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Mayberry Days

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Editor’s Note: Reader Diary is a periodic column written by local residents, Surry County natives, and readers of The Mount Airy News. If you have a submission for Reader Diary, email it to John Peters at jpeters@mtairynews.com

They come from “all over.”

When? The last week in September, by automobile and tour-bus loads, to our little town of Mount Airy.

Why? To celebrate Mayberry Days and the life and times of a native son who found fame and fortune along the way. You can see it in their eyes as they crowd the streets, searching for the easy-going life of “The Andy Griffith Show” they saw on 1960s black and white TV.

What do they find? A friendly little town where, when you walk down the street, you get a big smile from everybody you meet. Come Mayberry Days, multiply it tenfold and it becomes a circus; with Andy Griffith Show “look-a-likes” everywhere. There’s Deputy Barney Fife with that big side-arm on his hip telling someone to “Nip it” or go to jail. There’s Otis (the town drunk) riding his cow right down Main Street in broad daylight. Aunt Bee? Opie? Them too and many other look-a-likes, maybe even Gomer. Sad to say, I have yet to see Andy.

Just down the street; you’ll find Floyd the Barber snipping away at the same barber shop Andy knew. A couple of doors down; Snappy Lunch where Andy once ate; near the Blue Bird Café, where back in the back room back in the day, you could still drink beer after closing hours.

How about Goober? Him too; pumping gas and wiping windshields at his service station down on South Main. Need a ride to see the sights? For a very few bucks, those 1960s Ford squad cars will haul you around all over the town to see the same sights Andy once knew; including the home where he grew up.

Best of all is the Mayberry Days Parade, with hundreds of people lined up on both sides of the street to applaud and watch their heroes go by. Believe me; it’s a sight to see.

Being a native son myself, it’s pleasing to know that a hometown boy like Andy caused such a “to-do” and I hope and pray that all who come here find what they were looking for and go home with a big smile on their face; knowing they found Mayberry.

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