Hi everyone,

I checked out the new Family Channel site and I thought about our members in Canada not getting the show on their Family Channel. Is this still so Dot P.? What I was thinking was that we could go to the site and tell them that it seems odd that USA Family channel has The Waltons, whilst those in Canada don't. If you want to leave a message go to:
http://www.familychannel.com./; then go to "shows"; then "The Waltons"; then "The Waltons Viewers Choice". Leave your suggestions there.

Another thing is that I found another Waltons site. It's just one page, attached to someone's homepage, but it has some interesting trivia in it that I didn't know. For example, hands up those of you who knew that Earl was the middle name of Richard Thomas? What a coincidence. Anyway check it out. The URL is: http://www.mindspring.com/~jlyoung/waltons.htm

Enjoy it. I certainly enjoyed browsing there, even though a lot of it was not new to me, some of it was. All the best, Karen.

From Kim:

"La Famille des Collines" doesn't actually translates into "The Waltons". Literally it means "The Family of the Hills". I think it would have been better if they had just named it "Les Waltons" though. Happy watching!

KAREN'S COMMENT: I wonder what Grandpa would have thought, having his "mountain" referred to just as a "hill"? I wonder what it is called in other non English speaking countries?

From Marie:

Received Walton Digest 22. Karen, I don't expect them at a certain time, they are just a wonderful surprise! Sorry, the web site I gave about the TV listings is for my area. Try: http://www.tmstv.com Their screens are a little awkward to use but I'm sure everyone can figure them out. I went to the new Family Channel site and I like it! It has video clips but they do require loading Real Player application. I'm not sure what I'm doing when it gets that technical.

Coming soon is The Walton's Family Scrapbook with pictures and memories. On the Viewer Voice board, you can leave comments or questions and if they're 'especially interesting, they could end up on The Family Channel during the Waltons'!

Here is the list of episodes for this week - Monday, The Portrait and The Whirlwind; Tuesday, The Captive and The Tempest; Wednesday, The Illusion and The Carousel; Thursday morning only, The Beau. They are not on Friday this week. Doesn't the Family Channel realize we need them every day??? I checked the Disney Channel listings three times but no mention of a Walton special. Sure hope they have another one soon. Karen, on the Discovery Channel there is a program called Travelers. Thursday's show is "Moomba Festival: Melbourne, Australia"! I'll learn something about your 'neck of the woods'. It's on at 5 p.m. for an hour.

I mentioned that I had received my Blue Ridge Chronicles. In it was the speech Earl Hamner gave March 1 at the dedication of a plaque to his parents. I enjoyed it thoroughly and hope Ralph will include it on the museum's web site soon. Also included is a list of events at the museum such as Joe Conley's visit in September and Hamner family members visiting in July. This year marks the 25th Anniversary of the first show and there will be reunions in California and in Virginia. For more information, write the museum at PO Box 124, Schuyler, VA 22969 or call 1-888-266-1981.

Starting in the next issue, Earl Hamner will answer questions sent in by readers. I suggest everyone to subscribe so you don't miss out! A letter I received with my first issue reads "We are grateful for the support of so many Friends of the Waltons. This support is not only meaningful to the Museum, it also helps Schuyler in many ways by providing employment at the Museum and financial assistance to our Crafters. This small mining town is experiencing a resurgence because of the help of Friends like you." See you all on Walton's Mountain!

KAREN'S COMMENT: I also checked out the new look Family Channel site and left a message! Problem is I won't know if mine gets read out during The Waltons! The film clip thing looked good, but as you said, a bit technical for me too. I am going to ask my eldest son about it as soon as I can but he has been busy working during the last couple of weeks.

It seems as though all the fan clubs are busy organizing their 25^th celebrations. I received a reunion notice with special events from mine the other day too. One of the special events was a night at Ronnie Claire Edwards show which sounded really good. They are hoping that she will do a special performance for the club members attending the reunion.

Below is an article which Arthur, from England, transcribed for us about the show when it was first beginning in England. Many thanks for your trouble Arthur.

Here's the first of three articles I've found on The Waltons. This one was in the BBC's Radio Times of 14 February 1974, (which I've kept all these years) when the first episode was shown in the UK for the first time. It's titled "Living life the Walton way". At the top is a family group photograph of the Hamners, with, from left to right, Cliff, Nancy, Audrey, Jim, Mother Hamner, Earl Jr., Marian and Paul.

"During the Christmas of 1971 a TV special called The Homecoming went out on American television. It introduced members of a family called The Waltons, and since then millions of American viewers have watched that same family on their screens every week.

The Waltons are based on the writings of Earl Hamner Jr. whose autobiographical book Spencer's Mountain was turned into a movie, and whose work sparked off the TV Walton family. Hamner Jr. is the eldest son of a family of eight; his mother, Doris, is still living, though his father died recently.

The Hamner children, now grown, are, in order of age: Earl Jr., who as well as being a writer is the father of two; he's the prototype for John-Boy; then there's Cliff, a cost estimator and draughtsman (he's Jason in the TV series); Marian, housewife and mother (Mary Ellen); Audrey, an employment councellor and mother of five (Erin); Paul, a shoe-store manager, and Bill a construction foreman (these two sons have been combined in the single TV character of Ben for budgetary and other reasons); Jim, a bank official (Jim Bob) and Nancy, the youngest, who is a teacher (Elizabeth).

This was, and is, a family, says Earl Jr. today, whose "members always knew where we came from and who our people had been for many generations, with the sense of belonging that goes along with that knowledge - and with being a Virginian".

Although most of the Hamner children grew up during the Depression years, there was never any sense of deprivation. "We weren't poverty-stricken", says Earl Jr. "We simply had an absence of money". Earl Sr. was a skilled machinist who was never out of work very long. He was also an expert hunter and always kept game on the family table. When he discovered a hill that was especially rich with game, he scared off fellow hunters in Schuyler by telling them he'd stumbled on a huge snake that had apparently escaped from a visiting circus. As a result Earl had the hill all to himself as long as he wanted it. He was a magician with tools, creating baseball bats for the kids on his lathe while Grandma provided the balls by sewing a covering over a walnut wrapped with layers of string.

Earl Sr. never saw The Homecoming, his son's big TV success. Earl Jr. was just beginning to write it when the head of the Hamner clan sat up abruptly in bed at two o'clock one morning and said to his wife, "I'm dying" - and he did, from a heart attack. "He died in great style", says Marian.

Since then Doris has lived on steadfastly in Schuyler, terribly lonely at first in spite of the family around her. Now the loneliness has eased a bit because of the people who stop almost daily in Schuyler to visit her - people with license plates from Luisiana, Iowa and Maine have inquired at the Chamber of Commerce in Charlottesville for directions to "the Walton place".

Recently, among hundreds of letters she receives, Doris read a pathetic little note from a boy in the Midwest who wrote wistfully: "My home life is so different from yours. We don't talk to each other very much. I wish I could have lived in your house". "Maybe", says Doris, "it comes back to the Golden Rule. How often we told that to our children - and tried to apply it in our dealings with each other and with people outside the family. If we could REALLY "do unto others as we would have them do unto us" maybe we wouldn't need any other rules. At least that's the way it worked in our household".

(article written by Joseph N. Bell, 1974)

On the next page was a photo of Richard Thomas with the caption: Richard Thomas plays John-Boy in The Waltons. James MacArthur took the role in the movie Spencer's Mountain. Earl Hamner Jr., who wrote the autobiographical story, says: "Richard frightens me. He's three times smarter than I was at his age and he's three times smarter than I am now". Says Richard: "My parents call me after every show and give me their criticism. One of the harsher things Dad told me is not to burden the public with my self-purgatory excesses".

(from Radio Times, 1974).

KAREN'S COMMENT: I'm truly amazed that the magazine devoted such an in depth article to the show because when I was preparing the site, I also went through about 10 years worth of local TV magazines, only to find little snippets here and there. Most of the articles commented on the "sugary sweet" nature of the show. Nowhere did I find the background to the show that this reporter mentioned. I take my hat off to Joseph Bell. :-)