N is for Neighborhood

How many of you remember the TV show "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood"?  It was a staple in our house from about 1980 to about 1990 for my two daughters.  When Daddy arrived home from work about 5 pm, they would greet him with hugs and kisses and then off they'd go to watch the show while Daddy and Mommy would catch up on their days as we all waited for dinner to be ready.

Fred Rogers was born in 1928 and passed away in 2003 from stomach cancer - far too young!  He was beloved by all children because of his gentle and soft-spoken personality.  Did you know that he was a Presbyterian minister as well as being responsible for creating, hosting, and composing the theme music for this educational children's series?  I know that whenever I sat down with the girls to watch, I was mesmerized by his voice and the way he spoke to the characters as though they were real life people.

Did you know that when Fred Rogers worked for NBC in the early 1950s, he didn't like the fact that commercial television relied so heavily on advertisements and merchandising?  What did he do? He quit and went to work at a Pittsburgh public television station as a puppeteer on a children's show. Rogers began wearing his famous sneakers when he found them to be quieter than his work shoes as he moved about behind the set.

From Wikipedia, I found that Fred Rogers had a connection to Canada where it reads:
"In 1963, Rogers moved to Toronto, where he was contracted by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to develop his debut in front of the camera, the 15-minute children's program Misterogers,^[25] which though popular with children ran for just three seasons. Many of his famous set pieces—Trolley, Eiffel Tower, the 'tree', and 'castle'—were created by CBC designers. While in Canada, Rogers brought his friend and understudy Ernie Coombs, who would go on to create Mr. Dressup, a very successful and long-running children's show in Canada, and similar in many ways to Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Mr. Dressup also used some of the songs that would be featured on Rogers' later program. The two of them co-starred on Butternut Square on CBC TV between October 19, 1964, and February 10, 1967.

In 1966, Rogers acquired the rights to his program from the CBC and moved the show to WQED in Pittsburgh, where he had worked on The Children's Corner. He developed the new show for the Eastern Educational Network. Stations that carried the program were limited but did include educational stations in Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City."

 Here is the famous "Neighborhood Trolley".

Click HERE to view an episode of "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood." You don't have to watch the entire thing, but be sure to listen to Fred Rogers sing the opening song about "won't you be my neighbor."

Have a wonderful week, everyone. I must say I'm so glad to have you all as my ABCW neighbours!