|
|
| website sponsered by   
A Mayberry State Of Mind Proudly Presents KennyBoy Anderson / Mayberry Reflections
This page was set up to show our pride and recognition for Kenny "Kennyboy" Anderson and his dedication to spread what we consider "A Mayberry State of Mind". Please besure to visit mayberryreflections.com and say hey to Kenny.
 Tracy Lucas
Westview Publishing
Westview author Ken Anderson remembers the simple life. As a huge fan of The Andy Griffith Show, his contribution to keeping the old days alive was to detail his thoughts on some of the classic episodes from the long-running TV show in a book entitled Mayberry Reflections: The Early Years. Recently, Anderson put his actions where his words are,
and helped a local Veteran's Group in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, gather and ship books to American troops stationed overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thirty-nine copies of Mayberry Reflections made the long voyage, along with some 1,500 other books contributed by thankful citizens across the country. Anderson, whose book normally sells for $14.95 per copy, temporarily discounted his price to $8.00 each to encourage donations from his friends, family members, and website frequenters. He also contributed his own money to defray the shipping for any purchases intended for soldiers. Anderson credits veteran Bill Bottoms, also of Eau Claire, with the idea, and carefully points out that his own was a small role in the greater scheme of the project.
"There was an article in our local newspaper about a local veteran's organization that was collecting books for the troops," he says. "They asked if any local authors would like to contribute one of their books. I only wish I would have heard about the project sooner. I have always heard that soldiers appreciate anything that they can get from home."
"Mayberry Reflections: The Early Years is about the first four years of The Andy Griffith Show. I wrote a story summary and a personal reflection about each episode that aired during the first four years it was on TV," Anderson explains. He continues, "I wanted my readers to know that the values that were so important to the people of Mayberry are very real and are just as important today as they were back in 1960 when the program first aired. I think it is a great book for soldiers as it is a nostalgic look back at small town America during a time when life was much simpler." "I think my book represents the very ideals and values that our soldiers are fighting and dying for - so many miles from home," he adds. While this is the first time he has specifically sent his book to members of the military, Anderson is certainly not new to participating in non-profit ventures. For the past three years, he has used the book in both teaching a Mayberry Bible Study at his local church and as a guide for the monthly "Mayberry Hour" held at a nearby retirement community. "I am having so much fun with the book," he admits earnestly. But in particular, he says, this project was close to his heart. "I feel very humbled by the experience. There is so little we do for our people in the armed forces. I only wish I could have done more." Mayberry Reflections: The Early Years is available at westview www.publishing.com, www.amazon.com, and the author's and the author's website, mayberryreflections.com
In front of 365 delegates to the Wisconsin Hospital Association Volunteer Partners State Convention
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Kenny "Kennyboy" Anderson delivered the following speech
 I would like to begin by asking you three questions. I would like you to respond with just a show of hands. My first question is this: How many of you feel that television today contains too much violence and off color humor? My second question is this: How many of you feel that life today is much more hectic, unstructured, and stressful than it was say fifty years ago? My final question is: How many of you wish we could turn back time and return to a much simpler, slower, and more innocent way of life?
Every time I ask those questions I receive the same responses. I think that tells us something very important about our present day society. Yet we all realize that we can never turn back the clocks of time, except for one hour every fall and then we just end up giving it back in the spring. And if we are realistic, we must admit that those slower, quieter, and more innocent days that we once knew are also gone forever. As you were told, I wrote a book called Mayberry Reflections, the Early Years. Now I am not here to promote my book and I am not here to sell them, but if you would be interested in getting one later, I just happen to have some with me. My real purpose in being here is to share with you what I like to call, “The Spirit Of Mayberry”. Mayberry is a fictitious small town in North Carolina. It is the setting for that wonderful classic TV program “The Andy Griffith Show”. It first aired on national television on October 3, 1960, and the final episode was shown on April 1, 1968. But that was not the end of the program. Mayberry RFD followed for another three years. Then The Andy Griffith Show immediately began again as reruns, and the show has never been off the air since.
 I am a real fan of Mayberry. I have every episode on DVD’s. I have a complete collection of 14 ceramic cast buildings of Mayberry complete with many figurines and accessories. I have every trading card printed. I have books, shirts, ties, steins, dishes, and countless other items relating to The Andy Griffith Show.
I would like you to think back to the decades of the 1960’s. As I said, these are the years that the Andy Griffith Show was so popular. And there was a cultural reason for that. The 60’s were a very tumultuous decade. They began with the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Most of us here tonight watched on live TV as his accused assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was gunned down in front of millions of Americans. We then saw the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King. We were involved in a very unpopular devastating war. For the first time in history people watched scenes of real war in their living rooms each night. The decade of the 60’s brought the drug culture, draft protests, and race riots. Everywhere people turned they saw images of hate and violence. They wanted something different and as a result millions of Americans began to visit Mayberry, North Carolina each week.
Now almost 50 years later we once again are seeing the live images of a very unpopular war on our TV screens each day. More powerful and dangerous drugs are an everyday part of so many of our young people’s lives. We hear of violence in our schools and we watch the destruction of nature in so many parts of our world. And once again, people are looking for an escape, and once again, many people are returning to Mayberry, North Carolina to find that escape.
When people hear about my passion for Mayberry, I quite often get this comment. Mayberry is so phony. It is not at all the life really is. And my response is,’ you are right; it isn’t the way life really is. But I believe it is the way God meant life to be.” We are living in times when Americans spend millions of dollars each year in search of something to help reduce stress in their lives. We try everything from medications to therapy to alcohol and illicit drugs. Yet many of us continue to live each day feeling unfulfilled and totally stressed out. We find that our lives are so filled with work, meetings, family events, school activities, church obligations, and social responsibilities, that we rarely find even a few moments of quiet time when we can escape and forget all those pressures that seem to follow us each waking minute of every day.
 Many believe that a few moments at the local watering hole after work might help. At least some familiar faces and friendly smiles might be found there. Instead, the very same things seem to follow. People are complaining about their jobs, their spouses, the economy, and the politics in Washington. Upon leaving, one feels no better, and the only thing accomplished is that there are fewer dollars in the pocket and a few less hours in the day. I am no different from anyone else. My life is also filled with many stressful moments. But unlike many, I do not seek relief at the local watering hole. Nor do I see a therapist or use drugs. Nor do I try many of the other self-help programs that we see advertised all around us. No, I have a very different temporary cure for my anxieties and stresses. I find my relief by visiting that wonderful friendly fictitious town of Mayberry, North Carolina. For you see, like thousands of others throughout our country I am one of those people who loves to visit Mayberry through the wonder of television. And for me, it works. For a short time each day I can go back to a much simpler and innocent time and place where everyone knows everyone’s name. I find that my blood pressure drops, my breathing relaxes, and my entire mood changes.
I have come to know many people like me through the many websites that are dedicated to that wonderful place called Mayberry. I teach the Back to Mayberry Bible Study, and I hear the laughter, and I see the smiles when discussions begin about the people in Mayberry. Yet, I must admit, I do take ridicule from family and friends. For like many people, they do not understand the appeal of an old black and white television program that made its debut in 1960. My family and friends often laugh at me and ask why a retired teacher spends so much time watching a corny old television show like the Andy Griffith Show. They want to know what I see that they don’t. So I try to explain in a very simple way.
When I see Opie and Andy sitting out on the porch having one of their man-to-man talks, I see the father I never had. When I see Ellie Walker behind the soda fountain at Walker's Drug store, I see Mr. and Mrs. Weix behind the soda fountain of the drugstore that I frequented as a young boy. When I see Opie and his friends frolicking through Crouch's Woods and fishing at Myer's Lake, I see my brothers and me fishing at the old Mill Pond and playing out in Rau's Woods. When I see Floyd cutting hair and talking to the town cronies, I see myself sitting in Virck's Barbershop and I am listening to the men folk telling their hunting and fishing stories while I read comic books and enjoy the smells of the witch hazel. Or when I see Miss Crump encouraging Opie to go outside to play football, I see Mr. Eiden, my seventh grade basketball coach, laughing and encouraging us after we just lost a basketball game by a score of 88-0. After all, it was just a game back then. And when I see good old Mr. Foley working in his little grocery store on Mayberry's Main Street, I remember Mr. Krueger who rigged a contest in his grocery store in order for a little boy to win a beautiful new cowboy outfit because his parents didn't have any money to buy one. That little boy happened to be me. When I see Andy and Barney welcoming Otis each Friday night and treating him with dignity, I recall very vividly our small town police officer that would follow my dad home when he had a snootful, to make sure he got home safely to his anxious and awaiting family. These are just some of the things I see whenever I visit Mayberry. And I see much more. For you see, I was very fortunate to have grown up in a very small town during a wonderful time when my friends and I were safe and secure knowing that we could roam around town, just like little Leon and Opie, and we could really get to know all those wonderful people who are no longer there.
The reason I wrote my book is really quite simple. I hope as people read each reflection that I wrote they will take a few minutes to pause and be transformed back to another time and place. As we all know, Mayberry is a fictitious place. But the ideals and values that were instilled in the people that lived there are very real. They were important to the people of Mayberry, and they should continue to be important to each and every one of us no matter whom we may be or where we might live. I chose to write about the years 1960-1964 because those were my high school years. They were also the first four years in the lives of the people in Mayberry. Hopefully, when a little time has passed, I will write another book of reflections for the next four years in the life of Mayberry. After all, I wouldn’t want any of the wonderful stories of Mayberry to be left untold.
As I look out among all of you I can see a part of Mayberry in this very room and although you probably have never thought about it before, each one of you has that spirit of Mayberry living within you. If you didn’t, you would not be here. You are all volunteer partners of some hospital in Wisconsin. You do not receive any pay for what you do. So why do you do it? And why have you given up two days to attend this convention. You do it because of those very values that I find in Mayberry. You do it because you are all kind, thoughtful, decent, considerate people who want to do something to make your small part of the world a better place.
Whenever I walk into Sacred Heart Hospital to do my volunteering I feel as if I am entering a small part of Mayberry. For like Mayberry I find people all around me within those hospital walls who are wonderful, kind, and unselfish people; people who are not just doing what they are doing because it is their job. They are doing it because they love what they do. And I would be willing to bet that you experience the very same thing.
I mentioned earlier that I was lucky to have grown up in a very small town. But living in a small town does not exempt anyone from having a stressful lifestyle. If anything small town living can sometimes make life more hectic as there seems to be so many things to do with far fewer people to do them. But small town life is special. Small towns are usually made up of people who know one another very well and they care about each other. And I think that is why Mayberry was such a loved town.
I would like to tell you about one episode of Mayberry that probably epitomizes best why so many people choose to live in small towns. The episode is called “Man in a Hurry” and it takes place on a warm Sunday afternoon. Sundays in small town America are typically very quiet. People often attend church in the morning and then go home to read the Sunday paper. They have their Sunday dinner, and the rest of the day is spent either at home or perhaps out in the family car for a drive in the country. At least that is the way it was when I grew up in the small town of Dorchester, Wisconsin- population 450. If I was lucky, we went for a drive in the family car, and then stopped for an ice cream cone somewhere. Every Sunday was pretty much the same. It was quiet, and there really was very little to do.
Mayberry is a typical small rural community. There are no convenient stores or malls anywhere. The small stores in town are closed on Sundays. If one wants a bottle of pop, a walk to Wally’s Gas Station is required. Everything just seems to stand still. It is a day for rest and family gatherings. It is just the way things are, and everyone likes it that way. But what would happen if a stranger from a large city happened to arrive in Mayberry on one of these lazy Sunday afternoons? And what would happen if he needed immediate work done on his car? What would he do if he couldn’t find anyone to help him? “Man in a Hurry” is one of the best loved episodes portraying life in Mayberry. When Malcolm Tucker, a big business executive, arrives in Mayberry, he finds what many of today’s people are searching for. He finds a town that is totally unspoiled by the hustle and bustle of big city life. He finds simple people who know how to take life easy. The merchants of Mayberry know that having a day of rest on Sunday is much more important than making a few extra dollars of profit. So they close their doors and spend the day at their homes .Malcolm Tucker is the kind of person that most Mayberry folks are not. He has a type A personality, and his work is the most important thing in his life. He is always on the go and seldom has time to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. He does not understand how anyone can sit around on a front porch on a Sunday afternoon when there is work to be done and money to be made. It is like stepping back into a new and unfamiliar time. Fortunately, Mr. Tucker’s car breaks down in Mayberry on Sunday afternoon. If it doesn’t, he will miss a very wonderful experience. He will miss meeting the people of Mayberry. He won’t ever know what it is like to sit on a front porch on a warm evening. Mr. Tucker does not understand the people of Mayberry. Imagine, trying to peel an apple without breaking the skin. But after spending one Sunday with the Taylors, a change comes over Mr. Tucker. His eyes are opened and he sees things differently for the very first time. He sees how happy and contented everyone is. He sees the friendship between Andy’s family and a simple young man like Gomer Pyle. He sees how Gomer and Goober are willing to give up their Sunday to help out a stranger without charging one single cent. Yes, Mr. Tucker’s eyes see things that perhaps he has never seen before, and he likes what he sees so much he decides to spend the night at the Taylor house. Isn’t it too bad that everyone’s car can’t break down for at least one day in the wonderful town of Mayberry?
Actually there is a small part of Mayberry located very close to Eau Claire. The Andy Griffith Home Bed and Breakfast is located in Clear Lake. The owners, Dave and Marsha, have built an exact replica to the Taylor’s television home. Every room looks exactly like it does on television. The furniture, wall hangings, dishes, and every accessory was carefully chosen. It took several years of planning and thousands of hours of watching the program for this home to be created. My wife and I have stayed there three times and we have become very good friends with the owners. So I know have an even better way to escape to Mayberry whenever I feel like I need a quieter and more simpler way of life.
I have explained why Mayberry is such a special place. And I have told you why I love it so much. But I haven’t told you much about the characters of Mayberry. There were so many and I could speak for hours about them. So I would like to tell you about one. To many people Mayberry means Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife. But I don’t want to tell you about Barney. Instead I would like to pay tribute to the person who played that role. I would like to end by sharing with you my thoughts about Don Knotts.
How does one begin to say farewell to a living legend? For people of all ages and from every walk of life, February 26, 2006, was a very sad day. It was the day when the world lost a great and gifted performer. For more than forty-five years Don Knotts has touched the hearts of millions as he portrayed that bumbling, nervous, and loveable Deputy Barney Fife.
People who know me well often call me Barney. All you have to do is look at my license plate on my car and you will understand why. It is B FIFE. I wear a Barney Fife collector’s wristwatch, and I carry a Barney Fife driver’s license in my wallet. When I dress up for a special event, I quite often wear one of my beautiful Barney Fife ties. If I am out for a leisurely walk you may see me wearing one of my favorite Mayberry sweatshirts or t-shirts. I drink soda from a Barney Fife stein, and we often serve food on our Barney Fife dishes. I have a Mayberry pennant hanging in my den, and I have numerous pictures of Barney Fife around the house. My bookcase contains books about Mayberry and several specifically about Barney Fife. You see when it comes to Don Knotts, I have a special place in my heart just for him. I even have all the movies that he ever starred in.
When I retired early from teaching because of medical issues I had a difficult time accepting my final day of teaching. On that very momentous day, the teachers at Fall Creek Public Schools dressed up as Barney Fife. They presented me with a large poster of Barney Fife. However, it had one alteration. Instead of Barney’s face on the poster, it had mine. They knew how to make my final and difficult day of teaching a very special one. They included Barney Fife in my farewell. Television today is unlike television when Don Knotts and Mayberry first debuted. Standards of conduct and decency were quite different. To this day, families can gather around the television and know that for the next thirty minutes they will share in good clean humor without any embarrassment.
Through his portrayal of Barney Fife, Don Knotts taught me many things; some of which I carried with me throughout my thirty-six years of teaching. In one of his most memorable scenes, Barney was defending Andy when he was removed from the office of sheriff. In defense of Sheriff Taylor, Barney said, “When you are dealing with people instead of going by the book, it is better to go by the heart.” How much better the world would be today if each of us could live by that simple philosophy. There will always be a special place in my heart for Don Knotts. Unfortunately I never had the privilege of meeting Don. But if I had, I know what I would have said. It would have been, “Thank you Mr. Knotts. Thank you for giving me forty-six years of laughter. Thank you for making my life just a little bit better by having entered my home for so many years. Thank you for setting a standard for other to follow. ”Ten-four Barney. Over and out. Farewell, Don Knotts. Farewell, Barney Fife. Farewell to a comedian whose likes we shall never see again. Thank you for all the memories and thank you, my friends, for allowing me to share my passion for that wonderful place we call Mayberry.
| |
|
|