Weaver's Newsletter: August 2010

Several really exciting licensed "Andy Griffith Show" items are on the verge of being officially announced and surely will be announced in time for our next issue. Some have already been released, but even more are on the way. A few of the ones being released later this year will be in conjunction with the "Andy Griffith Show" Sprint Cup stock car that will make its debut in the Banking 500 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 16.

Mayberry's Finest Brand Foods, the official food licensee of "The Andy Griffith Show," is commemorating the show's 50^th Anniversary with the issue of a special anniversary edition lithographed gift tin.

Meanwhile, here's a sampling of the latest items that are currently available. Be sure to check back periodically at Weaver's Dept. Store at mayberry.com as new items become available in the coming weeks and months.

This shirt has been flying off the shelves since it debuted a few months ago. It features a classic image of Andy, Barney, Opie and Gomer on a heavyweight 100% preshrunk cotton shirt. The color of the shirt? Courthouse Coffee, of course! Toast Mayberry and the 50^th Anniversary in style!

This hilarious 1957 movie stars Andy Griffith as earnest bumpkin Will Stockdale and follows his adventures as an Air Force recruit. It's based on the best-selling novel and hit Broadway show, also starring Andy. The movie also features Don Knotts as a quirky Air Force psychologist.

New on DVD in May 2010, this award-winning 2008 release stars Andy Griffith as a retirement home resident whose grandson is trying to get him back into the dating game. Jerry Seinfeld's TV mom (Liz Sheridan) and "Everybody Love Raymond" mom, Doris Roberts, are among his new love interests. Also starring Marla Sokoloff and Paul Campbell. Bonuses for Mayberry fans are the appearances of Rance Howard and Clint Howard (Ron's father and brother). The DVD features include deleted scenes and outtakes.
Note: Rated PG-13 for language and sexual situations.

There’s also a nice article in the July/August issue of AARP Magazine (the “world’s largest circulation magazine”) about Andy, Mount Airy, Mayberry Days and the 50^th Anniversary. You can read it online at www.aarp.org.

What a great way to pay tribute to the 50^th Anniversary of TAGS! It has been hugely popular in the few months since it was issued. This beautiful print is sure to be a cherished lifetime keepsake marking this special year in the history of TAGS. But more than a keepsake, it's a superb work of art whose many smiling faces will bring an instant grin to the face of everyone who sees it.

Printed with premium inks on archival paper, this outstanding 12 in. x 16 in. collage pencil portrait is signed and numbered by talented Wilmington (N.C.) artist George Murray and officially licensed by CBS Consumer Products. It's limited to a maximum of 10,000 prints.

The suggested gallery price for this commemorative print is $60, but we've got for just $40.

This keen tin is brand new in '10! It measures 16 in. x 12.5 in. Get tough in your neighborhood with a tin that'll really make folks grin! (And of course, no law office or law enforcement or security location is complete without one!)

Note: There's also a set of all seven of the licensed Mayberry tin signs at a super-duper price!

Also new in July...the Complete Season 5 of Matlock. The suggested price is $50, but we've got it at Weaver's for just $39. We also have the first four seasons of "Matlock," along with all seasons of TAGS and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." And we have a nice assortment of the best movies starring Andy Griffith and Don Knotts.

Also, be sure to check out our Collectibles & Special Items at Weaver's. Our most recent addition is a Complete Set of "Andy Griffith Show" Plates from the 1990s. The section also has scripts, cookie jars, autographed items, and much more.

Some new licensed 50^th Mayberry artwork is due around Mayberry Days. And Rodney Dillard has a new CD coming out in late September called I Wish Life Was Like Mayberry. He produced a CD of the same title a few years ago, but this CD will have more than twice as many songs and will be released by the Rural Rhythm label. We'll of course have all new items that come out ready to order at Weaver's the minute they're available.

In addition to accepting orders online or by mail, our Weaver's Dept. Store has a phone number FOR ORDERS ONLY (615) 604-1298. The phone number is generally in operation from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT Monday through Saturday.

Please call this number only for ordering or for inquiring about orders placed by phone. All inquiries about online orders and mail orders should be made online and by mail, respectively.

* Aug. 7: Rodney Dillard and the Dillard Band are joined by Maggie Peterson and several of the Mayberry Tribute Artists (including David "Mayberry Deputy" Browning, Kenneth "Otis" Junkin, and Jeff "Howard" Branch) for a concert benefiting the Montgomery County DARE program. The evening concert will be at the James H. Garner Center in Troy, N.C. Tickets are $20 reserved and $15 general admission. A silent auction of Mayberry items begins at 6:00 p.m. and precedes the evening show. For tickets and more info, visit www.bluegrassintroy.com.

* Aug. 14: David Browning, M.D., is a pinch hit for the South Maryland Blue Crabs baseball game in Waldorf, Md.

* Aug. 17: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, N.C., from 12:30 to 5:00 p.m. Autographs are $10 each and include an 8x10 photo.

* Aug. 21: David "Mayberry Deputy" Browning spins yarns for the Salem (Va.) Red Sox baseball game.

* Aug. 22: Maggie Peterson and Rodney Dillard and the Dillard Band perform in the Mayberry Celebration at the Fountain of Life Bible Church in Johnson City, Tenn. David Browning joins them for the occasion.

* Aug. 28: David "Mayberry Deputy" Browning patrols Mayberry Date Night at the Forest Home Church of the Nazarene in Jonesboro, Ark.

* Aug. 31: Ol' David Browning, M.D., is on duty for the Friendship Retirement Community Retirement Center Senior Extravaganza in Roanoke, Va.

* Sept. 4: Cross paths with David Browning at Community Family Day in Crossville, Tenn.

* Sept. 5: Rodney Dillard and The Dillard Band perform at the Boone Plantation BBQ Festival in Charleston, S.C.

* Sept. 16: Rodney Dillard and The Dillard Band perform in Fort Payne, Ala. Details TBA.

* Sept. 21: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, N.C., from 12:30 to 5:00 p.m. Autographs are $10 each and include an 8x10 photo.

* Sept. 23-26: 20th Anniversary Edition of Mayberry Days in Mount Airy, N.C. This is the big one! Guests confirmed so far include: Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou), Doug Dillard (the banjo-playing Darling boy), Maggie Peterson (Charlene Darling), Elinor Donahue (Ellie Walker), James Best (Jim Linds"ey), Ronnie Schell (two TAGS episodes and Duke Slater on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."; his Mayberry Days debut!), Jackie Joseph ("Sweet Romeena"), LeRoy McNees (one of the Country Boys in "Mayberry on Record"), George Spence (Frank the Fiance in "Guest in the House"), Margaret Kerry (Bess Muggins and Helen Scobey; her first time at Mayberry Days!), David Morris (son of Howard Morris), Laura Hagen (widow of Earle Hagen), and Karen Knotts (daughter of Don Knotts). More to come. Other festival favorites include a lecture by Neal Brower and concerts by The Doug Dillard Band (featuring Ginger Boatwright, Roger Rasnake, Buddy Griffin and Jim Vipperman) and by the VW Boys, the Rafe Hollister Band (no kidding!) and others. Full details, updates and tickets to those portions of the weekend that require a ticket are available online at www.surryarts.org.

* Sept. 25: CD release party for I Wish Life Was Like Mayberry by Rodney Dillard in Mount Airy, N.C. Details TBA.

* Oct. 1: Christ Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minn., hosts an evening titled "Mayberry Reflections." Ken Anderson , author of the book "Mayberry Reflections: The Early Years," will talk about his connection to Mayberry and about the ideals and values that Mayberry continues to instill. The first episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" will be shown. Authentic Mayberry desserts will be served. Free child-care will be provided. Christ Lutheran Church is located at the corner of 20^th Street and Marion Road, S.E. Call 507-289-0271 for more info. A free-will offering will be taken.

* Oct. 2: Long Branch Baptist Church in Autryville, N.C., will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of TAGS with a day of music, memories, and down-home fun. Scheduled to appear: Rodney Dillard and the Dillard Band, Maggie Peterson, David "Mayberry Deputy" Browning, Jeff "Howard Sprague" Branch, and Allan "Floyd"Newsome. Other special guests TBA.
The day will feature two shows by the performers listed above as well as a meet-and-greet lunch. There will also be a pickle-making contest, a whistling contest, trivia contests, and other activities throughout the day. More events still TBA. There will be a Facebook page and Web site up in the coming weeks.
Autryville is located approximately 60 miles south of Raleigh, 15 miles east of Fayetteville/Ft. Bragg and 80 miles northwest of Wilmington.

* Oct. 3: 50th Anniversary of the airing of the first episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" on CBS.

* Oct. 3: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum in Mount Airy, N.C., from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Autographs are $10 each and include an 8x10 photo.

* Oct. 7: Andy Griffith is among the second group of inductees into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in Kannapolis, N.C. For more info, visit www.northcarolinamusichalloffame.org.

* Oct. 16: The "Andy Griffith Show" stock car, driven by Travis Kvapil (#34), has its maiden race at the Banking 500, part of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The race will be broadcast on ABC-TV.

* Oct.19: Doug Dillard is the featured Master Artist at the Annual Bluegrass Concert at Glenville State College in Glenville, W.V. Doug will be interviewed about his career and then do a concert with the college's highly respected bluegrass band led by Buddy Griffin.

To add some extra Mayberry flavor to the evening, David Browning, a local Ernest T. Bass and a Mayberry squad car replica will be part of the evening. The show starts at 7 p.m. Advance tickets are on sale at the college at (304) 462-6340 for $10. If any tickets remain, they'll be available at the door for $15.

Ron Howard's next film as director is one currently titled Cheaters, which stars Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Connelly and Winona Ryder. It's slated to be in theaters in 2011. Ron was also honored with the Silver Hugo Award for career achievement at June's Chicago International Film Festival.

Jim Nabors sang "Back Home Again in Indiana" at the Indy 500 for the 32^nd time. Because he was a bit under the weather, Jim unfortunately had to cancel a concert scheduled at the American Music Theatre in Lancaster, Penn., in late July. There's no word yet on a possible date for rescheduling the concert.

George Lindsey is enjoying his more or less official retirement and is looking forward to a trip to see family in California later this summer.

In May, Betty Lynn delighted her audience as the featured guest at the Mocksville (N.C.) campus of the Davidson County Community College for "An Evening with Actress Betty Lynn."

Doug Dillard, Rodney Dillard, Mitch Jayne and Dean Webb (the four original Dillards, Mayberry's Darling boys) were individually honored by the Missouri House of Representatives with the Outstanding Missourian Award. Rodney was the only one of the four able to be on hand to accept his award in late April.

Meanwhile, Doug and Rodney have gone their separate musical ways again. Doug is getting The Doug Dillard Band together again (with Ginger Boatwright, Roger Rasnake and friends) for Mayberry Days in Mount Airy in September. Doug's house was safely on high ground during Nashville's recent flooding. Just a few weeks ago, he did a recording session with a fellow legend, Cajun performer Doug Kershaw. Keep up with Doug at www.dougdillard.net and www.hillbillyhollywood.com.

Rodney's current band is called Rodney Dillard and the Dillard Band. Rodney won't be performing at Mayberry Days in September, but he will be doing a release party for his Rural Rhythm Records CD, I Wish Life Was Like Mayberry, in Mount Airy during that time and will be at some other Mayberry events this year.

Rodney and Maggie Peterson put on a great show for fans at the Mayberry Comes to Graysville and Mayberry Squad Car Nationals in Graysville, Ala., in July. Maggie was also a huge hit at the annual Mule Day and Chickenfest in Gordo, Ala., in early June.

With worried hearts filled with prayers, we're sad to have the news that beloved Darling boy and Dillards founder Mitch Jayne, who turned 80 on July 5, is gravely ill in a Missouri hospital.

James Best was able to mix fishing with personal appearances and some book signings for his Best in Hollywood autobiography while making a swing through Tennessee in April and May. He also had some good fishing spots picked out on his route for continued touring this summer, including Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Check out the inn, an official "Andy Griffith Show" licensee, at www.taylorhomeinn.com. They have a link there to the inn's Facebook page, which has more photos of James and Dorothy's visit.

James also was honored by his hometown of Corydon, Ind., with a two-day "Jimmie's Coming Home" celebration in early June. Among the festivities were two performances of his one-man show, In His Own Words.

Bernard Fox checked in with us to say that he's doing very well. He has done some personal appearances at autograph shows in the L.A. area and he also was featured guest at a local banquet with "Bewitched" fans from far and wide. ("Dr. Bombay, come right way," they beckoned. And he did!)

Arlene Golonka and Jackie Joseph continue to be passionately active in Actors and Others for Animals and a variety of other charitable organizations working on behalf of animals. For many years, they have been tireless advocates for the better treatment of animals.

Barbara Stuart (one TAGS episode and many episodes as Miss Bunny on "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.") reports that she is doing well and working when the right project comes along. She sends her best to everybody in Mayberry.

LeRoy "Mack" McNees, one of Mayberry's Country Boys, has been traveling and performing everywhere from Georgia to Guatemala to California, where he once again participated in the California Bluegrass Association's annual Father's Day Bluegrass Festival. LeRoy led a dobro workshop at the festival, and he and wife Janice led the Sunday chapel service. LeRoy and fellow Country Boy and Kentucky Colonel Roland White were among the pioneering legends of bluegrass recognized at the International Bluegrass Association's ROMP festival in Owensboro, Ky., in June. (The IBMA is celebrating its 25^th year.)

TAGS associate producer and longtime personal manager Richard O. "Dick" Linke reports that he and wife Bettina are in the process of doing another major addition for their home in Hawaii. This time they're adding a couple of guest rooms and other features to make sure there's always plenty of room for visits by kids and grandkids.

Margaret Kerry (Bess Muggins and Helen Scobey) has recuperated well from recent emergency gall-bladder surgery. She's back at work on her autobiography and looking forward to her Mayberry Days debut in September.

It was fun to see Barbara Perry (Floss and others in four TAGS episodes) in this spring's hit romantic comedy The Back-Up Plan, which Barbara describes as her "singing debut."

For almost two years now, www.mayberry.com/podcasts has been the home of the Two Chairs, No Waiting Internet Radio Show (a podcast) hosted by Allan Newsome.

As most of our readers likely know, Allan is our Webmaster at mayberry.com and has been very active in TAGSRWC since 1992. If you've attended various Mayberry events through the years, you've probably seen Allan as a tribute artist for Floyd the Barber.

Two Chairs, No Waiting has TAGS news, interviews and pretty much whatever happens to be going on in and around Mayberry. Allan is doing a really bang-up job on these podcasts. There's a new episode every Tuesday and also an Archives in case you want to listen to episodes you've missed. (There have been almost 100 episodes so far!) We think you'll find these podcasts creative, fun and informative. There's a lot of info and discussions that you simply won't find anywhere else.

If you've got sound on your computer or have an iPod or similar device, you can easily tune in or download these podcasts. There are all sorts of ways to interact with the podcasts, including several options for giving your feedback. So pull up a chair and enjoy the fun of bringing what is basically Radio Free Mayberry to you wherever you are!

And TAGSRWC now has an official page on Facebook, too! It's www.facebook.com/tagsrwc. We launched our page about 10 months ago, and already more than 5,000 folks have joined the fun. We hope you'll check out our Facebook page and be a part of helping it grow and spreading the word about Mayberry news and activities by becoming a fan with TAGSRWC. Drop by when you have a chance and say, "Hey!"

Between issues of the Weaver's Newsletter, keep up with the goin's-on in Mayberry with the more-or-less daily "Who's Been Messin' Up the Bulletin Board?" Digest. It's a free subscriber list that consists entirely of comments, news flashes, and questions and answers from subscribers. You can sign up for that list by going to the "Mailing Lists" link at www.tagsrwc.com.

TAGSRWC also publishes The eBullet in more or less alternate months to the Weaver's Newsletter. The eBullet is the online successor to our longtime printed newsletter, The Bullet. Like the Weaver's Newsletter, The eBullet is free. It includes some of the same news as the Weaver's Newsletter, but with more features and depth and a little less emphasis on merchandise news. To sign up, go to www.tagsrwc.com/ebullet/joinebullet.htm.
TAGSRWC's other main vehicle for Mayberry information is simply our Web site at tagsrwc.com. It has extensive content and links for just about everything a Mayberry fan might be looking for.

The next issue of Weaver's Newsletter is scheduled for September with an eBullet coming out in late August.

That's all for now. We hope you have fun browsing at Weaver's and visiting mayberry.com.

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