Don't tell Barney: My lunch with Thelma Lou

We met for lunch at the Harvest Restaurant at the Shelton Winery in the Surry County foothills.

The interview came about after a tip from my nephew, Tim Dockery, a Dobson businessman, who had spotted a face from the past when he and his wife walked into the same restaurant for dinner.

He searched his memory for a name to fit the face. A former teacher? A college chum's mom? "With Great-Grandpa Frost Snow being so fruitful, she might even be a distant relative."

He peppered her with inane questions: "How are you?" "Long time no see," "Nice place, isn't it?" etc., to no avail. Finally, the two hugged impulsively and Tim walked over to a nearby table to speak to Charlie Shelton, one of the Charlotte brothers who developed the winery.

"Boy, you know who you've been flirting with?" Shelton teased. "Why, that's Thelma Lou! Barney Fife's girlfriend. She's moved to Mount Airy."

It wasn't so much that Thelma Lou was looking for Mayberry, that mythical place implanted in the minds of millions of Americans who watched the original showings of "The Andy Griffith Show" in the 1960s and the millions more, young and old, who still watch the TV reruns.

The move came partly because Betty Lynn, her real name, had had it with Los Angeles -- its traffic congestion, its frantic pace and the fact that her home had been recently robbed twice. She was looking for serenity.

"I had visited Mount Airy before for appearances at Mayberry Days," she said, referring to the annual September event that draws thousands of Mayberry fans from across the country to Andy Griffith's hometown. "The people here were always so sweet to me, so friendly, and generous. Let me tell you. Southern hospitality is no myth. It's real!"

So in January, she packed up and left the hotel where she had lived since the last break-in, and came to Mount Airy, settling in at Ridgecrest, a retirement community overlooking green vistas of trees and grass and affording a grand view of the mountains.

An eventful career

My wife and I arrived first at the restaurant on the day of our meeting. Ten minutes or so later, Miss Lynn, and Karen Fawcett, a volunteer at the Surry Arts Council, arrived.

I quickly realized that although Miss Lynn was 80 (she turned 81 Wednesday), as Shakespeare said of Cleopatra, "Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." It must have been the beautiful, still-sparkling brown eyes and the ready smile that stirred my nephew's memory of the pert, pretty girl who once raced Barney's motor.

She has never married.

"When my friends start feeling sorry for me, I'm quick to say, 'It's not that I haven't been asked.' I have, several times. But I had no patience with a young man who on the second date would show up with an engagement ring. I was engaged to one man three times. We kept breaking up, and finally, after I convinced him it wouldn't work, he gave up. But he insisted I keep the ring."

It was stolen during the last break-in.

For Betty Lynn, native of Kansas City, Mo., there was a life outside Mayberry. As an actress, dancer and singer, her career encompassed Broadway, the movies, radio and television.

At 13, she was performing on radio; at 18, singing and dancing in a Kansas City nightclub. At 20, during World War II, she signed on for an eight-month stint with the USO, entertaining troops in Burma, China and India.

She recalls a night in Burma, when she ended her performance with the nostalgic song, "I'll Be Seeing You."

I'll be seeing you

In all the old familiar places

That this heart of mine embraces