Weaver’s Newsletter
An Online newsletter of
“The Andy Griffith Show” Rerun Watchers Club (TAGSRWC)
June 2018
Activity in Mayberry has really been heating up for the summer. Here’s a rundown of some cool things to buy, do and know about.
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**** Merchandise Update ****
OH, IT’S HOT!–Whether folks complain about the weather or not, you can always count on sizzlin’ deals every day at Weaver’s!
For Mayberry shopping, our Weaver’s Department Store has something for everybody. There’s no better time to get that perfect Mayberry T-shirt for yourself and friends and family. Weaver’s has more than 50 different designs, including 10 new T-shirt designs added just in the least couple of months!
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Most of our adult-sized T-shirts are just $20. A few designs are $18, and the Lawmen and Sheriff all-over designs are $25. (The long-sleeved Sheriff shirt is $40.) Several designs are available in sweatshirts (and some also as hoodies) as well.
We also have caps, Goober beanies, deputy patches and both Mayberry Sheriff and Mayberry Deputy badges.
And we have new totes, throws, pouches, pillows, pillow cases, blankets and towels in this design:
New “Fishin’ Hole” items
(Throw Pillow shown here.)
Here are some other items we’ve recently added. They join more than 200 different Mayberry-related items, both new and vintage, on our shelves at Weaver’s.
Mayberry Dog Tag
$2.50
We all know that part of any deputy’s standard uniform includes an identification tag and chain to be worn during weigh-ins down at the civil service office. Here’s your chance to get a Mayberry Sheriff Department identification tag, or what we laymen call a “dog tag,” for your very own.
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This tags measures 2 inches x 1-1/8 inches and has a matte finish made of sturdy stainless steel with a rolled edge. The tag comes with a 24-inch ball-chain necklace. (NOTE: The special “heavyweight” chain that Barney wore for his weigh-in is not included!)
Mayberry Postcard Set
$5.00
Send your friends a postcard while you’re visiting the corner room at the “Y” in Raleigh or wherever you might be traveling, or whenever you just want to say, “Hey!” These vintage Mayberry postcards capture the spirit that have made Mayberry our hometown. And they’re guaranteed to bring smiles to every recipient.
Each set contains six postcards, each with a different image from Mayberry.
NOTE: If you need to send a more private note, check out the Mayberry Postmarks Set that includes envelopes and note cards.
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More recommended Summer Reading from Old Lady Crump. She’s relentless!
Check out new items and old favorites (including lots of great books for summer reading, whether staying cool in a cave like Ernest T. or going to the beach like Howard Sprague!) online at Weaver’s Department Store. (Or just go to www.imayberry.com and click on one of the orange and blue Weaver’s buttons at the top of the page.)
And remember that your purchases from Weaver’s help support Mayberry events and Mayberry-related charitable causes all year long at locations all around the country. Those sales also help keep our online Mayberry newsletters and communities available to everybody free of charge. As always, thank you for shopping at Weaver’s!
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Floyd’s Barbershop Bulletin Board
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Event Calendar
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The Andy Griffith Museum, featuring the amazing collection of Andy Griffith artifacts started by the late Emmett Forrest, continues to celebrate its complete renovation in 2017. It’s a must-see! The museum is open daily in Mount Airy, N.C. For info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
Mount Airy’s Main Street was recently voted by readers as the Top Choice in USA Today‘s 10 Best Travel Attractions for North Carolina! (The Biltmore Estate was a solid 3rd.)
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The following information is from “The eBullet“: Official E-mail Newsletter of “The Andy Griffith Show” Rerun Watchers Club (TAGSRWC).
* June 22: Karen Knotts performs “Tied Up in Knotts” at Heinz C. Prechter Educational and Performing Arts Center in Taylor, Mich. Show time is 2 p.m. For more info, visit www.wcccd.edu.
* June 30: Maggie Peterson Mancuso (Charlene Darling) and Ronnie Schell (Duke Slater on “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”) are the special guest stars for “A Touch of Mayberry” at the GEM Theatre in Calhoun, Ga. Maggie will provide commentary about special TAGS moments and perform favorite music from the show with a bluegrass band, and Ronnie will present his stand-up comedy show and also talk about the late Jim Nabors. The evening will include a meet-and-greet session with the stars and opportunity for autographs. Showtime is 7 p.m., and tickets are $23-$27 depending on seat location. For more info, visit www.calhoungemtheatre.org.
* July 12: Karen Knotts brings her “Tied Up in Knotts” show to the Muckenthaler Cultural Center in Fullerton, Calif. Show time is 7:30 p.m. For info, visit themuck.org/upcoming.
* July 20: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum 12:30-3:30 p.m. She will have autographed 8 x 10 photos available ($10). For more info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
* July 20-22: The 6th Annual Mayberry Meet-Up takes place in Mount Airy, N.C., sponsored by TAGSRWC’s “Two Chairs, No Waiting” Podcast and hosted by Allan “Floyd” Newsome. Home base for the event is the Mayberry Motor Inn.
This year’s event is timed to coincide with both Betty Lynn‘s meet-and-greet at the Andy Griffith Museum on July 20 and Neal Brower’s lecture at the Museum on July 21. For more info, visit the Mayberry Meet-Up Facebook page.
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FREE THINKING–Join the Mayberry tree of knowledge!
* July 21: Mayberry 101 author Neal Brower presents a lecture on the classic “Opie the Birdman” episode of TAGS, starting at 2 p.m., in the Andy Griffith Museum Theatre in Mount Airy, N.C. Admission is included with Andy Griffith Museum admission ($8 for adults, $6 for ages 12 and under). For more info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
* Aug. 11: Mayberry Night in Troy, N.C., starring Maggie Peterson, Dixie Griffith (daughter of Andy), the VW Boys, and many of the Mayberry tribute artists. Showtime at the James Garner Center is 7 p.m. Reserved seating is $20, General Admission tickets are $15 and admission for kids ages 6-12 is $10. For advance tickets or info, contact organizer Jeff Branch at (910) 572-1313 or (704) 985-6987, or visit the website at www.blugrassintroy.com.
ARE YA OR AIN’T YA?–Gonna learn, that is. You’ll definitely get your nickel’s worth at this month’s lecture by Neal Brower!
* Aug. 11: Mayberry 101 author Neal Brower wraps up his trilogy of summer lectures with a session on the “Opie and the Bully” episode of TAGS, starting at 2 p.m., in the Andy Griffith Museum Theatre in Mount Airy, N.C. Admission is included with Andy Griffith Museum admission ($8 for adults, $6 for ages 12 and under). Visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
SPECIAL DELIVERY–Betty Lynn creates a memorable moment for a delighted fan at a previous meet-and-greet event at the Andy Griffith Museum. Photo by Hobart Jones.
* Aug. 17: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum 12:30-3:30 p.m. She will have autographed 8 x 10 photos available ($10). For info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
* Sept. 21: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum 12:30-3:30 p.m. (Beat the rush to visit with her the next week at Mayberry Days!) She will have autographed 8 x 10 photos available ($10). For info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
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Rodney Dillard
LEON ME–Have sammich, will travel.
* Sept. 27-30: 29th Annual Mayberry Days in Mount Airy, N.C. Actually, a few festival events start as early as Monday the 24th. Stars from “The Andy Griffith Show” confirmed so far include Betty Lynn, Rodney Dillard, Clint Howard (right), Ronnie Schell, Margaret Kerry, and LeRoy McNees. Karen Knotts will also present her show “A Deputy’s Daughter.” Bettina Linke, wife of late TAGS associate producer Richard O. Linke, and Laura Hagen, wife of late TAGS music director Earle Hagen, also will be attending. Much more TBA soon.
BUDDIES TO THE CORPS–Ronnie Schell and Jim Nabors in “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.”
Tickets are already available for several performances and activities, including The Doug Dillard Tribute Concert featuring Rodney Dillard and his band, Ronnie Schell’s Salute to Jim Nabors, and “Bluegrass Mayberry Style” by LeRoy McNees and Friends.
Also performing are the VW Boys with their “Salute to Mayberry,” the Motown Legacy Revue, Michael Hoover’s “Memories of Elvis,” the Mayberry Days debut of country star Collin Raye (four platinum albums and four #1 singles), the legendary Marty Stuart and the Fabulous Superlatives (another Mayberry Days debut), James Gregory (“the funniest man in America”), and the Malpass Brothers.
There’s still more: Colonel Tim’s Talent Time, Neal Brower’s Lecture/TAGSRWC Annual Meeting, and the Mayberry Days Golf Tournament and its separate Banquet & Entertainment.
Or make it a whole week of fun in Mount Airy with shows earlier in the week, Sept. 24-26, including comedian John Floyd (Mon.) and beach music by both Band of Oz (Tues.) and The Embers featuring Craig Woolard (Wed.).
2017 Mayberry Days Parade. Photo by Hobart Jones.
And those are just the ticketed events. There’s much more that doesn’t require tickets, including the Mayberry Days Parade, Mrs. Wiley’s Tea Party, trivia, apple-peeling, checkers, horseshoes, pie-eating, pork chop sandwich-eating and Mayberry Idle Talent contests, music, and vendors, including barbecue from the Mayberry Days Barbecue Cook-Off.
And that’s not to mention meet-and-greet sessions with the Mayberry stars, the Andy Griffith Museum, Mayberry-related movies at the Earle Theatre, Mayberry Days Silent Auction, and all of the everyday sights and attractions of Mount Airy.
In other words, it’s not at all too early to start making plans to attend. For complete info, visit www.mayberrydays.org.
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* Oct. 19: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum 12:30-3:30 p.m. She will have autographed 8 x 10 photos available ($10). For info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
* Nov. 5-10: Mayberry Cruise 13. Dixie Griffith (daughter of Andy) will be the guest for the cruise to the Western Caribbean from Tampa to Cozumel and back aboard Carnival’s Paradise. For more info, visit www.allaboutcruisesnc.net or call (336) 538-4926.
* Nov. 16: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum 12:30-3:30 p.m. She will have autographed 8 x 10 photos available ($10). For info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
* Dec. 21: Betty Lynn greets fans at the Andy Griffith Museum 12:30-3:30 p.m. She will have autographed 8 x 10 photos available ($10). For info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
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**** News of Cast & Crew ****
Ron Howard is still doing some worldwide promotion for Solo: A Star Wars Story, which opened nationwide on May 25 and had the biggest opening weekend of any of the movies Ron has directed (and is also already his third-highest grossing film) and has received good reviews (including a solid rating of over 70% on both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb).
Ron welcomed stars from Hollywood and beyond for the spectacular world premiere at Hollywood’s El Capitan Theatre on May 10.
EONS FROM LEON–Sandwiched between George Lucas and brother Ron, Clint Howard is joined on El Capitan Theatre’s red carpet by fellow members of the cast and crew for the world premiere of Clint’s new movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story.
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With worlds colliding, Ron narrated this hilarious recap of Star Wars history that has Ron doing the narration “Arrested Development”-style.
GOING SOLO–Ron Howard tweeted this editing-room photo on Clint Howard’s birthday (April 20) as proof that brother Clint is indeed in Solo: A Star Wars Story. (He plays Ralakili.) Follow Ron on Twitter at @RealRonHoward.
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Ron also is back as narrator for the fifth season of “Arrested Development,” which was released on Netflix on May 29. Ron and several Howard family members, including late patriarch Rance Howard, have on-camera cameos in the new season.
FAMILY SCREEN TIME–Rance Howard (left) in a cameo as himself with Jason Bateman as Michael Bluth in “Emotional Baggage,” an episode in Season Five of “Arrested Development.” Ron Howard’s wife and all four of their kids also appear as themselves in the episode.
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Ron’s Imagine Entertainment has purchased the film rights The Warehouse, a novel by Rob Hart that’s scheduled for publication next year, with the idea that Ron will likely direct the movie version of the spy thriller.
Betty Lynn is steadfast with her monthly meet-and-greets at the Andy Griffith Museum (third Friday afternoon each month). Her July session is the same weekend as Neal Brower’s lecture at the museum and the annual Mayberry Meet-Up in Mount Airy, N.C. (See Floyd’s bulletin board above for details and links.)
Dean Webb (the Darling mandolin player) and his fellow Missouri Boatride band members were inducted into the Reeds Spring (Mo.) Area Hall of Fame on May 5. Hearty congratulations to Dean and the band!
Rodney Dillard has been performing with the Walker Brothers at churches and other venues in Florida and elsewhere this year. He hopes his much-anticipated and long-awaited CD 0f new Dillards music will be released soon.
MERRY KERRY–Margaret Kerry goes for a spin at the Country Jam in Northview, Mo., on April 27, during festivities for the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival in nearby Marshfield. Seated at left, Maggie Peterson Mancuso, another of the festival’s guests of honor, enjoys the musical fun. And not to worry–Maggie also took her turn to sing and dance till her stockin’s were hot and ravelin’! Facebook photo.
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The fifth annual Mayberry in the Midwest festival in Danville, Ind., was a big success last month. Maggie Peterson Mancuso, Ronnie Schell, Margaret Kerry, Dixie Griffith (daughter of Andy) and George Lindsey Jr. were joined by a big bunch of Mayberry tribute artists for a weekend filled with everything from a parade and trivia contests to music and other performances and the Mayberry Squad Car Nationals.
Here’s a couple of photos from the weekend:
SITTING PRETTY–Margaret Kerry delights the crowds in the Mayberry in the Midwest parade.
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TRIPLE CROWN WINNERS–Three members of Mayberry royalty (l-r): George Lindsey Jr., Maggie Peterson and Ronnie Schell.
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Jackie Joseph and husband David took some time off for a trip to Europe during the spring. They’re back home in L.A., and Jackies back involved in her many good causes–especially ones helping animals and her fellow actors.
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**** Mayberry on the Web ****
The iMayberry Community
This TAGSRWC online group is organized and overseen by webmaster Allan “Floyd” Newsome with big help from Keith “Col. Harvey” Brown. You can check out the fun and sign up for free at: http://imayberrycommunity.com.
The iMayberry Community complements our other online activities, including our main www.imayberry.com page, podcasts, Facebook pages, online newsletters (such as The eBullet!), weaversdepartmentstore.com and chat rooms.
PODCAST SUITED TO A TEE–Host Allan Newsome sporting one of the official “Two Chairs, No Waiting” podcast T-shirts.
Two Chairs, No Waiting is our weekly podcast of TAGS news, interviews and pretty much whatever happens to be going on in and around Mayberry. It’s hosted by Allan Newsome.
There’s a new episode every Tuesday (and you can watch and listen live during tapings on Monday evenings). Past episodes are in an online Archives in case you want to listen to or view classic installments you’ve missed. (As of this week, there have been 483 episodes since Allan started doing the podcast almost 10 years ago.)
And you’ll also find links on that podcast web page to a couple of other outstanding Mayberry-related podcasts: Burke on Mayberry (hosted by TAGSRWC’s Kevin Burke) and the Mayberry Bible Study Podcast (again hosted by Allan Newsome).
TAGSRWC’s official page on Facebook has over 240,000 Likes! You can find us at www.facebook.com/tagsrwc. If you haven’t already dropped by the page, we hope you’ll check it out sometime when you have the chance. We invite you to become a TAGSRWC Facebook Friend!
We also have links in our “Liked by this Page” section to the pages of several TAGSRWC chapters on Facebook (including the Gomer and Goober Pyle Comic Book Literary Guild, which has fascinating history contributions by member Randy Turner), as well as to Facebook pages of Mayberry Days, the Andy Griffith Museum, TAGS actors and others.
Ben Weaver also has his own Facebook page at www.facebook.com/weaversdepartmentstore. It features all the latest in Mayberry items and merchandise news.
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**** Post Note ****
Between issues of our Weaver’s Newsletter, keep up with the happenings in Mayberry with the 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 alternate months to Weaver’s Newsletter. The eBullet is the online successor to our longtime printed newsletter, The Bullet. Like Weaver’s Newsletter, The eBullet is free. It includes some of the same news as Weaver’s Newsletter, but generally with more features and depth and a little less emphasis on merchandise news. To sign up, go to: www.tagsrwc.com/ebullet.
SPECIAL NOTICE: The eBullet has recently switched to a new e-mail distribution system. (There were ongoing glitches with the previous system, in part because of the happy problem of having more subscribers than the system could handle.)
Unfortunately, the switch requires current subscribers to resubscribe. Fortunately, it’s as easy as typing in your e-mail address and clicking a button, and then clicking a button in the confirmation e-mail sent to you. Here again is the link: www.tagsrwc.com/ebullet. Everything else about The eBullet remains the same–including being free!
TAGSRWC’s other main vehicle for Mayberry information is simply our website at www.tagsrwc.com (and its sister site www.iMayberry.com). Both sites have 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 August and the next eBullet will be out in July.
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MAYBERRY POWER LUNCH BUNCH–Pals Aaron Ruben, Don Knotts, Ronnie Schell, Everett Greenbaum and Howard Morris enjoy a meal together in Beverly Hills in 1997.
TAGSRWC Archives.
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