Hi everyone,

Here I am, and late again. Not only are we still very busy but the illnesses around here have just been incredible. In some grades at school we've only had half of the children there with so many of them being hit with flu like things, and unfortunately I have it at the moment, and have had since late last week. So here I sit in my pj's with the tissue box handy thinking that it's a good thing none of you can ring because I don't have much of a voice either. As James says, the voice is not attractive. However the upside of the lateness is that you get a lovely, long and newsy letter.

It's turned really cold again too and we've had a lot of rain over the past week. Thankfully the Open Days are finally over too, and James has made his decisions, so now we just have to wait and see if he either gets into what he wants, or whether he decides to rearrange his preferences again. Certainly big decisions for him. It was well worth the time going though because it reassured him of where he felt that he would be comfortable studying and gave him lots of options to think about.

Book Week is out of the road for another year, and we teacher librarians have had the usual discussions and disagreements with the judges about which book we thought should have won and didn't but it's all good fun. The kids at school have had an absolute ball over the past week, celebrating book week with lots of activities, puzzles, games and, of course, prizes. I took some of our older students to workshop with an author too, and we also had an author/illustrator come to the school to hold a cartooning workshop. She was terrific. A book fair completed our celebrations and all in all it was a busy, but successful, week.

I have had so many letters from readers saying that The Waltons is still showing on TNN. What great news for you. I hope you all continue to enjoy it while it lasts The episodes certainly can teach us such a lot about life. I love the way the family cares for each other and their neighbors, and the respect and kindness they show each other within their community is just lovely. No doubt we can all take something out of each of the episodes we watch. I often feel the shows are very inspirational.

Whilst I don't still have The Waltons on over here, I am enjoying The Promised Land, and have enjoyed seeing Richard Thomas in the occasional movie. That's as close to The Waltons I get at the moment.

Talk to you all again soon. Goodnight everyone.

Karen.

Hello it's me again, Karen, to paraphrase American country comedian Ray Stevens. I have checked the TV listings and visited TNN's website and they show The Waltons weekdays from noon to 3pm ET. As far as I know, TNN is running The Waltons indefinitely. However, I e-mailed Odyssey (now the Hallmark Channel) and got a wonderful reply saying that my request for them to air The Waltons is being considered. I believe The Waltons are here to stay, whether on TNN or Hallmark.

Karen, about your lack of rain, we have had the exact opposite. We got deluged with heavy rain and thunderstorms Friday night and yesterday morning (Aug.10 and 11). We know you could use some of our surplus rainfall as more is in the forecast. Flash flood warnings have been issued in parts of my area,especially south of town. Scott and Karen Vestal live toward that area. I pray they're all right. Until my next e-mail, take care and God bless.

-Patrick

KAREN'S COMMENT: I believe that The Waltons has been so successful, especially over the past few years, that it will find a home somewhere as you suggest.

Hi all,

I got in to the TNN website. The Waltons is still listed on their list of programs. They do say, however, that they are at the end of the available schedule....whatever that means! Maybe they are planning on starting back up with the show in awhile?? Let's hope! I have all the Columbia House episodes, but that is nowhere near the entire show.

Nancy

KAREN'S COMMENT: Keep taping those shows, then we won't be reliant on the networks.

Hi Karen, Last week I was off on vacation (didn't go anywhere, just stayed home this year and enjoyed my time off!) and guess what, at Noon (ET) I channel surfed and found The Waltons on TNN.

Yes, that's right! The Waltons is shown at Noon weekdays on TNN (ET)! Isn't that great?

Happy Birthday wishes to Tim!

Kevin

KAREN'S COMMENT: Keep it coming! Hope you enjoyed your holiday/vacation.

Hi Karen,

Greetings from Karen in Florida again! You said you needed rain over there and I wish I could send you some of ours. We have had buckets of rain all weekend. It rained a lot last week as well. We're practically waterlogged!

As far as the Walton's not being shown anymore. Well, that is wrong. They are still on TNN twice a day. TNN just changed the times on us. Now they are on at 11 am central and 2 pm central. The rumors of The Walton's demise was greatly exaggerated. Thank Heavens!

Karen

KAREN'S COMMENT: It's nice to hear they're still on. Hope they stay there.

Mike here from Richmond, BC. Just a quick note on a couple of questions that have been posted to the digest. The first one being that the Waltons are still on TNN at 12 noon....PST weekdays.

The other one being about Judy Norton. She is living in Maple Ridge, BC, about 45 minutes east of Vancouver. She is operating an acting school in Gastown which is in downtown Vancouver. There was an article in the Province about a year or so ago complete with a picture and an interview. A friend of mine once saw her and Richard Thomas in a restaurant in Vancouver. She recognized his voice right away. I guess he has one of those voices that sticks in one's mind.

Hope this helps.

Regards, Mike

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thanks Mike. Some actors do have a distinctive type of voice. We ran into a well known comic actor here at one of the open days. He was with his daughter and chatting to some of the students and as soon as he left they said "I know that voice...wasn't that...?"

The e mail I sent you earlier was based on a false assumption and an error in scheduling I am sure you know by now that the Waltons are still on TNN twice a day----the only thing is that the times have changed.

Hope you are doing well and as I go through the e mail you sent I will be sending you another one. The Ceremony was on today.

We have had some rain this past week which is good. Hopefully we can start looking forward now to December 29 when the girl who gave me Erin the cat gets married. Hopefully it will be a nice day that day.

Am glad to see the note from Karen about Erin and Elizabeth. By the way a classmate of the girl who gave me Erin the cat ---whose name is Erin Elizabeth Sitton---has recently put out a CD.

Donald

KAREN'S COMMENT: Some of the rain has obviously come our way over the past week but I don't know if it's enough to stop water restrictions happening.

Hi Karen and everyone!

Well, we're still getting the Walton's on TNN. They have started the series from the beginning and it is now shown at a different time, 12:00 noon in California. Today's episode was about the Jewish family that settled on Walton's Mountain. A very moving episode...so cute to see John Boy wearing a yarmulke. (Not sure if I spelled that right!)

Regarding the windows along the front of the house, John Boy's is, of course, the left one. The girl's room is the center window. That is the window Erin climbed out of when she "eloped" with Chad. And John and Olivia's is on the right. In the episode where Olivia has polio, when she walks again, she looks out her window to see the crocuses blooming out front. The boys never seem to look out their window, but it must look out over the back of the house. Grandma and Grandpa just have the one special stained glass window that was taken from the old house that Grandma and the Baldwin sisters fought so hard to preserve.

I, too, have noticed the "mystery window" that moves around depending upon if you are inside or out. Just about every episode will give you a glimpse of it. So funny.

I just wrote to Ronnie Claire Edwards to tell her what the Waltons mean to me. I can't wait to find out if I'll be in her book!

Has anyone written to CBS to tell them that we want the new Walton's movie filmed?

We just got back from a wonderful trip to Victoria, British Columbia, and I just turned 30 this past weekend! :0)

An older but wiser Valerie

KAREN'S COMMENT: Happy 30th Valerie. It's a shame we never see that stained glass window again other than that one episode. By the way, the spell check corrected the spelling of the Jewish cap so I hope it's right now. I didn't even know what it's called!

I am so behind in reading my e-mails........I had four Waltons newsletters to read today :)))

Re: fortnight I wondered for a while, then finally realized 'fortnight' means 'two-weeks', but why? Can someone explain the roots of the word and where it comes from? I've run across the word a lot in reading books, like "Little Women" and the "Little House" books, but have never managed to remember from time to time what it means. and I know it's because I can't relate it to the terms more familiar to me. I'm sure some English pro out there could help my mind get it :)))

Re: crossovers

I wondered about a M*A*S*H crossover. Mary Ellen could show up for one of those nasty nursing inspections that always turned Houlihan into a real mule, or maybe she just stops by to help the nurses out for a few days and butts heads with the Major. No matter why she's there, she and Major Houlihan probably would not get along because they are both such strong women, but later they could find some common ground and end up friends. In the later episodes we got to watch Margaret deal with quite a few inner demons, esp. during her divorce. Maybe Mary Ellen could have helped her deal with some of that.

Course by the 50's Mary Ellen was probably a doctor, so she could have come to be a relief doctor for the 4077 and put Hawkeye in his place when he tried his 'womanizing' tricks on her :))))))) That would have been a hoot :))))))

Or John Boy could be one of those visiting newsmen they had several times. Or maybe one of the other boys got recalled into whatever armed force they served in during WWII and they make a visit to the 4077, lots of story ideas there.

My favorite though would be seeing Mary Ellen telling Hawkeye off, and watch him actually not know what to do with her :))))) He and Margaret seemed to develop a mutual respect for one another (esp. after the episode where they got holed up together), but I think Mary Ellen would be a little much for him :))))

Of course I say all this thinking most of you are as familiar with M*A*S*H as I am...........I know it's still widely popular, but I don't know if it is with us Walton people.

Re: TNN

I just went to TNN's site. They list the Waltons as being on Mon-Fri at noon ET/PT. And Mon, Tues, Thurs & Fri at 3pm ET/PT. I accidentally found it at it's noon slot last week while I was looking for the Discovery Channel to watch Christopher Lowell, needless to say he got voted out for that day :) [I'm the gal who saves all her living/family room cleaning till The Waltons come on cause I don't get to watch them at home :))) ]

My best to James. My husband is going back to college this fall, now that at 30 he finally knows what he wants to do. :) There was no real hard time picking a school, our local University offered what he wants, but oh the paper work.........we just get done with one batch when another one comes in the mail..........

Hope James find favor wherever and whatever he does....

Donna

KAREN'S COMMENT: What a fantastic newsy letter Donna. You weren't the only one who wondered about fortnight. Perhaps it's more of an English word and that's how we got it in Australia. I love your cross over idea with MASH. I've never been a huge fan but I can see our ME over there working away. Good luck to your husband as he restarts his studies.

KAREN'S COMMENT: I had never noticed the window you mention before. Which episodes do you really notice it in? As for John Boy and the girls room...they both seem to look over the driveway when they look out of the window. That must mean they are on the front side of the house. Does that sound right? Olivia and John's doesn't seem to look over anywhere...has anyone noticed about that? What about Grandma and Grandpa's room too?

It seems to me that John and Olivia's room faces the front too. There is the episodes where Olivia has polio and Elizabeth plants Olivia's favorite flowers by the tree in the front yard so that Olivia can see them when she is finally able to get out of bed.

John Boy's does look out at the front too because in an early episode he is writing in his window watching the children play and they call out to him to play with them.

I always figured that Grandma and Grandpa's room was at the side beside/behind the stairs.

That is all I remember though.

Maybe there wasn't really any view from the back of the house or something so they just rotated the rooms around so that whenever a window was needed it overlooked the front yard?

Sheryl

KAREN'S COMMENT: As I was reading your letter Sheryl I thought the same thing...maybe they just put a room overlooking where they wanted to, to fit in with storylines etc.

Karen,

I know that somebody sent an e-mail saying that TNN was about to cancel "The Waltons". Well, so far as of August 17th, TNN was still running the show. I don't know where this person got the idea that TNN was cancelling "The Waltons". Perhaps he/she heard a rumor or something.

However, I did e-mail Odyssey, now the Hallmark Channel U.S., and got a great response saying that their programming department would look into possibly adding "The Waltons" to their lineup so whether it's on TNN or the Hallmark Channel, I believe our favourite TV show is here to stay. God bless and all the best to you and yours.

Patrick

KAREN'S COMMENT: I think it's been believed for about 12 months now that TNN may eventually stop showing The Waltons. It's great that they are still airing it.

My name is Katie and I live in the United States. I am only sixteen and I began watching The Waltons this past summer with my mom. The first episode I saw was the one where Elizabeth injures her legs and the doctors doubt she can ever walk again. Since then I have seen most of the later episodes and one of the movies and just recently the earlier episodes have begun.

The episodes I have seen of this show have made it my favorite thing to watch on television. Although I like all of the characters in the family, Jason is my favorite. Once school begins again it will be much more difficult for me to watch The Waltons, but I hope to be able to continue.

I hope you still run this mailing list so I can learn more about this fabulous show. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Sincerely,

Katie

KAREN'S COMMENT: Welcome Katie. At least you can keep up with Waltons gossip via the digest. Good luck with school this year.

Karen,

Just a quick note to tell you that I saw our beloved Grandpa Walton (Will Geer) on an episode of the '70s detective series "Columbo", rerun on the A&E cable channel here in the States.Will played a doctor.

For you trivia buffs as well as fans of their respective shows, Aneta Corsaut (Helen on the Andy Griffith Show) and Leonard Nimoy (Mr.Spock on Star Trek) also appeared in the same episode of Columbo. Quite interesting seeing Columbo (Peter Falk) smoking his cigar and wearing his overcoat in the same room with a denizen of Mayberry as well as a Vulcan along with Grandpa Walton.

This reminds me of The Waltons overlapping with other TV shows that you have mentioned in recent newsletters.

P.L.

KAREN'S COMMENT: We know these actors so well in their well known roles that it seems quite funny sometimes to see them out of character. No wonder they worry about getting typecast.

Karen,

It's me again. This time I call on my fellow Walton fans,especially here in the United States, to help me on something.

This week(Aug.20-24), the E! Entertainment channel here in the States is airing documentaries about classic "downhome" TV series such as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "The Andy Griffith Show". This gave me the idea to send E! an e-mail asking them to do a documentary about our beloved "Waltons" series. Hopefully, I'll soon receive an answer.

I encourage other Walton fans to do the same.

The e-mail address is support@eonline.com.

Maybe if enough Walton fans encourage E! to do a documentary about the show we all know and love, they just might do it!

Patrick

KAREN'S COMMENT: How about it everyone? I agree it would be a fabulous idea. I watched recently where they had one where "Marcia and Cindy Brady" reunited.

Dear Karen,

First of all I want you to know that every time your Waltons digest "comes in" it puts a smile on my face reminding me of my all time favorite tv series. Unfortunately they never broadcasted the whole series here, in The Netherlands, at the most two seasons. In '96 they showed it again but only around at the most 20 episodes!

Now I'm wondering if there are so many waltons fans around the world can't we, as Waltons fans, convince Earl Hamner to get the whole series on DVD?

Sincerely,

Harry

KAREN'S COMMENT: I think this is an excellent idea and maybe people who are in touch with Earl from this Digest might be able to suggest it.

Dear Karen

Since I was a little girl I watched The Waltons. It is my best show a lot. I have a story book about the Waltons. The best actress i like the most is the little girl who played as Elizabeth. I used to have the waltons doll houses. I watch the show all the time. The waltons is my favorite fans club.

Always Heidi

KAREN'S COMMENT: Do you still have your Waltons things? Lots of people collect them now.

Hi Karen, I too loved the Waltons show. I wanted to know where in Virginia is the real homeplace. I know they have visitors and a museum. I am really interested in seeing were the real family lived that the stories were based on. I want to plan a day trip and thought it would be interesting to check it out. Sorry to bother you, I hope you have the info or know where I can find it. Thanks, Beth

KAREN'S COMMENT: Beth it's in Schuyler.

Greetings, Karen, from the Carolinas. Hope this finds you and your family very well. Haven't been able to find any TV listings of our Waltons for TNN. However, by accident found they are running on TNN at 12 noon, the earlier episodes, and more often as not again at 3:00 p.m. some of the mid-series episodes. The 3:00p.m. runnings are occasionally pre-empted with Star Treks. Hope this helps some of our friends out there to find our favorite show. As we are approaching fall soon, my family is looking forward once again to taking a falls colors drive from Northeastern North Carolina up to Waltons Mountain. We've made about four trips up to the Museum between mid September and Mid October and its been wonderful. It was one of these trips when we had the pleasure of meeting Earl and many of the cast and actual family members. It was the 25th reunion. I took my copy of The Home Coming and I asked Earl if he would please autograph it for me and he not only did he passed my book around and had all the cast and his family members also sign it for me. What a wonderful, gracious man. Then what else would we expect. I still cannot believe he went to all that trouble and I cherish that page in my copy of the book.

Can't write without commending you on the great job you do with our Waltons Digest and how much we all appreciate it. Good luck with the college hunting process.

Warm wishes to you and your family.

Sandy in the Carolinas.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thank you for your comments Sandy. Yes Earl seems to me to be a very gracious man. A true Hollywood gentleman.

Hello Karen and all!

I had a great vacation! To bad I had to find out that TNN was taking the Waltons off in last weeks digest! I couldn't believe it! Does anyone know which other channels have it? Even if some other channels have it, I probably won't get them, unless they're under 40. And because my parents control the TV, there's no changing it! They were on this week, however at 10 and noon eastern centeral time on TNN. The Pony Cart was on at 10 today! It was a new one for me so it was interesting! Hope things go well with James! Wish me luck in starting high school in a couple weeks! That's it for tonight!

Goodnight Everybody,

Robin

KAREN'S COMMENT: Have you been finding it again Robin. Good luck with school.

Hi Karen,

Did Jon Walmsley compose any of the songs attributed to Jason?

"Grandma's Ironing Board"

"The Ebony Flash"

The one for Ms Hunter's class about a soldier

"The Christmas song"

Can you think of others?

Does anyone know how I can obtain a copy of "The Life and Times of the Waltons"

Ruth

KAREN'S COMMENT: I'm interested in an answer to this one too Ruth. I don't know whether he was listed for all of them.

Hi Karen, I hope I have sent this in time for the next digest. I have been very busy and haven't been able to do a lot of emailing. For some reason, business has been booming the last two weeks, and then school starts on Wednesday. So, the computer hasn't been used much by me lately.

My only Walton news is that the Waltons are still on TNN. I have been watching them at Noon (eastern time) and at 3:00pm (if there isn't a movie running into that time). Just wanted everyone to know so they could still get their Waltons fix.

Good Night All, ----Jennifer

P.S. Almost forgot, Ebay has the Ike Godseys Store playset up for bid this week. Wish I could afford it, but I can't. Maybe somebody from this digest can.

KAREN'S COMMENT: I haven't looked at Ebay for ages. Maybe some one here will be lucky.