GRANVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's not Throwback Thursday, but crowds are throwing it back this weekend, celebrating some of the best sitcoms ever aired.
Granville, Tennessee's the sort of place where you know there will be a store with old creaking boards and barrels of all the good candy.
For Randall Clemons and Liz Bennett, the love for this place and its history runs deep.
"My family came here in the early 1800s," Randall said.
"I was actually born here, so you're not going to ask me how long I've lived here, right?" laughed Liz. "Steamboats served the Cumberland River here. It was kinda the interstate of its day."
"We were a major agriculture town as well," Randall continued.
The early 70s changed everything.
"When the Cordell Hull Dam came in, water has a way of taking to the lowest level which was that good, rich, fertile soil," said Liz. "There wasn't any place for the farmers to farm."
"Everything we had, the lake took," Randall added.
"We became a ghost town," Liz said. "There wasn't even a place to get a candy bar or a Coca-Cola."
Then, a little over 20 years ago, a series of things started happening in Granville. That included the T.B. Sutton General Store being restored and beginning to host bluegrass shows. Granville later started doing plays. They were plays about some rather familiar faces.
"You're the best-groomed sheriff we've ever had!" said a resident dressed as The Andy Griffith Show's Floyd the Barber. A man playing Andy Taylor sat in Floyd's barber chair.
"All of us perform as different characters," smiled Randall. "It has been a huge success. We sell out every time we do one."
The plays have led to the Mayberry Lucy Days Festival. It's a place where tribute artists make Granville look like CBS prime time in the 50s and 60s.
"I'm here doing security," said a man playing Barney Fife. "Gonna catch a lot of pickpockets. Loitering. Littering."
"He's got me under the stage chasing spiders out," added Gomer.
"I'm doin real good!" said Otis. "I'm sober, but I 'spect I'll get over it!"
The love for TV's friendly, familiar faces is playing a part in Granville's continued revival. Residents say, truly, there's a reason this place was always a Mayberry.
"That's very simple, and I'm glad you asked," said Liz. "The people. When I was a child, any house on this street was good for a glass of milk and a cookie. I wish my dad, wish my grandparents knew, what Granville looks like right now."
The festival continues Saturday. For more on the festival, visit here.
