SCHUYLER--It's only fitting that the first face many visitors see at the Walton's Mountain Museum belongs to Leona Roberts.

To start with, the organization's loyal leader actually attended classes in the former elementary and high school building that's now a museum and shrine of sorts to the popular CBS television series "The Waltons," created by Schuyler's own Earl Hamner Jr.

Hamner's family members and youthful memories growing up in the Nelson County hamlet were the basis for the family and their adventures in the series that aired from 1972 until 1981.

"I went to school here with Earl and knew all his family growing up," said Roberts, who worked in the museum seven days a week for years after it opened in 1992. A recent heart attack has forced her to trim that by a day or two each week.

She knows the building another way: before retiring, she was the school secretary.

Roberts and a handful of others came up with the idea of making the building, which closed as a school in 1991, a museum highlighting Hamner's accomplishments and all things "Waltons."

From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 20, the museum will celebrate its 15th anniversary with country, gospel and bluegrass musical acts, crafters, food, hay rides, vintage cars and more.

A critical step in the creation of the museum came when organizers turned to a former classmate of Hamner's, Charlottesville businessman Robert Hall, for help.

The owner of a successful interior design firm, Hall shut down his business for six months to work on the design and details of museum exhibits.

With a budget of just a few thousand dollars, augmented with donations from the community and other backers, Hall found authentic furniture and props to re-create four rooms fans of "The Waltons" will recognize.

They include John-Boy's bedroom (the character, played by Richard Thomas, was loosely based on Hamner), Ike Godsey's store, and the living room and kitchen that served as backdrops to so many scenes.