COLUMN: The gospel according to Andy, Barney, Opie and Aunt Bee

Susan Cable grew up watching “The Andy Griffith Show.’’ And whenever she visited her mother’s hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina, it was as if she were staying in the house next door to Andy, Barney, Opie and Aunt Bee.

“I would go there every summer,’’ she said. “It was like being in an episode in Mayberry.’’

Mount Airy was Griffith’s hometown and served as the inspiration for the fictional Mayberry.

Cable is a former state senator from Macon and once served as president of the Bibb County school board. Her mother, Ruth Goad Watt, now lives in Macon. She celebrated her 100th birthday this past  December.

“She sang in the choir with Andy Griffith at the Moravian church in Mount Airy,’’ Cable said. “She would show me the house where Andy Griffith lived, next to the water tower. It was a lovely place. I have nothing but fond memories.’’

Her uncle, Jimmy Goad, was one of Griffith’s best friends.

He visited him in Hollywood when the show was popular in the 1960s.

Cable had two other uncles who worked for the police department in Mount Airy.She said her Uncle Gil was just like Barney, and her Uncle Howard reminded her of Andy.

Every fall, thousands of Andy Griffith Show fans make the pilgrimage to Mount Airy for Mayberry Days. This year’s festival is Sept. 22-28, when the town about 100 miles north of Charlotte steps back in time. 

Some folks go hoping to find Wally’s Filling Station and Ernest T. Bass. David Browning, who spent 32 years patrolling the downtown streets dressed as Deputy Barney Fife during the festival, said they have to settle for something else.

“The Andy Griffith Show was something everyone believed in,’’ Browning told me. “But it was filmed on a back lot in Hollywood. So, instead of looking for a place, people have to come here looking for a feeling.”

The TV series, of course, never set foot here. The stage was all Hollywood. Even the sacred fishing hole, shown during all that  whistling in the opening credits, is 2,129 miles away in Franklin Canyon in the heart of Los Angeles.

It has been 35 years since the inaugural Mayberry Days in 1990, started in celebration of the show’s 30th anniversary. It premiered on Oct. 3, 1960. There were 249 episodes over eight seasons. Sadly, most of the beloved characters are no longer with us.

I’ve had Mayberry Days on my mind these past few weeks. The only time I have attended was 25 years ago this month.

I tagged along with Kenny Burgamy, Ben Sandifer and Jimmy Jones. They were local radio guys and such devoted Mayberriens they should have been given a key to the city.

We stayed at the Mayberry Motor Inn on the outskirts of town, where the lady at the front desk insisted we call her Aunt Bee. 

When in Mayberry, do as Andy did. So we waited in line for pork chop sandwiches at the Snappy Lunch diner, made famous by a single line in “Andy the Matchmaker,’’ an episode in the first season.

Charles Dowell started working at Snappy in 1943 at the age of 14. He told me he remembered when a young Griffith rode his bike to the diner. Griffith used to brag that his mother could give him a quarter, and he could go to the picture show and have enough left over to walk across the street to Snappy for a hot dog and a bottle of pop.

The City Barber Shop on Main Street was the inspiration for Floyd’s Barber Shop. I got to interview Russell Hiatt, who used to cut Griffith’s hair and was later inducted into the National Barber Hall of Fame in Chicago. He was a fan favorite during the festival, graciously posing for photographs and smiling when folks called him “Floyd.’’

I also got to meet Jim Clark, who was born the same year the show started coming into America’s living rooms in black and white. When he was in college at Vanderbilt, he founded TAGSRWC (The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watcher’s Club) which now has more than 1,400 chapters and 20,000 members worldwide.

I used to wonder why the bus that rolled through the fictitious Mayberry had “MACON” on its destination marquee. I assumed it might be Macon, North Carolina.

But Clark, who authored several books about the TV series, said that based on his research, the bus was likely headed to Macon, Georgia.

The show had at least two other Macon connections. Actor Sam Edwards, who was born in Macon in 1915, appeared in five episodes in the show’s early years. And Ted Turner, who got his career started in Macon at his father’s advertising agency in the early 1960s, went on to become an early pioneer in cable TV. He is credited with keeping the show alive for decades after it went off the air in 1968.

I also learned about the origins of the show’s names and faces. Mount Pilot was named after nearby Pilot Mountain, about 12 miles south of Mount Airy on Highway 52. Several of the show’s characters — barber Floyd Lawson, Helen Crump (Andy’s girlfriend) and even Sheriff Andy Taylor himself are believed to have been derived from the nearby towns Lawsonville, Crumpler and Taylorsville.

Because of my admiration for writers, I was thrilled when I got to interview Jack Elinson, who wrote 35 episodes for the series, including the very first, “The New Housekeeper.’’ He told me a lot of people miss the days when television was “wholesome.’’ And that explained the appeal of the show.

“To a lot of people, watching The Andy Griffith Show is a lot like going to church,” he said. 

Amen to that.

One of my most life-changing takeaways from Mayberry Days was the idea of teaching a series of Sunday school lessons based on the show. I got the inspiration from a vendor, who was selling taped episodes with materials to use as lesson plans. 

I didn’t return to Macon with a souvenir. I came home with a gift. I developed self-styled lessons and have been teaching the “Gospel According to Goober” for the past 25 years.

One episode is “The Pickle Story,” which taps into the virtues of honesty and asks the moral question: Is it ever OK to tell a lie to protect a person’s feelings? 

“Rae Hollister Sings” is about judging others based on their appearance. “Opie the Birdman” and “Mr. McBevee” are wonderful examples of parenting, taking responsibility and believing in someone.

My personal favorite, “Man in a Hurry,” carries the theme of honoring the Sabbath as a day of worship and rest.

I am forever grateful to Mayberry Days for the lifelong appreciation of a TV show that is still making a difference after all these years.

Write Ed Grisamore at gris@maconmelody.com.