By Joe Tennis | Features Writer / Bristol (TN) Herald Courier
Published: February 18, 2010

Andy Griffith Museum pays tribute to popular actor, TV shows

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. – Even in New York, Wayne and Marcella had heard of the real-life Mayberry.
This couple – their last name is Pryputniewicz – had longed for a quiet town to retire to after living near Syracuse at Waterville, N.Y.
They wanted convenience and safety. But they also wanted some fun.
Mount Airy, N.C., fit the bill.
“The people here are really genuinely friendly,” said the 58-year-old Marcella Pryputniewicz.
Just a few months after retiring to the self-styled “Friendly City” of Mount Airy, the couple wandered into the recently relocated Andy Griffith Museum, housed in a newly built brick building.
And they were surprised to find many original costumes worn by characters on “The Andy Griffith Show,” like the drunkard Otis Campbell’s shirt and hat plus Deputy Barney Fife’s famous salt-and-pepper suit.
“I expected more pictures than anything,” the 59-year-old Wayne Pryputniewicz said.

‘BEING THELMA LOU’
Yet there was even more – a living relic from the show. As the Pryputniewicz couple walked in, they heard a familiar voice explaining her journey from Los Angeles to Mount Airy.
A long-haired lady, in her 80s, talked about her house getting robbed in California. Yet she bragged about her newfound friends along the North Carolina-Virginia border – and about her recent decision to move to Mount Airy.
This was the voice of Betty Lynn, the movie actress who portrayed Thelma Lou in the early years of “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Thelma Lou was the girlfriend of Deputy Fife, a TV character portrayed by the late actor Don Knotts.
Now, skip ahead several decades.
This year marks 50 years since the premiere of “The Andy Griffith Show” in 1960. Still, the show remains in reruns.
As for Lynn, not all has changed.
“I have been very busy just being Thelma Lou all the time,” Lynn said, smiling. “Everybody, when I go anywhere, they’ll say, ‘Are you Thelma Lou?’ ‘I can tell by your eyes,’ they’ll say. ‘I can tell by your voice.’ ”
Lynn blushed.
“Everyone’s been great to me here,” Lynn said. “It’s a lovely town. It’s so pretty. And kind people. I like it very much. So that’s about it, I guess. They’re kind of stuck with me for a while.”
Occasionally, now, Lynn will wander down to the Andy Griffith Museum, a repository of Mayberry memorabilia assembled by longtime Griffith friend and fan Emmett Forrest.
“It really is amazing. I love it myself,” Lynn said. “I can’t take it all in at once. People can’t do it all in a few minutes. It’s overwhelming.”

‘DISPLAYED PROPERLY’
Forrest’s fortune of photos, records, articles and artifacts has traveled to various sites around town for years – including Mount Airy’s Main Street.
“It’s wonderful to have it displayed properly,” said Forrest, an 82-year-old retiree who became friends with Griffith when the actor was 10 years old.
A collector for 25 years, Forrest first showed off his Andy Griffith collection a few years ago at Mayberry Days, an annual fall festival celebrating Mount Airy’s connection to “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Back then, Forrest had only a few pictures and trinkets. Since, he has assembled much more. And he has also coaxed his good friend Griffith into giving goodies to Mount Airy for display.
That includes a suit Griffith wore on another long-running hit TV series, “Matlock,” plus the wooden gavel used by Griffith as Sheriff Andy Taylor on “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Still, Forrest said, “The pride and joy of the whole collection are the signs on the courthouse door.”
One sign says “SHERIFF.” The other says “JUSTICE OF THE PEACE.” Both were actually seen in “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Yet, for years after the show went off the air, Forrest said, they were left to hang in Griffith’s garage – until Griffith donated them to Forrest and the museum.

‘SPEND DAYS’
Inside the museum, fans of CBS-TV’s “The Andy Griffith Show” can view decades of photos showing Griffith, now in his 80s and living in seclusion at Roanoke Island, N.C.
Historical artifacts span Griffith’s life from his childhood to his early acting experience, portraying Sir Walter Raleigh on stage at Roanoke Island’s “The Lost Colony” outdoor drama – a time when the actor was billed as “Andrew Griffith.”
“You could spend days looking at everything we have,” said museum director Jessica Morris.
On various walls, posters document Griffith’s success in movies and plays, on records and on television. Aside from “Matlock” and “The Andy Griffith Show,” the actor also showed up occasionally on “Mayberry, R.F.D.,” a successor series to “The Andy Griffith Show.”
Later, in the 1980s, both Griffith and Lynn starred in a Mayberry reunion movie that also featured Knotts.
“And once we got going,” Lynn said, “it was like we had just worked together the day before.”

‘ONLY ANDY KNOWS’
Today, Forrest said, it is common knowledge that much of Mayberry on “The Andy Griffith Show” was based on Griffith’s growing-up years at Mount Airy.
TV scripts flip-flopped the name of nearby “Pilot Mountain” to create “Mount Pilot.” Also, several real-life places of Mount Airy – including streets called Rockford, Haymore, Oak, Elm, Orchard, Maple, Pine, Willow, River, Spring and Banner – showed up on the show.
Forrest, too, figures his first name was remembered at Emmett’s Fix-It Shop, a fixture on the latter-day episodes.
Really?
Forrest grinned then quietly hinted, “Only Andy knows …”

IF YOU GO
What: Andy Griffith Museum
Where: 218 Rockford St., Mount Airy, N.C.
When: Open daily
Info: (336) 786-7998
Web: http://www.surryarts.org
ON TELEVISION
Watch more on Mount Airy, N.C., and the Andy Griffith Museum on WJHL’s “Cable Country,” airing on Feb. 19 at 5:55 p.m.

When a committee at the Mount Airy Museum of Regional History started talking about a racing exhibit, the members had no idea that it would escalate into a three-day event.

White Liquor and Dirt Tracks: The Origins of NASCAR will take place in downtown Mount Airy Jan. 22-24. Originating from a museum exhibit which will debut during the weekend, the event will offer everything from vintage stock car displays to autograph sessions to a book-signing with an author.

“There is very clearly a local connection to the origin of racing with bootlegging and moonshine to the dirt track racing. That really was the foundation of NASCAR,” said Matt Edwards, executive director of the museum. “It’s a weekend-long celebration of the roots of racing.”

The event will kick off on Friday with the opening of the “White Liquor and Dirt Tracks” exhibit at the museum. That evening, “Thunder Road” will be shown at the Downtown Cinema.

The exhibit is being designed for display at the Mount Airy museum for several months and will then be available for display at other small museums. It will cover topics from the moonshine and bootlegging industry to the dirt track racing to the Mount Airy race track and the evolution of the industry.

“It will feature artifacts, photos and bits and pieces of race cars, the whole gamut,” said Edwards.

Saturday will feature a full day of events including an autograph session with old-time drivers and NASCAR drivers and the sale of racing memorabilia and souvenirs in the museum’s annex on Oak Street. There will be a panel discussion about racing including drivers, and NASCAR will have souvenirs and show cars on display.

Saturday also will see the closing of half of Main Street for a display of between 50 and 75 vintage stock cars.

Author Sharyn McCrumb and co-author of her new book, Adam Edwards, will be available to sign copies of their book, “Faster Pastor,” which is not due out in stores until April. McCrumb, whose ballad novels brought her notoriety as an author of historical fiction, developed an interest in the history of racing which led to the publication of two other novels, “St. Dale” and “Once Around the Track.”

Saturday night will feature a concert by Matt Dylan, a new Nashville, Tenn., recording artist who has an original song, “Carolina Moonshine,” on the soundtrack to “Red Dirt Rising.” “Red Dirt Rising,” which was filmed in North Carolina, is based on the true story of racing’s origins through the lives of Jimmie Lewallen and his friends Bill Blair and Fred Harb, who find escape from life in racing. The film is in post-production and will make its debut on the film festival circuit this year. A number of actors from the film will be available during the weekend for an autograph session.

There will also be a cruise-in Saturday afternoon for local residents who want to bring their cars out for a showcase.

“It’s kind of a come-as-you-are event for local car folks,” said Edwards.

— The Mount Airy News

Mount Airy honors NASCAR

Even though we are close to the Blue Ridge Mountains (the Blue Ridge Parkway is only eight miles away), our winters at White Sulphur Springs are frequently sweater-weather comfortable. But occasionally we enjoy in our community one of those rare and gorgeous  snowfalls  that we usually see up in the mountains from our homesites.

Last week was not an exception. The Blizzard of 2009 brought beautiful snow to White Sulphur Springs and nearby Mount Airy.  Take a look.

Holiday decorations are going up at Mount Airy’s newest community, White Sulphur Springs. There’s not a better place to celebrate holidays with family and friends. Contact us and let us tell you why. Happy Holidays!

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