Israeli journalist mines a story in Marianna
Channel 10 journalist Nadav Eyal, left, chats with retired Marianna coal miner Joe Glad.
From left are Marianna Councilman Jeremy Berardinelli, Channel 10 journalist Nadav Eyal and Marianna Community Public Library director Pam Clutter.
Channel 10 journalist Nadav Eyal, center, interviews retired Marianna coal miner Joe Glad.
Retired Marianna coal miner Joe Glad shows off one of the miniature houses he built for his display on the borough in the local library.
Channel 10 journalist Nadav Eyal, center, poses for a photo with his cameraman and retired Marianna miner Joe Glad.
MARIANNA – Joe Glad was told by his father to play close attention to sounds when he first entered Marianna Mine in January 1947.
If a miner saw dust, heard a crack and then saw mice running out, it was time to seek safety, said Glad, 89, who retired from the mine after working there for 39 years and two months.
“You’d better start moving out with the mice,” said Glad, whose many stories about mining attracted the ear of an Israeli journalist who was in the area last month making a documentary on the presidential election and the decline of America’s coal industry.
A group of young volunteers spent days organizing the shelves of Marianna’s small library to give it a sparking appearance in advance of the June 15 visit by Nadav Eyal of Channel 10 in Jerusalem.
“For people who have lived here all of their lives, this is very exciting,” said Autumn Stoneking, a part-time library employee.
She said it was a positive experience amid all the negativity associated with Marianna’s decline after the mine closing.
“We are the smallest library, population-wise, in the Washington County library system,” library director Pam Clutter said.
“To me, no other library is going to experience something like this,” Clutter said, referring to the visit by Channel 10. “It was a very overwhelming experience for this library.”
The Israeli news crew’s journey to this region began June 14 in Greene County, where interviews were conducted with various county employees, county Commissioner Blair Zimmerman and several miners.
“They were looking at the services we’re giving to dislocated miners,” said Barbara Cole, CareerLink manager in Greene.
“It’s a privilege,” Cole said. “We’ve had folks come over from overseas because of our mining, and that’s what they were interested in. They were looking for insight into our best practices.”
“They were curious when we told them (the miners) got only six months of unemployment compensation,” added Ami Gatts of the Washington-Greene Job Training Agency. “They asked what they do after that runs out? That’s part of the problem.”
Gatts said she was surprised to learn there is also a vast coal seam in Israel.
“We got a history lesson on their coal,” Gatts said. “They have it everywhere, but they don’t mine it. They’re sitting on a boatload of coal.”
The executive producer of the documentary, Noa Borstein, said in a letter to Marianna Library that Glad’s story is inspiring and that “his point of view is something that must take part in our documentary.”
Glad began his mining career working alongside his father as a hand loader, making 93 cents per ton of coal he removed from the mine. They each averaged about three tons of coal per day before quitting time.
“Everybody can’t be a miner,” Glad said. “I’m surprised. I never thought it would happen to me.”
He retired in 1986, two years before the mine was permanently sealed by BethEnergy Mines Inc. following a fire on a belt that hauled coal to the surface.
“I was told by a company official that the mine would be here long after I’m gone,” Glad said.
“It’s heartbreaking,” he said about what has become of Marianna, which was once considered to be a model coal mining town but is now littered with blighted houses.
Greene County bureau chief Mike Jones contributed to this report.