(The following article appeared in the New Castle Courier-Times and is written by Managing Editor Darrel Radford. The newspaper's website can be found at www.thecouriertimes.com.)
Mayberry delights, inspires
By Darrel Radford
Managing Editor
Posted July 22, 2002
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 Mayor Sherman Boles chats with the Mayberry Deputy |
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In vintage Don Knotts fashion, The Mayberry Deputy literally set the stage for a memorable evening at Bundy Auditorium Saturday night.
"There's only one word for this," David Browning told the sell-out crowd in a way that would make Don Knotts smile. "BIG"
Indeed, the event that drew people from as far away as California to New Castle was everything Mayberry fans could have hoped for.
George "Goober" Lindsey rattled off jokes faster than Andy used to run away from Charlene Darling. Ernest T entered the auditorium from the back, throwing fake "rocks" at the audience on his way up to the stage. Thelma Lou and Darling charmed the crowd with songs while James Best kept fans on the edge of their seats in anticipation that he might actually play that guitar of his.
He didn't, of course, but nobody was complaining during a four-hour show in which the Mayberry cast was as pleased with the audience as the audience was with the show.
They laughed...they clapped....they sang.
They offered standing ovations more than once. Likewise, they were praised in return by an appreciative group of veteran actors whose credits read like a Hollywood history book.
Howard Morris, alias Ernest T. Bass, had worked with Sid Caesar. James Best had worked with Jimmy Stewart. The Dillards had done some pickin' with comedian Steve Martin and his banjo.
And Mitch Jayne, who played with the Dillards on the Andy Griffith show, was a close friend of the late Denver Pyle. In fact, Jayne spent his time on stage telling stories and paying tribute to Pyle.
Jayne came out wearing an Anaheim Angels cap that Denver Pyle wore. It was given to him as a gesture of thanks by Pyle's wife after the actor's death.
"Denver wore this because Gene Autry gave it to him," Jayne explained.
When Jayne mentioned Pyle's the name, the sell-out crowd applauded, prompting the musician to thank the audience for giving Pyle something he never received much of during his impressive film career. Because nearly all of it was film, Jayne said, Pyle never got to see people express appreciation for his work.
"Denver never bragged about himself, never envied anybody. He was his own man. He never took himself seriously but took his work seriously every day that he lived."
Jayne said that Pyle, the grand patriarch of the Darling family on The Andy Griffith Show, had great respect for the show's namesake.
"Boys, you watch that man," Denver would say about Andy Griffith. "He's an acting lesson."
Jayne also recounted a story about Pyle's experience on a John Wayne film. He said the two actors became good friends to the point of giving each other a hard time on the set.
"Mr. Pyle, there's about a dozen ways to bail out of a horse and that's the worst one I ever saw," Jayne said John Wayne once told Pyle after an awkward dismount during a western movie.
Jayne also took time to recount his favorite Andy Griffith episode ó once in which the Darling boys turned snoring into a musical experience.
"Each of us picked out a snore we'd heard," Jayne said. "Andy cracked up, slid out of his chair and started pounding the floor, he was laughing so hard. He said it sounded like somebody ripping the siding off an elephant. We had to do that scene many, many times because even the stage hands couldn't contain themselves."
The Bundy Auditorium setting provided an impressive backdrop to the show.
A Mayberry police car was on stage, along with an old fashioned gas pump and barber pole just for the Floyd impersonator. There was also an appearance by an Otis the drunk impersonator.
Saturday's show completed a big two-day event that saw 2,500 attend a Saturday morning autograph session. On Friday, more than 1,000 attended the hog roast and celebrity auction.
The auction raised about $9,000.
Christine Mallette, director of tourism and marketing for the Henry County Convention and Visitors Bureau, said 41 live items and nine silent items were sold for the auction.
A 1-week stay at Dale Hollow Lake, in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains, was the top-selling item, Mallette said.
Money raised from the auction will be divided between two local organizations; two-thirds will go to Henry County United Fund, and one-third will go to the Art Association of Henry County.
Saturday's show had some distinct local flavor.
When The Mayberry Deputy wasn't hosting the show, he was casting a wary eye at local stage helper Mike Fleming. Fleming, himself a well-known local actor, played right along.
Rodney Dillard was made an honorary member of the New Castle S.W.A.T. team. Dillard's son is a member of the S.W.A.T. team in Branson, Mo. The presentation was made by local law enforcement officials and Mayor Sherman Boles, who teased the local audience members by saying he had been "practicing on his accent" just for the Mayberry show.
There were funny confrontations on stage, thanks to The Mayberry Deputy, who tried to get the best of Best.
"I out-rank you," Best told the deputy. Then Best unbuttoned his shirt to great audience applause as he displayed a uniform that made him famous on The Dukes of Hazzard and proclaimed "I am Roscoe P. Coltrane."
The Mayberry Deputy wasn't impressed.
"Nip it in the bud," he said. "You beat everything, you know that."
"Don't touch this shirt," Best warned. "This goes for $3,000 on ebay!"
There was no confrontation, however, where Mayberry cast members and the audience were concerned.
Even Ernest T. became mellow in saying thanks for what was considered by most to be an outstanding weekend.
"After 40 years, I want to tell you how touching it is for me to listen to your joy and your affection," Howard Morris said. "For 40 years you've been doing your part. You've made me very grateful. I thank you for being the most loyal fans any show ever had."
Betty Lynn - alias Thelma Lou - also had kind things to say. And they weren't to the Mayberry Deputy, they were to the Mayberry fans in New Castle.
"It's a beautiful little town," she said of New Castle. "I love all the trees and greenery. I don't see a lot of that in Los Angeles where I live. I hope you all appreciate what you have here. You have room to look out over the landscape. It's not all crowded together. It's wonderful."
Dillard said he and the boys "were all keyed up" as Denver Pyle liked to say on the Griffith show about playing Carnegie Hall Nov. 30.
"And if people are one eighth as nice as you are, we'll be okay," Dillard said.
The memorable evening ended with Goober reading a poem "What Mayberry Means to Me," which no doubt transformed the tears brought about by so much laughter into tears of sentimental appreciation.
But the heartfelt ending didn't stop Ernest T from tossing a final "rock" at the audience as he left the stage.