NELSON COUNTY, Va. — July 10 marks Earl Hamner Jr. Day in Virginia, honoring the creator and narrator of the beloved television series "The Waltons" that continues to resonate with audiences more than 50 years after it first aired.
"My father was Earl's first cousin. So I'd be Earl's second cousin," said Larry Hamner, Earl Hamner's second cousin.
Family was important to Earl Hamner Jr., and it was family that made him a household name. His life experiences, told through the fictional Walton family, began with a 1971 movie and continued with a CBS television series that ran from 1972 through 1981.
Actress Michael Learned, who played Olivia Walton, reflected on the show's impact in a 1993 interview.
"To feel you've been a part of peoples lives in any small measure, is a great honor," Learned said.
The show can still be watched today, 52 years after it first aired.
"It's really nice they are still watching. It's been over 50 years and honestly I think would even surprise Earl," Larry Hamner said.
While the show takes place on fictional Walton's Mountain in Virginia, the inspiration is real. Schuyler, in Nelson County, is the boyhood home of Hamner.
"Schuyler hasn't changed a lot over the years. It's still the small town that it always was and I guess it will be that way for a long time," Larry Hamner said.
In 2023, a Senate Joint Resolution designated July 10 and each succeeding year as Earl Hamner Jr. Day in Virginia. For Larry, it's a day people should remember family, like Earl Hamner did.
"It would be great if folks would think about family. And think about mending fences with family they need to mend. And keep a smile in their heart and keeping their family in their mind, cause family at the end of the day, family is all you really got," Larry Hamner said.
Fans of "The Waltons" can visit the Walton's Museum in Nelson County, housed in the same building young Earl Hamner Jr. attended school. The museum features replicas of sets from the television show and is open daily from the first Saturday in March through the last Sunday in November, closed on holidays.
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