*********************************************
The eBullet
An Online Newsletter of
“The Andy Griffith Show” Rerun Watchers Club (TAGSRWC)
Welcome to the May issue of The eBullet! As pandemic restrictions are beginning to be relaxed, Mayberry activities are enthusiastically, but still cautiously, getting back up to speed. Then again, things rarely go too fast in Mayberry–at least not as long as there’s a possibility of encountering Checkpoint Chickie!
“Let ‘er rip!”
In any case, as more vaccines go into arms, we’ll hopefully continue to see more gatherings and less need for wearing masks. Leonard Blush will once again stand out in the crowd as the Masked Singer!
But even as many of us have been staying close to home, we’ve still been enjoying Mayberry. Netflix reported that TAGS had one of the highest increases in viewership (29%) during the first year of the pandemic. And MeTV has been delighting viewers with its Month of Mayberry this month again this year.
Here are some upcoming events followed by reports of recent happenings and other news from around Mayberry:
***
t ***********************************************************.
Floyd’s Barbershop
Bulletin Board
&
Event Calendar
NEVER BORED–There may be no listings for Falcon Keeper on Floyd’s bulletin board at the moment, but there are plenty of other interesting items, so it’s always a good idea to watch the board like a hawk for updates.
The Andy Griffith Museum, featuring the late Emmett Forrest’s monumental collection of Andy Griffith artifacts, is open! Even with North Carolina’s recent easing of pandemic restrictions, for their own safety and the safety of those around them, folks who haven’t been fully vaccinated are encouraged to still wear masks when indoors and near others.
For complete updates on operating hours, safety procedures or other info, visit the website at www.andygriffithmuseum.org or call (336) 786-1604.
***
* Now-May 28: The Mammoth Month of Mayberry on MeTV.
All month long, MeTV is highlighting TAGS, “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” and “Mayberry R.F.D.” as well as “Matlock” and other TV shows that feature Mayberry actors. (“Matlock” episodes in May are focusing on episodes that include Don Knotts and other Mayberry folks, such as Aneta Corsaut, Jack Dodson, and writer Everett Greenbaum as Judge Katz.) The Mayberry celebration wraps up on May 28 with Return to Mayberry, the 1986 reunion movie.
There are character theme weeks and much more. For more info, visit this MeTV Month of Mayberry link.
***
Dixie Griffith
* June 4-5: Annual Mule Days & Chicken Fest in Gordo, Ala., celebrates the 60th Anniversary of “The Andy Griffith Show” with special guest Dixie Griffith (daughter of Andy). Also featured will be tribute artists Allan “Floyd” Newsome and Kenneth “Otis” Junkin and other favorites from Mayberry. And for good measure, tribute artist Mark Staggs will be on hand as Festus from “Gunsmoke.”
Sponsored by the Gordo Area Chamber of Commerce, festivities kick off in downtown Gordo with entertainment by the tribute artists at 6 p.m. on Friday, followed by live music. Entertainment by tribute artists and bands resumes at 8 a.m. on Saturday. Three different parades–Classic Cars, Classic Tractors and Mules & Wagons–will start around Noon. Arts and crafts and food vendors will be set up throughout the festival. There will be lots of door prizes and a Mayberry trivia contest. It’s all-around Mayberry-style fun for the whole family. Y’all come! For more info, visit the Gordo Chamber’s website.
***.
GAZEBO TIME–Meetup in Mount Airy in July!
* July 16-18: 9th Annual Mayberry Meetup sponsored by TAGSRWC’s “Two Chairs, No Waiting” podcast gathers in Mount Airy, N.C. For more info, visit this link: 9th Annual Mayberry Meetup in Mount Airy.
.
Rodney Dillard
Betty Lynn
* Sept. 20-26: 32nd Annual Mayberry Days® in Mount Airy, N.C. Special Guests confirmed so far include Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou), Rodney Dillard (guitar-playing Darling boy), and Bettina Linke (wife of Richard O. Linke, associate producer of TAGS and also longtime personal manager of Andy Griffith and many others with Mayberry connections).
Tickets are already available HERE for some concerts and presentations, including Collin Raye (actually on Sept. 18, the Sat. before Mayberry Days® week), two shows (one as part of the banquet for the Mayberry Days® Golf Tournament) by T. Graham Brown, The Doug Dillard Tribute Show by The Dillards featuring Rodney Dillard, Professor Brower’s Lecture with Neal Brower, Tim White and Troublesome Hollow’s “Tribute to Mayberry,” Allen Leath’s “Mayberry Melodies,” Michael Hoover’s “Memories of Elvis,” and Colonel Tim’s Talent Time.
Other concert highlights during the week include The Embers featuring Craig Woolard, Legacy Motown Revue, The Band of Oz, and James Gregory (“The Funniest Man in America”).
Much more TBA, but for now, other than these first confirmed presentations, just mark your calendar and be sure to check back for updates.
***
* 
Oct. 30: 33rd Annual Uncle Jesse Big Bass Classic (founded by Denver Pyle) at Pat Mayse Lake in Paris, Tex. The event helps raise funds for Denver Pyle’s Children’s Charities, which remains very active in the Paris community. For info, visit the event’s page on Facebook.
MAKE THAT A SUBMARINE SAMMICH?–Clint Howard’s Leon is ready to sail with Mayberry!
* Oct. 31-Nov. 6: Clint Howard is the special guest for Mayberry Cruise 15, which was postponed with a few tweaks from its original dates in 2020. This cruise aboard Carnival’s Freedom will depart from Miami and travel to the Eastern Caribbean with ports of call in Princess Cays in the Bahamas, Grand Turk, and Amber Cove, the new Carnival-owned village in the Dominican Republic. 
Rates (including all taxes) start at $625 per person.
***
.
**** News of Cast & Crew ****
Ron Howard is well underway with filming of Thirteen Lives on Australia’s Gold Coast. The movie about the 2018 cave rescue of a Thai boys soccer team stars Golden Globe winner Colin Farrell, three-time Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen and Golden Globe nominee Joel Edgerton.
For Mayberry fans in particular, the big news from Ron and brother Clint Howard came last month when publisher William Morrow announced that a memoir by the brothers will be released on October 12.
The book is titled The Boys–A Memoir of Hollywood and Family. It talks about their lives, especially their childhoods, in show business. An emphasis in the book is on the role of their parents, Rance and Jean, in their upbringing and on into adulthood. Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron and wife Cheryl’s oldest child, wrote the book’s Foreword.
In a statement announcing the book, Ron said, “When our dad passed in 2017, Clint and I began reflecting upon our lives and realized that ,while our childhoods seemed normal, they were anything but.”
He continued, “Who grows up on a soundstage hanging out with Andy Griffith and Don Knotts, or with a trained bear? And what are the ways that particular childhood forever informed the choices I would make as a husband, father and filmmaker? We’re excited to share the story of how our parents pulled this off–raising two show-business kids who had no clue that their lives were out of the ordinary while rooting them in a loving, slightly off-beat family.”
Clint added, “Mom and Dad’s teachings are treasures to this day, but I’ve realized that I took their presence for granted. Writing The Boys with my brother has been the topper of a wonderful lifetime.”
If you can judge a book by its cover, then this memoir should be something truly special. And if you can judge a book by its authors, then there is no doubt!
COVER GIRL–Betty Lynn blossoms as the featured star for April’s Our America Magazine.
Betty Lynn (Thelma Lou) continues to be cautious about crowds during the pandemic. She has had both doses of one of the COVID-19 vaccines, but protocols in North Carolina and her own wisdom are keeping her close to home.
The need for caution hasn’t kept Betty from still making a big splash this spring. She’s the subject of the cover story of the April issue of Our America Magazine, the quarterly publication of the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival. Her featured story was cherry-picked to coincide with the issue that was published during the month of the festival.
Speaking of the Missouri Cherry Blossom Festival Margaret Kerry (Bess Muggins and Helen Scobey) and Keith Thibodeaux (Johnny Paul Jason) were among the special guests for this year’s edition in April.
Rodney Dillard (the guitar-playing Darling boy) headlined this year’s Mayberry & “I Love Lucy” Day in Granville, Tenn., on April 10. He was joined by wife Beverly and a local band of pickers. Also on hand were Mayberry tribute artists Allan “Floyd” Newsome, Rick “Barney” Roberts and Bo “Briscoe” Pierce. Lucy & Desi tribute artists also performed.
FRONT PORCH BLUEGRASS–Rodney Dillard entertains in Granville with wife Beverly (far left), local boys and Bo Pierce on the jug. Photo by Ken Beck.
Storms kept the crowd size down early in the day, but they didn’t dampen spirits (check that jug for mulberry squeezin’s!) or hamper the always top-notch show by Rodney and whatever band he has backing him. (See an additional photo below in Chapter News.)
Jackie Joseph (Romeena) says that she’s healing from a recently cracked rib. We didn’t ask, but we hope the injury was from the famously jovial Jackie having a hearty laugh about something!
Ruta Lee, who guest-starred in two episodes of TAGS (as Jean Boswell, aka “that college kid,” and as movie star Darlene Mason) and in one episode each of “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” and “Mayberry R.F.D.,” has written a memoir, which was published in April. The 284-page book with the cheeky title Consider Your A** Kissed includes stories and photos from Ruta’s legendary film, TV and theater career that spans seven decades.
Ever vivacious and charmingly bold in her directness, Ruta has a wonderful life story to tell, and she knows how to tell it. There’s a reason she was a favorite guest of Johnny Carson and other talk-shows! Few actors are as steeped in such a wide and long swath of Hollywood history that also includes memorable times in Mayberry.
There will be no shortage of Mayberry-related reading this year. Tied Up in Knotts-My Dad and Me, a memoir by Karen Knotts (daughter of Don), has been officially announced by her publisher. The plan is for the book to be available in time for Mayberry Days® in September.
Karen was also the special guest for a gala fundraiser for the Mayberry Man movie in Indianapolis on May 15. More coverage of that event is just below.
.
***
.
Mayberry Goes Hollywood
(or at least Indianapolis)!
Post-production for the Mayberry Man movie, written and directed by Stark Howell and produced by Cort Howell (both sons of Hoke Howell, aka Mayberry’s Dud Wash) and co-produced by Greg Schell (son of Ronnie Schell,) is all but complete at this point. There’s just the fine-tuning and tweaking left to do.
The original plan was for the world premiere to be in Danville, Ind., around mid-May in order to coincide with the annual Mayberry in the Midwest festival, but, as was the case last year, that festival was again not held this year because of the pandemic.
Plan B was May 15th’s gala fundraiser, which was held at the former Indiana Governor’s Mansion in Indianapolis and whose attendees included Karen Knotts and many of the movie’s cast and crew. (The fundraiser was a huge success!)
THE MAN WITH THE BEAT–Surrounded by members of the Mayberry Man cast, country music singer Levi Riggs performs the title theme for Mayberry Man during this month’s gala in Indianapolis. (The performance was also recorded for use as a music video.)
The Howell brothers are working out the details for the film’s distribution. Until the specifics of any distribution deal are finalized, there won’t be any screenings that are open to the public. But there are some private premieres planned in September for donors and other participants.
WILD BUNCH–This official Mayberry Man print by award-winning cartoonist Gary Varvel features caricatures of the movie’s cast (Prints available at Weaver’s.)
The first premiere will be in Danville, Ind., during the weekend of Labor Day. It will be followed by a West Coast premiere in Los Angeles in mid-September and an East Coast premiere in Mount Airy, N.C., the week of Mayberry Days® (September 22-26). There will also be a private VIP online screening in October. Stay tuned for updates on the movie’s progress as the production is now getting really close to the finish line!
Meanwhile, for those on Facebook, here’s a link to the official trailer for Mayberry Man.
That’s a wrap for News of Cast & Crew for this issue.
.
.
***
Mayberry In Memoriam
We’re very sad to report the passing of two actors who made memorable appearances in Mayberry.
Remembering Kim Tyler
Kim Tyler
1954-2021
Kim Tyler died at his home in Hollywood Heights, Calif., on February 10, after a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 66.
PUNCH LINE–With Keith Thibodeaux’s Johnny Paul Jason watching, Kim Tyler as Billy Gray has Opie’s back against the bully in “One-Punch Opie.”
Kim played Opie pal Billy Gray in the third-season classic “One-Punch Opie” (Episode #77), which was originally broadcast on December 31, 1962.
Beyond Mayberry, Kim is probably best known for his portrayal of Kyle Nash in all 58 episodes of on “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” which aired on NBC from 1965 to 1967. The series had lots of Mayberry connections, including having two dozen of its episodes directed by TAGS directors (10 of those by TAGS assistant director Bruce Bilson).
Kim also appeared in six episodes of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” and in a memorable episode of both “The Addams Family” and “My Favorite Martian,” among other roles.
HAPPY DAISIES–The cast of “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” with twin brothers Jeff and Joe Fithian on the left and right, respectively. Between them are (l-r) Pat Crowley, Kim Tyler, Mark Miller (who was also a Mayberry alum, having played Bob Rogers in 1961’s “Barney’s Replacement”) and Brian Nash.
Kim James Tyler was born in Hollywood, Calif., on April 17, 1954. Two years and one day later he made his screen debut in the role of Peter King a “20th Century- Fox Hour” production of “Mr. Belvedere.”
MARTIAN PERSEVERANCE–It’s quite a curiosity when Linda Evans and Kim Tyler observe as Mayberry alum Olan Soule (choir director/hotel clerk John Masters) endeavors to take aim in 1965’s “Martin’s Favorite Martian” episode of “My Favorite Martian.”
Immediately after “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” Kim retired from acting. He then turned his focus to being a musician and videographer. He was also a highly skilled poker player.
Kim is survived by Michelle Dixon, his wife of 42 years. He was buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery. He will forever live on in Mayberry as beanie-wearing Billy Gray.
Note: According to news accounts, until Kim’s passing, “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” was the oldest television series for which the whole core cast was still alive..
.
***
.
.
.
Remembering Josie Lloyd
Josie Lloyd
1940-2020
This posthumous tribute to Josie Lloyd is destined to be the most unusual one that we’ve ever published. We typically like to present detailed, verified facts and lifetime highlights in our memorial salutes to members of the TAGS cast and crew. In the case of Josie Lloyd, there simply isn’t as much confirmed information available as we would like to have. In a way, that’s fitting for an actress who played such inscrutable characters in Mayberry.
For starters, Josie’s death wasn’t even reported by virtually any news media until her 2020 passing was mentioned in a couple of obituaries for her father, Norman Lloyd, the Hollywood legend who died on May 11 of this year at the age of 106. Later reports have listed August 30, 2020, as the date Josie died, but we haven’t verified that date with a reliable source.
Here’s what we do know about Josie. She was born Susanna Josephine Lloyd to showbiz parents Peggy and Norman in New York in May 1940. According to Norman Lloyd, she was named Susanna after Shakespeare’s daughter. Her family, later including younger brother Michael, called her Susie.
Probably at least in part to avoid confusion with actress Suzanne Lloyd, she chose to go by Josie Lloyd in her professional life. (To avoid confusion for Mayberry readers, we’ll stick with calling her Josie, as that’s the name most fans know.)
As her father commuted to Hollywood to make movies in the early 1940s, Josie spent her earliest years in New York with her mother. The family eventually moved to Los Angeles in 1944 while Peggy was still pregnant with Michael.
BRUSHES WITH GREATNESS–Josie (at this point, still going by Susie) is ready to paint the town, or at least the house or maybe a set, with father Norman and brother Mike in this photo at their home c. 1950.
In her teens, Josie was able to observe and learn from her father on theater stages and film sets where he worked as an actor, director or producer.
SAFE BET–Josie and Paul Hartman in the “Burglar Proof” episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” with typical Hitchcock twists.
Josie’s first known film credit was as Vera Carson in a 1959 episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” for which her father was associate producer. She also landed a small role in each of the next two seasons of the series, including in the “Burglar Proof” episode, which starred future Mayberryian Paul Hartman.
Josie had two small roles in 1960–in the movie Studs Lonigan (notable for providing an early role for Jack Nicholson) and in the mostly forgotten “This Man Dawson” TV series in an episode with Amzie Strickland and Keith Andes, future guest actors on TAGS..
The remainder of Josie’s filmed acting work that has been documented was in television. She appeared in one episode each of “My Three Sons,” “Route 66” (both in 1962), “Channing” (1964), “The Long, Hot Summer” (1965, with TAGS actors Nancy Malone and Paul Bryar) and “The Occasional Wife,” her last filmed role as Miss Efficiency in an episode also featuring Mayberry alums Parley Baer and Claudia Bryar.
Josie had a prominent role in “The Old Man in the Cave,” a 1963 episode of “The Twilight Zone.” And she had a featured role as a cowboy’s desperately pregnant wife in “Be Not Forgetful of Strangers,” a 1962 episode of “Have Gun–Will Travel.”
WATCH OUT FOR MOTHS!–Josie (far right) with (l-r) John Craven, Natalie Masters and John Marley in “The Old Man in the Cave” episode of “The Twilight Zone.”
With her father as producer and later executive producer, Josie landed good roles in an episode in each of the three seasons of “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,” in which she would cross paths with fellow character actors with Mayberry ties, including Bill Challee, Doodles Weaver and Jonathan Hole.
THE EYES HAVE IT–Josie as Eileen Caroll in the “Power of Attorney” episode of “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.”
Josie had her only known recurring role outside of Mayberry when she played a nurse in five episodes of “Dr. Kildare” during its first three seasons. She was an unnamed nurse’s aide in the first season, and she played Nurse Roth in her four episodes during the second and third seasons.
Josie also appeared as three different characters in the last two seasons of “The Farmer’s Daughter,” which included a chance to work with Mayberry’s Aneta Corsaut and to work with future TAGS guest actors Herbie Faye and Don Keefer, a virtual acting chameleon in his two Mayberry roles.
Josie’s “Farmer’s Daughter” episode with Aneta Corsaut (“Katy by Midnight”) had interesting timing because it originally aired on February 5, 1965, just four days after the original broadcast of “Goober and the Art of Love,” which was their only TAGS episode together.
And it is indeed for her four episodes of TAGS that Josie is most remembered–even revered. In the first season of the series, Josie was pitch perfect as Mayor Pike’s off-key daughter Juanita in “Mayberry Goes Hollywood” and as his forlorn daughter, now named Josephine, three episodes later in “The Beauty Contest.”
O’ PIE–Mayberry hospitality flows gently as Josie (as Josephine Pike) serenades movie man Mr. Harmon (Dan Frazer) in “Mayberry Goes Hollywood.”
LASS IS WITH GLASSES–Juanita Pike is a tempestuous contestant in the Mayberry beauty contest.
.
(We can only speculate that the name change from Juanita to Josephine was maybe due to a lack of great concern about the consistency of her name by the writers. Or possibly somebody just preferred to use Josie’s real name of Josephine. Or perhaps it was even somebody’s prescient effort to avoid eventual confusion with Juanita, Barney’s unseen waitress friend, who would be mentioned for the first time later in the first season.)
.
But it is for her portrayal of Lydia Crosswaith in “Barney Mends a Broken Heart” in the third season and especially in the fifth season’s “Goober and the Art of Love” that Josie Lloyd is forever immortalized in Mayberry lore.
“WELL…NIGHT!”–Don’t blink, or you’ll miss Lydia and Goober’s first date!
Josie’s hilariously stoic demeanor and masterful monotone delivery of her brilliant “ordinary conversation” are permanently etched in the memory banks of Mayberry fans, just as her earlier rendition of “Sweet Afton” is, for better or worse, the only version of that standard that most of us usually hear in our mental soundtrack.
Records indicate that, during at least part of the era that she worked on TAGS, Josie lived in an apartment in West Hollywood. Josie’s career in front of the camera apparently ended in 1967, and confirmed facts about her life after that time are elusive. There are references to her being a director, but we’ve not found any validated credits for either film or stage.
Daughter Madeleine Gruen
Josie married Michael Gruen at some point in the 1960s. Given the coincidence of timing, it’s possible that Josie’s marriage and her becoming a mother were connected to her retirement from performing. In 1967, the couple had a daughter, Madeleine Michael Gruen, who was married in 2002, was a noted terrorism analyst (including a stint with the N.Y.P.D.), had a son, and, in September 2015, by then a single mother, sadly died of breast cancer.
After her marriage to Michael Gruen ended, Josie married legendary puppeteer Bil Baird (his fourth marriage) in 1974. It’s possible that at least a portion of Josie’s purported directing career had to do with some of his later puppeteering. At the very least, Josie worked as a puppeteer with her husband in a 1975 production of Alice in Wonderland. The couple divorced in 1984.
About 25 to 30 years ago, TAGSRWC attempted to make contact with Josie–just to let her know how much fans loved her Mayberry portrayals. We also hoped that she might be open to attending one of the Mayberry cast reunions that were entering their heyday around that time. The dream of getting Lydia and Goober together again was like Mayberry catnip for fans. (George Lindsey also agreed that a Goober-Lydia reunion would be a noteworthy achievement.)
We knew that Josie was extremely private and did not encourage contact with fans. She was even known to be somewhat distant from members of her own family. But through sources and methods that would make the CIA’s dead-drops look like child’s play, we secured her home phone number from a high-level contact.
When we called the number, we predictably got Josie’s answering machine (in the days before today’s style of remote voicemail became dominant). We left our phone number and an un-pushy message expressing our admiration for her Mayberry work and the keen interest by fans in having her attend an event sometime.
PRETZEL LOGIC–TAGSRWC member and master of ceremonies Terry Pace (left) with George Lindsey, Norman Lloyd and James Best at a seminar on Hitchcock’s “The Jar” at the University of North Alabama in 2008. Reuniting Norman Lloyd with George Lindsey is the closest anybody ever got to having Josie Lloyd present at a latter-day Mayberry event. Photo by Anita Pace.
We were hopeful for a response, but we weren’t surprised when we received none. We later learned that Josie had received the message, was very much aware of TAGSRWC and had no interest in any additional contact. We respected her wishes and made no further official attempts to connect with her.
Josie’s reluctance to have unsolicited contact from strangers might have stemmed in part from Bil Baird and her receiving threatening phone calls in the late 1970s from callers who confused Bil Baird with William R. Baird, a noted abortion rights advocate who lived in their general vicinity. “We’ve lived with this for many years,” Josie told The New York Times at the time. That remark from November 1979 constitutes the last documented words from Josie that we have found so far.
.
DIRECT FROM THE LAB AT MRS. MASON’S DRUGSTORE–This undated and unverified photo might be of Josie Lloyd in recent years. (But it might not be.) Though we aren’t certain, we feel pretty confident that it is in fact her.
If we confirm more information about Josie Lloyd’s career and life, we’ll update this story. (We have sent queries to some folks who might be able to shed further light.) With luck, we may even be able to expand this modest tribute into a fuller feature about this beguiling enigma whose performances in Mayberry and elsewhere continue to delight viewers.
At the time of her passing in 2020, Josie Lloyd was survived by her father Lloyd (now deceased), brother Mike and her grandson.
Echoing Juanita Pike (and with apologies to poet Robert Burns), we say a fond farewell to Josie Lloyd with these sentiments…
Flow gently, sweet Afton, among the green braes,
Flow gently, I’ll sing thee a song in thy praise;
Our Josie’s asleep by thy murmuring stream,
Flow gently, sweet Afton, disturb not her dream.
***
**** Chapter Update ****
One new chapter has started since the March eBullet:
Carter French–Mayberry Fire Chief Manassas, Va.
We extend a warm welcome to this newest outpost of organized fans! That brings us to a total of 1,471 chapters that have been founded since TAGSRWC began nearly 42 years ago.
Starting a chapter of TAGSRWC is really easy to do. Just pick a name that hasn’t already been selected by another group. You can check the searchable list of chapter names already taken at www.tagsrwc.com. Then submit your chapter’s name with your location and 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). That’s all it takes!
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 or any of several exclusively online chapters on Facebook and, more recently, MeWe (see Mayberry on the Web below).
***
**** Merchandise Update ****
Even a curmudgeon like Ben Weaver can’t help himself from providing lots of great Mayberry items for us fans–including several that are brand new since our last issue.
You can always find a wide variety of Mayberry-related items at your fingertips online at TAGSRWC’s Weaver’s Department Store.
Here are some of the newest items at Weaver’s:
Miracle Salve
New! $9.00*
*Quite the bargain for a miracle!
Ben Weaver knows folks are always looking for a good hand cream, and he thinks he has finally found just the thing to meet your needs. Direct from Mt. Pilot, this 2-ounce jar of handmade Miracle Salve will most certainly help those whose hands are “dry as dust.”
**ANDY: “Oh, I think supplies will last.”
Mr. Weaver was told by Barney that this salve may be good for “poison ivy, athlete’s foot, prickly rash, the complexion, spring itch and crow’s feet.” He also said that Dr. U.T. Pendyke, D.V.M., prefers it to Molly Harkin’s Mange Cure.
NOTE: Available only while supplies last!**
Weaver’s Dept. Store cannot confirm all the claims made about this incredible product of nature and science, but we can say it is a wonderful all-natural cream. Just look at all the good stuff it’s made from:
Ingredients: Shea Butter, Glycerin, Vitamin E, Mineral Oil, Sunflower Oil, Soluble Collagen, Stearyl Alcohol, Aloe, Wheat Germ Oil, Elastin, Coconut Oil, Parsley, Lavender Fragrance.
Disclaimer: The Miracle Salve Company’s offer for a chance to Win That Pony has expired.
***
Celebrate Six Decades of Mayberry with three 60th Anniversary T-shirt designs (with two also available as sweatshirts)
Rediscovered! $60.00
This is a work of art that’s not one, not two, but three examples of Barney’s expressive face. Just looking at each face, you can see (and almost hear) Barney’s struggle to say the Preamble to the Constitution. How can that not bring an instant grin to the face of everyone who sees it?
This lithograph by acclaimed artist George Murray was commissioned as an officially licensed “Andy Griffith Show” product around two decades ago. A small stash of lithograph proofs was recently found in storage. This collectable makes the perfect decoration for the discerning home or office!
This 22 in. x 19 in. pencil rendition lithograph depicting three likenesses of Barney is signed by artist George Murray and is printed on 100-lb. acid-free paper. Each is hand numbered as one of only 5,000 created with 500 Artist Proofs. These are the Artist Proofs, one of the Limited numbered 500 Proofs.
Weaver’s has a very limited number of these. A Certificate of Authenticity accompanies each lithograph.
Weaver’s also has another lithograph of Barney by George Murray, as well as a couple of wonderful ones of Goober Pyle, which are signed by both George Murray and George Lindsey! See the full lineup of these and other Mayberry artwork in the Art Section at Weaver’s.
***
They (that is, photographers anyway) say a picture is worth a thousand words, so we’ll let this photo of Mayberry’s Finest ™ bacon, jams and coffee speak for itself.
GET YOUR TASTE BUDS JAMMIN’–Three jams join popular coffees and bacon in the Mayberry’s Finest™ lineup at Weaver’s! (Sorry…eggs and biscuits not included.)
Oh, and don’t forget that there are Mayberry’s Finest ™ Pickles, too! (“Learn to love ’em!”)
***
60 Years of Mayberry
A Celebration of The Andy Griffith Show
$22.00
This collection of essays, recollections, and reflections in celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the debut of “The Andy Griffith Show” includes writings from:
- Dixie Griffith – Andy Griffith’s daughter
- George Lindsey Jr. – George “Goober” Lindsey’s son
- Bruce Bilson – Assistant Director of TAGS
- LeRoy McNees – Musical guest star on TAGS
- Sean Dietrich – Author and “Sean of the South” podcast creator
- Allan Newsome* – Floyd the barber tribute artist and host of our “Two Chairs, No Waiting” podcast
- Tim Bradshaw – Author and Mayberry fan
- Chris Grewe – Pastor and devoted TAGS fan
- Randy Turner – Author and Mayberry historian
The 188-page softcover book is filled with wonderful memories from fans, family members of the show’s stars, an instrumental performer and a key behind-the-scenes crew member.
There’s much more at Weaver’s, including caps, Goober beanies, Deputy patches, DVDs, music, posters and a tin sign, and both Mayberry Sheriff and Mayberry Deputy badges.
***
**** Chapter News ****
Chapters are gradually starting to get out and about and together a little bit. Members of Mayberry chapter (Knoxville, Tenn.), Andy chapter (Nashville, Tenn.) and Mother Figure (Huntsville, Ala.) were among those attending the Mayberry & “I Love Lucy” festival in Granville, Tenn. in April.
Mayberry chapter members also got together to celebrate Elinor Donahue‘s birthday in April. And a few days before that, Mayberry squad replicas owned by two chapter members were used in the filming of an episode of “Super Heists” called “Nixon Job” that will air on CNBC this fall.
And Mother Figure members participated the annual Mayberry celebration in Valley Head, Ala. in early May.
DARLING BOY STILL TRUCKIN’–Rodney Dillard (center) poses with members of Knoxville’s Mayberry chapter during the Mayberry/”I Love Lucy” weekend in Granville, Tenn., in April. Photo courtesy of Dennis Beal (far right).
Members of several chapters were on hand for the Mayberry Man movie fundraiser in Indianapolis earlier this month, including members from the aforementioned Mayberry and Mother Figure groups, as well as “Hearty Eatin’ Men and Beautiful, Delicate Women” (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) and “What Did Calvin Coolidge Say?” (Batesville, Ind.).
Members of the “Hearty Eatin'” bunch are also helping spearhead the annual Mule Days & Chicken Fest in Gordo, Ala. (see Floyd’s bulletin board above for details). Chapters (and many of the popular Mayberry tribute artists) are planning to converge on Gordo for the festivities.
In March, Barney chapter (Greensboro, N.C.) got together as a group for the first time since the pandemic began. It started out to be a simple birthday lunch for longtime member Phyllis Rollins with a couple of other members, but one thing led to another, and soon a large contingent of the chapter was in on the surprise.
DID ANYONE BRING A MISTER COOKY BAR?–Members of Barney chapter were thrilled to be together again after many months apart. The impetus for gathering was the birthday of beloved chapter member Phyllis Rollins (second from right).
Representatives of Barney chapter and Andy chapter got together with “We the People” chapter (Greensboro, N.C.) for a meal in May. And then they did the same with Sarah chapter (Charlotte, N.C.). A planned visit between the Andy folks and “Compelsion Nuts” (Kingsport, Tenn.) was postponed due to one of the Nuts coming down with a case of the “‘lergics.”
MAYBERRY CROSSROADS–Neil and Pat Coleman of Remembering Mayberry chapter (Chillicothe, Ohio) just happened to be visiting Mount Airy the same weekend as a road trip by Allan and Jan Newsome (center) of Mother Figure chapter (Huntsville, Ala.) and Kenneth Junkin of “Hearty Eatin’ Men and Beautiful, Delicate Women” (Tuscaloosa, Ala.). They posed by the Barney Fife lamppost on the beautiful grounds at the Mayberry Motor Inn (aka Mayberry Hotel chapter).
As they do from time to time, “Nary a Thing” chapter (Madison/Mayodan, N.C.) hosted a meeting at a local public library branch in April. They showed “Ellie Saves a Female” and “Andy and Opie, Housekeepers.” The meeting also featured Mayberry trivia quizzing (with prizes) and light snacks.
That’s the news from chapters for this issue. If your chapter has news or photos (or artwork) to share, we always love hearing about what you’re up to. Send your submissions to Goober@imayberry.com.
***
**** Mayberry on the Web ****
The iMayberry Community
This TAGSRWC online group is organized and overseen by webmaster Allan “Floyd” Newsome and 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.
LOOK OUT, LEONARD BLUSH!–Host Allan Newsome during a recent “Two Chairs, No Waiting” podcast. (There’s no word yet on whether he might be adding a canary to his webcast cast.)
“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 ones you’ve missed. (As of this week, there have been 633 episodes since Allan started the podcasts in 2008!).
If you’re combing the web looking for fun Mayberry stuff, you might need…a comb. We’ve got just the thing with the new “Two Chairs, No Waiting” Comb, now available at Weaver’s for just $2, or as we like to say “Two Chairs, Two Bucks.”
And you’ll also find links on our Podcasts web page to another outstanding Mayberry-related podcast: Burke on Mayberry, also a long-running program, hosted by TAGSRWC’s Kevin Burke.
TAGSRWC’s official page on Facebook so far has around 250,000 Likes and almost that many followers! 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), as well as to Facebook pages of Mayberry Days®, the Andy Griffith Museum, TAGS actors and others..
Even ol’ Ben Weaver has his own Facebook page at www.facebook.com/weaversdepartmentstore. It features all the latest in Mayberry items and merchandise news.
And TAGSRWC also has a growing presence on www.MeWe.com. Mayberry’s pioneering outpost on MeWe is “Sittin’ on a Velvet Pillow” chapter, headed up by Lynn Thomas. That group was followed in short order by Allan Newsome and the “Two Chairs, No Waiting” Podcast and by “Only One Word I Can Think of…Big” (a TAGSRWC group that’s also on Facebook), administered by Myron Clark and Tommy Rainwater and an able crew.
In case you’re not familiar with MeWe, it’s similar to Facebook. It’s just smaller and a bit calmer. It has no ads. So, it’s more along the lines of a quiet street like Willow or Woods Way as compared to the hustle and bustle of Main Street in downtown Mayberry. (“You’re on my foot! You’re on my foot!”) If you’re looking to “relax, slow down, take it easy,” then you might want to check out some of the TAGSRWC groups on MeWe.
**** Post Note ****
You can catch up on Mayberry news with back issues of The eBullet by visiting the eBullet Archives in the Newsletters section at imayberry.com. Each issue is placed in the Archives at the same time that it’s published.
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.
TAGSRWC publishes Weaver’s Newsletter (our brother-figure publication) in alternate months to The eBullet. Like The eBullet, Weaver’s Newsletter is free. Its focus is tilted slightly more to Mayberry merchandise and collectibles and quick newsflashes. It has some content overlap with The eBullet–sometimes earlier and sometimes later, depending on the timing of the news. To sign up, go to Weaver’s Newsletter Sign-Up.
The next issue of The eBullet is scheduled for July. Our next issue of Weaver’s Newsletter will be in June.
***
A DRIVIN’ FORCE–It’s a tight squeeze when Lydia and Goober join the gang for a car ride. (“Door handle’s already in my side.”)
***
