November 13, 2008

Reporter: Cathleen Moxley
WTAP News

Link for full story/video interviews: http://www.wtap.com/home/headlines/34440069.html


WILLIAMSTOWN — Blowing glass is a pretty tough job, but one national TV show also says it's a dirty one.

Camera crews were filming throughout the Fenton Glass factory in Williamstown all day Thursday.

It was all to show people across the nation that making glass takes a lot of craftsmanship, but there's also a lot of labor that goes into it as well.

You may have seen the show "Dirty Jobs" on the Discovery Channel where host Mike Rowe tries out some of the toughest occupations in the country. His most recent venture brought him to the Mid-Ohio Valley.

"It's kind of a disaster, but I'm pretty sure my mother will cherish it," Rowe said about a vase he made for her.

The purpose of this "dirty Jobs" episode, other than making his mom a present, is to show that the little pieces of art are a lot more difficult to make than you might expect.

When you think of Fenton Glass the words "beautiful" and "precious" come to mind, but in reality, it's a dirty job which somebody has to.

"There's also sweat and a little bit of blood and a lot of screaming and a lot of muscle and a lot of grit, and it takes just a ton of energy and work," Rowe said.

But it's the kind of work that Rowe was willing to try, and the kind that his show thrives on.

"I would say Mike is just like what you see on TV. He is as we'd say here in West Virginia, 'real people,'" Fenton Glas historian James Measell says.

"It's a great dirty job. It's just that in the end, if you know what you're doing, you end up with something beautiful," Rowe said.

But all that beauty doesn't come without a hard, and dirty day's work.

Rowe has done more than 200 "dirty jobs." He also said that because of the heat that comes with making glass, this job was one of the toughest.

Measell said this episode of Dirty Jobs will air sometime in 2009.