Gus Huffle, the owner of the Pixley Bijou movie theater, has decided to close due to lack of business. Sam says that a big part of the problem is that Richard Arlen and Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, who were supposed to come to the Bijou for the world premiere of their Academy Award-winning Wings (1927 film), decided instead to attend a premiere at the Roxy in New York City. Joe decides to write a nasty letter to Arlen and Rogers. After receiving the letter, Arlen and Rogers think that attending a world premiere of the movie at the Pixley Bijou - despite being forty years late - would be good publicity. When they arrive in Hooterville, the community pulls out all the stops, including a parade and musical performances.

In this touching episode, Betty Jo finds what she thinks is the perfect wedding dress. Kate was hoping that Betty Jo would wear her old dress. When Kate sees that her daughter has bought a dress she doesn't mention hers. Uncle Joe has also bought a wedding dress. Kate's cousin Mae comes bearing yet another wedding dress for Betty Jo. Neither Uncle Joe or Mae are aware that Betty Jo has bought her own dress. As much as she loves both Uncle Joe and Mae, neither of the dresses they got for her are her style. But she doesn't have the heart to tell them that she has a dress for fear of hurting their feelings. Billie Jo thinks she has the solution to all of Betty Jo's wedding gown problems. It's one that will make Kate very happy.

It's the first day of school and Kate is having trouble getting a couple of her daughters motivated to go. Betty Jo has a new friend, a little dog that follows her back from school. Kate refuses to let Betty Jo keep the dog, despite it being cute and well trained. Kate believes that he must belong to someone. Betty Jo brings him back to school, but he stills follows her home. Kate decides to let the dog stay until the owner claims him or until the dog starts to cause problems for the family. The dog does end up causing some problems, but Kate has a change of heart and let's him stay.

The Governor announces that he will make a grassroots tour of the state. Uncle Joe is excited by the news, but no one else seems to care. The Governor has not announced his itinerary, but he is welcoming invitations from interested communities. Joe hopes to be able to advertise that the Governor slept at the Shady Rest. Joe says he sent an invitation and believes that the Governor is coming to Hooterville. Joe has a hard time organizing a welcoming as everyone is still not that excited. When the Cannonball arrives, there is no Governor. Turns out Joe forgot to mail the invite

In this second half of a two-part story, Homer Bedloe has controlling interest in the Pixley Bank and has fired its President, Mr. Guerney. He has decided not only to foreclose on Kate's mortgage, but foreclose on all the bad mortgages in the valley. That will make the Cannonball's services useless. The Shady Rest is going to host a Monte Carlo night as a modest fundraiser. Whoever wins the most fake money by the end of the evening wins the secret grand prize. Betty Jo's friend Willie gets vibrations off of the roulette wheel and can guess the number every spin. Uncle Joe wants send Willie to Vegas to win enough money to solve all their problems. With Willie's help, Kate comes up with a plan to save the valley and get rid of Bedloe.

Uncle Joe tells Kate that he believes that Steve and Betty Jo will get married sooner rather than later. Steve implies to Kate that he does intend to marry Betty Jo. Kate doesn't know what to think as she still sees Betty Jo as her little girl. After a chat with Sam, Kate decides to give Steve her blessing to propose. Steve, who is pretty sure that Betty Jo will say yes, still has a small part of him that is afraid she'll say no. Steve may have to hurry because Uncle Joe learns what's going on and the news could soon be all over the valley. One thing or another keeps preventing Steve from asking the question. But just before the news breaks wide open, Steve asks Betty Jo and she says yes.

The Cannonball arrives at the Shady Rest with a "For Sale" sign and Homer Bedloe. The train will go to the highest bidder. One bid has already come in from a junk dealer who wants it for scrap. Bedloe also tells them that the sale is out of his hands because the C & FW Railroad has been sold to the H. Greene Company. The people of the valley decide to try and raise the money to outbid the junk dealer. They find out that bid is higher than what they can possibly raise. Uncle Joe and Sam decide to go to Chicago and meet with H. Greene. They discover that H. Greene is Henrietta Greene. Once Henrietta realizes how much the Cannonball means to the valley, she calls off the sale.

Billie Jo is upset that the Cannonball is late and she believes it has outlived its usefulness. Meanwhile, Homer Bedloe, the Hooterville Cannonball's arch-enemy, has been having terrible nightmares about the train. To get rid of them, his psychiatrist Dr. Leonard suggests that he "learn to love" the Cannonball. The Cannonball has been encountering some broken tracks. Kate decides to let the C&FW Railroad know. Bedloe writes back that he will fix the tracks. When Bedloe visits the Shadyrest Hotel, he is surprised how friendly everyone is being to him. Everyone except Uncle Joe. But Kate was just gas-lighting Bedloe and didn't really believe the change in him when he said he loved the train. She finds out Bedloe is planning to remove the old damaged tracks instead of replacing them to shut down the Cannonball. Kate comes up with a plan to stop him.

Uncle Joe sees some surveyors down by the railroad tracks next to the hotel. He mistakenly believes that a new road is going to be built there. Kate learns from surveyor Ralph Craig that the last survey done twenty-five years ago was incorrect. The new survey shows that the border between Hooterville County and Pixley County runs right through the Shady Rest. Joe and Kate find out there's money to be made from curiosity seekers. Mr. Travis, from the Pixley License Division, tells Kate there's a lot of red tape in operating a business in two counties. Licenses and fees required could cost her in the thousands. Mr. Lindley, from the Health Dept., also finds costly problems. Mr. Dixon, from the Pixley Building Dept., finds more issues. Kate comes up with a permanent solution with the help of the Cannonball.

Kate's spring cleaning coincides with the US Air Force doing maneuvers over the valley. Part of those maneuvers includes testing out a new high powered camera. It looks like an ordinary black box with wires coming out of it and is set to explode twelve hours after any unauthorized removal from the plane. Colonel Millbank, who is flying the aircraft, accidentally loses the camera. It winds up landing on the Shady Rest property. Joe finds it and thinking it might be valuable, brings to the hotel. But as often as Kate and the girls try to get rid of it, Dog keeps bringing it back. General Elmer Loomis and Millbank make it to Hooterville. With little time to spare, they get to the hotel and start searching for the box. Dog brings them the box with no time left. However, the box winds up being a dud and doesn't explode

Baby Kathy Jo almost misses her ffirst birthday party when she lands in jail with Uncle Joe.

Jack Crandall, who is with H-D-L Food Products, is a passenger on the Cannonball. He is stunned when the train stops just so Charley and Floyd can pick apples for Kate's special recipe: Bachelor Butter. She gives it to the bachelors of the valley as a thank you for all they do for her over the course of the year. Jack Crandall tastes the butter and really likes it. He brings a couple jars back to his company to see if he can produce it for sale. Jack sends Kate a letter stating he wants to buy the recipe for H-D-L and will pay her $250. He will pay her another $250 after she shows him how to make it in their laboratory kitchen. At the test kitchen, Mr. Stevens and Mr. Kimberly are having a hard time translating Kate's measuring process into a precise recipe. When the apple butter doesn't turn out right, Kate has all her equipment from home brought to the test kitchen, including her oven. Jack understands when the next batch doesn't turn out either.

Kate learns from Sam that the US Army is conducting war games in the area around the Shady Rest. Kate is worried about her three daughters because they are swimming in the water tower and wearing bikinis. Three lost soldiers from the Blue Squad - Hank Benton, Tod Langwell and Stu Howard - come to the Shady Rest after they spot the girls. Kate doesn't mind the GIs and the girls spending time together, as long as someone else is keeping an eye on them. General Patterson of the Green Squad arrives at the Shady Rest and is captured by the three GIs. More and more soldiers come by and they wind up having a large party. Kate manages to get the General to go along with things.

The Cannonball has temporarily ceased operations. The reason is a bird has built a nest on top of the smokestack and has laid five eggs. Charley and Floyd refuse to move the train until the eggs have hatched. They figure it will be two weeks before they hatch. When Homer Bedloe hears of this news, he is all in support of what Charley and Floyd are doing, he even puts an article in the paper about it. But he has a reason why he wants to help the birds: If the train doesn't run for two weeks, he can shut it down permanently. Homer shows up at the hotel and Kate is suspicious of his motives. Billie Jo and Betty Jo overhear Homer's plan and tell Kate. Kate comes up with a plan to save both the Cannonball and the birds.

O'Donnel's, a new supermarket, has just opened in Pixley. Sam hasn't had a customer since it opened. Even Uncle Joe goes to O'Donnel's to check it out. While there, Joe manages to annoy Mr. O'Donnel. Kate and the girls are still loyal customers of Sam's. Sam starts to have anxiety attacks and doesn't recognize Kate and Betty Joe. Kate and Doc Stuart convince Sam to take a two week vacation. Kate and the girls agree to look after the store for him. They decide to reorganize the store. Kate briefly leaves Joe in charge of the store and he puts in an overly large grocery order. This could cause irreparable damage to both the store's financial health and Sam and Kate's sanity.

Crabwell Corners is suing the Town of Hooterville for possession of a Spanish-American War cannon. Crabwell Corners feels it is rightly theirs. Meanwhile, Tad Winslow of Crabwell Corners challenges his lazy dog, a blood hound named Speedy, against Betty Jo's dog in an obedience contest. If Tad wins, Betty Jo has to get Billie Jo to go with him to the upcoming Pioneer Dance. Betty Jo finds out that Billie Jo already has a date with her steady, Henry Brewster. Kate and Uncle Joe want to speak to the Winslows to call off the bet. But things intensify, with now the winner getting either the Crabwell Corners' fire engine or the Spanish-American War cannon. To make matters worse, Kate and Joe find out that Speedy isn't Tad's dog after all. Tad has a well trained German Shepherd. The day of the contest arrives. The score is close, but Dog pulls a trick of his own and wins.

Kate has a lot of outstanding debts, plus she hasn't made a mortgage payment in six months. Mr. Guerney, the President of the Pixley Bank, informs her that there is a new majority shareholder of the bank. Because of this, she has two weeks to pay $138 on her mortgage or the bank will have to foreclose. Mr. Guerney didn't tell Kate that the majority shareholder is Homer Bedloe, who hopes to ruin Kate. The girls say they will get part time jobs to help raise the money. Kate gets a job as a short order cook, but she doesn't last long at it. Kate and the girls do come up with the amount needed, but some of it's in I.O.U.s. Bedloe says that isn't good enough and still wants to foreclose. Mr. Guerney comes up with a way to give Kate a little more time.

In this valentine to Kate Bradley the citizens of Hooterville pull out all the stops to welcome Kate home, including a parade with floats, songs and fireworks. But first, arguments begin about where her official welcoming celebration will take place and who will preside over such an event. Mayor Potts wants to preside over it at a downtown location. Sam wants to preside over it outside his store. Selma wants to preside over it in her garden. And Joe wants to preside over it at the Shady Rest. They all wait for Kate's three o'clock arrival in front of Sam's store. Then they read her message to Uncle Joe and realize that Joe didn't read the part that said she will be arriving in Pixley. Amid the chaotic festivities, Kate muses "There's no doubt about it, I'm home.

Henry Barton is dropping off his pregnant wife Elsie at the Shady Rest. While the baby isn't due for two weeks, Henry still wants someone to watch Elsie as he will be gone for three days. The women aren't at all worried, but Uncle Joe is quite concerned. Joe gets even more panicked when Kate tells him most babies arrive in the middle of the night. He comes up with an elaborate plan involving some of the men of the valley to get Doc Stuart to the Shady Rest if Elsie has the baby in the middle of the night. Without telling anyone, Joe has a trial run of his plan at 3am just to make sure it all goes smoothly. Everyone is quite mad at Uncle Joe. To make matters worse, Joe does it a second time. When Elsie does actually go into labor, it looks as though someone else will have to help with the delivery

Mr. Richardson is a guest at the hotel. Uncle Joe tells him about the curse of Chester W. Farnsworth, a guest at the hotel fifty years ago. He was a traveling drummer and notorious hotel towel thief. Since then, Chester has been haunting all the hotels that he stole towels from. He has to return them all before he can end up in his final resting place. Joe figures it won't be long before Chester visits the Shady Rest. After Joe tells the story, strange events start to occur. Kate finds out that a bunch of salesmen who were supposed to be guests won't be returning until the curse has been lifted. When more strange things occur, Kate decides to talk to Doc Stuart. He recommends speaking with Dr. Melman, a psychiatrist and an expert is paranormal events. Something happens to make everyone believe that Chester arrived and the curse has been lifted. But did he actually show up?

Volunteer fire chief Uncle Joe has designed a new nighttime alarm system. When a valley resident sets off a skyrocket in the event of a fire, a volunteer will fire off a cannon. But there soon is opposition to Joe's plan because, even though the canon fires blanks, things still get damaged. A fire breaks out on the Cannonball. Because Joe has all the fire equipment at the Shady Rest, Sam has to call the Crabwell Corners Volunteer Fire Department. Joe challenges Bink Sharfells, Crabwell Corners Fire Chief, to see which volunteer fire department is the best. When none of Hooterville's firefighters want to accept the challenge, it looks like Joe will lose by default. Kate and the girls offer to help. The contest winds up a tie. Joe suggests a game of checkers to break the tie. Bink loses the game to Dog.

Convicts Barney Dawson and Max James have escaped from the state penitentiary. Meanwhile, Uncle Joe, a member of the CIA (Criminal Investigators' Alliance), accuses Sam of running a lax and inefficient post office. Joe believes that if Sam posted photos of some criminals, he could capture them for the reward money. Sgt. Horton from the state police comes by and tells them about Barney and Max being in the area. Joe asks if there's any reward for them and he is told no. Later that evening, Barney and Max show up at the hotel. Because of Dog, Sam and Sgt. Horton arrive and the convicts are caught.

Billie Jo wants to move out of the hotel and into her own apartment in Pixley. Kate repeatedly says no. Kate finally gives in, but she has to approve of the place and the landlord. She only agreed because she believes there is not an apartment to be found in Pixley. However, Billie Jo finds a place that meets Kate's standards. After a few days, Billie Jo says she loves her independence, even though all the comforts of home are not quite there. But not long after she becomes homesick and finds a way to come back.

While flying back from Springdale, Steve and Betty Jo are caught in an unexpected thunderstorm. Although there were some tense moments, Steve and Betty Jo make it down safely. The experience throws Steve and Betty Jo into each others' arms. Could it be that they are falling in love with each other. Betty Jo confides her feelings for Steve to her mother, who cautions her to take a wait and see approach. But Steve later confirms to Kate that he has feelings for Betty Jo as well. This could cause problems, especially with Billie Jo, who Steve has been going with for quite some time. Kate tells Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo, and surprisingly they are fine with it. Not wanting to hurt the family, Steve decides to leave. But fortunately something prevents him from doing so.

Kate receives a surprisingly sweet letter from Homer Bedloe saying he will be coming to the Shady Rest for a few days. Kate is suspicious. Upon his arrival, Bedloe is as sweet as his letter. He tells Kate that the reason for his visit is that a valuable race horse is being transported from Hooterville to Pixley on the Cannonball. He wants to be around to make sure all goes smoothly. Ray Rogers, the race horse owner, tells Kate that the horse is being transported to a county fair. But when Kate sees the broken down nag that they are calling a race horse, Kate knows that Bedloe and Rogers are working together. Kate figures out Bedloes and Rogers' scheme and also figures out a way to foil his plan.