GRANVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Now in its sixth year, a festival has quickly become a Tennessee favorite. It's all about nostalgia, classic comedy, and a whole lot of great memories.
"It's me, it's me, it's Ernest T!" said actor Eddie Kilbourne, Ernest T. impersonator.
"Who's your friend here?" I asked him, looking at the stuffed animal tucked under his arm.
"This is Opie the Opossum! I found him up under a rock."
This was the Mayberry - I Love Lucy Festival in Granville. There were actors and tribute artists from across the country playing characters from classic TV.
It was in this crowd, I spotted someone turning heads.
"Does this lady look like someone?" I asked a woman sitting next to an actress.
"Aunt Bee!"
Georgia Branam of east Tennessee has spent 23 years traveling all over playing Aunt Bee from The Andy Griffith Show.
"It's amazing!" one woman said, looking over at Branam. "We saw her. It was like, 'she come back to life!'"
There's that one particular episode everyone loves.
"The pickles! The pickles show!" another woman said. "That was the best show!"
In that season two episode, everyone hates Aunt Bee's pickles. Barney and Andy swap out the pickles for store bought ones. Things only complicate when Aunt Bee wants to enter the pickles in the county fair.
This festival is the place for people to live out those classic TV moments.
"Speed it up a little!" a voice shouted.
Teams of two scrambled to wrap candies on a conveyor belt, a reference to the classic I Love Lucy episode. How were they doing?
"You know, I will tell you, it is not as easy as it looks!" answered Carrie Ketterman of the Lucy & Desi Tribute Show.
"You would know!" I told her.
"I mean, I'm a big dipper from way back."
"All the candies got wrapped, right?" I asked one competitor as the conveyor belt finally turned off.
"Uh huh!" he answered, his mouth full of candy.
This is an unexpected journey for Branam.
"I'm a retired nurse!" she laughed.
Still, she understands why people love the event.
"It's nice to meet you!" a woman said, running over to get her picture with Branam.
A lot of people at the event wouldn't have been around yet for when The Andy Griffith Show went on air in 1960 or I Love Lucy in 1951. The festival just takes people back to whenever it was they caught the shows and who they were with.
"Me and my dad's favorite," one woman nodded. "He passed away six years ago, and his favorite thing was Andy Griffith. That was our show."
"I absolutely love to do it," Branam said about paying tribute to Aunt Bee. "Love to do it for all the people. I love it for everyone."
"Are you tired, run-down, listless. Do you poop out at parties? Are you unpopular?" Ketterman asked, quoting the famous I Love Lucy episode.
Getting to be in the middle of all this, there's no place Branam would rather Bee.
Do you have a positive, good news story? You can email me at forrest.sanders@newschannel5.com.
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