THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW

OK….this one is close to my heart. So, instead of spouting off a bunch of facts tat you can look up anywhere on the web I am going to give you the TURE behind-the-scenes trivia about the Andy Griffith Show. You see, I am from Andy’s hometown of Mount Airy, NC. He graduated from Mount Airy High School in 1944 and I in 1984. But I digress. So, a great deal of the places and names used in Andy’s show are based on those in and around Mount Airy. For example, Emmett’s Fix It Shop is supposedly named for Andy’s childhood best friend Emmett Forrest. You will also hear the characters speak of Mount Pilot which is actually Pilot Mountain, a small town about 15 minutes from Mt. Airy. There are several other references and of course all of us who are native to Mount Airy know and love them all. But there’s one Andy memory that stands tall among the natives and that was the dedication of the Andy and Opie statue in Mount Airy by the fine folks at TV Land a few years ago. Andy returned to his town and was joined by some of the original “Darlings” who sang a few bluegrass tunes before the dedication ceremony of the famous “walking by the fishing hole” pose of Andy and Barney. Of course the show was a classic, in the top 15 for 8 years in the 1960’s, but for those of us who lived it….it means so much more. Now… go ahead…you know you want to…whistle that theme song!!!!