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~ J Clay Norton, Ed.D.

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Category Archives: Charlie Brown

Two Important Dates On My Calendar… Charlie Brown and Andy Griffith

07 Friday Oct 2022

Posted by The Book Chamber in Andy Griffith, Appreciation, Charlie Brown, Entertainment, Leader, Leadership

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This past week held two days on my calendar of significance. October 2 and 3. I am somewhat amazed at the calendar dates now. It seems every day is now a national day of whatever… I believe it is a conspiracy theory for Hallmark to make more money for cards that someone in your family will eventually throw away.

Anyway, October 2, 1950, and October 3, 1960. Both dates are significant for the value they not only bring me but also to our family and many others, I would hope.

October 2, 1950, the Peanuts (Charlie Brown) comic strip ran for the first time.

FirstPeanutsStrip

So, here are a few tidbits you might not know about Peanuts, created by Charles Schulz…

  • Peanuts started out as Li’l Folks by Schulz, but that name was sold even though it featured the forerunners of the Peanuts characters. The United Feature Syndicate decided on Peanuts, although Schulz did not like it. He wanted the name to be Good Old Charlie Brown.
  • Snoopy is named after a black and white dog Schulz had growing up named Spike (who became Snoopy’s brother). Snoopy became Snoopy after Schulz’s mom said they should name their next dog Snoopy.
  • Charlie Brown’s crush on the Little Red-Haired Girl is based on a lady Schulz had a crush on who worked in the accounting department of the school where Schulz taught drawing lessons. The relationship did not work out, leaving both Schulz and the future Charlie Brown crushed. The Little Red-Haired Girl never appears in the comic strip. Also, while working at the school, Schulz befriended a gentleman named… Charlie Brown.
  • In 1968, Schulz introduced his comic strip’s first black character, Franklin, whose father was a soldier in the Vietnam War. Another character, a yellow bird called Woodstock, was named for the 1969 landmark music festival.

October 3, 1960, a day that will live in television history, The Andy Griffith Show first aired.

andy title

When all else fails, and you have to just watch TV, and there is nothing on, you can always watch Andy. Our family loves Andy. Outside of Heather and Breana, my parents, my brother, I have three friends (Allen, Mark, and Norm) on speed dial for Andy Griffith trivia.

So, here are a few tidbits you might not know about The Andy Griffith Show…

  • Barney, Don Knotts, only had a contract for one episode. He was not supposed to be a regular. I sure am glad he worked out.
  • Aunt Bee and Andy did not like each other nor get along while filming the show. Not until very late in life did Aunt Bee (Frances Bavier) apologize.
  • Andy was supposed to be the funny one on the show, not Barney.
  • Andy’s real-life wife, Barbara, had a small role in the episode “Barney and the Choir.”
  • The barber, Floyd Lawson (Howard McNear), suffered a severe stroke after the first season. That’s why we see Floyd sitting most of the time in all the other episodes.
  • The maps behind Andy’s desk are upside-down maps of Idaho and Nevada.
  • Ron Howard’s (Opie) dad was the governor’s chauffeur in the episode “Barney and the Governor.”
  • Two of Andy’s girlfriends, Helen Crump and Peggy McMillan, lived in the same little house with the white picket fence marked “323” on the show.

Anyway… Peanuts and The Andy Griffith Show, October 2 and 3, back-to-back write-ins on my calendar. Peanuts and The Andy Griffith Show have brought everything from a balance of humor and melancholy of life to leadership lessons. Both give stories of characters offering lessons about happiness, friendship, setbacks, perseverance, and life itself. In some ways, a moral compass. It’s amazing how we can identify with so many characters of both or know of people who definitely can. I see a lot of Lucys and way too many Barneys in the world. I wish more people in leadership positions led like Charlie Brown and Andy, by just doing what is right by people. We need more friends like Linus, and the slow-down of Mayberry would be a nice feeling to experience.

We spend much of our time quoting the greats of history, the philosophers, the theologians, the poets, etc. Well, I do as well. But the funny thing is, I find myself quoting the characters of Peanuts and The Andy Griffith Show a lot of the time as well. Especially when I or someone around me unintentionally find ourselves living out a memory moment from a frame of the comic strip or a scene from the show. I have written enough for you to read today, so I will Nip it in the bud…

Let’s go fight the good fight of leadership. Someone has to…

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2022 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on… Twitter @thebookchamber or follow the blog directly.

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My… “A Charlie Brown Christmas” thoughts and its tree…

03 Friday Dec 2021

Posted by The Book Chamber in Charlie Brown, Christmas, Jesus

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The other day, Heather was getting her Christmas decorations out for her office at school… When Heather came home that afternoon, she said she brought the Charlie Brown Christmas tree home to let me know she almost threw it away. But… in her mind, she heard me say, “Noooooooo!”

Upon inspection of the tree, the brown wrapping for the “tree look” was coming undone, the music button playing Linus and Lucy didn’t work, the blue blanket was dirty, and the red ornament was missing… At that moment, I knew exactly how Charlie Brown felt when he picked the tree out in the show…

For those who do not know… I’m a huge Charlie Brown fan. For me, it doesn’t get much better than Charlie Brown. Charles Shultz had it going on with A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Anyway… My three take-a-ways…

Sometimes we need to see beyond what the surface shows.

Charlie Brown infamously selects the worst looking, saddest, bristles falling off, limp limbs tree in the lot…

Look at this dialogue between Charlie Brown and Linus at the tree farm…

Charlie Brown: This little green one here seems to need a home.

Linus: I don’t know, Charlie Brown. Remember what Lucy said? This doesn’t seem to fit the modern spirit.

Charlie Brown: I don’t care. We’ll decorate it and it’ll be just right for our play. Besides, I think it needs me.

Much happens between that scene Charlie Brown picks a Christmas tree and afterwards. To make matters worse, he is reminded of it by all his friends except for Linus. However, by the end of the show, the tree is decorated, bringing everyone together A Charlie Brown Christmas — Ending Restored!.

Be the person who sees what others cannot or do not want to see. The value that we can bring someone by doing just that, many times will show others our heart.

We all need a Linus in our lives. 

Ever notice how Linus is always there for Charlie Brown. Linus is the voice of reason, advice for what it is worth and what Charlie Brown needs to hear. As Charlie Brown takes the tree home to decorate, he stops by Snoopy’s 1st place award-winning dog house and places an ornament on the tree. Still, even then, to make matters worse, the tree sags and droops to the ground due to the weight of the ornament. Talk about being deflated… but, Linus comes along and says, “I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.” I never thought it was such a bad tree… Yea, we need a Linus in our lives, if for nothing else, to help us remember why we need to do stuff for the right reasons.

Lastly, what might be the best question Charlie Brown asks, Linus is able to answer…

Charlie Brown: “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”

Linus recites Luke 2:8-14:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.

When Linus finishes that last line, he says, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

That scene just might be the best 1 minute 25 seconds in animated history. Linus and the Christmas story

I love Christmas… it stirs emotions that should be stirred more often. A Charlie Brown Christmas is a good reminder of what we need to do and have in our lives.

tempImagef4I922Back to my Charlie Brown Christmas tree… I taped up the brown “tree look” paper, put batteries in so the Linus and Lucy theme would play, found an ornament, straightened the branches, and cleaned up the blanket. A few of the wires are still showing, but I did what Charlie Brown did, “This little green one here seems to need a home” and “Besides, I think it needs me.”

Go be a great educator and leader today… Our future needs it…

Remember… Think Leadership and Be For Others…

©2021 J Clay Norton

Want more Leadership Thoughts? Follow me on…

Twitter @thebookchamber

Want to share this leadership thought with others? Click on one of the social media sharing buttons below and help spread the good…

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