©2009 www.nelsoncountylife.com : Earl Hamner on stage at The Hamner Theater earlier this month with the cast of The Homecoming which kicks off tonight in Afton, Virgina.

Afton
Nelson County, Virginia
The return, after three years, of the beloved family Christmas story, The Homecoming, by Earl Hamner.
The Homecoming is the heart-warming story of a family waiting for the magic of Christmas Eve to arrive – not Santa, but Daddy – told from the perspective of the adult Clay-Boy as he remembers the journey he took, on that snowy evening long ago.
Says writer Earl Hamner of The Homecoming, “It is remembered in my family that on Christmas Eve of 1933 my father was late arriving home. That, along with the love he and my mother bestowed upon their eight red-headed offspring, is fact. The rest is fiction.”

Performances will take place Thu. – Sat. at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. There will be a free Preview Wednesday, November 18 at 7:30 p.m. There will be no shows on Thursday & Friday of Thanksgiving week, Nov. 26 & 27. Performances on Thursday, Nov. 19 and Friday, Nov. 20 will be followed by a free cider & cookies reception with cast and crew. Tickets $10, $5 for 12 & under. Reservations are suggested, phone (434)361-1999. Visit www.thehamnertheater.com for more information.

Event Date: Thursday 19th of November 2009 07:30 PM

Location/Address: Hamner Theater

Contact Telephone Please call 434 361 1999 for more information

Photos By Tommy Stafford : ©2009 www.nelsoncountylife.com : Mr. & Mrs. Paul Saunders (left) chat it up with Nelson County native, Earl Hamner, Jr. Thursday night during his homecoming at The Hamner Theater in Afton. : Click any photos to enlarge.

Afton
Nelson County, Virginia
Earl Hamner, Jr. best known as the creator of The Waltons television series on CBS returned home last night to his native Nelson County. Hamner was born on July 10, 1923 in Schuyler, Virginia. Earl turned 86 this past July. The Waltons was based loosely on his childhood experiences growing up here in Schuyler. (Waltons Mountain in the series)

Jeff & Tam Stone, owners of Wintergreen Winery, along with their daughters, greet Earl at the theater. Wintergreen provided wine for the reception. (BTW) Earl's favorite of all wines is Wintergreen's Black Rock Chardonnay

Earl took to the stage in the theater to read lines the 2009 Homecoming cast. Hamner wrote the story which eventually led to The Waltons television series.

Thursday night Earl returned to The Hamner Theater, which was named in his honor. Earl visited with fans first, then read lines from The Homecoming (the pilot that inspired The Waltons television series.) to a sold out crowd.

Yep. Junior Publisher, Adam Stafford, got the chance to meet Earl!

Earl autographs a book for a fan at Thursday night's reception.

A fan stands in line clutching a book for an autograph Thursday night at The Hamner Theater.

Earl will be making several other stops in the nearby vicinity as part of appearance coordinated by his international fan club based in South Carolina.

Previous coverage on Earl Hamner and The Hamner Theater by clicking here.

Earl Hamner, whose TV adaptation of HEIDI once bumped off the air a pivotal late-season pro-football game between the Raiders and the Jets that was tied with 2 minutes to go, will be at the theater to show us how he did it.

At 6:00 p.m. Thursday, November 5th, Earl, along with the cast of the upcoming production, will read from his play, THE HOMECOMING.

Afterwards, this consummate gentleman, who had, for multiple years, 30 million viewers watching his creation (THE WALTONS) every Thursday night, will answer questions about TV, John-Boy, life, love, FALCON CREST (Earl created that, too), Hollywood, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and anything else you might be wondering about. He will also be signing copies of his books (available to purchase at the theater).

Reception 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Meet and greet Nelson’s native son, buy a book and have him sign it.
Reading 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Earl Hamner will read scenes from The Homecoming with the cast of the upcoming production. Followed by a Q&A with the author.

All tickets $50. Dessert and coffee, cash bar. EVENT SOLD OUT!

Proceeds will go to support the on-going work of the Hamner Theater.

Event Date: Thursday 5th of November 2009 06:00 PM

Location/Address: Hamner Theater

Contact Telephone Please call 434 361 1999 for more information

This post was submitted by HamnerTheater.

©2007-2009 www.nelsoncountylife.com : Earl Hamner during his last visit to the Afton, Virginia theater named in his honor. Peter Coy, Nancy Mulrine and Boomie Pedersen of The Hamner Theater, chat with Earl before he enters the theater.

Afton
Nelson County, Virginia

If you are a lover of The Waltons or any of the other countless works Earl Hamner, Jr is responsible for, you don’t want to miss his own homecoming to Nelson next week. Next Thursday, November 5th, Earl will be appearing at a fund raiser for The Hamner Theater beginning at 6PM. We first told you about the special occasion here. I speak with Earl from time to time by phone and in our most recent conversation a few days ago, he was so excited to be coming back to Virginia! He will be appearing in several other locations as part of his international fan club.

Be sure to get your tickets now for the event at The Hamner Theater. Their phone number is 434.361.1999

The best way to get the feel is by reading what Earl has posted over in his website at www.earlhamner.com

We’ll see you next week Earl!

HAMNER GOES HOME!

Old Earl is going home! Home to my beloved Virginia, home to where everybody knows your name, home to people who invite you to sit up and talk till bedtime, people who know how to fry chicken, how to properly make ham biscuits, and how to correctly pronounce the words – about, house, and mouse!

Carolyn Grinnell is throwing a party! Those of you who have attended past reunions of the Walton’s International Fan club know it is a day long adventure capped off with an unforgettable banquet.

The 2009 Reunion will be held on November 7th at the Doubletree Hotel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Carolyn has invited Jon Walmsley and me to be guests of honor, and we are looking forward to the day. Her theme this year is an Early Christmas and every guest is asked to bring an old fashioned decoration to dress up the tree.

The day will be a full one. It will include a visit to the Schuyler Baptist Church where the Hamner family worshiped, The Waltons Mountain B and B with its extensive collection of Walton books and Virginia antiques, and a stop by the Hamner house which has been so lovingly and faithfully restored by owner Pamela Rutherford as well a visit to the Museum of Rural History at Lovingston.

Guests will need to arrive on November 6th since activities will start early on the next morning. Space is limited but for further information contact Carolyn at 336-993-2752.

#2

OLD WRITER TURNS ACTOR!

I was once invited by the director of a stage production of “The Homecoming” to perform at the Laguna Playhouse here in California. With my knees knocking in fright, I looked out over an ocean of people and read an opening, a kind of curtain raiser, and at the end of the play a closing paragraph. You should have heard the applause!

I have never been the same and always craved for more! So when Peter Coy and Boomie Peterson, Directors of the Hamner Theater back home in Afton, Virginia, invited me to spend an evening with them and to perform with the cast of their production of “The Homecoming” I leapt at the chance.

At 6:00 PM, Thursday November 5th, 2009, along with the cast of the upcoming production, I will be on hand for the festivities.

From 6:00 to 7:00 I look forward to saying hello and to autographing copies of my books that will be on sale at the theater.

From 7:30 to 8:30 I will read scenes from “The Homecoming” with the cast of the upcoming production.

I look forward to this evening. It is not only a source of pride to me that the theater is named after me, but that it continues to bring quality drama and entertainment to Nelson County and the surrounding area.

All tickets are $50.00. Proceeds of this event will go to support the on going work of the theater.

After the reading we can visit as long as you like.

I should stress that I will be there only for this special event. The actual run of the play will begin on Thursday, November 19th at 7:30 pm and will end on December 13th. Tickets for these performances are $10, $5 for 12 and younger. Reservations are suggested. Call 434-361-1999.

Who would have ever guessed that the glorious words of William Shakespeare, the production of a play recently on Broadway, original drama, highlights from the world of dance and music from all over the world, a school for actors, directors and writers and a play written by a boy from Schuyler, would find a home at 190 Rockfish School Lane, Afton, Virginia!

See you there!

#3

AND A LITTLE TO THE SOUTH – -

Down at Hendersonville, Tennessee the Steeple Theater Players will also present–

THE HOMECOMING.

Friday, November 13th through Sunday, November 22nd Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30, Sundays at 2:00.

The Staples Players’ Program Notes were so beautifully written that I couldn’t resist reprinting them.

A play based on the book by Earl Hamner, Jr. (and the inspiration for the 1970s TV series, “The Waltons”). The time is the great depression and the large Spencer family, living at the foot of a Virginia mountain, is struggling just to survive. With his father having to take the only available job a long way from home, Clay-Boy is stuck with unusual responsibility for his brothers and sisters. Just reaching manhood, Clay-Boy has a secret yearning that’s quite extraordinary for the practical, earth-bound community in which he lives. He wants to write! His father comes home and brings a special gift for his son, a gift that reveals unexpected understanding and the strength of a loving family.

The Steeple Players Theater is devoted to encouraging the development of God-given talents in a supportive Christian, family environment through the experience of producing quality entertainment. The Steeple Players is a non–profit community theater located at 206 Main Street in the City Square Shopping Center in Hendersonville, Tennessee. It has presented family-oriented theater to the local and surrounding community for over fifteen years.

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kym Sims, Director of “The Homecoming” and when I suggested a few slight changes in dialogue from the original script she was not only happy to make the changes but to welcome me to taking an active role in the production – typical of the warm reception I have always found in Tennessee.

I would like to take advantage of this occasion to send greetings to my many friends in Hendersonville and the nearby Nashville area. I will never forget filming the pilot for BOONE there and being allowed to film in such legendary sites as the Ryman and next door at Tootsies. I will never forget that when the Governor gave a reception for us visiting fireman that one of the guests was Minnie Pearl and that when I went over to greet her I said, “I have loved you all my life.” And she said, “Honey, I feel the same way about you.” And I am endlessly grateful to all those friends who worked at Ron Pit kin’s Cumberland House Publishing who have kept my books alive all these years.

Warm thoughts to one and all.

Earl

©2009 www.nelsoncountylife.com : Earl Hamner, Jr. during his last appearance at the Nelson County theater named in his honor. March 2007.

Afton
Nelson County, Virginia

Reception and Reading with Earl Hamner at the Hamner Theater Thursday, Nov. 5 from 6:00 p.m.

The Hamner Theater is hosting an evening with renowned author (and Nelson County native) Earl Hamner on Thursday, November 5th. There will be a reception and book-signing from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. At 7:30p.m., Earl Hamner will read from his beloved Christmas story, The Homecoming. He will be joined by the cast from the upcoming production of The Homecoming (on stage at the Hamner from November 19 to December 13). Admission for this benefit is $50, which includes reception, book-signing and reading. All proceeds will go to the Hamner Theater. Seating is limited, call 434 361 1999 for reservations.

Click on poster above for larger version and more details.

About Earl Hamner: Best-selling author Earl Hamner is well-known as the creator of a television series which drew as many as 50 million American viewers every Thursday night; THE WALTONS remains in syndication, and has aired in nearly every country around the world. It is perhaps less widely-known that his TV adaptation of HEIDI once bumped off the air a pivotal late-season pro-football game between the Raiders and the Jets. (The score was tied with 2 minutes to go.) Born in 1923, in Nelson County, Earl Hamner is also the author of six novels, including the best-seller, “Spencer’s Mountain”, which was made into a film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Hara. His work has been awarded an Emmy as well as the most prestigious honor in broadcast journalism, the George Foster Peabody Award. He is the recipient of no less than six Christopher Awards, an award established to ’salute media that affirm the highest values of the human spirit; award winners encourage audiences to see the better side of human nature and motivate artists and the general public to use their best instincts on behalf of others.’

About the Hamner Theater: The Hamner Theater, a non-profit project of the Rockfish Valley Community Center in Nelson County, receives funding from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, the Donovan Foundation, the Perry Foundation and anonymous donors to support its mission of bringing professional theater to Nelson County and to foster new works for the stage.

###

Summary:
What – Reception and Reading
Who – Earl Hamner and The Cast of The Homecoming
Where – The Hamner Theater, at the Rockfish Valley Community Center, 190 Rockfish School Lane Nellysford, VA
When – Thursday, November 5 from 6:00 p.m.
Reception 6:00 – 7:00p.m., Reading 7:30 – 8:30p.m.
Tickets – $50 (tax-deductible)
Information 434 361 1999 or www.hamnertheater.com

Photos By Tommy Stafford : ©2009 www.nelsoncountylife.com : Youngsters read lines at last night's audition for parts in the upcoming production of The Homecoming at The Hamner Theater in Nelson County, Virginia.

Afton
Nelson County, Virginia
Fall Begins Today @ 5:18 PM EDT
We told you over the weekend about the upcoming production of The Homecoming at The Hamner Theater later this fall. Sunday and Monday folks showed up to try out for parts in the highly popular pilot that inspired the long running television series, The Waltons.

The production is based on Earl Hamner’s life in the mountains of Nelson County near Schuyler set in the early 1930’s.

Just a few of the people showing up for parts in The Homecoming.

Check The Hamner Theater’s website by clicking here for more information about the performance schedules

©2005-2009 www.nelsoncountylife.com : A photo from the very first production of The Homecoming @ The Hamner Theater in late 2005.

Afton
Nelson County, Virginia
After a one year sabbatical, The Homecoming will be on stage once again this fall at The Hamner Theater in The Rockfish Valley Community Center. The production is based on Earl Hamner’s life in the mountains of Nelson County near Schuyler set in the early 1930’s.

Auditions for the production that inspired the highly popular ’70’s show The Waltons begin this Sunday September 20 from 3-6 PM and again the following day on September 21st at 5-7PM at The Hamner Theater.

The original cast from the debut production of The Homecoming at The Hamner Theater in 2005.

“I feel so gratified because I still have so many friends there. It’s a feeling of coming home, always being home again,” says Earl Hamner from his California office. The theater was named in his honor. Earl turned 86 years old this past July and has personally visited the theater in recent years since its opening.

Earl Hamner speaks to a packed house during his March 2007 visit to the theater in Afton, Virginia named in his honor.

All of the productions of The Homecoming have been sold out in previous years due to the popularity.

For more information about the auditions go to www.hamnertheater.com or call 434 361 1999

©2009 NCL Magazine : Nelson County, Virginia native, Earl Hamner, Jr. turns 86 years old today. He was born on this date back in 1923 in Schuyler. Here he sits on the steps of his old home place back in Schuyler.

Schuyler
Nelson County, Virginia
By Woody Greenberg

Nelson County’s most famous native son, my friend Earl Hamner Jr., turns 86 on July 10, but there is plenty of the mischievous youngster in him. When I spoke to him recently by phone, and asked him what he was up to, he asked if I had been on his new web site yet. “Not recently,” I replied.
“I have a blog,” he said enthusiastically. I turned on my computer and read:
“Waking in the morning, if one is so fortunate, can be the most challenging part of the day. Just getting out of bed can be dangerous. First, you really ought to be able to see. You feel about on the bedside table for your glasses. In doing so you knock over a bottle of aspirin, the alarm clock and the table lamp. Eventually the glasses turn up on page thirty-seven of “How To Improve Your Memory,” the book you were reading when you fell asleep.”

That’s Earl. The renowned writer has a wonderful sense of humor, and it’s fully on display on earlhamner.com. Just as “The Waltons” was a glimmer of family-oriented dramatic entertainment in what had become a television “wasteland” of game shows, violence and situation comedies, earlhamner.com is an island of loving reminiscence and humor in a turbulent ocean of digital information.
But that’s not all he’s up to. “It’s the 50th anniversary of ‘Twilight Zone’ and several magazines are looking for ‘Twilight Zone’- type stories, so I’m in the short story business,” he said, adding that two anthologies, one published by Rod Serling’s widow, have each included one of his earlier “Twilight Zone” stories. In all, eight “Twilight Zone” episodes were written by Earl.
But back to the web site. It contains information about Earl’s four novels, numerous teleplays, movie screenplays and three non-fiction books that are memoirs. The website itself is a wide ranging look at his life’s work.

©2007-2009 NCL Magazine : Earl Hamner, JR (left) with writer and friend, Woody Greenberg (right) talk to fans at The Hamner Theater in 2007.

On the home page he writes: “When I was growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia during the Great Depression, we always had friends and neighbors stopping by. My mother or father would meet them at the door and say: ‘Come on in and sit till bedtime!’ Please do that. Come on in to my website and stay as long as you like.”
It’s worth a stay. In recent years, Nelson County has produced no one who has had as far-reaching impact on the United States and the world as Earl Hamner Jr., a native of Schuyler, who created the television series “The Waltons.” The website reminds you that there’s more to Earl Hamner than John-Boy and his family living through The Great Depression and World War II.

A screen shot of Earl Hamner's website.

Before the success of “The Waltons,” his literary and motion picture work had already shoved him into a select pantheon of artists who influence our culture. The film “Spencer’s Mountain,” based on his book of the same name, and the basis for the later television series, broke attendance records at New York’s Radio City Music Hall when it opened.

Later, his television film “The Homecoming,” the pilot film for “The Waltons” series, provided a template for shows like “Little House on the Prairie” and other efforts to tap into the “family market.” Earl Hamner took real-life family situations, found the human drama in them, added healthy doses of virtues like loyalty, love of family, and a sense of adventure, to make “The Waltons” into one of television’s true classics. It is still shown in many foreign countries, and pilgrims from all over the world have visited his hometown Schuyler.

Indeed, the latest blog entry on the website provides a guide to Schuyler, for which Earl Hamner has never lost his love. He weaves his descriptions of his hometown with passages from his four novels and numerous teleplays that rely on real incidents from his life.

Earl during a 2005 visit with Tommy & Yvette Stafford at the NCL office in Greenfield.

About his old home place, now being lovingly restored by Pam Rutherford, he writes:
“If you had looked through the kitchen window when I was still a boy you would have seen the family at breakfast. They were seated at a table nine feet long. Clay had built it himself and it was flanked on either side by wooden benches. There were eight children in all. Each one had red hair, but on each head the shade of red was different. Each of them was small of bone and lean. Some of them were freckled and some were not and some had the brown eyes of their father and some had their mother’s green eyes, but on each of them there was some stamp of grace of build and movement, and it was this that Clay voiced when he said, as he often did, “Every one of my babies is a thoroughbred. You ever in your life see anything so pretty?”
Olivia looked up from the frying pan where she was frying eggs to each individual’s liking, and said, “If I had my way my children would never grow up. I’d just keep them little for the rest of their lives.” From “Spencer’s Mountain.”
“Olivia” is, of course, based on Earl’s mother Doris. I actually got to know Mrs. Hamner before I met Earl. In the late 70s, Nelson County High School had named its journalism honor society for Earl, and she was invited each spring to the induction ceremony, as was I in my capacity as editor of the local newspaper. By that time “The Waltons” had been on the air for several years and was regularly generating ratings as one of the most popular TV shows on the air. We sat in the band room outside of the old auditorium waiting for the ceremony to begin and she told me, “‘The Waltons’ is the only TV show where a person writes about his own family…I don’t reckon a closer family has ever been in this world…A Hollywood writer told me ‘there’s not but one real gentleman left in Hollywood, and that’s your son.’ “

Mrs. Hamner also told me about the hundreds of “Waltons” fans who were finding their way to Schuyler to see where the “real” family had lived. She said Earl provided her with “tea money” since she invited many of them in for tea. Hospitality was one of her most prominent character traits.

That conversation, by the way, was the genesis of the idea for The Waltons Mountain Museum, although it would be at least ten years before the old Schuyler Elementary School would be closed and the museum and community center could be established.

And the real gentleman? Well, he says he still has “more ideas than the time to write them.”

Let’s hope not. Happy Birthday Dear Earl.

To read Earl’s blog head on over to: www.earlhamner.com

©2009 earlhamner.com : A screen grab from Earl Hamner's most recent post about his days in Nelson County, Virginia

Studio City, California
Nelson County, Virginia
“We Virginians are not known for modesty in describing the virtues of our commonwealth. We are tempted to use such descriptive phrases as most beautiful, most legendary, most historic, most hospitable, mother of the most presidents but most of the time good manners finally overtake us and we simply say, “Why don’t y’all come to see us?”

That’s how Earl Hamner starts his most recent entry to his blog over at www.earlhamner.com. Click on Blog at the top once there. Recently Earl has started blogging, and his latest entry is a a great one! He talks all about his days here in Nelson County and some of his favorite places here in the county.

It’s a special walk down memory land and well worth the read, just in time for the weekend!

A screengrab from Earl Hamner's website.

Nelson County, Virginia
Though it’s been nearly three decades since The Waltons television series was in broadcast, millions of people still watch reruns of the beloved program based on the experiences of Nelson native, Earl Hamner. Earl grew up in the eastern section of Nelson County in Schuyler, Virginia. The small mining town served as the inspiration for stories that put Earl on the map, and eventually on television.

Recently Earl launched his own website so folks could keep up with what’s going on in his life these days. The site can be found here at www.earlhamner.com Earl is 85 years old now, 86 in July, and lives on the west coast in California where he moved dozens of years ago to pursue work on television projects.

Over the years Earl has been so kind to write a few articles for us here at Nelson County Life. We stay in touch with Earl by telephone every few months. He will call us or we him to see how things are going. He often asks, “Have the leaves started coming out yet, or changing color? or ” Have you seen the Rockfish River lately, is it very full?” His heart is still here in Nelson. Earl is in good health for a man his age, and continues writing to this day.

A blog entry from a month or so ago when Earl was talking about a minor injury he was recovering from.

One of the warmest and most personal parts of his site is his blog named “You Me And The Lamp Post” where Earl will talk about what’s been going on in a way that viewers became accustomed to when he would narrate the intro and closing on The Waltons.

If you are a Waltons’ fan or simply want to keep up with Earl, this is a great site! Check it out!