My "Mayberry Moment"...

Several of you already know about this because of Facebook - but I realized that I hadn't shared this with the prairie "family", and I wanted to share my excitement with you.

Remember the portrait I did of Barney Fife and Thelma Lou?:



Well, a friend of mine named Allan goes to a celebration called Mayberry Days every year. (He actually heads it up, which I didn't realize.) He plays Floyd the barber there, and has for about ten years now. So, I was talking to him, telling him that I'd love to do a portrait of Barn & Thel together, and give it to Betty Lynn, who played Thelma Lou. She goes to Mayberry Days every year, too, and knows Allan...SO...I finished and framed the portrait, packaged it like it was going to go through a war zone, and mailed it to Allan...Then there was the dreadful WAIT for Mayberry Days to come around. FINALLY it arrived, and early one morning, Allan sent me some pictures:









I was so thrilled. Precious little could have made it a better experience for me. I'm such a huge fan of The Andy Griffith Show - and of Betty Lynn, too...so to see "Thelma Lou" holding the portrait I'd drawn...and to see the smile on her face...Oh, what a gift to me! So if you heard a squeal of delight early one Friday morning - that would have been me.

Hope you all don't mind me sharing my excitement with you...Joys just aren't the same if you can't share them with the people you care about.

I just love the look on her face. You can see she was shocked! And that look in her eyes when she's holding it really says it all. She was obviously beyond touched and impressed! That had to be such a rewarding experience for you! I only wish you could have been there in person...but this was the next best thing. Very nice of your friend to help make this happen too.

So thrilled for you Savannah.....Betty Lynn comes to Marshfield often for our Cherry Blossom Days...she was honored one year since she is a Missourian....I would love to see her next time she comes to town!

OH...and your friend makes a great Floyd the Barber!!!

How exciting! Congratulations, Savannah!!!

Look @ her face! Congratulations Savannah, and Allan does really look like Floyd!

thats so awesome.

Amy wrote:

I just love the look on her face. You can see she was shocked! And that look in her eyes when she's holding it really says it all. She was obviously beyond touched and impressed! That had to be such a rewarding experience for you! I only wish you could have been there in person...but this was the next best thing. Very nice of your friend to help make this happen too.

Thank you, Amy - That third picture really touched me, because she just looked so pleased, and that was the biggest gift I could've gotten from it all.

Rhonda wrote:

So thrilled for you Savannah.....Betty Lynn comes to Marshfield often for our Cherry Blossom Days...she was honored one year since she is a Missourian....I would love to see her next time she comes to town!

Thanks, Rhonda! And that would be so great if you could meet her!

Rhonda wrote:

OH...and your friend makes a great Floyd the Barber!!!

He really does! I've seen some clips of him, and not only does he look like Floyd, he's really got his speech patterns and body language down, too.

Rob wrote:

How exciting! Congratulations, Savannah!!!

Thank you, Rob! I know you've been hearing about this for months. It's probably almost a relief that it's over.

alexczarn wrote:

Look @ her face! Congratulations Savannah, and Allan does really look like Floyd!

Thanks, Alex!

sweetkrissy2011 wrote:

thats so awesome.

Thank you, Krissy!

Hey Savannah, I was gonna ask, where is Mayberry Days? And what exactly is it?

Savannah wrote:

It's in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, which is the town that Mayberry is loosely based on. (That's where Betty Lynn now lives.) Here's a site that has a lot of information about Mayberry Days:

Mayberry Days

I'd love to go one of these years!

Thanks! I'd love to go and I'm sure Rob would.

Savannah wrote:

It's in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, which is the town that Mayberry is loosely based on. (That's where Betty Lynn now lives.)

She now lives there?! How NEAT is that????

Looking at her face you may notice how delighted she was , Savannah. Your drawings must have tuched her a lot...And I imagine how much you must be moved, my dear.

You are really very talented.

Vanesa.

Oh That is just Awesome, She good thing you said that that was Thelma Lou she has changed a lot since the show

That's a great story! All Andy Griffith fans please check out this site and join the bulletin board! http://www.wbmutbb.com/

Easyt, do you post over at Miss Crump's?

No, I'll check it out! Thanks!

How cool!


I agree, Allan does look like Floyd!