Photo by Sabrina Pankratz Alison Arngrim who played Nellie Oleson signs autographs while talking to fans about the “Little House on the Prairie” during the 45th anniversary of the TV show and reunion of cast members in Walnut Grove.

WALNUT GROVE — Hoping to meet their favorite “Little House on the Prairie” stars, fans traveled from across the nation for the television cast reunion held Friday on 45th anniversary of the television show.

Janice Loppe of Florida was in Walnut Grove for the first time with her best friend, Jayne Jurek, because it’s been on Jurek’s bucket list for a long time.

Jurek said meeting the cast Friday was “amazing.”

“I’ve been watching it ever since I can remember. It’s literally a dream come true, I’ve always wanted to do it,” Jurek said.

Loppe said that she read the books when she was young as well.

“I wanted to see the history of this place, where Laura Ingalls Wilder spent her childhood, so I’m excited to be here,” Loppe said.

Other fans such as Jenny Mitchell, who’s 45th birthday was Friday, traveled from St. Louis, Missouri.

“It was just a fun family show, we just watched it when we were little,” Mitchell said.

Amy Newsom from Mankato said she drove an hour an half to come see the cast and celebrate the 45th anniversary of the show.

“I’m just so happy that they come to this area and come sign autographs,” Newsom said. “I grew up with ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ It’s just so exciting for a town like Walnut Grove to have people from all over the country here.”

The cast that came down for the celebration were Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson), Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder), Charlotte Stewart (Eva Beadle), Sidney Greenbush (Carrie Ingalls), Wendi Lou Lee (Grace Ingalls), Radames Pera (John Edwards Jr.), Lindsay Kennedy (Jeb Carter) and David Friedman (Jason Carter) and Pamela Roylance (Sarah Carter).

Amy Foster, director of the of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum reported that it takes the museum more than a year and half to plan an event like this.

“We start before the last pageant is over, with working on who we want to get and who is available to come,” Foster said.

“Its a pretty intense event and we have a separate committee at the museum that does a lot of the work,” Foster said.

Foster said that this was David Friedman and Lindsay Kennedy’s first time in Walnut Grove and many fans were excited to see the Carters for the first time. Connie Swalve, from Buffalo Center, Iowa, who’s been watching the show since it came on TV said she was most excited to see the Carter family.

“We’ve never seen them before,” Swalve said.

Radames Pera, who plays John Edwards Jr. and Sidney Greenbush who plays Carrie Ingalls in show spoke in the afternoon to the crowd about the show.

Greenbush and Pera thanked the crowd for coming to see them.

“Seeing so many people here for us, we feel extremely blessed that we had this opportunity. Not only to come today but to be apart of something that is much bigger than ourselves and that has affected so many lives,” Greenbush said.

Greenbush and Pera answered many questions from the crowd about the behind the scenes and balancing school with acting.

Greenbush answered a question concerning who was nailed to the roof by Mr. Edwards in one of the episodes.

“We both think we did that. I think what happened was when you’re a child you can only work so many hours. It is completely possible that they started filming the scene before they broke for lunch and then didn’t finish it and so they came back to finish it and the other twin finished out the day,” Greenbush said.

“Without you guys we are just people at home twiddling our thumbs, meaning the love and the attention and the time you’ve put in to watching the series and then taking your time to come here, its a special thing.” Pera said.