X - Benton Plant employee
 

Hello. I used to work for Mariah, 1991 - 1993. It started as a summer job, but extended till after I graduated from SIU's Industrial Design school. SIU is about a 45 minute drive South from the Benton Illinois plant. Fun job, crazy hours, in the Tooling Department. We built the plugs; new decks, hulls, other small fiberglass pieces like the engine cover, etc., that the molds were made from. In my day, we also maintained the molds. This meant, we fixed all the cracks in the molds. That part of the job, not so much fun. With the skills of the Tooling Department, we were asked to help other departments when needed. So, I got a pretty good feel for the place in a short period of time. That was a long time ago. I'm sure reading through the posts will bring back fun memories for me.
I've never owned a Mariah, but live close to a big lake and have space for a boat. I've been a boat and jet ski owner in the past. If I do get a boat again, I would love to have a Mariah from my time period of working there. Well, I imagine I'm not the only x-employee here. Hope this will be fun.
Happy boating!

Re: X - Benton Plant employee
 

Welcome! There has been a few ex-employees (Jeff Snoddy - username 'Earthbound Misfit' for one) show up here over the years as well as both of the owner's son ( 'Jason' and 'Rance' if i recall correctly). Always good to hear a few stories and experiences of what it was like working at the Mariah factory.

Re: X - Benton Plant employee
 

Cool. I figured other employee's must drop in from time to time. I'm sure I'll enjoy the posts. Photos already bring back a lot of memories. Thanks for the feedback.

Re: X - Benton Plant employee
 

Thanks again. After looking at Jeff's intro post, I realize we worked together, if not mistaken, same department. The long hair mentioned makes me think of one person in particular.