
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, August 2, 1994                   TAG: 9408020104
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: SCHUYLER                                LENGTH: Medium

ACTRESS DONATES `WALTONS' EMMY TO SHOW'S MUSEUM IN SCHUYLER

Actress Michael Learned, who played Olivia Walton on the television series ``The Waltons,'' visited the Walton's Mountain Museum on Monday and donated the first of her four Emmy Awards from the show.

The museum opened last year in Schuyler, the hometown of the show's creator, Earl Hamner Jr.

Most of the cast and Hamner attended the museum opening and dedication Oct.24. But Learned said she had to leave after a nearby reception and did not get a chance to visit the museum that day.

``I wanted to visit, and it was my husband's idea to bring the Emmy,'' she said before touring the museum and signing autographs.

Hamner, now a California resident, grew up in the small rural town during the Depression and used the experience as the basis for the show, which ran from 1971 to 1981.

Episodes continue to be rerun on The Family Channel and in several foreign countries.

In November, Learned and the rest of the cast gathered again for ``A Walton Thanksgiving Reunion,'' shown on CBS.

The show brought the family into 1963 and the wake of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Learned said there may be another reunion show around Valentine's Day that centers on the wedding of John-Boy, played by Richard Thomas.

``I submitted a story line for them for Olivia,'' Learned said.

```The Waltons' are now in the '60s and dealing with integration issues. I'd like to have Olivia open a day-care center for black and white children. I don't know if they'll use it.''

Last week, the University of Richmond gave its Hamner archives to the museum. Hamner attended the university, which gave the museum 30 boxes filled with original scripts, fan mail, photos, Hamner's personal scrapbook and ``Waltons'' music.

Nelson County developed the museum as an attempt to draw tourists to the area between the Blue Ridge Mountains and the James River.

The museum is in a small red-brick elementary school that Hamner attended. It closed in 1990 and was turned into a community center.

There also is an auditorium where visitors can see clips from ``The Waltons'' and interviews with cast members, writers and directors.

by CNB