by Olivia P. Tucker
Times Reporter
A proposed Mayberry of the Midwest themed festival received funding approval from the Scott County Visitors Commission when they met on Tuesday, Feb. 7.
Mayberry of the Midwest had been held in the Hoosier community of Danville up until last year.
Eric Lowry presented to the visitors board Mayberry comes to Scottsburg, a festival that is centered around the American Comedy TV series “The Andy Griffith Show” allowing spectators to feel like they are in the town of Mayberry where the show takes place. Lowry, a Scott County native, has played Mayor Pike for 15 years at the festivals as well as for the film “Mayberry Man.”
“Primarily, the event would run Friday evening to Sunday afternoon (tentatively scheduled for June 23-25) with a variety of family-friendly sort of events and activities,” said Lowry. Those events include a celebrity meet and greet, parade, car show, author showcase to meet authors who have written books on “The Andy Griffith Show” and a variety show that features actors from the show performing various iconic scenes.
Lowry said, “In order to do [the festival], we are going to need some funding, some seed money to get it off the ground.”
He added that some celebrities that have been confirmed are Dixie Griffith, the daughter of Andy Griffith, Karen Knotts, the daughter of Don Knotts, Ronnie Schell and Dennis Rush.
“There are more celebrities that are willing to come but due to the funding not being committed, they haven’t been contracted to make an appearance yet,” said Lowry.
Both Knotts and Griffith for the first time together will be sharing their family’s stories at Mayberry comes to Scottsburg since their fathers didn’t just star in “The Andy Griffith Show”, but they were lifelong friends as well.
Lowry requested $25,000 from the SCVC board to be able to fund the festival in Scottsburg.
SCVC board member Jim Jonas expressed concerns about the staffing of the local restaurants and hotels to be able to host a festival with the following that the Mayberry Festival has with spectators.
“This community is not good at taking chances,” said SCVC board member Russ Comer, “We got to take some chances on good things.”
The SCVC board unanimously voted to grant $25,000 to help fund the event.