“Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”

“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in this neighborhood…”

So sang Fred Rogers to his audience as he entered his television dwelling, changed from his work shoes into comfy ones and put on his trademark sweater.

Rogers taught children about everything from fears to disabilities. What I remember most is the trolley that came right into his living room, and then took the audience on a journey to a make believe land. My favorite make-believe character was Daniel Striped Tiger, who lived in a clock.

According to wikipedia.com, the show ran from 1968 to 2001.
I remember Mr. Rogers also had a great big traffic light somewhere in his house. (Wonder if he got that on eBay ….)

There was also the bicycle-riding delivery man, Mr. McFeely, also known as Mr. Speedy Delivery. Years later, I had the opportunity to interview David Newell, the actor who played Mr. McFeeley, and the “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” memories came flooding back.

Pretty cool.

You can check out the opening to “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” on YouTube.com here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmNQ5VgFAfc

You can read the wikipedia.com article on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood” here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Rogers'_Neighborhood