Saturday morning Rob and I got up early and headed to Snappy Lunch to beat the rush for breakfast but Snappy Lunch during Mayberry Days is always busy. Still, being there early enabled us to grab a couple of stools at the counter right away. Tribute artist Bo Pierce who does a great Briscoe Darling sat alongside us so it was fitting to have a row of “hearty-eatin’ men” at the counter. As mentioned earlier, Snappy Lunch gets extra points from my buddy Rob because the waitresses always call us “honey” or “sweetie.” We were also amused to see that when the locals eating at the counter needed a drink refill, they just walked behind the counter and filled it themselves.
As a brief interjection, the 2017 Mayberry Days was a different experience for me in a fun way. At the beginning of that year, I had begun posting daily on The Gomer and Goober Comic Book Literary Guild Facebook group page with a feature I called Today in Mayberry History where I posted facts daily that related to that day, s similar concept to that used in the new 2019 Mayberry Day-by-Day Calendar. The group had grown from 86 members to around 3000 over the nine months of the year that had elapsed at that point. I had also begun doing weekly audio reports for the Two Chairs, No Waiting podcast and had done one every week over the same nine months.
Certainly, I received some feedback on the Facebook posts in the form of “likes” and other reactions and comments on the posts. I knew from the podcast chatroom that those visiting with one another enjoyed the audio segments. But it was impossible for me to gauge how many people might actually have been reached and to know whether people enjoyed my writings and audio segments.
I was unprepared for the reaction I got from people during the festival. We did have our chapter t-shirts on and people frequently stopped me to ask, “Are you Randy Turner?” and then tell me how much they enjoyed the posts or audio reports. It was also a hoot to have people hear my voice and then turn around to ask, “Are you Randy Turner?” as well from having heard me on the podcast. It didn’t take long for my buddy Rob to start kidding me about being a celebrity. While I am far from that status, dozens and dozens of people stopped me to tell me how much they enjoyed my work. It was truly gratifying to get such a broad and positive response.
I had been in touch earlier with tribute artist Michael Oliver to arrange for a photo before the parade. Michael portrays Gomer Pyle while Tim Pettigrew plays Goober. Rob and I went to the parade staging area and got a photo with our chapter’s two namesakes.
I also made a separate shirt with the This Week in Mayberry History title card on the back and so was sure to get a picture with podcast host and Floyd tribute artist Allan Newsome in the staging area.
The parade is always enjoyable but there was one celebrity in attendance I did not get a chance to meet, George Lindsey Jr. I hoped to get the opportunity to meet him at a future Mayberry event.
The next event on our schedule was Professor Brower’s Lecture. I began this multi-part recounting of past Mayberry Days to lead up to how Neal Brower came to be wearing one of our chapter t-shirts when I saw him at the Mayberry Meet-Up in July. What led to him having one of our shirts began when we decided to check out the display of items available for a silent auction and I saw Neal doing the same.