VALDOSTA – Perhaps Sammy Sawyer’s reasons for professionally impersonating Deputy Barney Fife owe more to his father than to Don Knotts. My daddy was the police chief of a little Tennessee town, and he was built like Barney. He even had some of Barney’s mannerisms, though he was not trying to be funny, says Sawyer, who is scheduled to perform as Barney at three South Georgia churches this weekend as part of a gospel show sponsored by local radio evangelist Brother Benny Daniels. Growing up, like so many other households, the Sawyer home’s TV was tuned to episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, which have aired non-stop in syndication though the series ended in the 1960s. People ask, why is this show still so popular? Sawyer says. Well, it was well done and entertaining, but to me it is so relative to today. I have four sons and it is a show that my wife, Dawn, and I like for them to watch. I can use that show to help raise them. Sawyer also uses lessons from The Andy Griffith Show, particularly the bumbling character of Barney Fife, which made Don Knotts a television icon, to impart wisdom from the Bible. At his church appearances, he usually warms up the crowd with 10-15 minutes of pure Barney impressions and then launches into a Barney and the Bible segment, which Sawyer either leads as himself or as Deputy Fife depending on what organizers want. His career as a Barney Fife impersonator started slowly and not as a career. A performer, he included Barney as part of his act. But Sawyer’s Barney proved popular and became more and more part of the show as well as a ministry. In the early 1990s, Sawyer and some friends created a live show called A Mayberry Christmas, based on parts of the television series’ holiday episode. It gained a big audience, and Sawyer’s Deputy Fife continued. In the past few years, it has grown into Sawyer making an average of 15-20 appearances as Barney per month. His Web site (www.bfife4life.com) mention Proverbs 17:22: A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones. This Proverb could also easily fit Don Knotts, the actor who created Barney Fife. Sawyer met Knotts on three occasions. He was a super gentleman, Sawyer says. A modest, humble person. Since Knotts passed away several months ago, Sawyer says there has been more demand for his Barney Fife. And if a crowd wants Barney? Well, Sammy Sawyer is just the man to nip it, nip it in the bud. SHOWTIME Sammy Sawyer impersonates Deputy Barney Fife from The Andy Griffith Show; scheduled for three South Georgia appearances this weekend. Naylor Gospel Explosion: Throughout the 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday event, Riley-Ledford Park, Naylor, which also features gospel singing, testimonies, preaching, games and radio’s Brother Benny Daniels. Bring a lawn chair. Admission: Free. Northside Baptist Church, Quitman: 10:45 a.m. Sunday. Ministry Baptist Church, Valdosta: 6 p.m. Sunday.