Longtime resident recalls old Fayette County

Many remember Andy Griffith’s television “Mayberry”: its fictional characters with colorful names and its heartwarming lessons around every streetcorner. A new Web site authored by a local resident features stories that sound just as fanciful, until you recognize the characters and the streetcorners to be right here in Fayette County. This is the real thing, y’all.

Longtime resident Dean Brown is the author of ‘www.popspin.com’, a Web site devoted to his weekly stories about Fayette County. “These stories are true,” says Brown, who quickly adds with a smile, “...at least as true as they can be after being told so many times.”

Other longtime residents may see themselves captured in Brown’s tales. Newcomers will recognize the landmarks, many of which are still in use today.

Recent features recalled an election day courthouse shooting (you thought modern-day politics were contentious!), the arrival of the first radio in town, Christmas Eve in Fayetteville, and recollections of Lavern, Lum, and a cast of characters that would make Mayberry proud.

More than 30 vignettes have been posted so far. The website is free, and there are no advertisements.

Brown has been quietly capturing stories for more than 70 years in Fayette County. “My family moved from Shakerag to Fayetteville when I was five and I never moved away. My ancestors for several generations have lived in Fayette County, so I’m certainly ‘home grown’ and my roots go deep.” Those roots continue to deepen; Brown’s grandson, Aaron Brown, attends Montessori school in Fayetteville.

Brown’s characters are lifted from his memories as a child growing up along Highway 85 just south of the courthouse, and from his years as a school administrator.

Many who went to area schools from the 1950s to the 1970s recall “Dr. Brown” as their principal.

Brown began compiling his stories about the area in written form for a local want-ad publication in the 1990s. The publisher enjoyed the column so much, it became a regular front-page feature--and a surprise hit.

Brown says he couldn’t go to the grocery store or a local restaurant without some old acquaintance or even a stranger stopping him to share their own Fayetteville stories.

“I enjoyed doing that so much,” he says, noting that his column became the inspiration for his “popspin.com” website. Brown is motivated by a love for the history of Fayetteville and the storytelling tradition.

As a self-published Internet author, Brown not only writes the stories, but manages the design and layout of his website. The site features a guestbook, which allows visitors to instantly message Brown to share their own stories, or just to say hello. It is one of Brown’s favorite features, allowing him to reconnect with old friends while making new ones.

Despite the strip malls and four lanes, there’s still a community called Mayberr--ooops--Fayetteville. If you’re ever ‘in the neighborhood’ (which these days means ‘online’), Brown invites you to drop by for a spell.