Cake Boss visits mining museum

By Vera Olinski
OGDENSBURG — Excitement and chatter filled the air Wednesday, July 12, at the Sterling Hill Mining Museum. Fifth– through eighth-grade Ogdensburg science students waited to go on camera with reality TV star Buddy Valastro, from the TLC show “Cake Boss.”
Sterling Hill Mining Museum CEO Bill Kroth explained the “Cake Boss” show reached out to the mine in order to film their show in Ogdensburg.
Michelle Cooper, Ogdensburg science teacher, said she partnered with Kroth by organizing about 13 students and seven adults “to come to the mine and be part of the ‘Cake Boss’ experience.”
Cooper added, Kroth has partneredwith the school science program because he really wants the “school to be part of the mine as much as possible, since this is their backyard.” She said he has provided all kinds of equipment and education, including giving a mineral presentation to her classroom and judging the science fair.
Ogdensburg Mayor Steve Ciasullo and three council members — George Hutnick, Robert Gunderman, and Peter Opilla — also visited that day.
Into the cold, dark mine, Kroth took the group through the long tunnel to the “crusher” room — along with producers, camera and sound men filming the tour.
One producer said to the group, “Enjoy the tour. We’ll be filming you as we go along, and just pretend the camera’s not there.”
Kroth explained to the students how a miner broke up huge chunks of zinc bearing ores into basketball-sized chunks. The miner broke the Willemite, Franklinite and Zincite chunks with a rod, jack hammer or sledge hammer, until they fell through a grate to the crusher.
Kroth commented the man “was suspended 1,000 feet above a machine that could crush him like a bug. How many of you would like to have this job?”
“No,” responded the students.
He also described and showed the simulation of the blasting process using explosives in drilled holes within the side of the rock wall.
They all cried out, “Fire in the hole! Boom, boom, boom.” A volunteer and former Sterling Hill miner added, “Every tunnel you walked through today was done in this method: men, dynamite and machines. It wasn’t a natural cave that we made bigger. It was all solid rock.”
Kroth said, “We have one more surprise for you.” He took the students to the shaft station room — where the miners used to travel deep into the mine. There, the students waited for Buddy and the colossal cake to arrive — created especially for the mine by the family owned business, which started in Hoboken.
While they waited, Valastro, along with sons and staff, rolled and carried the cake through the long, dark mine tunnel. Upon arrival, excited voices cheered, echoing throughout the mine.
The Cake Boss called out, “Who wants a piece of cake?” to more cheers and applause. He then made them laugh with witty jokes and described the genius behind his work of art.
Kroth later took Buddy and his sons to the “best part of our tour,” the “Rainbow Tunnel,” where ultra-violet light shows off a colorful vein of fluorescent material. He explained, “We are the fluorescent mineral capital of the world right here.”
Buddy responded, “You have a great establishment here. It is a little hidden gem here in New Jersey.”