Andy Griffith is gone ... but the best part of Mayberry is still here.
And when we say "here," we mean exactly that.
Griffith, who died Tuesday at age 86, enjoyed early acclaim with his comic albums before starring in "No Time for Sergeants" and "A Face in the Crowd."
He enjoyed further critical success in the 1980s series "Matlock." But Griffith's legacy shall always be playing sheriff Andy Taylor on "The Andy Griffith Show" in his mythical rural town of Mayberry.
In many ways, Oneonta is Mayberry. So is Laurens _ and New Berlin and Portlandville and Downsville and many other towns and villages in our area.
A lot of us moved here from the cities and suburbs, seeking a slower-paced lifestyle where we didn't spend half our lives in traffic jams or riding an elevator in a high-rise building.
Oh, just about all of us use computers, and our college-educated neighbors aren't the rubes we saw Andy Taylor have to deal with each week, but make no mistake about it, this, in many ways, is still Mayberry.
Like Floyd's barbershop, some folks in Oneonta will stop by Mac's when they don't need a haircut, just to pass the time of day. Around here, getting a cone at the Dairy Queen on a summer night can be something special. Feeding the geese at the Fly Creek Cider Mill still makes children laugh.
Perhaps that's the reason those of us who grew up here as well as many who moved here are so resistant to change, whether it be wind farms or fracking or heavy industry. We're trying to cling to something precious, something that once taken away shall never return.
Yes, Mayberry.
We yearn for a place where crime can be controlled by Andy Taylor and his shaky deputy, Barney Fife, who has to keep the lone bullet for his gun in his shirt pocket.
But life's realities encroach upon our lives, with heroin arrests and other crimes becoming daily events, necessitating a well-trained and professional police force.
Mayberry had a town drunk, Otis Campbell, who would accommodatingly check himself into the jail. Here, substance abuse of all kinds is a growing problem, just as it is everywhere else.
We long for a place where we don't have to worry about our children, and Opie and Aunt Bee and Goober and Gomer will greet us with a smile.
"The backbone of our show was love," Griffith once said. "There's something about Mayberry and Mayberry folk that never leaves you."
We'll miss Andy Griffith, but amid all the perils of modern life, it's comforting to know that at least something of Mayberry lives on right here.
Opinion
Griffith gone, but Mayberry lives on
- Opinion
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On our Opinion: Cheers
To the DEP's "The Watershed Experience," the Oneonta High School Envirothon team, and to ROPS rebate funding.
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Make sure Blodgett project holds water
Many thanks to Dennis Finn and the Planning Commission for allowing unrestricted public comment on the Blodgett Drive housing project at the commission’s May 15 meeting. Most who spoke are residents of the area who know the safety and drainage issues well.
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We need a law against Google Glass
It’s a technological marvel; a product ahead of its time, or at least ahead of the law for the time being, that is.
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Make sure you vote in school tax election
School superintendents have it anything but easy in these challenging economic times. In addition to dealing with myriad day-to-day and semester-to-semester issues, they have to have Solomon-like political acumen and management skills.
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No foreign aid until our needs are met
I couldn't agree more with Sal Furnari's letter published in the Weekend edition. I would also like to add that when I was growing up I was taught to "take care of my own first" and then share with others.
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THIS WEEK'S POLL
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It's sad to see Rich Murphy retire
It was a sad day for Otsego County when Rich Murphy announced his intention to retire from the county board at the end of his current term.
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Liberal media only care about themselves
Sounds like it all depends on 'whose ox is being gored' when it comes to the illegal phone tappings of reporters.
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Street Talk: May 20, 2013
Do you think that recent high school graduates have a harder time finding a job than previous generations?
- Saturday, May 18, 2013
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Casino in our area worth talking about
If Gov. Andrew Cuomo has his way, casinos will be awarded to three upstate locations.
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Public financing could cure pols' paranoia
Paranoia is an irrational fear of persons, places or events that have no basis in reality.
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Resort proposal is just too big
Belleayre Mountain Ski Center is a New York state taxpayer-owned recreational area. People who have paid for BMSC with their hard-earned dollars should not have to also pay for the infrastructure necessary to assure an enjoyable ski experience for the visitors to a private developer's monster mega-mall/spa resort on a mountaintop.
- Friday, May 17, 2013
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Take precautions to prevent kidnappings
It has been nearly two weeks since the arrest of Ariel Castro in Cleveland on rape and kidnapping charges for acts that should send a chill through the spines of everyone in America.
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Redistributing wealth just isn't fair
Yesterday a dozen of us were eating lunch in the break room where I work, most of us complaining that all we could afford was peanut butter and jelly and bologna ... except for Rob.
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Hoping many will adopt a grave
It's that time of year again; adopt a grave. I am hoping when you buy flowers or a plant for a family member or friend's grave that you will buy some for another grave. I wish everyone would open up their heart and honor someone else by putting flowers on their grave. My hope is that groups, families and youth groups adopt a cemetery or a grave, and at least once a year that person or persons will be remembered. I started out with two and now am up to 14. It doesn't have to be expensive; just what your heart tells you to do.
- Thursday, May 16, 2013
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IRS, Justice actions violate our trust
After the recent actions of the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Justice Department, belief in the integrity of our government is hanging by a very slender thread.
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Blame Dems for Social Security woes
In his inaugural address President Kennedy said: "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.'
- Wednesday, May 15, 2013
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After 40 years, it was time to get married
This newspaper publishes lots of wedding announcements, but one that appeared prominently in Monday's edition was especially heartwarming.
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Newman housing would benefit city
I would like to comment on the excellent letter written recently by Alan Cleinman concerning the "Newman Development."
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Paying what you can afford won't work
Our president said:
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On our Opinion: Cheers
