THE WALTONS
Episode Synopses - Season 6

"Early in September of 1939, shortly after Hitler invaded Poland, England delivered an ultimatum that Germany withdraw her troops. And while war clouds were bulding over Europe our family was to face a disturbing conflict over the arrival of a new and controversial figure in our community".

With the Walton men and mother-to-be Mary Ellen sitting around the radio, Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of England, announces that the country is now at war with Germany. After the harsh news, Olivia says she, Sarah, and Corabeth are going to Boatwright University to select a new Baptist minister. Before leaving Olivia sees a chicken hawk attempt to kill one of their laying hens. At Dean Beck’s office the committee meet Hank Buchanan, an outspoken, unorthodox, young, and unmarried minister. Dean Beck says he is ‘a rebel and a doer’. Olivia and Sarah are in favor of this unconventional minister but Corabeth is against his brash attitude. She also seems uncomfortable with something about the man.

Jim Bob and Grandpa construct a hawk trap, hoping to catch the bird that has been killing their chickens. While testing the contraption, Hank arrives in a convertible with weights sticking out of the rumble seat. Erin thinks he is ‘peachy’ and asks Olivia, ‘Is he married?’ Later, the hawk dives upon a chicken being used as bait to attract the bird of prey. But the hawk pulls up short after seeing wires reflecting off the sun. John suggests painting the wires green as the grass. After making improvements to the trap, the hawk is finally caught. Grandpa wants to immediately release it back up on the Mountain but Jim Bob asks to study the hawk for a few days to observe how it flies and glides so gracefully.

Hank’s first church sermon proceeds well as many parishioners attend just to observe the new preacher. Knowing Corabeth was against hiring him, Hank compliments her solo singing performance. Olivia invites Hank for Sunday dinner; much to the delight of Erin. Ike reads the headlines ‘Germany Invades Poland’ in The Daily Progress and responds with, ‘The gall of that man Hitler’. Emphasizing his concern, Ike applies for the community’s air raid warden. Corabeth, conversely, is upset that they were not invited for dinner with the new minister. Though she disapproves of him, Corabeth decides to invite Rev. Buchanan for Sunday dinner, without including the Waltons.

While looking for a good fishing hole, John and Hank stop by Yancy’s place to find Yancy and Horace playing cards. The two are a little uneasy at meeting the new preacher until Hank decides to play ‘dealer choice, 5 card stud, no stakes’ poker. Finding out that John and Hank played cards all afternoon, Olivia thinks it’s shameful even though John says no money exchanged hands.

Hank excuses himself early from dinner with the Godsey’s after promising to pick up Erin from work. They go to the movies, seeing ‘Sweethearts’ with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy. Afterwards they drive to Hank’s to listen to his music albums. Mrs. Brimmer sees the couple dancing very closely as she brings over her chicken and dumplings. In her bedroom Corabeth dreamily looks in the mirror and gazes at the full moon outside her window. (One wonders if Corabeth is thinking more about the young, appealing minister than her unromantic husband.)

The next morning while Ike wonders why he’s heard no news about his application for air raid warden, Mrs. Brimmer gossips with Corabeth about what she saw last night. When Olivia walks in Mrs. Brimmer tells Olivia that Erin was seen alone with the new minister. Olivia trusts her daughter but leaves the store flustered and forgetting what she came to buy. When Erin arrives at work she overhears Miss Fanny gossip over the phone. Miss Fanny advises Erin to ‘use discretion, a word to the wise is usually sufficient’.

Corabeth knocks on Rev. Buchanan’s door under the pretense of showing him a new design for the church robes. Almost immediately Corabeth speaks that it is common knowledge he was seen dancing alone with Erin. Hank thinks something else is troubling Corabeth. She breaks down and apologizes for any hurt she has caused him. While giving her ministerial comfort they are seen holding hands by Jason and Erin as they walk toward the front door. An uncomfortable greeting results that concludes with Erin running home to tell Olivia that she and Hank are finished. Olivia decides it is time to meet with Corabeth and Sarah to reconsider their decision about the minister. When Olivia arrives she finds Corabeth in tears. She says it has not been easy in finding emotional peace with Ike. Though he is a good man she is ‘bored to tears’. Her biggest confession is the desire she has felt for Rev. Buchanan. In the middle of her admission Ike rushes in to proudly announce he has been appointed air raid warden for Waltons Mountain. Corabeth hugs her beaming husband. Later, Sarah announces that Hank resigned over a misunderstanding with Corabeth. Olivia and Sarah still believe that Hank is right for the community. With this in mind, John confronts Hank with what he feels is cowardice behavior. He tells Hank to face the community and himself. In front of the congregation next Sunday, Hank summons his strength with a heartfelt sermon.

At the end of the service in the church that Sunday, Hank Buchanan said -

Hank Buchanan was to remain our minister for a good many years to come, and while he remained, in Corabeth Godsey's words, 'a most unorthodox young man', he was a good man, and a godly man. The hawk returned, on the day we heard over the radio that Russian bomber and strafing planes had hit Poland from the east; the world would never again be the same".

Also appearing -
The Godseys (Joe Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); Sara Bridges (Lynn Carlin); Yancy Tucker (Robert Donner); Aimee Godsey (Rachel Longaker); Curt Willard (Tom Bower); Rev Hank Buchanan (Peter Fox); Mrs Brimmer (Nora Marlowe); Fanny Tatum (Sheila Allen); Horace Brimley (A. Wilford Brimley); Dean Beck (George D. Wallace); Thelma (Dorothy Shay); radio announcer (Hank Stohl); newsreel announcer (Art Gilmore); voice of Neville Chamberlain (David Franklin).

Notes:

• Hank Buchanan’s father, Henry Buchanan, Sr., is also a minister.
• Henry ‘Hank’ Buchanan, Jr., is 26 years old.
• Rev. Buchanan is the Baptist Church’s second minister since the television series began. The first minister was Rev. Matthew Fordwick.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"Looking back to 1939 on Waltons Mountain I had to span a chasm far deeper and wider than nearly 40 years of time. Customs and predudices that were acceptable in those days have gentled into a greater justice today. But they were part of that time, and to remember them any other way would be false. It was then too that my youngest brother Jim Bob entered a phase designed to drive the rest of the family to exasperation. A time when nothing stayed in his head for very long".

Jim Bob is minding the store while Ike and Corabeth are in Charlottesville. When Verdie Foster asks Jim Bob to look after her house and garden while she and Harley visit her sister in Asheville, she is unsure whether he is listening. The family has also noticed that Jim Bob’s mind wanders when Elizabeth says, ‘his head isn’t working’, Erin comments, ‘he’s the brainless wonder’, and Olivia adds that John-Boy had the forgetfulness record before Jim Bob. John is perturbed with Jim Bob when he discovers his fishing pole is missing. After Grandpa finds a mess of catfish on the steps, everyone assumes Jim Bob is making up for his misdeeds. John confronts Jim Bob but before much is said Jim Bob notices blood leading from the back porch to the barn. When they investigate a small Negro boy is found hiding in the hay. He is bleeding from a fish hook embedded in his foot. John removes the sharp hook with Curt approving of his surgical technique. Josh has been living in the barn, taking vegetables from the garden and eggs from the henhouse, and doing his best to repay his debts with such items as the fish he caught with John’s fishing pole. John and Josh go to Sheriff Bridges office to find where Josh belongs. He tells Ep that he walked to Virginia from North Carolina after his Grandma Beale died.

Olivia brings John lemonade while he works in the mill. With Josh at the house John admits that Josh, ‘grows on you, he doesn’t say much but when you ask him a straight question, he gives you a straight answer’. Later, Olivia finds that Josh has never seen such a wonderful place as the shed, especially the bed. Olivia says he can sleep there, but first needs a bath. Grandpa, Jason, and Ben assist in the endeveour to clean the reluctant Josh who insists Olivia is 'mean on clean’.

After Josh puts in an exhausting day of hard work, Olivia and John want to keep him but know that it is impossible. As a last resort John reluctantly takes Josh to the Jefferson County Home for Colored Children, hoping to find him a good family. Josh continues to look up at John with a questioning -- Why are you doing this to me? -- look on his face. After leaving him with Mrs. Thomas, John admits to Olivia that it was ‘one of the hardest things he’s ever done’. The next morning they find him on the front porch shining his shoes and, as he says, ‘just bein’ good’. After being moved from family to family who did not really want him Josh says, ‘I’m most content with you, Mister John.’

Olivia decides to teach Josh to read. He is a quick learner -- a little too quick though. In less than one day he is discovered by Olvia reading a book. Olivia comments to Erin that she must be the ‘world’s greatest teacher’ but realizes he already knew how to read and only wanted to please her. After Grandpa tells Josh a wild tale of catching a bear with honey, Josh asks Grandpa to tell John that he is good to have around. Finding the mill spotlessly cleaned, Jason learns that Josh is trying his best to please John so he can stay with the family. But Josh tries a little too hard when he steals a level winder reel from Ike’s store. Finding what Josh did, John marches him back to the store in order to return the reel. John tells Josh he is ashamed of him because he knows the difference between right and wrong.

John asks Jim Bob to take twenty-eight dollars to the bank as a downpayment on the mill. In the morning as Jim Bob rushes off to the bank the family can not locate Josh. John blames himself for being so hard on him yesterday. When Jim Bob arrives in town he sees Josh being picked on by several bigger boys. Jim Bob intercedes but in the ensuing scuffle has beer poured over him. Returning home John and Olivia are glad that Jim Bob rescued Josh but when beer is smelled on him they jump to conclusions. Josh explains what happened. Then Jim Bob discovers the money is gone. After John becomes very mad at Jim Bob, he admits, ‘Things just don’t stick in my head anymore. Didn’t you have a time like that when you were young?’ John responds, ‘I guess maybe I did go through something like that. I guess I forgot.’ While Josh pours water over Jim Bob as he takes a bath Josh says he did not like the orphanage because it had too many children. Jim Bob responds, ‘Come to think of it this place is full of boys and girls, too.’ Josh adds, ‘But they is yours. You was born belongin’. It must be the best kind of thing -- belongin’ somewhere.’

Jim Bob suggests to John that he should take Josh to Verdie’s place. With a good idea finally coming from Jim Bob’s head, John takes Josh to the Foster’s. Verdie agrees to inquire around for a good family to take in Josh. As they return the next day, John tells Josh that whatever happens ‘always hold your head up’. Verdie and Harley have decided to adopt Josh themselves. Verdie tells Josh, ‘I’m goin’ to raise you to be a fine man -- a fine black man and proud!’

"Josh found his place to belong to, and he grew up to have much to be proud of. To this day, Josh speaks of my father with the deepest affection and regard, and we often laugh together about how he came into our lives during the time that Jim Bob's head was on vacation".

Also appearing -
Ike Godsey (Joe Conley); Josh (Todd Bridges); Verdie Foster (Lynn Hamilton); Mrs Thomas (Ketty Lester); Sheriff Bridges (John Crawford); Curt Willard (Tom Bower); town boy #1 (Jonas Agee); town boy #2 (Ken Shriner).

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"As the news of war in Europe grew increasingly grim, we could feel a tension here at home, a charge of electricity in the air as we looked at the outside world with new interest and concern. It was a time when my brother Ben was reaching out for new horizons, and for my family, the long Depression years were coming to an end".

Ben suddenly finds himself out of work when his boss, Mr. Jarvis, closes the used car lot for more lucrative defense work at the Norfolk shipyards. With little prospects on the Mountain, Ben announces that he was moving to Norfolk to find a job. John insists he is needed at the mill but with little work coming in John eventually succumbs to Ben’s decision. The next morning Ben is driven to the Rockfish bus station by his parents. Olivia puts on a frozen smile, attempting to show a brave front for her son.

While at the general mercantile store, Ike asks Jason to drop off a package to Fern Lockwood, a recluse few people have seen in years. Jason rings her front door and as he departs is asked to split logs at the back door. When finished he looks back wondering who is this mysterious woman. Returning later to retrieve his jacket Jason hears a music box. Noticing something outside, Miss Lockwood finds Jason whom she calls ‘the musical one’. Jason learns she would secretively listen to the children’s conversations as they passed to and from school. She becomes overwhelmed listening to Jason talk about the numerous activities in the lives of the Waltons.

During another night, Jason hears her singing. She invites Jason inside to listen to a new music box from Philadelphia. Noticing her piano Jason is told it has only been played once. Unable to learn by whom, Jason plays the piano. Almost immediately Miss Lockwood develops a respiratory attack which must be relieved by pills. Jason then is informed that she and her father moved to Waltons Mountain to relieve his lung problems. On her twentieth birthday they journeyed to Richmond for a concert. She met Kiel backstage where they immediately became attracted to each other. Mishap over took them when he was killed while on the way to their wedding at the Baptist church. Since then, Miss Fern has dedicated her life to ‘that one perfect love that could have been’.

John finds an advertisement in the Charlottesville paper looking for a subcontractor to a construction contract. While Grandpa and John drive to bid on the work, Ben walks through the Peyton Shipyards. He locates the supervisor who hires him after Ben tells him he has experience working in furniture mills. Back home, Grandpa and John disagree on accepting the huge contract to make desks for the U.S. Army.

Miss Fern loses her canary after leaving the cage door open. She is distraught when Jason suggests they drive to a pet shop in Charlottesville. She resists, saying she has not been out of the house in years. Jason convinces her to go but when stopping at Ike’s for gas she is stared at by Ike, Corabeth, and Easy Jackson. Very self conscious about being out in public, she forces Jason to return to the safety of her home.

Ben sees his friend Anson still in search for a job. Because his rent is twice as high as expected Ben invites Anson to share the costs. On Ben’s first ‘night’ of work, he cuts forms and makes eye contact with a pretty woman worker. After work Ben, Anson, and their dates go to a South Seas style nightclub. Ben is amazed at the appearance and names of the exotic drinks they are served and the dancers that entertain them. After the drinks arrive, Ben’s date makes a toast ‘to Ben’s new world’.

While Ben is promoted to the job of running the shaper, John is having trouble keeping on schedule. Easy Jackson is hired but after a day’s work, leaves with his wages. Grandpa becomes disgusted and hitchhikes to Norfolk to see Ben. In desperation, Olivia insists that she will help in the mill. Ben takes Grandpa to the same tropical club where it is learned that John has been too stubborn to ask for Ben’s help with the big Army contract. Ben feels the need to help his father and leaves with Grandpa for home.

Jason gives Miss Fern is new canary and for his kindness she invites him for tea. As a token of her appreciation she presents Jason with a music box. Knowing about Miss Fern’s good voice, Jason decides to take her to church next Sunday. She resists saying it would take ‘a team of wild horses’ to make her go. But on Sunday morning Jason appears on her doorstep. Miss Fern is near hysteria with the thought of attending church. Jason states she has not built a monument of love but rather a monument of death. He relates the story of his close friend Seth who died and how he had to learn to live again. With Jason’s support she notices the new grave stones at the church and the real, clear glass in the windows. She stops at the steps and remembers her wedding day, the very place where she learned the fate of her beloved Kiel. The congregation is singing while they enter the church. With Ike leading hymn number 344 and Jason at the organ, Olivia shares her hymnal with Miss Fern; and slowly begins to regain her life.

John, meanwhile, is busy working when Ben surprises him with, ‘Can you use some help?’ John states, ‘I can always use a good man!’

"Ben remained at home and for a while the family was intact. But each day brought the war closer and closer to the mountain and with it the knowledge that each of the boys would be called to serve our country, which in time we did".

Also appearing -
The Godseys (Joe Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); Fern Lockwood (Linda Marsh); Mr Jarvis (Lew Brown); Easy Jackson (Britt Leach); shop foreman (Eric Lawson); Anson Adams (Joseph A. Butcher); Curt Willard (Tom Bower); Ben's girlfriend (Carol-Ann Williams); Anson's girlfriend (Robyn Pohle).

Notes:

• No John-Boy (Richard Thomas).
• John-Boy's Car number is 46 40 72.
• Ben has just graduated high school.
• Fern Lockwood’s first canary is named Gabriel. Her second pet is named after Jason.
• Ben’s job at the shipyard pays time and a half because he is working the 'graveyard shift', starting at 12:30 a.m. Ben is promoted to the job of using the shaper that pays one dollar fifty cents more each day.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"Most of us tend to be convinced of the rightness of our heritage, our traditions, our way of life, until some event happens that shakes our deepest beliefs to their foundations. On a day in 1939 two strangers came to our mountain. As a consequence of their visit we were to learn that others had roots there which reached deeper than our own".

Elizabeth worries about Myrtle because she is not eating her normal amount of food. As John looks over the goat, two Indians appear at the barn door. The boy introduces himself as Matthew Teskigi and his grandfather as Joseph Teskigi. The grandfather suggests the goat is suffering from bloat and recommends treating the animal with the plant golden seal. The pair needs a place to stay the night and John offers them the barn. While serving them a warm meal, Elizabeth listens to a childhood tale from Mr. Teskigi about a cup his mother made for him. Because he did not like goat’s milk his mother said if he did not drink from the cup he would remain the same size as the stick figure on the side of the cup.

The family discusses the Cherokee tribe, from which the Teskigi’s are members. The Cherokees lived all over the Appalachian Mountains but were driven west to the Oklahoma territory by white settlers. Grandfather Teskigi believes sacred burial grounds of his tribe are located somewhere nearby. He is looking for a great stone that is set on a mountainside, framed between two pine trees, and shaped like an arrow. Grandpa ponders the description and blurts out ‘Indian Rock’. The next morning Grandpa takes the elderly Indian to the rock where the Indian believes writings will direct him to his ancestors’ place of rest. Grandfather Teskigi finds the ancient signs on the rock. Later John observes Mr. Teskigi return and announce to Grandpa and Elizabeth that he was directed to the barn by the ancient writings. Mr. Teskigi states that the barn must be torn down to purify the land. John flatly refuses to even listen to such an outrageous idea. That night, Grandpa says that the question of who owns the land has been in dispute for hundreds of years. John insists that their land will remain in Walton hands. Grandpa confides in John that being old like Mr. Teskigi, he can understand the need to be buried alongside ancestors, in land set aside as sacred. The next morning, on a ridge holding their profiles against the blue of the sky, Grandfather Teskigi states to his grandson, ‘The white man has told me where to live. I will not let him tell me where to die!’

That night Jason arrives home to find the barn on fire. As the family puts out the fire Matthew takes out the animals. Afterwards, the elder Teskigi admits he started the fire and that the next time he will not fail. John tells Jason to summon the sheriff. With Mr. Teskigi in jail, Judge Parrish and Sheriff Bridges discuss what should be done with the old man. Later, Jim Bob drives Elizabeth into Rockfish so she can speak with Mr. Teskigi. Elizabeth tells the old man she is sorry that he is in the jail. She also apologizes for what the whites did to the Indians. She tells the Indian that she was always told that all the Indians did was ‘scalp and go on the warpath’. Now, after knowing him and his grandson, she understands the Indians are not like that at all. Grandfather Teskigi relates a story whose meaning is ‘Man can not always understand man'.

During the trial John states that the damage has already been done. All he wants is to ensure that Mr. Teskigi does not come back on his land. When the accused says he will return to destroy the barn in order to purify his ancestors burial ground, the judge says he will not be allowed to ‘pillage and plunder and go on the warpath like his ancestors did when the first settlers of Virginia came’. With a glance back at Elizabeth, Grandfather Teskigi says that a young person came this morning to state she found ‘me to be a human being and not a savage’. He adds that for a Cherokee to rest in peace he must be buried in sacred grounds. That is all he wants when he dies. As he turns and says ‘I’m sorry’ to John, he drops to the floor in pain.

John and the boys tear burnt boards off the barn while Elizabeth cares for Myrtle. Elizabeth asks Grandpa, ‘Do you think the Indians are really here?’ Grandpa says, ‘There is only one way to find out.’ He begins digging through the dirt floor. After four feet down he finds Indian pottery. John says that does not prove anything. But a moment later, Grandpa finds a skull proving this, indeed, is an Indian burial ground. Erin walks in to say that Sheriff Bridges just told her that Grandfather Teskigi has died.

John can not sleep thinking about what has happened. He believes he caused the man’s death. Myrtle then bellows out and when John enters the barn he sees Matthew leaning over a fire. Mistaking his intentions, John battles with the young Indian. Matthew tells John that he simply came back to boil golden seal to help the goat. John admits the burial ground is beneath the barn. John tells Matthew, ‘Every burial ground begins with one grave’ and suggests they bury his grandfather on an unspoiled spot on the Mountain. At the funeral Matthew asks for ‘blessings on this mountain land’ and asks the land be ‘allowed to be a honored Cherokee burial ground’. He crushes his grandfather’s cup and Elizabeth places wild flowers on Grandfather Teskigi’s gravesite.

"Who owns the land? Only the land knows. We mortals are passers-by and our lives are but a brief moment in the great span of time and space. We are born, we live out our lives, and most of us do the best we can with it. But the wind is forever, and the rivers flow forever to the sea, and all the seasons of the weathers will come and go after we are gone. But the earth endures, the earth is eternal".

Also appearing -
Grandfather Joseph Teskigi (Jerado DeCordovier); Matthew Teskigi (Ernest Esparza III); Judge Parrish (Richard Eastham); Public Defender Cross (Tom Bellin); Sheriff Bridges (John Crawford).

Notes:

• Grandfather Joseph Tekigi is 101 years old. He has outlived four wives. His first marriage occurred when he was seventeen years old.
• It was well known that the Cherokee’s were good hunters and the first Indians with a written alphabet. One of their great chiefs, Sequoia, had the giant redwood trees in California named for him.
• Grandfather Teskigi and his grandson Matthew live on an Indian reservation in North Carolina.
• Richard Eastham appears as Judge Parrish in this episode. He later appears as the father of Paul Northridge, Erin’s future husband, in the episode The Lumberjack (S9/19).

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"In the late spring of 1940 our world on Waltons Mountain was very quiet and uneasy. For the first time ever, people stopped work in the daytime to turn on the radio. The war in Europe had seemed to be hibernating until suddenly on the 10th of May the Germans invaded Belgium and the Netherlands and Luxembourg. By the 10th of June they had enslaved all three and driven the British and French forces into the sea, and were marching into Paris. To all purposes the free world in Europe now consisted only of the British Isles. And just as suddenly, at least it seemed so here at home there were no more pacifists, no isolationists. The little ocean between us and the Nazi terror was not very wide any more. People were beginning to feel that the time had come to help whatever allies we had and to be ready when the attack turned on ourselves".

The Baldwin sisters call on the Waltons to discuss how they can contribute to the war effort. With numerous military personnel at Norfolk and their seaside cottage standing vacant, Miss Mamie and Miss Emily ask John to remodel it. John does not want to be away from the family so Olivia decides everyone will go. Elizabeth suggests that the children will perform all the housework so Olivia can have a vacation. Ben tells the family he will stay behind because someone needs to feed the livestock and keep an eye on the house. Everyone thinks Ben is acting grown-up except for Grandpa who believes he has an ulterior motive.

The Waltons arrive at the cottage excited by the sand and surf. When they approach the house they notice how well the outside looks for being vacant so long. Elizabeth watches an U.S. Coast Guard ship patrol the waters but becomes suspicious of a girl looking at the same boat with binoculars. With food in the icebox and a bed that has been slept in, the Waltons continue to be wary. Then, as Jason walks around the porch, he catches someone trying to enter the side door. The intruder tells the family her name is Lisa Cooper and she attends the College of William and Mary. She says she will leave immediately but Olivia knows she has no place to go. Olivia invites her to stay after her instincts tell her the girl is troubled by something.

The next morning Jason tells Olivia that Lisa is studying music. When Olivia mentions the dreadful news about the war Lisa suddenly looks uneasy. Lisa mentions her father is a doctor but then very abruptly leaves. While talking with Elizabeth about how her father will have plenty of exciting nooks and crannies to visit when she returns to England, she tells Elizabeth to ‘treasure your father’. As Grandpa describes the battle of Dunkirk to the family Lisa turns away after hearing the words of Winston Churchill. Jason follows her to a café where she is playing ‘The Trout’ by Schubert on the piano. Jason listens to her say how she feels uneasy when people are too kind to her. After leaving they find Jim Bob’s rowboat that they take out for a ride. When an oar floats up on the beach, Jim Bob tells John he can’t find the pair.

Back at the house, Ben splashes after-shave on his bachelor-face preparing to go out on the town. But when he stops at Ike’s to make a call, Corabeth insists he will have dinner with them tonight. And the next day the Baldwin sisters drive to the house to ask Ben to take them to Charlottesville. Ben has Darlene over to the house so they suggest they all can go and stop for a dish of ice cream afterwards. Ben is finding it very difficult being on his own when everyone interrupts his single lifestyle. The final straw falls while Ben is entertaining Darlene. Corabeth glares at Darlene while she approaches the house and, then, Curt and Mary Ellen interrupt the couple while they sit on the couch drinking lemonade.

While searching the beach for Jason and Lisa, Chief of Police Moresdale arrives looking for the young woman. Finding her must be very important because the search, he says, is being conducted by the F.B.I. At this moment, two officers from the U.S. Coast Guard interrogate Jason and Lisa after rescuing their dingy from the ocean. Dittenberger and Flaherty suspect Lisa because of a slight German accent hidden underneath her strong English accent. The pair answers all of their questions so are released and driven to the cottage. The police chief returns and tells Lisa how worried her mother was when she disappeared from college. She tells the officer she is twenty-one years old tomorrow and is able to take care of herself.

Ben shows up at the cottage still furious about all the people stopping by to interrupt him with apparently nothing better to do. While John and Olivia enjoy themselves on the beach, Jason and Lisa return to the café. Lisa describes how Schubert would stop by a brook to watch trout swimming about, resulting in his musical composition and its title. She then describes the delightful evenings with her father and his famous musical friends playing their instruments. However, Jason realizes that one of the men has retired and now lives in California and the other was killed over two years ago in an airplane crash. Lisa breaks down and tells Jason how well she is able to ‘muddy the waters’.

Upon returning to the seaside cottage, Lisa finds a birthday party waiting for her complete with lemonade and chocolate cake and candles. She admits that she has been running away these past few weeks trying to remember past memories of her father. She recounts how they came to England from Austria so her father could practice his medicine. She proudly declares they became loyal subjects of the British Crown two years ago and how her father was at the Battle of Dunkirk in one of the tiny boats darting back and forth. As the Waltons now know, her father was drowned during that fight in the service of his island country. Resolving her emotions about the death of her dear father, she states she is returning to England because she will also defend her adopted country at any cost.

Lisa and Jason say their good-byes. She gives Jason a gift, to be opened after she has left, and kisses him before leaving on the bus. Jason has been given a music box filled with memories of his English friend.

"Lisa returned to her mother in England, and when the furies of war were spent she came back to America and finished her studies at William & Mary. In the letters my brother received from her in later years she spoke often of that turning point in her life, their meeting on the seashore".

Also appearing -
The Baldwin sisters (Mary Jackson and Helen Kleeb); The Godseys (Joe Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); Lisa (Vickery Turner); Darlene (Melody Thomas); Chief Moresdale (Arthur Franz); U.S. Coast Guard Officer Dittenberger (Michael Richardson); U.S. Coast Guard Officer Flaherty (Robert Gooden); Curt Willard (Tom Bower); radio announcer (John Hiestand).

Notes:

• Lisa is specializing in theory and harmony for her studies at the College of William and Mary.
• Lisa had stayed at the cottage two years earlier when her mother and father brought her over to the United States for college.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"In 1939, when the threat of war hung over our country, it seemed to me that our lives altered much in the same way that winds moved down Waltons Mountain, changing sharply sometimes, but more often gentling us so gradually that it took a length of time to show the change had come about at all".

Jim Bob places an antenna on the barn roof for his short-wave radio. Elizabeth tries to help but has problems with Rover the peacock whom is aggravated with all of the commotion. Grandpa thinks the bird needs a female companion. Near the water Maude Gormley paints Erin’s portrait but gets little cooperation from her who is anxious to leave for work. As Erin leaves Maude makes some finishing creative touchups.

G.W, Erin's boyfriend, drives up to the house and is eyed by a hostile Rover. Olivia asks G.W. to try on a robe she is making for Jason. As G.W. prepares to drive Erin to work, Grandpa asks him for some help. Erin can’t believe that the family treats him almost like one of the family. Jim Bob drives Maude to the general store where Ike agrees to display her paintings. After driving Erin back from Miss Fannie’s, G.W. eats supper with the family. While listening to the radio, G.W. puts his hand on Erin’s shoulder. She is uncomfortable with what he does and decides to take a walk. G.W. makes the excuse that he should leave and walks out with Erin. After some small talk G.W. asks, ‘Erin, you don’t want to get married or anything, do you?’ Erin is surprised by the question. Erin tells G.W. that she likes him but does not want to marry him. He leaves after the rejection and says good-bye to Erin with finality in his voice.

John discovers his daughter crying in the kitchen. Erin tells her father about the marriage proposal that G.W. gave to her earlier. Erin says she isn’t going to marry him but doesn’t know why she is crying. She thinks she has lost a friend and feels lonely about it. Erin states, ‘Can you love someone and not know about it?’ The next morning G.W. does show up to take Erin to work much to her relief. Pulling off to the side of the road, G.W. announces to Erin he is volunteering for the army and will not be able to drive her to work after today. Abel the iceman drops Erin off at the Willard’s where Grandpa and Mary Ellen learn about G.W.’s decision. Mary Ellen is shocked to hear the news knowing G.W. only wanted to farm a patch of his Daddy’s land and to get married. Grandpa thinks he may be leaving to forget an unrequited love.

Erin is disturbed that everyone misses G.W. and Jason forces her to admit that she also misses him. Erin then receives his first letter from the army camp and reads it over and over again. Rover is still acting strange when Maude walks out of the barn trying to coax the peacock to pose with its wings spread in a ‘fanciful way’. Later Erin responds to a knock on the front door and finds G.W. standing there dressed in his army uniform. Olivia and John walk upstairs so the two young people can be alone. But their solitude is quickly broken when the children eagerly run down to greet their friend.

Ike tries to locate the perfect place to display Maude’s paintings when a woman walks in looking for directions to Rockfish. She is immediately attracted to one of Maude’s paintings which she describes as ‘primitive but bold and clear’. She buys it for three dollars. Although Maude sold the picture she tells Ike he will still get his commission whether he earns it or not. While driving Maude back to Ike’s store, Jim Bob looks for Rover who has disappeared. After Maude walks in the store, she pays Ike his commission for her single sale. She then informs Ike that she has decided to let J. Wellington Penrow sell her paintings. She bluntly tells Ike she does not like her paintings sitting next to his pickles and cheese.

G.W. and Erin go on a picnic where they discuss their feelings and the future. G.W. suggests Erin visit him at the army camp in Virginia Beach. But, when John finds out her plans he puts his foot down and says ‘NO’, knowing the type of women that visit army camps. After discussing it with Olivia and thinking about it throughout the night he finally agrees to trust his daughter and G.W. While the family sits down for supper, G.W and Erin are doubling with Ernie and Judy for dinner at a nightclub. But the couple disappears while dancing leaving G.W. and Erin alone. When G.W. walks Erin back to her boarding house, he suggests that he walk her up to her room. G.W. tries to be a little too forward with Erin and as he leaves says, ‘I sometimes wish you weren’t such a nice girl.’

Grandpa looks for the lost Rover with Jim Bob’s car and finds the peacock at Walt Bicker’s place. Rover is proudly strutting around Ruby a peahen. Grandpa brings the pair back to the Waltons while Erin arrives back telling her parents that she and G.W. are the best of friends.

"The peahen which Grandpa brought home as a companion to Rover did ease Rover's loneliness, and he became a much better tempered bird, but as a pair they remained, like Erin and GW.Haines, just friends".

Also appearing -
Ike Godsey (Joe Conley); G.W.Haines (David Doremus); Maude Gormley (Merie Earle); Abel Bingley (David Clarke); lady customer (Nadya Turney); Judy (Wendy Rastatter); Ernie (Channing Clarkson); a soldier (Kevin Scott Allen); radio announcer (Hank Stohl).

Notes:

• G.W. is five foot eleven inches in height.
• The license plate for Jim Bob’s car is 52-7504.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"There came a time when everyone on Waltons Mountain was looking forward to a very special event, a blessed one, the birth of my sister Mary Ellen's baby. All the neighbors shared our anticipation as the day approached and only the mother-to-be seemed unconcerned that a new generation of Waltons was about to begin".

While Corabeth measures flannel for Olivia’s first grandchild, Cassie asks for some grape pop. She is a poor mountain girl who is pregnant but unsure when the baby is due. Mary Ellen soon walks into the store and Corabeth makes it known she does not think it is appropriate for her to be so active after seeing her toss the ball around outside. Miss Emily and Miss Mamie then arrive at the store exuberant over the expectant mother. The two sisters send out invitations to a baby shower that they are hosting for Mary Ellen. While the Baldwin’s choose an umbrella for the centerpiece of the ‘shower’, Ben plans a baby pool predicting the date and time of the birth for twenty-five cents. Ike agrees to keep the list behind his counter for others to contribute. Ben and Ike agree is it wise to keep its existence a secret from Mary Ellen and Corabeth.

Elizabeth tells the family she wants a niece named Easter Elizabeth. Grandpa informs her granddaughter that the Walton’s first born is always a boy and, by tradition, will be called for his grandfather and father (Zebulon John). Jim Bob, on the other hand, is more concerned about Reckless who is just lying around. Olivia and John discuss becoming grandmother and grandfather and agree they both don’t feel like grandparents. At that moment, Jason comes home dirty and sooty from the Dew Drop Inn after helping to put out a fire in its kitchen. Jason is now unsure how he will pay his tuition with the Dew Drop closed for repairs during the next several weeks. Yancy examines Reckless and announces the dog is expecting puppies. Remembering back a couple months, he says Tiger and he were working at the Waltons and thinks his dog is the father. Yancy tells Jim Bob that he wants the pick of the litter.

Mary Ellen wants to have the baby at home but Curt insists that Dr. Alexander from Charlottesville will deliver the baby in the hospital. Grandpa and John agree with Mary Ellen while Olivia agrees with Curt. The two sides argue about the final decision, much to the dismay of Mary Ellen.

Ab Hineman, Cassie’s grandfather, rushes to Dr. Willard’s office because his granddaughter is about to deliver her baby. Mary Ellen tells Hineman that Curt is in Westin so goes with the man to his house. A storm is developing as Mary Ellen finds Cassie’s baby stillborn. Cassie is superstitious believing the baby died because she earlier saw a dead bird. Mary Ellen tries to explain that the baby was too tiny to survive. Cassie insists, however, that Mary Ellen leave because she looked into the eyes of a dead baby. She keeps repeating the omen, ‘Look upon the face of death. Never feel your babies breathe.’ The situation finally scares Mary Ellen who rushes out of the room and sees the grandfather making a coffin. Even more scared now she runs down the road in a downpour seeing ball lightning run up and down a fence. With hysteria set in, she sees the blinding lights of Curt’s truck. Curt takes his wife to the Waltons. After calming her down, he angrily tells Mary Ellen that she could have lost the baby. Curt prepares warm milk for his wife while Mary Ellen looks into the fire, not totally comforted with his rational explanations of what happened.

Jason is excited about a new job he just found. He will be playing the piano at the Jefferson Theatre in Charlottesville. It is a vaudeville show featured between two movies. The first night Jason sees a comic announce the performance of Honey Suckle Rose. It is soon apparent that she is a burlesque dancer, a stripper. Jason is stunned for a few seconds but as he gazes at her black nylons a smile appears on his face.

At Mary Ellen’s baby shower, Miss Emily and Miss Mamie host the gathering of Olivia, Elizabeth, Erin, Corabeth, Aimee, Mrs. Brimmer, Maude Gormley, and two local ladies. Mrs. Brimmer has a knack for reading tea leaves but after reading from Mary Ellen’s teacup she suddenly becomes quiet and says nothing was revealed to her. Later Mary Ellen thinks she has seen someone looking in from the window. When she looks closer she can not see Cassie who is hiding in the bushes. Mary Ellen confides to her mother that everything seems too perfect and almost expects something wrong to happen.

The next day Curt visits Cassie hoping to examine her condition. But Cassie is too strongly controlled by superstition to believe the reasoning that Curt tells her. After Curt leaves, Cassie begins to hold a Raggedy Ann doll believing it to be her lost baby. After allowing Aimee and Elizabeth to hear the baby’s heartbeat, Mary Ellen suddenly knows it’s time for the baby. She calls Miss Fannie so she can contact Curt who is at the Campbell’s. Ike then receives a call from Miss Fannie. He relays the message to Olivia that Curt and Mary Ellen are rushing to the hospital. Olivia runs out of the store exclaiming, ‘Our first grandchild!’

(The end of Part 1 of The Grandchild.)

Part 2 -

Elizabeth and Erin wait for the birth, both with their own emotions and uncertainties. When the car drives up, everyone is disappointed to learn Mary Ellen is still pregnant. As John says, ‘it’s a practice run’. The next day, Grandpa knocks on Ben’s bedroom door telling his grandson it is high time they share some man-to-man experiences. According to Yancy Tucker a ‘very interesting’ stage show is being put on at the place where Jason is piano playing. They have no automobile to drive so summon Jim Bob in order to borrow his car. He does not trust either Ben’s or Grandpa’s driving abilities and insists he will drive them to wherever they are going. Ben says to Grandpa, ‘Is he old enough?’ Grandpa responds, ‘If he isn’t, he soon will be.’ Sitting in front row seats, the threesome view the dancer covered with balloons. As she dances a large pin bursts balloons while still maintaining balloons in strategic places. When the dancer allows Grandpa to pop a balloon his enthusiastic manner makes him puncture several balloons. The dancer quickly backs off from the mischievous gentleman with only a few balloons still intact.

The next morning Curt and Mary Ellen enter church services to many stares from the congregation. Rev. Buchanan begins his sermon by announcing that three generations of Waltons are present, with a fourth generation trying to emerge. The minister continues by saying that temptations that usually exist in big cities are also present very close to Waltons Mountain. Jason feels he is talking directly to him. Ben and Jim Bob chuckle throughout the sermon. At Sunday dinner, Elizabeth wants to know the definition of a ‘fleshpot’? Ben says she should ask Jason because he would know. Olivia wants to know what he means by that statement. Ben and Jim Bob tell the family they saw the show that Jason played for yesterday. The family says they also want to see the show but Jason says it is not really appropriate for the group. When Olivia learns he is playing for a burlesque show she does not understand how he can play for a ‘trashy girlie’ show on Saturday night and then attend church on Sunday morning.

Aimee unwittingly tells Mary Ellen about the baby pool that Ike and Ben organized. She tells Ike, ‘Just what do you think I am, some sort of brood mare?’ and marches off to wring Ben’s neck. Before finding Ben, Mary Ellen suddenly doubles over in pain. It is time for the delivery. With screams coming from Mary Ellen, Elizabeth boils water while Curt and Olivia care for the mother-to-be. Elizabeth, Erin, and Jim Bob are told to go to Mrs. Brimmer’s but Ben and Jason say they not kids anymore and wait in the barn. John and Grandpa drink coffee and wait in the kitchen. As the delivery drags on and the pain for Mary Ellen increasing, Olivia grows more concerned and Curt says he would hate to have to perform a Cesarean operation. After a very difficult labor Curt finally is able to say to his wife, ‘It’s all over now, honey. You’re a mother!’

Mary Ellen has given birth to a healthy baby boy but outside Cassie watches and waits. With the family surrounding the new father and mother, Mary Ellen announces that John Curtis Willard is the name of their new son. Five days later Corabeth and Aimee bring a gift of a handmade pillow to Mary Ellen. Later Jason returns from work to announce he has a new job as the accompanist for the Old Dominion Gospel Singers. Dr. Bassett, the director for the singers, saw Jason play at the burlesque show and hired him. Ben, in the meantime, cautiously approaches Mary Ellen to apologize. She accepts his apology after buying her a present when nobody would take back the money. She takes the new baby clothes to Olivia who is hanging wet clothes on the line. However, when Olivia goes inside to check on John Curtis she finds him gone. With Mary Ellen in hysterics, Curt believes Cassie has taken the baby. John, Olivia, and Curt approach the Hineman house with Cassie singing to the baby. Olivia calmly thanks Cassie for taking care of John Curtis. With forceful but cautious talk, she convinces the confused woman to return the baby to Mary Ellen.

"No child was ever so prized as that first grandchild who arrived in our family. The arrival of subsequent grandchildren was equally wondrous, as we watched our family renewing itself and a whole new generation beginning all over again. Today there are sixteen grandchildren in the family and already my mother was looking forward to holding her first great-grandchild".

Notes:

• Mary Ellen is eight months pregnant at the beginning of the episode.
• Olivia delivered all of her babies at home, except for Jim Bob. The Secret, season 4 episode 16, explains why that delivery was so troublesome.
• Grandpa recounts (from The Birthday, Season 3 episode 14) when he was sick and the family carried him outside to the tent so he could see the Mountain and breathe in the good country air.
• Grandpa also recounts (from The Long Night, S5/21) when he was thrown out of the hospital and had to visit Grandma from a park bench across from the hospital.
• John recounts (from The Venture, S3/24) when he was in the hospital with pneumonia.
• Charlottesville is 28 miles away from Waltons Mountain.
• Curt mentions Doctor James who practices in Scottsville and Doctor Clark who practices in Westin.
• The Jefferson Theatre is called the Magnolia Blossom Theatre when the burlesque comic announces the dancer.
• The license plates for Jim Bob’s car is 52-7504 Virginia.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"In the fall of 1939 the people on Waltons Mountain were becoming increasingly affected by the spreading war in Europe. In our family and others, despite our rural isolation it was to cause immediate and profound change".

Ike motorcycles past John, Grandpa, and Jason at the mill without stopping to say his usual ‘hello’. He stops at the Willard’s to deliver a letter from the War Department. Curt has been called up to active duty much to the shock and anger of Mary Ellen. Curt tells the family he will be commissioned a first lieutenant at Fort Lee. Jim Bob talks about flying in the war but Olivia is disturbed at the possible thought of her son in the military. She hopes Curt will understand when she does not see him off after earlier vowing never to see another family member off to war. On Monday, after Curt says good-bye to the family at the Rockfish bus station, Erin sees G.W. arrive home on leave from the army.

At the Dew Drop Inn, Yancy gets a back rub from Sissy while Horace drinks a beer and Jason plays the piano. G.W. and another soldier arrive at the bar and sit with Yancy and Horace. A war report suddenly blares from the radio. Yancy realizes how close the war is coming to their home shores, declares, ‘I’m goin’ to fight the Huns!’, and asks Sissy to marry him. Yancy prepares for his entrance into the military by asking Ben to take care of his animals while he is gone and getting hitched at the Baptist church. Rev. Buchanan officiates at the ceremony while Corabeth is the soloist, Ben is the best man, and Thelma is the maid-of-honor. The wedding is only slightly interrupted when Rev. Buchanan asks if anyone has any reason to prevent this marriage from taking place. Yancy looks around at the congregation knowing he only has a few precious moments left in his bachelorhood. But no one speaks up and Yancy and Sissy are married.

Erin and G.W. talk about his experiences at Camp Lee. He tells Erin how he feels about the land, his religious beliefs, and his country. Erin knows G.W. does not really want to return to Camp Lee. She feels guilty thinking that she was the reason he joined the military in the first place.

Yancy is given a big send-off by the town folks complete with music played by slightly inebriated members of the marching band. Before stepping on the bus G.W. tells Erin that he loves her and kisses her. On the bus ride back to camp, G.W. writes a letter to Erin and (for some unknown reason) a letter to John.

Feeling lonely without Curt near her, Olivia and John find Mary Ellen quietly crying while rocking their grandson. They ask her to stay with them until Curt returns home. Mary Ellen gladly accepts the offer. After settling back into the Walton’s house, Mary Ellen decides to travel to visit her husband. It has been a long time since a baby was in the house, but Olivia and John gladly take care of John Curtis while their oldest daughter is gone.

As John loads sacks into the back of the truck, the bus returns with Yancy inside. He sees John and asks him to sneak him out of town. Yancy tells John he is embarrassed about being rejected by the army for flat feet and for being over the age of thirty-two years. Returning home, he is also shocked to find that his new wife has redecorated his shack with a woman’s touch and removed his beloved animals to the out-of-doors.

Mary Ellen returns home early to tell Olivia, John, and Erin the sad news that G.W. was killed in a training exercise at Camp Lee. Erin listens with shock and disbelief. Curt and John drive the body back to the Haines’. John tells Curt to relate the whole story of how G.W. was killed so the Waltons children realize what horrible consequences can happen from war. In the morning, the family prepares to attend G.W.’s funeral but Erin suddenly says she can not bear to go and runs off. While Rev. Buchanan speaks about how Waltons Mountain has given up one of its fine, young men, John leaves to find Erin. He finds her and reads the letter that G.W. wrote to him. The letter is a will in which G.W. bequeaths to Erin the bottomland acreage that his parents gave to him. He states that he knows Erin will love it and protect it.

GW's letter to Erin -

"That first casualty brought the war home to our mountain. There were to be many more sacrifices during the long war years ahead, but GW Haines was remembered most especially because he was the first from our area to give the fullest measure of his devotion".

Also appearing -
Ike and Corabeth Godsey (Joe Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); George Haines (Lin McCarthy); Louise Haines (Jean Allison); GW Haines (David Doremus); Yancy Tucker (Robert Donner); Sissy (Cissy Wellman); Curt Willard (Tom Bower); Thelma (Dorothy Shay); Horace Brimley (A.Wilford Brimley); Mickey (David Dotson); Rev. Hank Buchanan (Peter Fox); radio announcer (Art Gilmore).

Notes:

• G.W. stands for George William.
• The first name of G.W. Haines’ father is George.
• The first name of G.W.’s mother is Louise.
• The name of G.W.’s horse is Red.
• Jason’s car (that was passed down from John Boy) has license plates 46-4072 Virginia.
• The Willard’s truck license plates are 56-7203 Virginia.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"While the war in Europe continued to spread, a deceptive calm lay over Waltons Mountain. In this 'quiet before the storm' our mother turned to painting, losing herself in it as if somehow she could preserve those tranquil days for ever".

Grandpa sneaks up on Olivia while she paints Drucilla’s Pond in preparation for the Ladies Art League Painting Exhibit in Rockfish. Olivia is trying to preserve the peacefulness of her world that is quickly changing before her eyes. While Grandpa comments about the calmness of the water and the gentle breeze around them, their conversation is disrupted by maneuvers of the Army at the nearby federal preserve.

Erin and Mary Ellen are subjected to catcalls from soldiers outside Ike’s store. The sisters then learn that Ike has been made coordinator in charge of civilian relations by the captain in charge. They are also told that Aimee and Elizabeth will open the painting contest with their tap dance to the song ‘Shuffle Off to Buffalo’. As Erin and Mary Ellen leave, Curt and Private William Lance (his driver) arrive while in route to help his unit look for a place to camp. Mary Ellen is disappointed that he can not stay. Lance strikes up a conversation with Erin but she is not friendly toward him. After Grandpa sings the song ‘When Johnny Comes Marching Home’ he announces that he has sold the army their ‘chicken-chasing pig’. Grandpa has also given permission for them to camp at Drucilla’s Pond so Curt can be close to Mary Ellen.

Chance is about to deliver a calf. John reassures Olivia he won’t try to sell the calf like he did with Chance’s earlier offspring. After supper the boys, Grandpa, and John talk about war but Mary Ellen is angry that Curt did not show up for the meal. She gruffly tells the men they can do KP as she walks off toward the pond. The next morning John and Olivia see Curt and Mary Ellen walking arm-in-arm down the stairs. Mary Ellen explains she was arrested for walking too close to the army camp and Curt walked her home and stayed for the night. John comments to Olivia, ‘That’s what you call night maneuvers!’

Ike is signing up locals as injured participants during next Saturday’s mock war disaster. Jim Bob has already been signed up and Thelma and Grandpa sign up while visiting the store. Later, Private Lance has run out of gas and admits to Jason and Erin, who have picked him up, that he is afraid he will get in trouble with Lieutenant Willard. While Jason finds a can of gas, Lance wanders over to take a drink from the old water pump. As Olivia paints the pump she tells the soldier that the well went dry fifteen years ago. Lance tells her that he is in the military because of his hope to keep his hometown like it is now.

Jason and Grandpa go fishing at Drucilla’s Pond but find that a grenade, that had to be exploded in the pond, has killed many fish that are now floating on top of the water. The army is now busy with the mock disaster, but Grandpa has lost interest in their escapades. John and Jim Bob load Olivia’s paintings into the truck for the trip to the exhibition. While passing in front of Ike’s store John and Olivia are subjected to the mock games. Olivia does not understand why the army’s activities are called ‘games’. She finally admits to John that she knows the country will become involved with the war in Europe. She wishes they only had daughters and no sons that have to go off to war. Back home, Grandpa tells John that the war is coming closer to them and poses the question, ‘How many generations will it take for us to settle our differences without killing one another and crippling our land?’

At the Rockfish exhibition Maude Gormley is awarded twenty-five dollars by the judges for being recognized as the most outstanding artist at the display. Olivia is sad she did not receive the money but soon learns that her paintings were sold to a most distinguished collector who greatly admired her work.

In the morning Chance has given birth to a baby calf after being scared by the army’s explosions. Grandpa says that dynamite brought the calf into the world. Elizabeth wants the newborn to be called ‘Gwendolyn’ but Jim Bob responds, ‘Not this one. She’s Dynamite!’

Olivia buys a new sewing machine from the money she received from selling her paintings. But when Olivia goes to the attic to find a silk scarf for Mary Ellen she discovers her paintings hidden under a blanket. She thinks John has bought them and becomes angry with him for being cruel and humiliating her in front of the crowd at the exhibition. Curt suddenly appears to say the army is immediately returning to camp after hearing that Paris has fallen. Before leaving, Vance and Erin agree to write each other. Curt and Mary Ellen reluctantly say good-bye. Grandpa confesses to Olivia that he was the mysterious collector who bought her paintings. He admired them and simply wanted to leave a legacy to his grandchildren.

"No one of us on Waltons Mountain could possibly foresee that the world was about to go up in flames. Mama's paintings became a lasting link to what was, a reminder that through changes and turmoil, some things do endure".

Also appearing -
Ike and Corabeth Godsey (Joe Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); Private Lance (Michael Sullivan); Jane Stephens (Alice Hirson); Aimee Godsey (Rachel Longaker); Curt Willard (Tom Bower); the Sergeant (Joseph Cala); the sentry (Jef Reese); the soldier (Kevin Scott Allen); Maude Gormley (Merie Earle); Thelma (Dorothy Shay).

Notes:

• The license plates from Jason’s car are 46-4072 Virginia.
• Private William Lance’s nickname is ‘Billy’.
• Lance is from a small ‘hill-country’ town in West Virginia.
• The Rockfish Press has printed an article about the painting contest.
• Alice Hirson, who appears as Jane Stevens (the hostess for the exhibition) in this episode, also appeared as the same character (the owner of the Rockfish Business School) in the episode The Career Girl (S5/17).
• KP refers to the military term ‘kitchen police’.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"With each passing year on Waltons Mountain our growth was sparked by learning and change. In fitting together the pieces of our developing personalities there came a time when my youngest brother Jim Bob had to make a decision which was to affect the rest of his life".

Elizabeth brings some goldenrod to Grandpa who is missing Grandma still in the hospital. Elizabeth confides in her grandfather saying she especially misses Grandma during this time of the day because it was ‘our time’ together. The two walk to the barn in order to check Myrtle who is about to give birth. On the way, Jim Bob proudly shows them his new eagle hood ornament. But Elizabeth does not understand why Jim Bob and her don’t do things together any more. Grandpa explains a little about growing up.

In Rockfish Sheriff Bridges talks with Harrison Bixby who is looking for a boy with the name of Joe Douglas. Down the street, Jim Bob finds Joe admiring his hood ornament. When the boy sees Bixby he quickly wants to leave. They drive out-of-town eating strawberry donuts. While waiting for the motor to cool down after it overheats, the pair imagine themselves driving motorcycles through hoops of fire as they travel across the country as ‘Wild Man Walton’ and ‘Daredevil Douglas’.

Mary Ellen bathes John Curtis while Olivia and Sarah Bridges drink tea at the supper table. Sarah wonders if it would be too late for her to have a family. Later, Joe joins the family for supper where he tells John he is from Falls Church. He adds his father works for the government as an accountant and he is on his way to Hampton to join the Army Air Corp. While horsing around in the yard John questions Joe about his plans. He decides to let Joe stay a few more days but doesn’t quite believe his story. The boys talk about parachute jumping at fairs but when Jim Bob races to find his kite Joe runs off to Mrs. Sweeney’s foster home. He tells his sister Claire to pack her suitcase and be ready to leave for Florida when he returns.

Elizabeth is alarmed to find Myrtle missing. She locates the pregnant goat at Maude’s who decides the mother-to-be should stay in her barn. While building their kite, Joe and Jim Bob decide they want to see the movie ‘Test Pilot’ with Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy. Both boys are broke but Sarah comes to the rescue and provides them money to see the movie. While at the movie, Olivia helps Sarah make curtains for her home. The boys are enjoying the airplane fights when Bixby sits behind them. They suddenly run out of the theater. The boys escape from the man but Joe finally has to admit he isn’t really joining the Army Air Corp. His parents died last year and since then he has lived in an orphanage while his sister was placed in Mrs. Sweeney’s foster home with the hope she would be adopted by a good family. Joe tries to convince Jim Bob to go with them to Florida when they run away. Jim Bob is unsure if that is a good idea.

Maude and Elizabeth drink milk and eat gingerbread while Maude relates some of her wild tales when she was a young girl. Myrtle gives birth but Maude still wants the pair to remain with her. Elizabeth doesn’t understand but Maude says she has her reasons. Elizabeth names the baby goat ‘Gingerbread’.

While Ep looks over the curtains Sarah made for their house, she asks Ep if they could start a family. Ep thinks he is too old to have another family but tells his wife he will think about it. The telephone rings with Mrs. Sweeney telling the Sheriff that Claire Douglas is missing. Ep remembers that Bixby was looking for a boy with the same last name. He tells this to Sarah who says the boy is staying at the Waltons. When Joe sees the Sheriff’s car approach the house Jim Bob hides his friend in the hayloft. Jim Bob decides to join Joe in his trip to Florida. When John enters the bedroom he sees his son’s knapsack and demands to know where he can find Joe. Ep returns Joe to the orphanage who is now mad at Jim Bob for telling on him.

Sarah and Ep talk about the orphans over breakfast. Sarah wants to take in the seven-year old girl and sixteen-year-old boy. But Ep resists knowing the change that would take place in their lives. Ep visits Joe in order to talk over his dilemma with his wife. He wishes Sarah had told him her desire to have children before they were married. He loves her but does not know if he wants more children.

Elizabeth finds Maude has brought the goats to their place after finding it is too difficult to handle them. Maude admits she kept the goats because she wanted Elizabeth to visit her. Elizabeth promises to visit and says she can be her second grandma. Sarah and Ep make arrangements to have Claire and Joe visit them on the weekends; with the possibility of later adopting them. They bring the children over to the Waltons so Joe and Jim Bob can patch up their dispute. The boys are brought together with coaxing from Ep and John.

The union was soon made permanent when Ep and Sarah adopted both children, and the space which Joe had filled for Jim Bob became a close and loyal friendship".

Also appearing -
Ike Godsey (Joe Conley); Sarah Bridges (Lynn Carlin); Sheriff Ep Bridges (John Crawford); Joe Douglas (Peter Miner); Claire (Michelle Stacy); Maude Gormley (Merie Earle): Harrison Bixby (Dan Priest); Ed Larkin (Jerry Crews); Curt Willard (Tom Bower).

Notes:

• Jim Bob’s car has a Model ‘A’ chassis and a Rolls Royce horn.
• Jim Bob’s car license plates are 59-6082 Virginia.
• Sarah Bridges’ car license plates are 60-7293 Virginia.
• The episode occurs during the fall because Grandpa and Ben are hoeing corn stalks.
• Ep has two grown up sons from his first marriage.
• Sarah went to see Dr. Jackson in order to check her condition for childbirth.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"I remember that Christmas when all the sounds and events of the world spoke against the holiday. London was being bombed, the evil of Nazi rule was spreading across Europe, and on Waltons Mountain indian summer held off the snows of winter. It was a year two young English children were to seek refuge on the mountain, and it was a year when my mother's faith was put to its severest test".

Part 1

It is morning of the first Sunday in December and the Waltons prepare themselves for church. Rev. Buchanan preaches a sermon announcing the beginning of the most glorious time of year. After services the family drives to Ike’s store where it is learned new door locks have been installed due to a rash of burglaries. The Baldwin sisters seek out Olivia hoping her family will help welcome two English children orphaned by the blitz. Miss Mamie and Miss Emily feel other children will help the visitors feel more at ease. Olivia agrees that she and the children will welcome Tess and Pip Wrayburn upon their arrival.

Chief Air Raid Warden Ike and his First Deputy Ben prepare for their official Civil Defense duties. Verdi Grant visits the Waltons to secure orders for her delicious burnt cinnamon cakes that she bakes every Christmas. She hopes to sell ten or more at two dollars each in order to buy clothes and toys for children-in-need. The Waltons order three fruitcakes, but Grandpa insists he will not share his cake with anyone.

Mrs. Rumsen delivers the orphans to the Baldwin’s, then returns to Washington, D.C. The children are uneasy with the new surroundings and it is apparent they hold repercussions from the war and the deaths of their parents. Tess says Pip has not spoken since the bombing and does not think he ever will talk again.

Erin is still upset about the death of G.W. Haines. Olivia prompts her to express unspoken emotions but Erin resists. Allen Timmons, an expeditor for the Defense Department, talks with John about increasing his order quantity. Olivia invites Allen for coffee and fresh baked marble cake, knowing that Erin will be inside to greet the handsome soldier. She declares to John, ‘I’m doing some expediting on my own.’

Miss Emily and Miss Mamie realize Tess and Pip are not happy with them and, now, can not locate them. They find them under furniture with fruit bundled within their clothes. They are collecting food for the day they will be hungry again. The sisters try to convince the children that they will never be without food. But Tess and Pip are not easily convinced after their haunting experiences in their homeland.

John is awakened by a noise coming from the barn. Upon investigating he finds Jim Bob talking over his short-wave radio. Jim Bob explains he is talking to Allison who lives in London, England.

Miss Emily and Miss Mamie wonder if Olivia would allow Tess and Pip to stay with them. They hope the Waltons might help them learn to trust and believe again. Olivia agrees but the first supper finds unusually quiet conversation with only Grandpa acting like his old self. Olivia puts Pip to bed in the boys’ room and places Tess in the girls’ room. However, when John and Olivia walk upstairs later they find the two sleeping together on the hallway floor. With their parents gone, the siblings are inseparable.

Mary Ellen can not bear to be away from her husband and decides to join him. Upon arriving she rents an apartment near the camp from a snooty landlady who demands two weeks rent in advance and lays down the rules of the house. That night Ike, Ben, and two other volunteers patrol Waltons Mountain for violators of the first blackout drill. Ben views a light in the far-west upstairs window of Thelma’s house. He gives her a warning but knowing her mother’s Christmas light is a tradition does not take Ben very serious.

Olivia hopes Jason will play Pip a song to help him open up. But Jason says he is no longer playing because he feels he must toughen up so he can do the job he was trained for in the military. On another short-wave radio conversation, Tess tells Allison where her family used to live. Allison promises she will ask around for survivors, but Tess says no one else remains except for her and her brother.

Mary Ellen and Curt hold each other, glad to be together again. However, Curt tells his wife that the camp and surrounding area are no place for wives and children. Elizabeth feels she is the only one who realizes Christmas is coming. Grandpa brightens her mood by inviting her to join him in choosing the Christmas tree. He suggests they bring along Tess and Pip. The foursome locates a fine clump of pines at the bottom of a steep slope but Tess and Pip are indifferent. Elizabeth becomes angry at their attitude. Grandpa tells the three about two happy past Christmases. At one the tree was so big it would not fit inside the house. So the tree was set up inside the barn to the delight of the animals. At another they found an opossum in the tree who was 'playin’ possum'. Grandpa leads the invigorated group in the singing of ‘Jingle Bells’.

Jason stands at attention while his sergeant yells at the troop. Then, Jason is told to bayonet a dummy in preparation for combat. Ben is counting his money when Jim Bob walks into the room. Ben says he plans to order a pinstriped suit that a catalog promises will make him look taller. As Olivia, Elizabeth, Tess, and Pip walk to the store an airplane flies low overhead. Olivia and Elizabeth wave at the pilot but Tess and Pip cry out and run scared to a concrete embankment. They believe enemy aircraft are about to bomb them.

Part 2

Olivia greets Verdi at Ike’s store. Verdi compliments Ike who is providing last minute supplies and selling toys at wholesale prices. Corabeth invites Olivia for tea while Aimee asks Elizabeth, Tess, and Pip to play games. But the orphans only want to watch, much to the chagrin of Elizabeth. Olivia reads a letter from John Boy who informs his mother that he will not be home for Christmas. Corabeth asks Olivia if she will help them organize ‘Bundles for Britain’. Olivia says, ‘they talk about the faces of war’. While staring at Tess and Pip, she adds, ‘but those are the faces of this war, those innocent little children destroyed’.

Mary Ellen sets up housekeeping at the apartment but wonders why her husband is unable to spend much time with his family. Curt repeats that he has many obligations to the army but Mary Ellen does not believe him and orders him out of the room. Jason has doubts about his suitability for the military and is unsure whether he will be able to kill a man. John says he would rather have men like him in war because he is not a machine, but a man who feels, thinks, and cares. He suggests that Jason not block off his feelings for music because without those emotions there would be nothing to defend.

As the Civil Defense volunteers make their rounds, Verdi collects money as she delivers her finished cakes. At Thelma’s house she states that nearly thirty dollars will be collected after three more deliveries. But as she walks down the road someone jumps out and steals her purse. Ben hears her screams and scares off the thief but not before the money is taken. While caring for her shaken friend, Olivia can not believe a woman like Verdi could be assaulted while doing Christian work. Three days before Christmas, Rev. Buchanan speaks about the story of Christmas and the hope that was born on that first Christmas day. Olivia is reminded of the recent terrible incidents and can not finish the Lord’s Prayer. She rushes out in tears.

Jason writes a new Christmas carol while Grandpa orchestrates the tree trimming. Olivia is glad Jason is again writing music, for this especially is the time that music is needed. Ben visits Verdi to tell her he has found her purse. When Verdi opens it she is surprised to find money inside. Verdi is more perplexed to see a ten and a five included within the bills when she knows she had only collected singles. Verdi realizes what has happened and looks upon Ben as a very special man, rather than as a boy.

Mary Ellen admits to Curt that he was correct when saying this place was not suitable. Although still angry they make up. Curt gives Mary Ellen a camera for Christmas so she can take pictures of his family. Mary Ellen returns home better able to handle the separation caused by the pending war. Olivia admits to John that she could always pray in the past when seeking out help to a Power that cared. Now she is unable to do so. John says that maybe she is asking God to act like she wants him to act.

The next morning Ben, Jim Bob, and John load an army truck while Allen checks the order. Erin sees Allen in uniform for the first time and is upset at the sight. The Baldwin sisters visit the Waltons to give presents to Tess and Pip. Olivia admits they were not successful in helping the children. She suggests they might get help at the center in Washington, D.C. Elizabeth tells Tess and Pip about being sent away. Not wanting to move again, Tess and Pip slip inside the truck. Elizabeth then admits she told the children they were being sent away and that she saw them hiding inside the truck. John, Olivia, and Erin drive to find them. Olivia spots the children in front of a landing airplane. Pip is frozen to the runway unable to move away from the onrushing plane. John pulls them out of danger. Tess can’t understand why they came looking for them. John says, ‘Because we care'. Pip finally speaks, saying to Olivia that he was ‘proper scared’.

On Christmas morning Jim Bob shouts that Allison is on the short-wave radio. When the family walk outside they find it snowing. All of Allison’s family is standing beside her as she speaks with Jim Bob and his family. Allison says that someone wants to speak with Tess and Pip. That person is their ‘Mum’. Emotions overwhelm the children. They ask about their Daddy but she sadly admits they lost him. She, however, promises to join them in the U.S. as soon as she is well enough to travel.

Jason sings his new Christmas carol as the family joins him in the chorus.

The Childrens' Carol -

Also appearing -
Ike and Corabeth Godsey (Joe Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); the Baldwin sisters (Mary Jackson and Helen Kleeb); Tess Wrayburn (Sally Boyden); Verdie Grant (Lynn Hamilton); Curt Willard (Tom Bower); Pip Wrayburn (Jeff Cotler); Thelma (Dorothy Shay); Rev. Hank Buchanan (Peter Fox); Mrs. Rumsen (Judith Sharon Morton); the Landlady (Ivy Bethune); Sgt. Grimes (Ed Owens); Allen Timmons (David Cramer); Allison (Kate Edwards); Mrs. Wrayburn (Dinah Anne Rogers).

Notes:

• The Baldwin sisters’ cousin sent Tess and Pip from London.
• Cousin Hilary Baldwin von Clinst appeared in ‘The Hiding Place’, (S5/22).
• Pip is a nickname for Philip.
• Mary Ellen pays twelve dollars fifty cents each week for the apartment and an additional two dollars fifty cents a week for kitchen privileges.
• Allison lives in Hampton, just off Finchley Road near the Heath.
• Tess and Pip Wrayburn lived in Bethel Green, Poplar Flats, just off Mile End Road in Leyton.
• Kami Cotler’s brother (Jeff) plays Pip Wrayburn in this episode. He previously played Fester in ‘The Go-Getter’, (S5/23).

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"There is a special niche in memory where a child places his parents, a place in time where they are never younger, never older, a time when they are changeless. For me that memory is of many years ago, and no matter what came after, they are forever young".

Olivia is visibly upset at the music coming from Jason’s piano playing. She asks him to stop but with no place else to practice Jason continues. Olivia can’t stand the noise any more and erupts in anger. She runs out of the house after a drinking glass slips from her hands and smashes to the floor. When John asks her what is wrong Olivia says she wants to be left alone. Walking to church Elizabeth talks to her sisters about the party she is planning. When she inquires about the dress her mother promised to make, Olivia does not remember the dress or even the party. Mary Ellen tells her mother that they were present when Elizabeth was told she could plan the party. Olivia walks away upset. She wanders until reaching the water’s shore where John finds her. Olivia admits she feels ‘a long way from home’ and needs to be a child again.

At dinner John tell the children to be extra considerate toward their mother who is feeling tired. When Mary Ellen talks with Olivia, who she is working on Elizabeth’s party dress, she mentions her hands are terribly hurting her. And when Elizabeth listens to Olivia reminisce about her childhood while looking at a photograph album in the attic, Olivia suddenly becomes claustrophobic and must hurriedly leave.

Jim Bob has the opportunity to get a job after school and on Saturdays at Lou’s Tool and Machine Shop in Rockfish. Although John agrees to sign the job application form for his underage son, Olivia refuses to sign insisting he already has enough to do with schoolwork and chores around the house.

John and Mary Ellen are loading boards onto the truck so John can work on the house to be built on the Mountain. Olivia leaves for Ike’s store to send some letters but with confusion surrounding Ike’s postal duties she decides not to send them. Impulsively Olivia decides to use the telephone. When the telephone operator is Erin she can not answer and runs away. As John and Grandpa work on the house, John tells his father he feels Olivia needs breathing room and a change in her life. When they return home, John finds Olivia packing for an unexplained trip to her Aunt Kate’s. She can only tell John to be patient with her.

Olivia arrives by Alberene Cab in front of Aunt Kate’s house. Olivia says that inside her suitcase are ‘candy kisses, licorice whips, a rag-doll’. Aunt Kate adds, ‘a flannel nightgown and a clean handkerchief’ and realizes Olivia has run away from home again. Aunt Kate pours a glass of sherry and offers a glass to Olivia, who refuses. Kate asks, ‘What’s the matter?’ Olivia says, ‘I can’t control how I think, what I think, or how I act!’ Aunt Kate knows a cup of hot tea will help and prepares one containing her secret ingredient. As Olivia drinks the relaxing concoction Aunt Kate suggest they visit Dr. C.W. Caldwell.

Jim Bob attempts to copy Olivia’s signature for the job application from a discarded letter. He is caught by Jason who tells his brother that what he is doing is forgery. Jason reads his mother’s letter to John Boy that states, ‘I need something to hold on to or I know I’ll fly off the world’. Jason is worried and has Erin call Aunt Kate. But no one is home. Kate and Olivia are visiting Olivia’s childhood home but the shrubs and trees have grown and look different from what she remembers. While swinging, Olivia imagines her mother calling her to supper. After being examined by the doctor, Olivia does not accept his evaluation. Kate describes symptoms: ‘the shortness of breath, the internal shakes and quivers, the pain that splits your skull, the hands that won’t work, and the need to run away’. When she adds, ‘the sudden rise of temperature and the forgetfulness’ Olivia reminds Aunt Kate she never told her what she was feeling. Kate tells Olivia she was describing her feelings, not Olivia’s feelings. Olivia now realizes she is going through menopause. Over breakfast Kate says this time is just a ‘bend in the road’ and suggests she find some amusement in it. Olivia is not quite amused but adds that if she must grow older she might as well do it gracefully.

John signs Jim Bob’s job application in case Mr. Clinton will accept one signature. On the way to Rockfish Jim Bob stops on the side of the road to forge his mother’s signature. Just then Rev. Buchanan walks up after his car breaks down. Jim Bob can not understand how he knew what he was doing. Hank doesn’t know what he is talking about but goes along, making Jim Bob think he has uncanny ministerial abilities.

A storm blows in and the family prepares for it while worrying that John is still on the Mountain. John runs to his tent in order to avoid the winds. At the same time, Jason drives through the rain on his way to Alberene. Olivia is worried about the family and calls Ike’s store. No one is there. Attempting to call Rockfish she finds all the telephone lines down. As the storm abates John emerges from the downed tent to find all of his work blown down. Jason arrives at Aunt Kate’s house and is warmly welcomed by Kate and his mother. He asks Olivia if she can come home now. John returns to the house and crumbles up the blueprints of the house. He tells Olivia that, ‘one of these days I’m going to build you that house on the Mountain’. Olivia kisses John knowing that she will be home wherever she and her husband live.

"My mother's concern for her lost youth didn't last very long, and though she must have known many times when she thought she'd 'fly off the world', she never concerned her family with them again. And today her children are hard put to maintain the pace of that vital, interested woman for very long. To us, she'll be forever young".

Also appearing -
Ike and Corabeth Godsey (Joe Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); Aunt Kate (Louise Latham); Rev. Hank Buchanan (Peter Fox); Mr. Clinton (Jim Henaghan).

Notes:

• Olivia grew up in Alberene, Virginia.
• Olivia’s aunt (her mother’s younger sister) is Kate Grover Daly.
• John’s car license plates are T-2038 Virginia.
• Aunt Kate’s telephone number is ‘Alberene, Virginia, Market-2346’.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"Nature I think intended my father to be a dreamer and a poet. Instead, he became the head of a large hungry household. The one thing he feared and despised was debt, and yet it clung to him as devotedly as it clung to all of his neighbors. He tried never to borrow, never to buy anything on time, and never to fall behind on things like taxes and doctor bills. As careful as he was, there came a day in 1940 when he looked at his finances and was astounded by what he found looking back at him....".

John is perplexed at the paperwork for the house and mill mortgage when he absentmindedly goes off in the truck. John is still in a daze when he greets Rev. Hank Buchanan in Rockfish. Hank has just eyed Marcia Woolery walking down the street. John walks over to John Martin Renshaw, a friend skilled in finances, so he could look over the papers. John Martin declares that with only two more payments John will have his mortgage paid off. John can’t believe it! Hoping to pay it off early, John visits a track superintendent to inquire about work orders. The man says three hundred fence posts are needed within two weeks for the old paper mill in Rittleton that has been converted to a defense plant. John takes the huge order.

Rev. Buchanan shops for groceries at Ike’s store while Maude Gormley and Mary Ellen look on. Corabeth can not understand how he can keep up his strength on a diet of canned goods. Ike is proud of his purchase of fifty Arctic Queen electric refrigerators. After Hank leaves, Corabeth, Maude, and Mary Ellen talk about finding an appropriate bride for their minister. Maude comments that, ‘If I was fifty years younger, I’d give that preacher a run for his money!’ When the threesome has problems thinking of a suitable woman Maude suggests Marcia Woolery. Corabeth is aghast at Maude for even bringing up ‘that type of woman’.

Over supper John announces that if everyone pitches in with the order the family will be out of debt. While riding Old Blue, who is pulling a downed log, Elizabeth asks Grandpa, ‘Am I poor people?’ Grandpa relates one time in 1877 when he was really poor. He had seen something never imagining to ever possess. But that Christmas he received it. Elizabeth wonders what it could be. Grandpa answers, ‘It was an orange’.

Olivia and Corabeth enter Rev. Buchanan’s parsonage in order to measure for new curtains. Corabeth gossips about finding Hank a wife while Olivia works. Corabeth states that Hank possesses a ‘remarkable degree of animal magnetism’ and, therefore, needs to be directed toward a proper woman for his wife.

John drives to Ike’s store to purchase more creosote for the work order. He runs into banker J.J. Brendamore who gives John a cigar, trying to convince him to take out another loan. While John smokes his new cigar, Ike tells him that he stands to make a handsome profit of seventy-five dollars for each icebox. Corabeth warns her husband not to divulge that amount to just anyone.

After an exhausting day working on the order, the family rests under a shade tree. Inside the house, Mary Ellen and Erin prepare supper while gossiping about Corabeth’s attempt to find Hank a wife. Erin says that being the wife of a Baptist preacher means ‘being as poor as Job’s turkey’. During supper Elizabeth suggest they celebrate being out of debt. John and Olivia decide to have a Sunday picnic where everyone brings a picnic basket. Without a mortgage, John wants a new truck and Olivia wants to drive to the Grand Canyon.

The next day Ike shows Horace his new electric iceboxes but to no avail since his house is without electricity. Failing to realize many of their neighbors are without electricity, the Godsey’s wonder if they made a mistake. Horace greets John outside the store and informs him to watch out for Ike who will try to sell him one of the iceboxes. As John enters the store he jokes to Ike that if he did buy a refrigerator he would buy one at a chain store in Charlottesville. Ike does not like the joke, blaming John for his troubles.

On the front porch Grandpa anxiously waits for the truck returning with John and Olivia. When it arrives, they announce that ‘tomorrow we burn the blame thing!’ The house is decorated for the party and Jason is singing and playing his guitar. Neighbors come to share in the happiness. John Martin arrives without his mother who is ‘locked in her room either counting her cash money or with a bottle’. Corabeth arrives with an English trifle dessert but without Ike. (Her husband is examining a refrigerator when the banker visits). Hank Buchanan arrives with a mysterious woman that Grandpa, Corabeth, and Mary Ellen realize is Marcia Woolery wearing a revealing two-piece outfit. Corabeth faints at the sight. Olivia tells Corabeth, ‘Behave yourself or I’ll pour a pitcher of lemonade on your head’. Marcia asks Erin if Hank is dating anyone locally. When Erin says that he isn’t Marcia thinks he is ‘ripe for picking’. Mary Ellen then tells Erin that Corabeth fainted thinking they might get married. Erin informs her older sister that Marcia isn’t the one because she has always known who will marry him. Hank announces in his best preaching voice that the Lord has delivered John Walton from a large mortgage. With that fanfare John burns the papers while Jim Bob sets off fireworks. Ike then arrives to say it is the ‘end of the world’ because the refrigerators don’t work and the bank wants its money back or will repossess the store. Corabeth faints again. Taking her inside they discuss the problem. John Martin states the only logical solution is to use John’s good name as collateral for the needed seven hundred fifty dollars. John and Olivia privately discuss the matter. At first Olivia is against the idea but John convinces her when he asks, ‘What is the Christian thing to do?’ Back on the porch, John announces that being debt-free did not last long. Ike adds that John had a great deal of help from him.

"And there it was, our parents' great occasion went as quickly as it came, and this that followed was the moment of meaning, the time of celebration. Our parents, like our grandfather on that Christmas morning a hundred years ago, were blessed with one lovely moment of being rich. And perhaps they knew, like my grandfather, that they would never be poor again".

Also appearing -
Ike and Corabeth Godsey (Jow Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); Rev. Hank Buchanan (Peter Fox); Marcia Woolery (Tammi Bula); J.J. (Joe) Brendamore (Jack Manning); Maude Gormley (Merie Earle); Track Superintendent (Hal Riddle); Horace Brimley (A. Wilford Brimley).

Notes:

• John’s mortgage is with the Mercantile Bank and Trust Company.
• John Martin Renshaw and his mother own a dry goods store in Rockfish.
• John Martin has problems with his mother who is inclinedc to drink at times.
• Horace Brimley’s wife is named Amy.
• The two advertisements hanging on the front door of Ike’s store is for ‘Lambert’s Coffee’ and ‘Fresh Eggs’.
• Ike paid fourteen dollars for each refrigerator and is selling each of them for eighty-nine dollars, ninety cents.
• Ike’s two-year loan to John Martin’s mother, with John’s co-signature, is for five-percent. The payments are thirty-two dollars, ninety cents each month, which is two dollars, ninety cents less than the old bank mortgage.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

"In memory now I think to that time in 1940 when the war was in Europe, wide miles across the Atlantic from the Blue Ridge. A time when its treachery rarely reached as far as Waltons Mountain. Still, the seeds of distrust and suspicion were everywhere. They were there for my sister Elizabeth when she began to keep a journal, such as I had done as a boy. Her imagination, always vivid, had been joined by a genuine gift for exageration. So when the rumor began, Elizabeth was among those who passed it along, bigger than when she had received it".

With John and Ben standing over him, Jim Bob attempts to minimize static coming from his short-wave radio. They hear German voices from the transmission but are uncertain where it originates. Elizabeth is writing a story, imitating the way John-Boy wrote, when Grandpa walks in to tell his granddaughter that she even looks like John-Boy. As Mary Ellen and Erin dance to Guy Lombardo on the radio John and the boys walk into the room. The music is interrupted with a news bulletin declaring that German forces have evaded the neutral nations of Norway and Denmark. A knock is then heard at the front door where John discovers a man with a German accent searching for Flossie Brimmer’s house. He is Flossie’s brother-in-law, Willie Brimmer, who has arrived with wife, Marta, and daughter, Katrina. While John and Jim Bob take the family to Mrs. Brimmer’s house Ike and Corabeth discover an old dog while closing the store.

Preparing for bed, Olivia says she is chilled to hear about the German invasion and then, closer to home, to hear the man with the German accent. John only hopes that Elizabeth will not run these events into the ground. Elizabeth writes in her diary about how ‘strangers can make a community feel afraid’.

While Corabeth complains about everything under the sun and Ike moves the pickle barrel, Willie Brimmer enters the store. He introduces himself and explains that he is looking for work. Ike suggests he inquire at John’s mill. Buck Vernon wanders into the store and acts very coldly toward the German-speaking man. Vernon does not like ‘that talk’ and wonders why he moved to Waltons Mountain. As Willie walks to the mill John and Grandpa complain about the shoddy work the boys did on some chairs. Upon arriving Willie announces he is a carpenter who is in need of work. John shows him the chairs that need to be reworked and the desks they make for the army. John agrees to hire the experienced man and suggests the family move into the vacant Montgomery place that is about half way up the Mountain.

Elizabeth and her new friend Katrina play in the tree house while the old dog walks up to the house. Grandpa knows that Samuel the dog was the long-time companion of Judge Frazier who died just last week. Vernon conveys his suspicions about the German man with Sheriff Bridges who is getting a haircut from Charlie the barber. Ep admits that he can’t arrest the man for just talking with a German accent.

Jim Bob and the Brimmer family eat lunch while Willie addresses their problems of being of German descent at their last home. Later Jim Bob shows Willie his short-wave radio hoping he can improve its reception. With Elizabeth looking on, the pair hears a German conversation. The signal is weak and Willie suggests they move the antennae to the mountaintop. When Vernon confronts John about the German he hired, Elizabeth tells him that Willie was listening to German conversations on Jim Bob’s radio. Vernon is suspicious about the activity and relates this new information to Ike Godsey. Ike doesn’t believe Vernon but Elizabeth, having arrived at the store, finds a package addressed to Willie Brimmer. It is written in German. Vernon continues to build his case against the German family at Charlie’s barbershop.

Willie arrives at Ike’s store to pick up a package while Vernon completes repair work. When Corabeth can not find the package she assumes it has not arrived. Willie telephones Germantown, Pennsylvania to find out what has happened to the package. He speaks in German to the person at the other end of the telephone. Corabeth finally locates the package but not after Vernon has listened to the entire conversation. Upon returning home, Willie opens the box that contains needed medicine for his respiratory problem.

Elizabeth and Katrina search for Sam but Grandpa suggests they leave the old dog alone. The girls run off but Grandpa later finds they have locked up the dog. Grandpa turns the dog loose telling the girls he thinks the dog wants to be left alone so it can die peacefully and with dignity. Grandpa tells the girls to run home but he stays and ponders about what he has just told the girls.

A group of men talk outside Ike’s store about the new German neighbors. Vernon leads the group into deciding they can handle the problem themselves. John and Willie work as the gang of men drive up with clubs in the hands. They tell John he is harboring a spy. Willie tells the men that just because he speaks a different language he is labeled the enemy. When confronted by the mysterious package and the speaking of German over the telephone, Willie informs the men the package contains medicine from his doctor who speaks little English. John tells the men how foolish they look after chasing a rumor a little girl has spread.

"Willie, Marta and Katrina Brimmer were accepted as neighbors and friends in our community. My parents were able to see that Elizabeth faced her blame, and learned from it. And though she set aside her journal for a while, she kept forever her boundless imagination".

Also appearing -
Ike and Corabeth Godsey (Joe Conley and Ronnie Claire Edwards); Willie Brimmer (Mathew Wanden); Marta Brimmer (Ellen Blake); Katrina Brimmer (Tasha Lee Zemrus); Buck Vernon (Barry Cahill); Fisk (Hal Boker); Charley (Barry D.Blake); Sheriff Ep Bridges (John Crawford); German voice (Chris Anders); Radio announcer (John Heistand).

Notes:

• The Willie Brimmer family moved to Waltons Mountain from Germantown, Pennsylvania.
• Willie telephones his doctor at ‘Germantown, Pennsylvania 2346’.

(Synopsis by William Atkins.)

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"It was spring on Waltons Mountain, and after the confinement of a long winter life burst forth with such energy that every creature seemed charged with it, including the two young stallions in our house, Ben and Jim Bob".

The spring cleaning of the Waltons’ house is interrupted as arguments erupt between Ben and Jim Bob. Grandpa and Elizabeth discuss their temperament with Grandpa saying the boys are acting ‘like billygoats’. Elizabeth mentions they seem to hate each other. Grandpa knows those feelings are normal for boys of their age. While Mary Ellen removes the curtains and Jason plays the piano, Erin wants to know why Ben is so grumpy. He states that Ruby acted like ‘little Miss Iceberg’ on their date. Erin says he’s a ‘typical male’.

Grandpa, John, and Jason are working in the front yard when Miss Emily literally drives her car into the yard and almost through the fence. She is concerned about Mamie acting strangely. Her visit is to inform Zeb that her sister is requesting his help. At the Baldwin’s house Grandpa finds thrips on her ailing rose bush causing it not to bloom for the first time. Zeb recommends dusting powder. Miss Mamie also confides in Zeb that the dying rose bush is a sign from her Papa that this will be her last spring. She wants him to be the executor of her estate. Grandpa doctors the rose bush but upon entering the house finds the sisters’ grandfather clock has suddenly stopped. Miss Mamie thinks this is another sign that her time has arrived.

Ruby and Erin discuss Ben who is not behaving as a gentleman. Erin suggests to Ruby that she make Ben jealous. Ben and Jim Bob continue to argue at lunch so Olivia decides to eat her meal with John at the mill and Mary Ellen takes her son’s food up to her bedroom thankful he doesn’t yet talk. In the afternoon Patsy Brimmer arrives with a picnic basket for a date that Jim Bob has forgotten. With him behind in his painting, Ben offers to replace his younger brother at the picnic. As Ben and Patsy walk out of the house Jim Bob intently looks at the couple while mistakenly painting the glass instead of the window frame.

The Waltons always celebrate the end of spring cleaning with a picnic so Grandpa invites the Baldwin sisters hoping the festivities will brighten Miss Mamie’s spirits. Excitedly he announces to John and Olivia that they will eat wienies, marshmallows, and homemade ice cream. While still swinging on the porch, Ben approaches his parents after his first date with Patsy. Ben boasts in front of Jim Bob about the good time they had together. In retaliation, Jim Bob states he will ask out Ruby Davis but Ben laughs, ‘fat chance’. The next day, however, Jim Bob returns from Ike’s to gloat that he did ask out Ruby, and she said yes.

Grandpa confesses that the dusting powder did not help the rose bush and that it is dying. Zeb reluctantly agrees to become Miss Mamie’s executor.

Jim Bob admits to Erin that he is nervous about dating an older girl. Erin calms his nervousness by saying to act normal. On the date, they do have a good time playing pinball. Returning to Ruby’s house laughing, she comments about what a gentleman that he is and kisses him. But the next morning the two brothers continue the battle and Mary Ellen finally tells her brothers off.

At a croquet party held outside the Baldwin house, the Waltons dress up in old-fashion clothing and Grandpa spikes one of the punch bowls with the recipe. But Miss Mamie says she did not receive any enjoyment from it, resulting in Grandpa knowing something is seriously wrong. As a rain shower suddenly appears everyone runs for cover except for Grandpa who tries to rescue his sacred punch. Later, Grandpa lectures Miss Mamie about ‘holding onto life with both two fists’. But she has seen the signs and does not take his advice to heart. As a last resort Grandpa tells the sisters that he has a surprise for them tomorrow.

At the movies, Ben places his arm around Patsy after eyeing Jim Bob with Ruby. Then Jim Bob swings his arm around Ruby to show his big brother he can do the same with his date. After the movie the two couples meet in front of the theatre. Ben pushes Jim Bob after sharp words occur between the two brothers.

Waiting for Grandpa to arrive with his surprise Jason tells Erin, “I’m glad I’m not in love. I couldn’t stand to be that happy!’ He makes these comments to his younger brothers as they stand with their girlfriends but at opposite ends of the porch. Grandpa soon arrives driving a team of horses for a hayride to the picnic. The group is singing as they drive up to the Baldwin’s house. Miss Mamie only says she is ‘too old for such frivolities’. At the picnic Grandpa invites the sisters to fish. Miss Mamie is not very happy until she catches a large catfish. With her feet wet she finally is seen with a big smile on her face and the desire to continue fishing. While the older generation fish, Jim Bob admits he still likes Patsy and Ruby admits she likes Ben. When they walk upon the other couple, Jim Bob observes Ben getting friendly with the girl he likes. Ben takes a swing at Jim Bob and misses, but Jim Bob returns a solid punch to his brother’s face. As the two brothers fall to the ground Ruby attends to Ben’s bruised jaw and Patsy helps Jim Bob up from the ground. Both brothers ask if the other one is okay.

"Spring that year saw Jim Bob come of age. There was a new maturity and purpose about him, and it was the last time that anyone ever thought of him as Ben Walton's little brother".