Ep.5 - The Boondoggle

A notorious reporter arrives on Walton's Mountain to write a Guidebook for the tate of Virginia. He make a discovery about the Baldwin Sister's father that could have a devastating affect on their honor and reputation in the community. Jim-Bob tries his luck at selling fish to customers.

"Of all the people who visited Walton's Mountain during my growing to manhood years, I remember one especially. He was a man who brought new ideas to an old way of life. For a brief time his presence stirred the Walton household, and threatened the time-honored traditions of our quiet community."

Synopsis:

John-Boy is enlisted by Professor Parks to escort Porter Sims, a reporter who is writing a Guidebook for the State of Virginia. He is well known for covering the Scopes trial which had been the most famous trial in American History. He is now employed under Roosevelt’s WPA work program. Grandma feels that the WPA is a program for people who don't want to work. She calls it a Boondoggle. The children catch onto the phrase and make fun of the term. When they discuss some of the sites that he should see John-Boy suggests a visit to the Baldwin sisters’. Grandpa tries to deter those plans as he feels that Porter Sims shouldn't be poking into the Baldwin affairs. Porter Sims is of course won over by the sisters’ recipe and accepts their offer to stay with them instead of Mrs. Brimmer’s boarding house.

The sisters let Mr. Sims go through their papa’s private letters and important papers. He discovers that during the war between the States that the Baldwin’s father allowed Union soldiers to stay in the Baldwin home and was then accused of treason. The news comes as a shock to the sisters and Miss Mamie who had become a bit fond of Mr. Sims takes it especially hard and locks herself away in her bedroom. John-Boy then learns that Grandpa knew about the charges all along and had tried to prevent its discovery. He confirms that the war ended before a trial could take place.

Later John-Boy confronts Mr. Sims and asks for him to leave the Baldwin home. He then questions how John-Boy would handle the situation as a writer. He challenges John-Boy’s desire to protect the honor of the Baldwins versus the honesty and truth in reporting facts and history with accuracy. Porter tells him that a Boondoggle is actually an old pioneer term for anything made up from leftover scraps.

Porter Sims leaves the Baldwin home but leaves behind the words he plans to publish about Judge Baldwin’s tale. John-Boy reads his words to the Miss Emily and Miss Mamie. Porter Sims discovered that Captain Matthew Baldwin had been injured and was recuperating in his home. He then brought both Northern and Southern soldiers also injured to his home to recuperate after the Battle of Rockfish Creek. Although he had been wrongfully charged with treason for harboring the enemy it is clear that he would be exonerated for his humanitarian efforts. The sisters honor is returned and their spirits are lifted.