Wednesday, November 16, 1988
m Weddings/2-C
‘8 Health/a-C
B Food/7-C
LIFESTYLES
SECTION
CC
omething For Sara
World Famous Dog, Flat Nose, Performs For KM Girl
By JUNE BALLARD
Herald Correspondent
On a chilly Saturday afternoon at the Richards’
home on Moss Lake, one did not notice the
temperatures near as much as the warmth of the
guests radiating love and concern for a three and a
half year old little girl named Sara who was
diagnosed on October 10 as having leukemia.
Jamie and Gail Richards knew something was
wrong with their daughter, Sara, when she began
to lose her appetite and suddenly ran a high fever.
The form of leukemia which Sara had is 90%
treatable and after undergoing seven weeks of
treatment at Duke Hospital, little Sara’s leukemia
1S now In remission. There will be many more trips
to Duke but for the present time Sara was li
thinking of Flat Nose. :
Barney Odum and his dog, Flat Nose, are world
reknown for their show business act which in-
cludes Barney’s jokes and Flat Nose’s tree climb-
ing ability.
Friends and neighbors began pouring in around
3 p.m. and around 3:20, Barney and Flat Nose ar-
rived by van. Flat Nose was dressed in his travel-
ing finery...red shirt, blue pants, straw hat, red
sun glasses and a red collar...quite distinguished
for a half Pit and half English Bull Dog. Flat Nose
came marching up to Sara and Sara presented
Barney and Flat Nose a shirt made at Elizabeth
Weaving in Grover, and hand painted by Tonya
Wilson. Flat Nose presented Sara with a book of
children’s Bible stories autographed by Flat
Nose’s paw prints.
As the entertainment got under way, many of
Sara’s friends and relatives brought drinks and
snacks for the event.
A large “Welcome Home Sara” sign proclaimed
‘a sincere we're glad you're home reminder from
their neighbors.
The remainder of the afternoon was an enter-
tainment extravaganza. David Godbold, manager
of Barney and Flat Nose made possible the
musical performances of Richard Phillips, World
~ Talent Association winner, Celeste Shady, who
sings backup for Reba McIntyre, and has her own
album entitled “Where Do I Belong,” and Tracy
Curry, who is noted as one of the best musicians to
come out of Nashville in a long time.
Jamie and Gail are employed at Elizabeth
Weaving, where she is director of styling and he is
assistant director. Jamie is from Lincolnton
where his parents, James and Dorothy Richards,
reside. “Long Shoals to be exact,” says Jamie.
aa
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Barney Odum And Flat Nose
Meet Sara Richards And Mom
Gail is from Elkin, and her parents, Robert and
Louise Nicks, reside there. ;
Jamie, Gail, and Sara moved into their new
home near Moss Lake approximately one year
ago never dreaming of the trauma that would be
facing them. The nearness of family and friends
made it evident that they would not have to face
this time alone. A relative, Furman Wilson, com-
mented that the afternoon was very enjoyable and
he along with everyone there wished little Sara
would soon be completely well.
As Richard Phillips began the musical enter-
tainment with ‘Jailhouse Rock,” Barney Odum
signaled Flat Nose to climb a pine tree about 25
feet high and with no trouble at all he returned
with a pillow which was tied to the tree. The next
time, the pillow was placed 30’ high and at
Barney’s command, Flat Nose wasted no time in
climbing the tree and retrieving the pillow which
was presented to Sara, much to her delight.
Barney Odum and Flat Nose reside in Darlington,
S.C. along with Barney’s wife, Frankie, who ac-
companied them on this trip.
Barney and Flat Nose recently returned from :
Toyoko, Japan. Flat Nose was photographed on
the phone cards used there. In Japan, one pur-
chases a phone card in much the same way we
purchase a Visa or Master Charge card and it’s
then worth so many phone calls. When used up, it
then becomes a collector’s item. These are col-
lected just as we collect baseball cards.
Celebrities and stars pictures are printed on them
and Flat Nose’s picture was printed on their phone
cards. Flat Nose has been on the Letterman Show,
The Today Show, P.M. Magazine, and next Satur-
day on National TV, at the Clemson/Carolina
Football game, Flat Nose will wear a Clemson
shirt and climb a tree, returning with a chicken.
Barney takes Flat Nose anywhere he learns of
children with diseases such as Sara’s. “I’d ride by
bike with Flat Nose in the basket to get to Sara
because I believe in the Lord and with the Lord’s
help, I want to help little children feel better,”
Barney said. !
Barney was offered a $500,000.00 contract to
make a beer commercial with Flat Nose retriev-
ing a beer from a tree but Barney turned it down,
saying he did not want to imply that it was okay to
drink beer since little children would be watching
the commercials.
The way Flat Nose started climbing trees was
as much of a surprise to Barney as it is for those
first viewing this feat. Barney and Frankie would
take their dogs for long walks and one day Flat
Nose kept looking up in the trees. Before long Flat
Nose would run up a tree. Flat Nose kept this up
for four or five years before Barney realized this
was just too good to keep to himself. Flat Nose will
climb any tree Barney commands him to climb.
He’s been performing about two years and as far
as Barney knows, Flat Nose is the only dog in the
world that can climb to those heights.
More tree climbers are being trained however,
and some of these are Flat Nose’s children. Flat
Nose’s sons, George, Grisby, Target, and Pepper,
and his daughter, Little Bit, will all go on to be
entertainers delighting many children. Before
Barney became famous, he was a farmer in Darl-
ington, S.C. After marrying Frankie and trying to
raise four boys, David, Randy, Wayne, and
Barney Jr., he decided to go to work at Sunoco
Products Company in Hartsville, S.C. Sunoco
sponsored Saturday’s private showing. Barney
claims Frankie named all their boys, naming the
youngest one Barney Jr. He says a lot of people
ask him why he waited until the fourth one arrived
before naming a Barney Jr. and he replied, “I
didn’t name them, my wife named them and I've
been wondering about that myself.”
It’s hard to tell who the children loved the most,
Barney or Flat Nose, but fortunately they didn’t
have to choose. Everyone enjoyed Barney's jokes
and tall tales and all the children enjoyed petting
the'amazing, tree climbing dog, Flat Nose.
Flat Nose is insured by Loyds of London for one
million dollars. :
Fkkk
David Godbold is Plant Manager of Elizabeth
Weaving in Grover. The show business part of his
life is his hobby. He manages Barney and Flat
Nose, among others. He was staff writer for the
national networks and this is where he found his
love of writing and recruiting. He wrote a song ap-
propriately named, ‘Climbing That Tree” which
will be released nationally and performed by
Dave Montana.
David looks for acts considered unusual. One
act in particular includes two monkeys lip-syncing
“Good Hearted Woman’’ while dressed as Waylon
and Willie. He is constantly on the look for unusual
animal acts or novelty acts. David said that he
likes to work with people with good morals and
those who wouldn’t step on others to get ahead.
“T’ll be glad to look at any act on weekends if
they are unusual enough or really good musical
talent as well,” proclaimed David.
If you think you have outstanding talent or
unusual talent, call Pearl Marketing Assocs. in
Darlington, S.C. at (803) 393-1124. Pearl markets
the talent David locates, and produces the publici-
ty material mailed out in advance of a show.
Tonya Wilson designed the shirt Sara presented
to Barney Odum and Flat Nose. Barney will wear
it on the Tonight Show on November 23
(Thanksgiving Eve). David asked Tonya to design
a shirt for Barney and, after agreeing to ac-
complish this task, went to work to design this
shirt. She placed a picture of Kings Mountain in
the background and used fall colors to represent
this time of the year. Tonya was well qualified for
this particular job as she studied art two years in
college in Houston, Texas. She’s taught classes at
Cleveland Tech and is employed with Elizabeth
Weaving.
Tonya is married to Jeep Wilson and they reside
in Kings Mountain. They have two sons, Michael
and Adam. Michael is enrolled in the Jane Camp-
bell Dance Academy I. Young Michael became a
crowd pleaser with his dance routine, shaking and
twisting to Celeste’s version of ‘The Twist.”
Summing up the days activities, Tonya com-
mented, “All the good feelings here are for Sara.
We hope Sara will benefit from them and we all
hope she will lead a normal and happy life.”
Any yes..even though the temperature was a lit-
tle chilly...no one seemed to notice...
Sara, Sitting On Mother’s Lap,
Gets Big Laugh Out Of Flat Nose
Sara Gets Flat Nose’s ‘Autograph’