair Monica Farrow and Copperhill Mayor Greg Barker, followed by live music at 4 p.m. Limited edition miner statue fundraiser t-shirts will be available for purchase, and business sponsorships are encouraged. A portion of the beverages and food sold at the event will also be donated.

The event will be held at Buck Bald Brewery, 160 Ocoee St. in Copperhill, and will start at noon.

Additional donations can be mailed to Copperhill City Hall, PO Box 640, Copperhill, Tn. 37317.

Officials said, "The prior wooden Miner Memorial, which succumbed to the elements, left this small but proud community without an essential piece of local honor and history. Therefore, in celebration of 250 years of America's existence, a small border town nestled in the Blue Ridge mountains between Georgia and North Carolina the City of Copperhill, in the great state of Tennessee, would like to recognize the deep contributions, both locally and nationally, of the Tennessee Copper Company miners, which helped build our community, its surrounding area and contributed to America-forwarding efforts throughout its history. Most notably, the Tennessee Copper Company played a vital role in the survival and evolution of our country through its wartime contributions.

"The Company is generally remembered for its contributions during World War I and World War II. During World War I, the Tennessee Copper Company supplied copper for munitions. During World War II, it manufactured sulfuric acid, a crucial ingredient in the production of explosives such as TNT. Additionally, during the Vietnam War, the Company supplied sulfuric acid produced in the Copper Basin to the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant in Chattanooga. While the plant ceased copper mining in the late 1980s and halted sulfuric acid production in the 2000s, its efforts, largely on the backs of those who would risk their health and safety for its production, were crucial in the fabric of America's wartime success, a little-known and often overlooked aspect of our area's importance which we seek to illuminate through erecting a statue and with more durable material."