(Editor’s note: The Derrick asked for some reminiscences from anyone connected with Plant No. 1 at Joy. Here are a couple of the submissions received so far. Items can be sent to – newsroom.thederrick@gmail.com – or to The Derrick and News Herald Facebook page. Please provide contact information too.)
Jane Beach of Cooperstown submitted a photo (above) to the newspaper of a group of men who worked many years together in the final assembly department at Joy.
Beach’s husband, Ray, is at the far right in the photo, which was taken in the mid-1970s. Others in the picture are (from left) Floyd Ohler, Vern Sharrar, Ken Keverline, Gary Grove and Lou Heber.
Jane Beach said her husband and several other men in the photo are deceased, and she said several of them spent 35 or 40 years together. She said the picture was taken in front of a mining machine that went down into the coal mines.
“I thought you might like to have this for your collection of fond memories by the Joy ‘boys,'” Jane Beach said. “Thank you for giving these employees their due credit for all the many, many hours and years they put into the Joy!”
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This hits very close to home. My father Wayne Ballard worked at Joy Mining as it was called years ago.
He never missed a day of work in all of those years of working. He loved his job and was very proud to be a Joy employee.
In 1943, he left for the service (he was in the Army during World War II). In 1946 he went to work at Joy. He retired in 1986, had 40 years of service in, and worked in the structural department.
I will never forget when he came home at night he would come around the corner of Mooney’s Dairy Store with his shirt open from the heat in the summer but never missed a day.
We always lived down at the lower end of town so dad would walk to work every day. I will never forget at 3:00 and 11:00 at night the traffic that went by our house. It is so sad to see it today.
All of the kids that grew up in our neighborhood had parents who worked at the Joy. Every summer we would go to Conneaut Lake Park for the Joy picnic. That was a big thing back then and Joy always put on a very nice picnic.
Joy also put on a Christmas party at the Masonic Lodge in Franklin for the kids of the employees of Joy. I know for me I was just a young girl and that was a very big thing seeing Santa Claus and getting a gift. My dad was the world to me.
He passed away 23 years ago and he would be so upset if he knew what was happening to his place of employment for all of those years. I can remember one time I had the mumps and dad was working the 3-11 shift. I remember sitting up in my parents’ bed when I was sick and waiting for dad to come home.
These memories are very special to me and ones I will never forget.
Thank you.
Patty (Ballard) Henderson
Tionesta
