ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 8, 1996 TAG: 9612100016
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
IT WAS A VINTAGE Willard Scott moment.
The man's name was Orval Drawbond from Raphine. He wasn't yet 100 years old, but he was a colorful 88 and still as sharp as a good whittling knife, even if his hearing wasn't all there anymore. The perfect complement for Willard's folksy, goofball charms.
They sat together on hay bales in Willard's barn in Rockbridge County, bantering back and forth, mostly about Orval's proud collection of antique Johnny Jumper motors sitting on the floor between them.
The cameras were rolling.
``So, what do you call these?'' Willard asked, trying to lead Orval into an explanation of the Johnny Jumper name.
``Oh, they've been called a lot of things '' Orval answered, ``when they wouldn't start.''
The two men shared a hearty laugh. Then, somehow, the subject of Orval's teeth came up, and without a shred of malice, without so much as a hint of anything patronizing, Willard asked, ``Are those your real teeth or are they store-bought?''
``I don't have a tooth in my head,'' Orval replied.
And they laughed together again.
This was Willard, in his element, at his best, hamming it up with the Orval Drawbonds of the world, endearing himself to a television audience that loves him for the big, lovable lug that he has always been.
What made this moment unique was the setting, on Willard's picturesque Virginia farm about 15 miles north of Lexington, and what his brief encounter with Orval Drawbond represents - a new phase in Willard's long broadcasting career.
Maybe the final phase.
But don't send old Willard out to pasture just yet. At 62, he still makes regular Tuesday and Thursday appearances on NBC's ``Today'' show. He is still in demand as a commercial pitchman. And, for the past two years, he has hosted from his pastoral Rockbridge Country retreat his own cable television show, ``Willard Scott's Home & Garden Almanac,'' on the Home and Garden Network.
The show, much of which is filmed with a small production crew at this 250-acre spread, is sort of an ``Old Farmer's Almanac'' adapted for television and then warped by Willard's personality and trademark wit.
Or Willardisms, as the crew calls them.
Like when he pointed out to Orval all the television cables running along the barn floor. ``You've heard of cable television,'' he said. ``Well, this is it - cables all over the floor.''
Or when he later invited Orval to come back to the farm sometime, maybe for dinner, and some of Willard's own home-cured country ham. ``Of course,'' he added, without missing a beat, ``I'm the biggest ham I've ever cured.''
The show mixes these Willardisms with practical almanac advice, other home and garden reports, and a series of lively ``Behind The Barn Door'' segments featuring noncelebrity guests, often from nearby communities, who might make for a fun five minutes of television time. The idea is that they have a surprise in store for Willard behind the barn door.
Guests at this particular taping earlier this fall included Orval Drawbond and his Johnny Jumpers, mandolin maker John Schofield of Rockbridge County and doll collector Shirley Weil of Lexington. Willard also taped a segment with Warren Evans of Indiana and his jet-powered riding lawn mower.
Willard, being Willard, naturally loved the jet-powered mower, which can reach 60 mph and seemed ripe for at least one choice Willardism, which naturally was offered.
``Have you ever thought about entering this in the Indianapolis 500?''
The ``Almanac'' show was not Willard's first attempt at hosting his own television program.
Years ago, he made a pilot for an ill-fated variety talk show called ``Willard's World,'' which he said flopped. ``Oh my Lord, it was horrible. It was worth an apology.''
Nor has this show on gardening been his first foray into something other than predicting the weather or honoring the country's centenarians on their birthdays.
Years before joining the ``Today'' cast, he worked as a radio announcer in Washington, D.C., and he portrayed Bozo The Clown and was the very first Ronald McDonald.
But this show was a natural match.
Willard is an avid gardener, although bad knees have limited his vigor for it somewhat in recent years, he said. The almanac format was perfect for Willard's style. And he already had a farm with a barn, although it took awhile for the show's production company to put the place to good use.
At first, the show was taped at various historic homes and gardens and other locations with Willard wearing a coat and tie. It seemed too formal, said the show's producer, Albert Fisher. ``It wasn't Willard in his own environment.''
The farm, on the other hand, gives the show the right casual, back-yard ambience, Fisher said, complete with the sounds of locusts and mooing cows providing the occasional unwanted commentary.
``Now, it's a glove,'' Fisher said.
Willard, a native of Virginia, bought the farm four years ago to use as a mountain getaway for himself and his wife of 37 years from their permanent home in Middleburg, about 30 minutes outside of Washington.
``This was an itch,'' Willard confessed. ``I think of the expression, `It's time to stop and smell the cow manure.'''
In other words, Willardisms aside, it's time to slow down, to recognize the coming twilight of his career. Already, he has cut back from his ``Today'' show commitments, as well as some of his speaking engagements.
``I don't love it that much anymore,'' he said plainly.
At the same time, he doesn't want to retire altogether. Thus, ``Willard Scott's Home & Garden Almanac.'' It requires only a dozen or so days of his time to tape all of his segments for the show's 26 episodes a year. The work is mostly ad-lib - Willard's stock in trade - and probably there always will be a loyal, specialized audience for the show.
And thus, for Willard, always a job.
``There's something about drawing a paycheck that's comforting,'' he said.
Not that he needs the money or that he would ever have trouble finding work. The show's producer, Fisher, worked for a time on ``The Merv Griffin Show'' and has known some of the biggest names in television. He said Willard's appeal is phenomenal.
``With most stars, people come over to ask for an autograph,'' he said. ``With Willard, they come over and they invite him over to dinner.''
Warren Evans, the jet-mower pilot, said when he arrived at Willard's farm he was surprised.
``I expected these big gates and a board fence around the place, like a Kentucky horse farm, but it wasn't like that. It's just a farm, just a normal farm,'' he said.
``And Willard, he's just like you and me. He's still funny. He cuts up. He's just normal people.''
LENGTH: Long : 131 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. 1. ``Willard Scott's Home & Gardenby CNBAlmanac'' is the wacky weatherman's newest TV program. 2.
``Almanac'' guest Orval Drawbond, 88, jokes around with Willard
Scott before videotaping begins for Willard's cable show. 3. The red
barn on Willard's 250-acre farm (above) in Rockbridge County also
serves as a makeshift television studio 4. (left) for the show's
``Behind the Barn Door" segments. 5. (no caption). color. Graphic:
Map by staff. color.