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The eBullet
An Online Newsletter of “The Andy Griffith Show” Rerun Watchers Club (TAGSRWC)
Volume 16, Issue 6
November 2016

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Floyd’s Barbershop 

Bulletin Board & Event Calendar

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The Andy Griffith Museum, featuring the late Emmett Forrest’s amazing collection of Andy Griffith memorabilia, is open daily in Mount Airy, N.C. For info, visit www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.

* Nov. 18: 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. 25: Roland White and his band perform at 9 p.m. at the Station Inn in Nashville, Tenn.

* Nov. 26: David “Mayberry Deputy” Browning works security for the Unicoi (Tenn.) Christmas parade.

* Dec. 3: Roland White hosts and the Roland White Band performs for the 20th Annual Bill Monroe Appreciation Night at the Station Inn in Nashville, Tenn.

* Dec. 3: Get “Tied Up in Knotts” for the holidays when Karen Knotts brings her one-woman show to the Monroe Arts Center in Monroe, Wis. Show time is 7:30 p.m.  For further info, go to www.morrismuseum.org.

* Dec. 3: David Browning performs as both the Mayberry Deputy and also as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at Grace Fellowship Church in West Palm Beach, Fla.

* Dec. 8: The Dillards (featuring Rodney Dillard) perform at 7:30 p.m. at the Historic State Theater in Elizabethtown, Ky.  For more info, visit www.historicstatetheater.org.

* Dec. 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. 18: Rodney Dillard and his band and Maggie Peterson present “Mayberry Christmas” at 7 p.m. at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn.  Also featuring David “Mayberry Deputy” Browning. For info, call (423) 282-0655.

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2017

* Jan. 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 info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.

* Feb. 10 and 11: Karen Knotts is “Tied Up in Knotts” at the Groundlings “G3” Stage in Hollywood, Calif.  Show time both nights is 8 p.m. Admission is $5.

* Feb. 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.

* Feb. 25 and 26: David “Mayberry Deputy” Browning patrols the 48th Annual Road & Custom Car Show in Monticello, Iowa.

* Mar. 2-4: 20th Annual George Lindsey UNA Film Festival in Florence, Ala.  Details TBA.  For updates, visit www.lindseyfilmfest.com.

* Mar. 11-16: David “Mayberry Deputy” Browning joins a bunch of bluegrass performers for the music-filled “Song of the Mountains” Cruise departing Tampa, traveling to Key West and Cozumel, and hosted by Tim White.  For info, visit www.songofthemountainscruise.com.

* Mar. 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.

* Mar. 17: Karen Knotts brings “Tied Up in Knotts” to the Bridge View Center in Ottumwa, Iowa.  Show time is 7 p.m.  For more info, visit the Bridge View Center website.

* Apr. 13: Karen Knotts and “Tied Up in Knotts” come to Morrill Hall Auditorium at Ohio State University at Marion.  Show time is 7:30 p.m. For more info visit the OSU Marion website.

* Apr. 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.

* May 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.

* June 10: Mayberry 101author Neal Brower presents a lecture on the “Wedding Bells for Aunt Bee” episode of TAGS, starting at 2 p.m., in the Andy Griffith Museum Theatre in Mount Airy, N.C.  Admission is included with an Andy Griffith Museum admission ($6).  Visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.

* June 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.

* July 8: Mayberry 101 author Neal Brower presents a lecture on the “Convicts-at- Large” episode of TAGS, starting at 2 p.m., in the Andy Griffith Museum Theatre in Mount Airy, N.C.  Admission is included with an Andy Griffith Museum admission ($6).  Visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.

* July 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.

* Aug. 12: Mayberry 101 author Neal Brower presents a lecture on the “Prisoner of Love” episode of TAGS, starting at 2 p.m., in the Andy Griffith Museum Theatre in Mount Airy, N.C.  Admission is included with an Andy Griffith Museum admission ($6).  Visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.

* Aug. 18: 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. 15: 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. 20-24: 28th Annual Mayberry Days in Mount Airy, N.C.  Details TBA.  For more info, visit www.mayberrydays.org.

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* Oct. 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 info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.

* Oct. 24-29: Margaret Kerry (Bess Muggins and Helen Scobey) is the special guest star for Cruise to Mayberry 12. This year’s cruise is for five days aboard Carnival’s Ecstasy, departing Charleston, S.C., and traveling to Freeport and Nassau in the Bahamas.

Margaret will be joined by the usual cruise company of Mayberry tribute artists and musical entertainers. For more info, visit www.allaboutcruisesnc.net or call 1-800-832-7993. Note: There’s a much earlier deposit deadline than usual for this cruise, so be sure to plan early.

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**** News of Cast & Crew ****

Ron Howard made a cameo appearance as an estate lawyer in an episode of “The Odd Couple” that premiered on CBS on Nov. 7.  The episode, titled “Taffy Days,” was a tribute to the late Garry Marshall, a friend of Ron’s since “Happy Days.”

Imagine Entertainment produced and Ron directed The Beatles: Eight Days a Week–The Touring Years, a documentary made in cooperation with the Beatles and their families that premiered in theaters in September, and then on Hulu the next day. Here’s the trailer for the doc, which is getting some Oscar buzz.

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Ron’s latest box-office release is Inferno, which is in theaters (including IMAX) now. Since it’s Oct. 28 release, the film has taken in more than $200 million at the box office worldwide. Here’s the final trailer.

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Ron and the Imagine team are also producing a six-part sci-fi docu-miniseries called “Mars” about the colonization of Mars that premiered on National Geographic Channel this week (Nov. 14). Here’s a promo for the series.

The Imagine team is also producing a re-imagined remake for Disney of their 1984 hit, Splash!  This time Channing Tatum has been hooked to play a merman. They’re also producing a live action version of their Curious George franchise for Universal Pictures.

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Rodney Dillard announced at Mayberry Days in September that the current Dillards are finalizing a record deal with Elektra, the original record label of the original Dillards all those years ago.  There’s no word yet on the release date for the album, but Rodney is pleased to be back home again with Elektra, and he and the band are very excited about the new album.

It was another outstanding Mayberry Days.  Beautiful weather and a great lineup of stars drew large crowds for the entire festival. For the record, the TAGS performers in attendance were Betty Lynn, Rodney Dillard, Maggie Peterson, Ronnie Schell, Margaret Kerry and Ronnie Dapo.  They were joined in performing by family members of late members of the cast and crew: Karen Knotts, Laura Hagen and Dorothy Best.  Dixie Griffith, daughter of Andy Griffith, also participated in the festivities. Clint Howard and Joy Ellison were unable to attend because of last-minute movie work, and Mayberry Days favorite George Spence was under the weather and unable to travel from his home on the North Carolina coast this year.

And if you’re wondering why George Lindsey Jr. wasn’t able to be at Mayberry Days this year, giddy-up on over to this link about Rufus Leekin to lasso the story.

Here’s a link to a Gallery of Mayberry Days Photos taken for the Surry Arts Council by Hobart Jones and Kenny Hoover.  They’re outstanding!

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Karen Knotts has had a busy fall touring with her “Tied Up in Knotts” show. And she has some more dates coming up (see the Event Calendar above.)

We’re sad to report the passing of Norman Brokaw, former chairman of the William Morris Agency and a pioneer in that agency’s television department.  He died at his home in Beverly Hills on October 29.  He was 89.

Norman worked closely with Danny Thomas and Sheldon Leonard to package TAGS and other top shows, including “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Danny Thomas Show,” “The Real McCoys,” “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,” “The Mod Squad” and “I Spy.”

He was Andy Griffith’s representative at the William Morris Agency. He also was agent for prominent people ranging from Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley to President Gerald Ford and Hank Aaron.

In 2010,Norman received the Governors Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.  He is the only agent to date to receive that prestigious honor.  Norman Brokaw is survived by his wife Marguerite Longley and three sons (all also prominent agents), three daughters and five grandchildren.

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 **** Chapter Update ****

No new chapters have officially started since our last report in the September eBullet.  We currently have had 1,445 chapters founded since TAGSRWC began in Nashville in 1979.

Starting a chapter of TAGSRWC is really easy to do.  Just pick a name that hasn’t already been chosen. That’s not as easy as it might sound. You can check  the searchable list of chapter names already taken at www.tagsrwc.com.

Anyway submit the name with a list of your founding members by e-mail (to Goober@imayberry.com) or by U.S. Mail to TAGSRWC’s HQ (118 16th Avenue South, Suite 4, PMB 146, Nashville, TN  37203-3100).

Whether or not you start or join a local chapter, you can always join our online “Who’s Been Messin’ Up the Bulletin Board?” chapter. (It’s really quick and easy to do. Info is at tagsrwc.com.)

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**** Chapter News ****

Members of several TAGSRWC chapters, including Mother Figure (Huntsville, Ala.), “Hearty Eatin’ Men and Beautiful, Delicate Women” (Tuscaloosa, Ala.), Briscoe of Mayberry (Indianapolis, Ind.), “You Better Put a Buckeye in Your Pocket and Do the Incant for a Sore Foot” (Bessemer, Ala.),  The Dollar and a Quarter Club (New Philadelphia/Dover, Ohio) and Bobby Fleet and His Band with a Beat (Wake Forest, N.C.) and other TAGSRWC members have returned from Mayberry Cruise 11, which visited parts of the Caribbean for a few days around Halloween.

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The cruise included a host of Mayberry tribute artists, who no doubt had a dilemma deciding what sort of a costume they were supposed to wear on Halloween.  Maybe Goober dressed as Gomer, and vice versa?

Briscoe of Mayberry and other TAGSRWC members in the Indianapolis area met for a meal at the Mayberry Café in Danville, Ind., on Nov. 5.  They’ve been gathering there most months lately. Got time to breathe, got time to eat!

“Blood Brothers” chapter (Macon, Mo.) reports that they’ve been gathering three or four times a year.  They play trivia, watch episodes and have a meal.  They’re putting buckets on their heads to think of a new twist for their next meeting in January.

Barney chapter (Greensboro, N.C.) still gathers most months, including most recently in October.  Their big Christmas party coming up is always a highlight.

Barney member Don Teague has established the Mayberry Plate Fund and is spearheading an effort to produce an official Mayberry affinity license plate in North Carolina.  And it’s all for a great cause.  Proceeds will benefit the Surry Arts Council, sponsor of Mayberry Days!  Here’s the design:

Here’s the catch: Before the plate can be produced, 500 licensed North Carolina vehicle owners need to register for their plates in advance by filling out some paperwork and sending the license fee to Don.  Once he has the received the required 500 application forms and fees, Don will then send everything to the North Carolina DMV for approval and processing, and production will then begin.

The deadline for getting applications in is December 31, but car owners in N.C. can give themselves an early Christmas present by getting their official applications in to Don now and then relax, knowing that they’ve done their part to help promote Mayberry and show their love of “The Andy Griffith Show.”  And before you know it, they ‘ll have the plate to prove it!

You can see the promotional page for License Plate project online here.  The web page info includes a link to the North Carolina DMV page with the application form that can be printed out, then filled out, and dropped in the mail (with the fee) to Don.

This is a huge effort for Don to undertake, largely on his own.  He has all his ducks in a row. He just needs help from fellow fans in spreading the word to as many other fans of Mayberry in the Tar Heel State as possible. So please pass the word on to friends and family, and maybe, in just a few months, we’ll be seeing official Mayberry license plates from Checkpoint Chickie to Raleigh…and beyond!

Our online “Who’s Been Messin’ Up the Bulletin Board? chapter (aka “WBMUTBB?”) helped raise a whopping $4,990.25 at this year’s Mayberry Days Silent Auction.  Spearheaded by Jeff Koontz (who received the Key to the City of Mount Airy during Mayberry Days), the auction features items donated by “WBMUTBB?” members and others.  Chapter members also provide the staff for the auction.  All of the proceeds support Mayberry Days.

One of the biggest contributors of Mayberry-influenced arts and crafts to the auction is Dewey Lamb of “Shakedown!  Shakedown!” chapter (Laurinburg, N.C.).  He reports that six members of the chapter were able to be at Mayberry Days this year and that everybody is already looking forward to next year’s festival.

Jim Sherrill of Mayberry, Where the Living is Easy and Slow chapter (Virginia Beach, Va.) was crowned the champion of this year’s highly competitive Mayberry Days Trivia Contest, the most coveted of Mayberry trivia titles.  It was his first time winning.  He was heartily congratulated by perennial top competitors, including Dennis Beal (Mayberry chapter, Knoxville, Tenn.), Pat Bullins (Barney chapter) and Mike Havilland, whose new Sgt. Carter tribute performance was also a big hit at this year’s festival.

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Special Recognitions

Four major TAGSRWC awards were presented at Mayberry Days in September. During the TAGSRWC Annual Meeting, Kenneth Junkin presented both Christie McLendon (aka Andelina Darling Wash) of “WBMUTBB?” chapter and Keith Brown (aka Col. Harvey), founder of “Trivial Trivialities” chapter (Pawleys Island, S.C.) with the Mayberry Friendship Award in recognition of their years of dedication and hard work to promote the Mayberry spirit and friendship, often while entertaining audiences with their tribute performances.

Also at the TAGSRWC meeting, Allan Newsome presented the Jim Schwenke Memorial Award to Ken Anderson of Mayberry Memories chapter (Eau Claire, Wis.)  Ken in his Mayberry uniform travels with his Mayberry Squad Car replica throughout Wisconsin and nearby parts of the upper Midwest spreading Mayberry joy and raising money for his local public library. Nicknamed the Mayberry Guru, Ken’s also a popular speaker and is active in TAGSRWC’s online community.

The final award was presented by Allan Newsome during Colonel Tim’s Talent Time.  It was the “You’re the Cat’s” Award.  This was the third presentation of this award, which is endowed by Terry and Ron Quinsey of “We’re the Cat’s” chapter (For Erie, Ont.).  This award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to Mayberry Days.  This year’s recipient was Alma Venable (aka Aunt Bee) of Mayberry Hotel chapter (Mount Airy, N.C.)

Alma, who is proprietor of Mount Airy’s iconic Mayberry Motor Inn, is one of Mount Airy’s great ambassadors for Mayberry.  She and her family have made Mayberry fans feel right at home at their motel for decades.  Alma also participates in a variety of Mayberry events in Mount Airy and around the country. If you haven’t heard her signature yodeling Aunt Bee performance, you’re missing out.  It’s always a showstopper!

Our congratulations go to all of these deserving award recipients.  And a heartfelt thank-you to each of them for the work they do and the smiles they bring!

And a special thanks to Al Gandolfi of our “There He Goes!” chapter (Titusville, Fla.) for his outstanding craftsmanship and production of these awards.

That’s our Chapter News for this issue.  If your chapter has news or photos you would like to share with The eBullet, please send them to Goober@imayberry.com. All the news that fits, we print!

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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 able assistance from Keith “Col. Harvey” Brown. You can check it out 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 page, online newsletters (such as The eBullet!), weaversdepartmentstore.com and chat rooms.

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 third week in November, there have been 401 episodes since Allan started the podcasts in 2008.)

There’s a lot of info and discussions that you simply won’t find anywhere else, including rare interviews (vintage and new) with cast and crew members of TAGS.  And you’ll also find links there to a couple of other outstanding Mayberry-related podcasts: Burke on Mayberry (hosted by TAGSRWC’s Kevin Burke) and the Mayberry Bible Study Podcast (hosted by Allan Newsome).

TAGSRWC’s official page on Facebook now has over 240,000 friends! 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 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), as well as to Facebook pages of Mayberry Days, the Andy Griffith Museum, TAGS actors and others.

And don’t forget: Ben Weaver has his own Facebook page at www.facebook.com/weaversdepartmentstore. Check it for the latest Mayberry items and merchandise news.

   **** Post Note ****

If you ever miss receiving an issue of The eBullet, you can always catch up by reading it in the eBullet Archives in the Newsletters section at imayberry.com. Each issue is placed in the Archives at the same time that it’s distributed to subscribers.

Between issues of The eBullet, keep up with all the happenings in Mayberry with the daily Who’s Been Messin’ Up the Bulletin Board? (aka “WBMUTBB?”) Digest. It’s a free subscriber list that consists entirely of comments, newsflashes, and questions and answers from subscribers. You can sign up for that list by going to the Mailing Lists link at tagsrwc.com. “WBMUTBB?” also has its own Archives where you can follow the ongoing stream of messages.

And TAGSRWC publishes Weaver’s Newsletter in alternate months to The eBullet. Like The eBullet, the Weaver’s Newsletter is free. Its focus is tilted a little more to Mayberry merchandise and collectibles and quick newsflashes. It has some content overlap with The eBullet, sometimes earlier and sometimes later.  To sign up, go to Weaver’s Newsletter Sign-Up.

The next eBullet is planned for January, and the next Weaver’s Newsletter set for mid-December.

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