Mick Wiest: A born Oak Ridge historian

On a normal day in August of 1999, I came home and listened to the telephone messages and recall the voice said, “Hello my name is Mick Wiest and I read a comment on “Your Views” in The Oak Ridger. You mentioned there are a lot of changes in Oak Ridge, especially the tearing down of our town, little by little, all we will have left is memories. Would you be interested in helping to form a heritage preservation group? Please call me back if you’d like to do so.”

I was totally surprised! Yes, I was tired of seeing my hometown being torn down piece by piece, right before my eyes. I thought, “Enough is enough!” So I called Mick back. He told me about an upcoming meeting and asked if I’d come and I did.

When we met it was as if we already knew each other. I told him I had very little knowledge about the government plant areas, except that my Dad and Grandfather worked there. He said “that's alright, you will learn. Go home and talk to your Dad. You were born here, live here and know the town and that’s what is being taken away from us.”

The newly formed group, Oak Ridge Heritage & Preservation Association (ORHPA), decided to have a petition drive and rally to “Save the Wildcat Den.” Which we did with over 2,600 signatures that were presented to Oak Ridge City Council who agreed to sell us that site to ORHPA for $1.

Mick was very comfortable with confronting the city, telling them our plans and taking charge of a plan of action. I enjoyed making displays and social planing. We had become a working team.

Our charter group of 12 included Ed Westcott. I knew he’d taken all those 1940s black-and-white photos of Oak Ridge, but never expected I’d be working with him and get to know him s a friend. Mick highly respected Ed, too.

We sure had our work cut out for us. The city asked us to organize history displays for the new Mayfest Festival. As we brainstormed, we discovered that Ed Westcott had never been publicly honored. As one could guess Mick and I were shocked! Mick handled all the public contacts needed to do a public program and I got busy learning all I could about the 1940s lifestyle. We agreed, so I decided to include local merchants who provided items for a gift basket to be presented to Ed. Mick contacted the state of Tennessee and city of Oak Ridge for proclamations and guest speakers, plus a very large cake which Mick asked then-Mayor David Bradshaw to take the honor to cut and serve.

Then came the reality, we now own a building, a very empty building - no tables, no chairs, not even a kitchen.

What had we gotten ourselves into?

The group agreed that we focus on the 1940-50s look as our site was built as the Midtown Community Center/“Wildcat Den, 102 Robertsville Road. Mick requested we give this building back its original name. Now to bring in much needed funds to support our site, we started a membership drive and asked for more volunteers. Our greatest asset was to bring back the Wildcat Den and rent it out for public use.

As we worked on obtaining items, Mick called me and said. “I have us a Formica kitchen table and four chairs. I was the owner's paperboy and she read your newspaper article requesting one.” That table served us well at the building and in several mock kitchen displays during the Secret City Festivals. That was until Mick left it covered under his carport and it ruined it. Poor guy he said, “You’ll never let me live that one down.” As time went on we had many laughs and odd looks over that table.

There was so many joint events we planned and worked on together. Mick encouraged me to be more public, something I had always struggled with. I was never comfortable talking in front of a crowd. But as he included more and more original Oak Ridgers, it became much easier to talk to them about our plans and work with them, like Ed Westcott, Colleen Black, Bill Henry, Bill Wilcox, Bill Tewes, Helen Jerigan, just to name a few. We were like one big family reunion.

Unfortunately, my family was suddenly faced with a hardship, along with questionable medical issues. I went to Mick and told him that since I’d be heavily involved with those issues, I likely wouldn't be able to serve with the group and circumstances could interfere with promoting ORHPA. Mick quickly told me, “No, you can’t quit. We need you as much as you will need us.” I’ll never forget how comfortable he made me feel. Then in time, he had to deal with similar issues. He knew I supported him and understood without having to go into details.

Mick was always a complete gentleman. I saw him having to deal with many people who thought only about themselves, but still he stayed calm and avoided all conflicts. He was gracious, gentle and kind. One of his last statements to me was, “Bobbie, I can’t do this without you.”

I’m struggling to go forward without his support. But I know deeply he knew we, as a group, wouldn’t let his work and efforts go away. We will band together and carry on, knowing Mick will always be with us.

On Aug. 28, 2000, Mick wrote an editorial that said:

“What will Oak Ridge look like when we plan our 100th Birthday Celebration? And what will there be to see of Oak Ridge original community buildings? Oak Ridge is fortunate to have a 'sense of place' that is unique and based on history. It is special to those that live here and to the many that have ties here. Much is being said today about how to help our town grow and prosper. It may well be that a good measure of our future rests in our past.”

Mick was eager to recognize the pivotal role that Ed Westcott played in preserving Oak Ridge history via his remarkable photography. His project is over halfway to getting needed funds. In lieu of flowers, Mick requested that donations be made for Ed’s statue, to ORHPA.

One of life’s hardest event is to lose a wonderful friend. Mick passed after a very short illness. He was a great “Champion for History” and he loved Oak Ridge. In September 2024, ORHPA will have its 25th Anniversary and Mick will be with us all the way. There will be more to come on his great and grand projects.

I’ve lost the best cohort anyone could have. He encouraged me as I learned to express myself and display history. For sure his life legacy will live on.

EDITOR'S NOTE: In lieu of flowers, Mick requested that donations be made to the ORHPA Ed Westcott statue project. Please send donations to ORHPA, 102 Robertsville Road, Oak Ridge, TN (oakridgehistorymuseum.com). The funeral will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church at 2 p.m. Friday, May 24, 2024, with Fr. Michael Woods officiating. His celebration of life will take place immediately after the funeral at the Oak Ridge History Museum, 102 Robertsville Road.

This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Mick Wiest: A born Oak Ridge historian