PITTSTON — “We’ve come home to our town, Pittston, on WVIA.”
Lisa Mazzarella’s introduction to WVIA-TV’s “Our Town: Pittston” documentary wasn’t just a clever play on the one-hour production’s title — it was an acknowledgement the station has finally cast its lens on the city it’s based in after profiling over two dozen other towns in its coverage area. Mazzarella said when she called the Greater Pittston Historical Society to invite its members to participate in the first pre-production meeting, their response was, in so many words, yes.
“They said, ‘What have you been waiting for, we’ve been dying to be a part of this and we’ve been waiting for you to give us a call,’” Mazzarella said. “They said they already started filming; they already had a Facebook page up. They were so excited about this.”
The documentary premiered on WVIA Feb. 23, with live look-ins at the studio’s pledge drive interjected between segments. Among the Pittston residents and “Our Town” participants manning the phones was Greater Pittston Historical Society President Ron Faraday, who said he knew the documentary would eventually happen because he “wouldn’t stop asking.”
“It’s important for the whole community,” Faraday said. “It brings attention to the history of Pittston. Pittston as it is now and Pittston going forward.”
After her meeting with the historical society, Mazzarella met with community members to learn about the Pittstonian identity. She pinpointed topics that residents said stood out in their local narrative and, on Dec. 10, held a day-long series of interviews at WVIA’s studio.
When the interviews were completed, editor Kristin Doran compiled them to tell a coherent story of the Luzerne County city. Doran is a Mountain Top resident, but her work on “My Town: Pittston” may have influenced her next big move.
“I want to move there,” Doran said. “I think Pittston is awesome. Some of the people have tremendous memories of Pittston, and they use those memories to fuel positive action. It’s really impressive.”
From Pittston Stove Company and the Twin Shaft Disaster to Pittston Memorial Library and Paint Pittston Pink, the documentary took those memories — whether they were triumphs or trials — and compiled them into a town biography. You can also call it an autobiography, since Pittston’s history is retold in the program by residents who continue to live it.
After watching the documentary, Mike Lombardo, former Pittston mayor and current mayoral candidate, said it’s an accurate portrait of the town he grew up in.
“I think the most important thing is it shows the intense pride in our past, which fuels the motivation to move us forward,” Lombardo said. “I think clearly you see our confidence in where we’re headed in the future.”
Mazzarella said it was that mentality that convinced her to finally go forward with “Our Town: Pittston.”
“We wanted to do Pittston, but we wanted to do it right,” Mazzarella said. “We wanted to do it when they were ready, when they felt the upswing was really showcasing what they have. They said we’re ready; we said it’s time.”
