{"id":7051,"date":"2016-03-30T10:32:09","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T14:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?p=7051"},"modified":"2016-03-30T10:32:09","modified_gmt":"2016-03-30T14:32:09","slug":"up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html","title":{"rendered":"UP TV&#8217;s &#8220;Small Town, Big Mayor&#8221; shows that, even in 2016, politicians can be nice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Small Town-Big Mayor\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/uoCNgvGZOrQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17250\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><strong><em>Small Town, Big Mayor<\/em> airs Thursday (3\/31) @ 9:30 PM (ET) on UP TV.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\">The small town of D\u2019Lo, Mississippi has one town hall, one masonic lodge, 240 cows, three swimming holes, 74 rocking chairs, three churches and 456 big-hearted residents, including Mayor John Henry Berry who is absolutely passionate about his ambitious 95-point plan to revitalize his beloved-but-struggling town.\u00a0 At the mayor&#8217;s side is Ruth Griffin, who, like Berry, was born and raised in D\u2019Lo. She is also powerful institution in local politics and was the first town board member to endorse John Henry when he announced he was running for mayor.<\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\">\n<div id=\"yiv1244929903yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458827521868_28631\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yiv1244929903yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458827521868_28633\">In addition to his official duties as Mayor, Berry is also a loving husband and father, a 4H gun instructor, Sunday school teacher, a parish drummer, a volunteer fireman, as well as the unofficial town landscaper, plumber, critter catcher, lifeguard and maintenance man. You can also add the voice of the Simpson High Cougars to the list.<\/span><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17256\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17262\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yiv1244929903yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1458827521868_28635\">As Mayor, Berry earns $480 a month, so he also works full-time as an air conditioning service manager at Climate Masters in the nearby town of Pearl. <\/span>He <span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17261\">was elected Mayor with all but 18 votes, however, he knows that he\u2019ll only be able to stay in office if he can make his dreams of a revitalized D\u2019Lo a reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\">\nTV series have been built on less &#8212; and I&#8217;d kinda like to see this friendly reality show elected as a full-fledged series. In fact, if UP really wanted to get ambitious about it, I could this concept being developed into charming scripted series &#8212; a sort of <em>Mayberry<\/em> for a new generation.<\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\">I recently had the opportunity to put some questions to the mayor &#8212; who sort of has me thinking that he just may be worth considering should a certain political party find itself hosting a contested, deadlocked convention. Just kidding, sorta.<\/div>\n<p><b>JWK: How did the idea for <em>Small Town, Big Mayor<\/em> come about? <\/b><\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17270\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17272\"><strong>MAYOR JOHN HENRY BERRY:<\/strong> A good friend of mine, Russell Knight, starred in a show called <em>Mounted in Alaska<\/em>. Russell said that most mayors aren\u2019t willing to put their hands on everything in town, and he really thinks there isn\u2019t another mayor like me. So he wanted to introduce me to some guys that were filming him at the time. He connected me with American Chainsaw and the idea of the show took shape from there.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><b id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17277\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17279\"><br \/>\nJWK: How has your family and the people of D&#8217;Lo reacted to having a TV crew following you around?\u00a0 <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17282\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17281\"><strong>JHB:<\/strong> At first, everyone was not too sure about having \u201cHollywood\u201d and their cameras out and about in D\u2019Lo. But after meeting the owners, producers and crew members from American Chainsaw, the citizens of D\u2019Lo were behind me 100%.\u00a0 My family has officially adopted the crew.\u00a0 We\u2019ve introduced them to sweet tea and fried catfish.\u00a0 This is a great group to work with.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><b><br \/>\nJWK: How did the town get its name?\u00a0 <\/b><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17288\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17287\"><br \/>\n<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17281\"><strong>JHB:<\/strong><\/span> There are many theories on how the name \u201cD\u2019lo\u201d came about. The most widely accepted is derived from the French word \u201cde l\u2019eau\u201d which means \u201cwater.\u201d The actual origin of the name is unknown, but many believe that D\u2019lo is a shortened version of the French word.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><b><br \/>\nJWK: What would you like people to know about D&#8217;Lo?\u00a0 <\/b><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17298\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\">\n<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17287\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17281\"><strong>JHB:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> This is the friendliest town in the United States of America, and you can take that to the bank!<\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><b><br \/>\nJWK: How did you become the mayor? <\/b><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17301\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17300\"><br \/>\n<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17287\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17281\"><strong>JHB:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> I grew up in D\u2019lo and have always wanted to be a leader in my town.\u00a0 I started out on the board of alderman under a great mayor, Emory Veazey, who inspired me to eventually run for mayor after his retirement.\u00a0 I have a passion for the town and the people of D\u2019lo.\u00a0 My family has been in D\u2019lo for 5 generations.\u00a0 I grew up hearing stories of D\u2019lo\u2019s glory days when the population was over 6,000.\u00a0 Now we have 456 when everyone is home, and we desperately need grants to help maintain our infrastructure because we no longer have the tax base to support the town.\u00a0 I fight for the future of my town every day.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><b id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17305\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17304\">JWK: <\/span><\/b><b id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17305\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17304\">The show is something like a cross between <em>Duck Dynasty<\/em> and <em>Mayberry<\/em> &#8212; with lots of colorful characters, including yourself. Can you tell me something about some of the characters and relationships?\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/b><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17311\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17310\"><br \/>\n<strong>JHB:<\/strong> Mrs. Ruth Griffin and I have worked together for 12 years for the town of D\u2019lo.\u00a0 She is always supportive of my endeavors.\u00a0 She also knows how to reign me in and keep me focused on the task at hand.\u00a0 Tony and B-baby are my lifelong friends.\u00a0 I can always depend on them for help.\u00a0 We always have a good time together.\u00a0 My family understands that my job as mayor requires a lot of my time and attention which in turn, requires their time and attention on my various projects.\u00a0 I have 5 kids and view them as my free labor pool.\u00a0 My wife just takes it all in and never hesitates to give me her opinion.\u00a0 And me, well, I\u2019m just a hands-on kind of guy.\u00a0 If it needs fixing and I can figure it out, then why would I need to pay someone else?\u00a0 My job is not behind a desk. My job is out in the community making sure my citizens have what they need.\u00a0 I fix water lines, change light bulbs, catch dogs, fix sewer pumps, program remotes, and just about anything else you can think of.\u00a0 I\u2019m always just a call away.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><b><br \/>\nJWK: Did you watch <em>The Andy Griffith Show<\/em> as a kid?\u00a0 <\/b><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\">\n<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17287\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17281\"><strong>JHB:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> Absolutely!\u00a0 D\u2019lo really is a modern day <em>Mayberry<\/em>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><b>JWK: What happens if the show is a success? Do you think it will change your town?\u00a0 <\/b><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17315\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17314\"><br \/>\n<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17287\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17281\"><strong>JHB:<\/strong><\/span><\/span> We thank the Lord Jesus Christ every day for the chance to introduce D\u2019lo to the world, and I think the same Savior that gave us that chance will keep us humble. I hope the show is successful and that it will generate tourism and create revenue to revitalize my town. \u00a0That\u2019s my goal. \u00a0I think any changes the town will undergo will be good, positive changes.\u00a0 I would never want the people to change, though. They are all so genuine and caring.<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><b>JWK: What do you see in your future? <\/b><\/div>\n<div class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17322\" class=\"yiv1244929903MsoNormal\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17321\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17314\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17287\"><span id=\"yui_3_16_0_ym18_1_1459334595957_17281\"><strong>JHB:<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> I\u2019d like to give tours of D\u2019lo from my golf cart.\u00a0 D\u2019lo had more men and women per capita serving in WWII than any other town or hamlet in America. \u00a0I would like to reopen the museum and showcase our WWII veterans.\u00a0 I want to see Main Street full of shops and maybe a restaurant or two.\u00a0 I want to show America that D\u2019lo is not the biggest, but it is the BEST!<\/span><\/div>\n<p><em>John W. Kennedy is a writer\/development consultant specializing in teleplays, screenplays and novelizations<\/em>. He can be reached at <a href=\"mailto:john@jwkmedia.com\">john@jwkmedia.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><em>Encourage one another and build each other up \u2013 <\/em><strong>1 Thessalonians 5:11<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Small Town, Big Mayor airs Thursday (3\/31) @ 9:30 PM (ET) on UP TV. The small town of D\u2019Lo, Mississippi has one town hall, one masonic lodge, 240 cows, three swimming holes, 74 rocking chairs, three churches and 456 big-hearted residents, including Mayor John&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,13,1591,14,16,26,31],"tags":[6108,35,9003,3197,9001,9000,8999,8998,7340,9002],"class_list":["post-7051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-family-matters","category-good-works","category-gratitude","category-humor","category-politics","category-television","tag-duck-dynasty","tag-1-thessalonians-511","tag-big-mayor","tag-mayberry","tag-mayor-john-henry-berry","tag-mounted-in-alaska","tag-russell-knight","tag-ruth-griffin","tag-the-andy-griffith-show","tag-up-tvs-small-town"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UP TV&#039;s &quot;Small Town, Big Mayor&quot; shows that, even in 2016, politicians can be nice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UP TV&#039;s &quot;Small Town, Big Mayor&quot; shows that, even in 2016, politicians can be nice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Small Town, Big Mayor airs Thursday (3\/31) @ 9:30 PM (ET) on UP TV. The small town of D\u2019Lo, Mississippi has one town hall, one masonic lodge, 240 cows, three swimming holes, 74 rocking chairs, three churches and 456 big-hearted residents, including Mayor John&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-03-30T14:32:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John W. Kennedy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"UP TV's \"Small Town, Big Mayor\" shows that, even in 2016, politicians can be nice","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"UP TV's \"Small Town, Big Mayor\" shows that, even in 2016, politicians can be nice","og_description":"Here\u2019s today\u2019s dispatch from the crossroads of faith, media and culture. Small Town, Big Mayor airs Thursday (3\/31) @ 9:30 PM (ET) on UP TV. The small town of D\u2019Lo, Mississippi has one town hall, one masonic lodge, 240 cows, three swimming holes, 74 rocking chairs, three churches and 456 big-hearted residents, including Mayor John&hellip;","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html","og_site_name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","article_published_time":"2016-03-30T14:32:09+00:00","author":"John W. Kennedy","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html","name":"UP TV's \"Small Town, Big Mayor\" shows that, even in 2016, politicians can be nice","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-03-30T14:32:09+00:00","dateModified":"2016-03-30T14:32:09+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/2016\/03\/up-tvs-small-town-big-mayor-shows-that-even-in-2016-politicians-can-be-nice.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"UP TV&#8217;s &#8220;Small Town, Big Mayor&#8221; shows that, even in 2016, politicians can be nice"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/","name":"Faith, Media &amp; Culture","description":"Beliefnet Voices - John W. Kennedy","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/e5d5ef9caeb6b01bcbf08ca6de6591c2","name":"John W. Kennedy","description":"John W. Kennedy is the founder and Dir. of Development of The Creative Universe Entertainment\u2122, a media consultation and development company focusing on the creation, development and support of high-quality mainstream entertainment that upholds positive timeless values, including trust in God. Current projects include \"Bryant Park\" (an uplifting romantic-comedy) and \"Photo Finish\" (an award-winning sci-fi TV pilot). He has written over 100 children's novels based on episodes of the Cartoon Network series \"Ben 10\", \"Ben 10: Alien Force\", \"Ben 10: Ultimate Alien\", \"Ben 10: Omniverse\" and \"Generator Rex\" among others. He also writes Beliefnet\u2019s \"Faith, Media &amp; Culture\" blog. Previously, he has produced successful news and talk programming for CNN, Fox News, Pax TV and SiriusXM. Specialties: Script Writing, Movie\/TV Novelizations &amp; Adaptations, TV Content Creation and Development, Creative Consultation, Producing and Booking News and Talk shows. He can be reached for writing, producing and consulting services at 516-640-1182.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/author\/jkennedy"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7051"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7053,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7051\/revisions\/7053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/faithmediaandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}