By Mary Wade Burnside
FAIRMONT — When Kathleen Panek recently received an e-mail from the West Virginia Film Office asking if anyone knew of a diner with a 1950s look, Panek grabbed her camera and headed to D.J.’s, where the decor — lunch counter with barstools, jukebox and tin ceiling — screams “Happy Days.”
After photographing the Fairmont restaurant from all angles, Panek, who oversees Shinnston’s Tourist Information Center, learned the filmmakers liked the diner ,but the location near an airport eliminated it from consideration.
Still, Panek, who traveled to Huntington to attend a workshop sponsored by the West Virginia Film Office a few months ago, plans to keep plugging away in the hopes that eventually a film production company will use an area in North Central West Virginia as a location.
“They tell us in this class the kinds of things to photograph, the kind of situation to look for,” Panek said, who was responding to an e-mail blast from film office director Pam Haynes when she made her trip to D.J.’s.
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