CLOVIS, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Some call him the ‘unofficial mayor of Clovis.’ To everyone else, he’s ‘Cousin Mel.’

79-year-old Melvin Mason spends most of his days walking Old Town Clovis, making new friends.

He chats with anyone he sees and always offers to sing them an old country classic.

Friendliness has been his full-time job for nearly 12 years, and it’s turned him into a bit of a local celebrity.

Ross Lucas with Jeb’s Blueberry Hill in Clovis says, “It’s like the show Cheers. When he comes around – ‘Mel!’ That’s what it is.”

“I would see a couple walk up… So I ask them where they're from. Next thing you know, ‘you have a favorite artist?’ Next thing you know, I'm singing them a song. That's how it started. And I've been doing that for almost 12 years now,” Mel said.

Cousin Mel

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