There is a new movement in town — and I’m going to let you in on it. The only catch is, you can’t keep it a secret. There is a grass-roots movement to get Rascal Flatts to come and perform right here. And how fitting, the band wrote a song about this very town, called “Mayberry.”

I can already see it happening. All we have to do is to go online to a special link and type in our zip code. I did it Wednesday afternoon and I was number 43. The idea was only hatched yesterday. I’ll bet with some good old-fashion gossip, we could get this thing done. Let’s see how many requests we can get by Thursday night and beyond. The city that gets the most votes will receive a visit from Rascal Flatts.

I love the song “Mayberry” and have it on my iPod. It gives me chills every time I hear it. It just puts a good feeling in your heart. But here’s the thing, not only would the band members sing “Mayberry” from the “Melt” album released in October of 2002, but many of their other hit songs. Another one of my favorite songs by Rascal Flatts is “Bless the Broken Road” from its “Feels like Today” album that was released in September of 2004.

I can just hear them singing now, “I miss Mayberry, sittin’ on the porch drinking ice cold Cherry Coke, where everything is black and white. Pickin’ on a six string. Where people pass by and you call them by their first name, watching the clouds roll by. Bye Bye.”

So here’s the plan, we all have to ban together to get enough interest for them to come here. Post the link to your Facebook account, your MySpace account, e-mail it to your friends. Unfortunately you can only register once.

I know we can get this done, we just have to put some of that ole Mayberry spirit behind it. If my co-worker Morgan Wall got Redbox to start doing business in Mount Airy after she wrote a column about needing one, I can get you, the readers of The Mount Airy News and the citizens of Surry County to get behind this — we can bring Rascal Flatts here to sing our song.

Here is a little trick for making clicking on this link a little easier. Go to www.mtairynews.com, then click on opinion, then just copy and paste the link into your address bar. It’s just that easy.

Now go ... tell Rascal Flatts to come to Mayberry to experience the real thing.

Here’s the link: http://eventful.com/performers/rascal-flatts-/P0-001-000001876-1/demand.

Mondee Tilley is a staff reporter for The Mount Airy News. She can be reached at mtilley@mtairynews.com or at 719-1930.