Mayberry fans are a hardy bunch.
Nearly 150 were on hand Friday morning for the Mayor’s Proclamation, an annual ritual which is centered around the Mount Airy mayor issuing a proclamation recognizing the life and career of native son Andy Griffith as well as recounting how important the yearly Mayberry Days festival is.
This year’s Mayberry Days has had its challenges, not the least of which is the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s sent the Surry Arts Council and its director, Tanya Jones, scrambling to keep as many activities as possible on track while adhering to Gov. Roy Cooper’s social distancing and mask-wearing regulations. The pandemic has forced the cancellation of some shows, kept many of the festival’s regular guests from flying in to attend, and altered other activities by limiting how many folks can be in a building at any given time.
As if that wasn’t enough, Friday morning, the day of the ceremony, dawned wet and dreary after 24 hours of off-and-on rain.
Still, festival fans turned out for the event, most staying even after rain begin falling about 20 minutes into the hour-long ceremony.
Those who remained had a chance to learn just a little bit more about how pervasive the Mayberry phenomenon is, and they had the opportunity to see a few long-time supporters of the annual festival recognized for their work.
Among those were Michael Hoover, better known around Mayberry Days as Elvis. Mount Airy Mayor Pro Tem Ron Niland, along with city commissioner Jon Cawley, presented Hoover with the key to the city.
Jones told the audience that a number of years ago, Hoover, who is from Stafford, Virginia, and his wife Bobbie stopped by her office one day, introduced themselves, and Hoover began asking questions about Mount Airy’s relation to Mayberry.
“I said, ‘You look just like Elvis,’” she said with a bit of a chuckle. Within minutes, the Hoovers were showing Jones brochures and pictures from his work — turns out there was a reason he bore a striking resemblence to the King: He was a professional Elvis Tribute artist.
Soon afterward, he did a show for the local school systems, and that began a more than 20-year relationship between Hoover and Mayberry Days, with Hoover performing multiple times each year.
“I’m totally blown away,” Hoover said upon receiving the award Friday. “I appreciate this so much.”
Hoover went on to explain he had been a life-long fan of “The Andy Griffith Show,” and always wondered if there was a place like Mayberry. That was before the days of widespread access to the internet, but a friend of his did some research and told Hoover about Mount Airy.
After performing a show, he and his wife stopped by to see Mount Airy many years ago — and ended up in that meeting Jones had described.
He’s been coming back ever since.
Some who spoke briefly during Friday’s event talked of how widespread the Mayberry phenomenon still is.
Niland, who once served as Mount Airy city manager, said in 1993 the city was a finalist for the annual All-America City Award. He and a team from Mount Airy had to travel to meet with the National Civic League to make their final pitch — which included a ten-minute presentation to the committee, then a ten-minute question and answer session.
“The only questions they had for us were about The Andy Griffith Show.”
While that might not be too unusual — the show had only been off the air 25 years at that time — present-day State Rep. Kyle Hall said he runs into a similar reaction in his work in Raleigh.
“No matter where I am … I can tell someone I’m representing Surry County and they might not know where that is, but if I remind them of Mayberry, they know exactly where it is.”
Jones also addressed the audience, offering her thanks to the musicians and other performers who opted to come to the festival, even knowing crowds would be severely limited.
“That means so much to us,” she said.
She also offered a message from Betty Lynn: “She wanted me to make sure I told you all she sends her love. She is not physically with us, but she is here,” Jones said of the ever-popular Thelma Lou actor.
And then she had a special word for the tribute artists who lined the stage Friday after having traveled from other parts of the nation to be in Mount Airy.
“The fans love the tribute artists,” she told the audience as she glanced back at the artists. “They are our soul.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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