Hi everyone,

It's certainly been "A Walton Easter" for us here in Australia. Yesterday at 7 a.m. (they obviously expect the show to rate very well! LOL) we finally saw A Walton Easter, only 4 years after it had been made. But to make up for it, we also have Channel 9 screening Spencer's Mountain on Monday at 2 p.m. How about that? Two Waltons related movies together over the Easter weekend, and just a short while ago we had Richard Thomas in The Christmas Box screening as well. Wonders will never cease!

Tim has continued to improve in leaps and bounds, and has been back at University and work this week. His recovery has really surprised me. I thought he would be quite ill for much longer, but I'm really glad that it hasn't worked out that way.

The rest of us are enjoying just relaxing over the Easter break and doing very little at all. James has been to a few singing lessons and will be attending the Melbourne University holiday information session on Thursday. It's one of the Uni's that he is keen on and will apply to. He and I are also going up to see my Mum and Dad for a couple of days during the week. He has been kept very busy otherwise with school work as well. The holidays are going very quickly but it's nice to have the break. The weather here is just lovely at the moment. Very pleasant warm days, but fairly cold, crisp nights and mornings now. I love autumn.

One more Waltons thing for you to play around with this week. Silke, one of our German (I think) members sent me a URL for a site that has been produced by another German fan. Go to Die Waltons. Although it is written in German, some of it can be understood. The pictures are good too. One thing to try though is one of the translation tools. I went to the translation part at the altavista site. You'll find the translation thing under tools when you go to the search engine. Although it gives a very literal translation, and therefore a bit dodgy at times, you can still get the gist of the information on the site. It's interesting to see anyway. Just don't be put off by the literalness of the translation. :-)) Visit and have fun. Great to see that it has such a following in Europe.

Talk to you all next week. Have a great one.

Goodnight everyone,

Karen.

P.S. For translation: go to Altavista then look at "search tools" just under the search box. Go to "translate", enter the website address: http://www.die-waltons.de/ then translate "from German to English", and it sort of will. :-)

P.P.S. Walton translates into "Whale tone" so like I said, it's a bit literal at times, but still fun to explore.

P.P.P.S. Silke explains not to worry about the name of the site. "The word "die" in German only means one of the three German translations for the English "the". The others are "der" and "das". A short German lesson. :)" therefore the author is not wishing the Waltons any harm. LOL

I believe Erin was older than Ben--remember Ben didn't have his drivers license at about the time Erin started working for Fannie Tatum.

Hope you will enjoy The Waltons Easter. We are going to be able to see it on Monday the 16th.

Donald

KAREN'S COMMENT: I think who was older: Ben or Erin, is probably another of those questions that fans will always ask...along with what happened to John Curtis and Charlie. LOL

Hi Karen,

I'm glad to hear that your son is doing better after his surgery. I just wanted to let everyone know about a Walton sighting that I had last week. It was on a new show here in the US called the First Years. It is about a group of new lawyers who are starting to practice law. Anyway, Tom Bower, who played Curtis Willard, was on this episode playing the father on one of the lawyers. Patti Duke played the mother, and her real life son played the lawyer. It wasn't a big part for Tom Bower but I wonder if he will be back from time to time as part of this characters family.

Goodnight,

Karen in Arizona

KAREN'S COMMENT: I hope it ends up over here. It sounds good. I love Patty Duke and it would be nice to see Tom Bower in the role.

KAREN'S COMMENT: It's so great to hear that our favorite Waltons stars are still working. Was Judy originally from Canada, or did she just move for work, or maybe after she married? Anyone know?

Karen, I don't know if this helps you but I know that her and her husband own and/or write for the Celebrations dinner theatres here in Canada. I was there once and still have the program. I kept it because there was something about her in there. I will try searching for it. It is exam time for me right now so I do not have time to look for it right now though.

Sheryl

KAREN'S COMMENT: I keep all my programs and it is interesting to look back and see who was in what show. I'm assuming she still does the dinner theatre thing up in Canada.

This past weekend, I happened across a magazine called "TV and Movie Screen Yearbook". It is the 25th anniversary issue from 1976. There are few articles about Waltons stars.

There is a small blurb with a picture in the column "Newsmakers, 1976!" that says "Judy Norton, who is Mary Ellen of "The Waltons" became Mrs. Douglas Taylor in April. Her new hubby's a singer.

The first one is from an article called "Incredible But True- 10 Start Reveal Their Terrifying Supernatural Experiences!". Ellen Corby is one of the stars featured in his article. Here is her part:

A similar experience convinced Ellen Corby. The Waltons star had been unusually close to her mother since childhood, when, she says, they were always able to communicate mentally. "Mother would think, "It's time for Ellen to come home,' and I'd know," says Ellen.

In later years their psychic communication was able to span 2000 miles-and actually helped saver her mother's life! Ellen was in Alaska doing USO work during World War II when she woke up in the middle of the night. "I heard my mother yelling for me, "she says.

Ellen telephone her mother in New Jersey and learned the terrifying facts. "Mother had been calling my name-because her lung had collapsed! Her calling woke up the neighbors, who got her to the hospital on time."

In "TV's Swinging Teens!" there is an articles called "Eric Scott Won't be so easy to Catch!" It says:

Any girl who hopes to land Eric, who plays Ben on "The Waltons," is going to have to stay on the move. Eric doesn't dig the sedentary life. His idea of a good time is backpacking in the woods, going for long hikes and whoever lands him will have to be an outdoor girl!.

The next article with a Waltons star is called "Screen Favorites Tell What I do To Beat the Blues'". Will Geer is in this one.

Will Geer:

"Get Back to Nature!"

He studied botany in college 50 years ago and now tried to grow every plant & flower mentioned by Shakespeare on his farm. If he gets blue, there's nothing like a walk in the woods to improve his mood, he says.

Michael Learned is in an article called "Celebrity Diets that Really Work!"

Micheal Learned:

Getting "back to the old-fashioned basics" is her prescription for staying slim. She's no health nut, but she's choosy about freshness in everything. That way meals can be oreoared simply, without any rich extras, and still taste delicious. Fresh vegetables & fish need no butter for taste, if you steam them, then add a few drops of lemon.

Sheryl

KAREN'S COMMENT: What a find Sheryl. Thank you for sharing it. I don't think I had ever known what Judy Norton's first husband was called, other than having the surname of Taylor.

Hi Karen,

I just saw "The Burnout" in 2 parts this week on TNN, and it's only the 2nd time in my entire lifetime I've seen it all the way through. I remember as a child having nightmares as Elizabeth lost her doll in the fire. John-Boy ends up comforting her in the end, assuring her that the family would never be separated again. I think Elizabeth was also "misplaced", as all the kids were scattered around the mountain while the house was being repaired.

As for any work in Vancouver, BC that Judy Norton Taylor has done, a search came up with nothing. I'll keep trying.

Goodnight everybody!

~Nicole, from Victoria, BC, Canada.

KAREN'S COMMENT: It was one of the truly magnificent episodes of The Waltons. I think those middle seasons, probably 4 and 5 especially, were among the very best.

Hello all! Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter! I caught a part of a movie today with Richard Thomas, called "Linda" it was a murder mystery of sorts .. so different for him! Very eerie, yet I was impressed with Richard's ability as an actor! Has anyone seen this movie? I hope to see an Easter episode of The Waltons this weekend. I'm going to head to the TNN website right now and see what's up! Take care everyone! Glad to hear that your son is doing well Karen!

Judy in Illinois

KAREN'S COMMENT: I've just had a look at the TNN site and it seems that you'll see The Easter Story on Saturday, April 14, 5p.m. & 6 p.m ET/PT and then A Walton Easter on Monday, April 16, 4 p.m. ET/PT. Enjoy them both. As for the movie, it is listed as one made in 1993 and is also known as Lust for Murder. I've seen him play real nasty characters and he is wonderful and very convincing too. We've just had episodes of The Practise screening here in Australia and I can't help thinking that the character of the mass murderer who is stalking Lindsay, would have been equally well played by Richard Thomas. Mind you, the actor playing him is excellent too.

Dear Karen,

Just an update on the Waltons quilt project. I have now put photos of the quilt on my website at The Waltons Quilt Project. There is a photo of the entire quilt, plus individual photos of each appliqued square, along with the quilter's name and location. I haven't seen the quilt in person yet, but I'm looking forward to it. It looks beautiful from the pictures - something any Waltons fan would treasure, I'm sure. It is on display at the museum in Schuyler and will be raffled off with all proceeds going directly to the museum to help them match a state grant they received for capital improvements. Raffle tickets are $5 each or 3 for $13 and can be purchased from the Waltons Mountain Museum or from Loria Headlee <theadlee@intrepid.net>. The drawing will be held in October, and you don't have to be present to win. So, everyone, get your raffle tickets and help out the museum. Maybe you'll be the lucky winner.

Brenda

KAREN'S COMMENT: I have just visited Brenda and the quilt is truly spectacular. What a fantastic job these quilters have done. And I see a few names from our Waltons Digest members. My favourite of the squares would have to be Ike Godsey's store, and of course, the Walton home. Please all visit, then send off your money to buy some tickets. Good luck everyone.