All language subtitles for The.Waltons.S07E24.Founders.Day.WEBRip.x264-ION10

You go against
all the conventions of music.

You

apparently don't care much
about passing my class.

Professor Bowen,

I have to pass your class
if I hope to graduate.

I've never known you to be
stumped by your music before.

Well, this is real important.

This says I graduate
from Kleinberg or I don't.

I want it to be great.

(PLAYS DISSONANT CHORD)

(SIGHS)

(STUMBLES AGAIN)

JOHN-BOY: In our house, all of
us had that strong

and very personal link
with other generations,

so that past and present
sometimes blended,

with unexpected results.

None of us knew
from what ancestral source

my brother Jason's
love of music had sprung,

just that it built up in him
until it had to be expressed.

As he neared graduation,

Jason found himself returning
to that source for inspiration,

and it was nearly
to prove disastrous.

A labor of love.

Labor of love, you say, son?

It's as if you're
having a real problem.

I am.

I don't know why.

It's always been such a natural
thing to me, composing.

Well, this assignment
was not intended to be simple.

It's the culmination
of your four years here,

at the Kleinberg Conservatory.

I've just never tackled anything
this difficult before.

I think I might
be in over my head.

Maybe you're trying too hard.

If it were country music,

I'd have finished
it a long time ago.

If it were country music,

you'd have been out of my class
a long time ago.

I know.

Last call for breakfast.

Son, is there somebody keeping
you up half the night?

Maybe a gal?

(GROGGILY) I wish there was.

It's my composition.

Is anything
bothering you, Jason?

(SIGHS) No, it's me.

I got the theme for the thing,

but just can't seem
to develop it.

I don't know what
I'm going to do.

I've never known you to be
stumped by your music before.

Well, this is real important.

This says I graduate
from Kleinberg or I don't.

I want it to be great.

Jason, remember,
all you can do is your best.

(PLAYING)

Now... Now...

-No. No.
-No?

Mmm-mmm.

Well, you haven't heard
very much of it.

I don't think Grandma likes
the title. Neither do I.

Oh, swell!

So far that's the only thing
Professor Bowen does like.

Tell me,

what does "polyphonic"
mean, anyhow?

It means "many voices."

In music, it's several melodies,
different but harmonizing.

Sounds awful stuffy to me.

Great.

(MURMURING ENCOURAGEMENT)

-I have to work, Grandma.
-Yeah.

(GIGGLING APPROACHING)

(LAUGHING)

What do I have to do
to get some quiet around here?

Sorry, Jason, we didn't
see the sign.

"Genius at Work."

Alright, just...

Just don't stand over me,
alright? Do you mind?

Alright.

(BEN AND CINDY CHATTERING)

(CINDY GASPS LAUGHTER)

(ROCKING CHAIR CREAKING)

CINDY: Cut it out!

(CINDY YELPING)

I give up!

See what you did, Ben?
He's not in the mood anymore.

It's not just Ben,
it's everything.

Jason, we're sorry.
We won't bother you anymore.

Just leave me alone, all of you.
It's my problem, I'll handle it!

(DOOR SLAMMING)

Oh, boy! You see?

We have so many things
to decide, Sister.

Where we're going to place
all this Baldwin family history.

Papa's old letters
and documents,

and the family tree.

Perhaps in the bank, Sister,
in a safe-deposit vault.

We need a safe, permanent place
to store all this.

So it will say,
"The Baldwin family were here.

"They existed."

It wouldn't say that
in a safe-deposit box.

That's another responsibility
we share.

The Recipe?

Do we pass the torch,
so to speak?

Or does the Recipe die with us?

I refuse to think about it.

Well, we must think about it,
Sister! We are only mortal!

(KNOCKING AT DOOR)

Oh, I'll get it, Sister.

I'm feeling much better.

Oh, good.

Coming!

(CHEERFULLY) Coming!

Why, Jason! What a treat!

Hello, Miss Emily,
I hope I'm not interrupting.

You are,

but it's one of those lovely
little surprises

that makes life an adventure.

Sister! It's Jason.

Oh, Jason, what good fortune
brings you here?

Well, Miss Mamie, Miss Emily,

I need a place to work
on my composing and practicing.

I'm working
on my final composition

for the Conservatory.

And our house
is pretty confusing.

Such a lively family!

We would be delighted to have
you compose and practice here.

Oh, thank you.

We could work out whatever time
would be best for you.

-Right now is the perfect time.
-Perfect!

Well, thank you!

Well, right now, Jason, dear.

Just go right ahead and compose.

Alright.

(WHISPERING) I like it better
when he just plays.

MAMIE: When he stops,
I think he's composing.

Oh, is that it?

The artist in the act
of creating.

It's still better
when he just plays.

I think I'm disturbing you.

Oh, not at all!

Just before you came,

Sister and I were discussing
some rather depressing business.

EMILY: The world is in
such a turmoil, don't you know?

Yes.

How does one preserve
one's heritage

in these uncertain times?

All the old letters
and papers and diaries.

And our memoirs, Mamie.

All will be lost to the future
when Sister and I are gone.

Yes, ma'am.

The war has a lot of people
worried about the future.

Sometimes we don't appreciate
what we are

until we're threatened.

So young, and yet so wise.

And Jason is right. There are
others who feel as we do.

Perhaps we should make it
a community project.

Oh, I doubt that.

No one but us
gives a fig about our ancestors.

Oh, we care about ours.
I expect a lot of people do.

If there were just some way

that everyone on the mountain
could gather up

all the old documents
and family Bibles

and correspondence,
and share them.

Perhaps a celebration
of some kind.

And we could display all the old
relics and records of the past.

And there could be speeches!
I love a rousing good speech.

-Oh, Jason, do help us plan it.
-I'll do what I can, Miss Mamie.

Alright, where
should we start?

Why, the attic.

Why not the attic?

-Come along, Jason.
-Come, Jason.

It says "ink."

You were probably running out
while you wrote it.

-Blue-black, please, Ike.
-Coming right up.

We need it for our catalog,
don't you know?

-Oh, hello.
-Oh, hello, Mary Ellen.

-Oh, hello, Mary Ellen.
-Hello, Mary Ellen.

As you were saying,
the ink is for your catalog?

Sister and I have been going
over some old family papers

and heirlooms.

I've been arranging them
in alphabetical order.

-Chronological order, Sister.
-Same thing.

Sounds like a lot of work.
Is it for your book?

Sister, do tell them.

Well, we have found a way
to salute and preserve the past.

All the fine traditions
and glories

of the lives of those
who preceded us

are going to be acknowledged
at a very special occasion.

An entire day will be set aside.

A Baldwin Day?

Oh, no! Much more than that.

We include all
of Walton's Mountain.

It's to be a Founders' Day!

That sounds like a pretty good
idea. Here's your ink.

Well, we're casting about for
directions.

Now, it could be a celebration,

at any rate, a gathering,

of all of us who live
on the mountain

whose families
first settled here.

Every family must have records
of their ancestors.

Oh, yeah, I got
a lot of old records.

Sounds like a good excuse
for cleaning out the attic.

Now, what we need
is a committee.

Oh, what a wonderful way
to start.

Now, my great-great-grandfather,

he was the first Godsey
to live here on the mountain.

Now, you two ladies
will serve, of course.

I will volunteer my services,
and Mary Ellen makes four.

Hey! What about me?

Mr. Godsey, someone
must tend the store,

and under the circumstances
I feel that I am best qualified

to assist in the planning
of the Founders' Day.

(IKE SIGHS UNHAPPILY)

Now, which one of us
will be chairman?

(GUITAR BEING STRUMMED)

You hiding out here, Jason?

No, everybody's
just getting in my way,

including me.

Well, you can avoid
the rest of us,

but I guess you're kind of stuck
with yourself, huh, Son?

I keep bumping up

against all these dumb rules
Professor Bowen's

been teaching us.

It's keeping me from saying
what I want to say.

It might have worked for Mozart,
but they sure don't work for me.

Maybe that's because
Jason Walton

was born in a different time
and place.

You hear things
and see things different.

You think I ought to just throw
out the professor's rules?

Well, I'm not saying that.

All I know is
when I'm cutting wood,

I keep both eyes on the wood,
not on the machinery.

And you think I'm worrying too
much about the machinery?

If I were you, I'd start
listening to my own voices.

Just wish I knew what they were
trying to tell me.

(REPORTER CHATTERING ON RADIO)

(GIRLS CHATTERING)

-Where you going with that?
-Outside.

What are you gonna do?
Take on the Nazis single-handed?

I was in the attic looking for
stuff to trade with Buck Vernon.

I need some stuff
for my airplane.

You can't have that, Jim-Bob.

It's been in the family
for years.

True!

What good is it?
Nobody ever uses it.

Well, it would make a good
display at Founders' Day.

I bet there's a lot
of stuff in the attic

that we could use for exhibits.

I know where a whole box
of old shoes and clothes are.

There's some tools in the barn
that date back to the Civil War.

We could even use
John-Boy's book.

It's not old, but it's got lots
of stories about the mountain.

Are you going to put anything
into Founders' Day, Grandma?

No.

Grandma thinks the whole thing
is a waste of time.

What about that old diary
of Rome Walton's?

-You could put that on display.
-Never!

She treasures that
like diamonds.

She'd never let it
out of her sight.

I don't get it. Who cares about
all this old junk?

And those founders,
they've been dead for years.

Jim-Bob, obviously
you're too young

to appreciate the significance
of the celebration.

Elizabeth, you're starting to
sound just like Corabeth.

(ALL LAUGHING)

ERIN: Let's get back to work.

-Sister?
-Yes?

Sister!

Look what I found.

This may be the oldest
document we have.

And I found it behind one of
Mama's cruets in the pantry.

We have so many cruets.
I wonder why.

"Left Culpepper County..."

I can't make out the date.

"Wife, sons and daughters."

Oh! That's who it is.

Remember Papa's great-great
grandfather, Phinneas Baldwin?

That sounds familiar.

Well, he's the one who started
from Culpepper County.

It says here all the places he
settled before...

Before what?

Before he settled
in Jefferson County.

"Untold hardships of weather
and sickness,

"but persevered to become
the first permanent settlers

"in an area later and
erroneously named

"Walton's Mountain."

-Oh, dear!
-Oh, my!

You mean it should
have been named

-Baldwin's Mountain!
-Baldwin's Mountain!

(SIGHS)

(JASON SIGHS IN FRUSTRATION)

You don't need
to tiptoe, Elizabeth.

You're not interrupting much.

I'm sorry.

I forgot John-Boy's book,

and I wanted
to finish it tonight.

I remember how much trouble
he had writing it.

All the struggle
he went through.

Then his manuscript was burnt
and had to start all over again.

I think if that happened to me
right now with this piece,

I'd just forget
about the whole thing.

I think it's kind of pretty.

Sort of sounds like the wind
through the pine trees.

It's not supposed to.

According to Professor Bowen,

it should sound like
an "abstract composition

"in which two or more
independent but organically

"related voice parts sound
against one another."

No wonder you're having
such a time.

John-Boy only wrote about things
he knew and cared for.

He did, didn't he?

Listen to this, Elizabeth.

Still sound like
wind in the pines?

Sounds better.
It's not as stiff.

(SIGHS DEEPLY)

I've been on the wrong track
the whole time.

Daddy was right.

Somebody else's style
just isn't right for me.

I've got to do
what John-Boy did.

Write what I know, what I hear,
the people, the places.

You're a lifesaver.

And I thought
I was disturbing you.

You are now.

Thanks.

-Any closer to finishing that?
-Are you getting tired of it?

Getting worried about you.

Up half the night,
sleeping on the couch,

up at daybreak working again.

-I'm rolling now, Daddy.
-You gonna stop for breakfast?

I just did.

(RESUMES PLAYING)

Morning, everyone.
Glad I didn't hold anyone up.

I'm sorry we didn't
wait for you, Daddy,

but I kind of rushed
breakfast this morning,

keeping time to Jason's music.

Want some more?

Grandma, those two are
beginning to make me sick.

Lovebirds.

-Morning, Ben. Morning, Cindy.
-BEN: Morning, Daddy.

How's it coming with
the Founders' Day arrangements?

Well, Corabeth wants me
to start a program,

and she keeps hinting
that she wants in on it.

What's she gonna do?
One of her interpretive dances?

She volunteered to sing
On the Road to Mandalay.

We can do better
than that, can't we?

We could have a pageant
where we'd show

the first settlers
coming to Walton's Mountain.

We don't have time
to get it ready.

BEN: Ike and I could do
our song-and-dance act.

Zuleika Dunbar does recitations.

JIM-BOB: I think
we should have a beauty contest.

What's that got to do
with Founders' Day, Jim-Bob?

Would you just
eat your breakfast?

(DRONING SINGLE NOTE)

JASON: Grandma! What's that for?

This.

-Grandma's right.
-Jason can play his composition.

Oh, my.

ERIN: That's perfect!
MARY ELLEN: Oh, would you?

Good idea! Why didn't you think
of that before?

BEN: I mean, that's what
it's all about.

It is, it's a great idea.

(ALL CHATTERING
ENTHUSIASTICALLY)

Boy, that goes back a long way.
That journal is real old.

Why, Mr. Godsey,
you have forebears, too.

Why have you never recounted
this illustrious family to me?

Well, I guess I just
always took it for granted.

Now, what do you suppose
this means?

-"Isaak Adelbert Godsey."
-(CORRECTING) "Adelbert."

"Isaak Adelbert Godsey
homesteaded

"on the first mountain of size

"due west of Scottsville
in Jefferson County, Virginia."

That'd be here! This is
the first mountain

of any size due west
of Scottsville,

Walton's Mountain.

It goes on to say,

"A full year passed before his
first neighbor arrived

"and built a cabin
on the mountain."

That's about right.
That's the way I heard it.

One full year before a cabin was
built on this mountain,

your forebear was living here?

One full year.

Oh, good Lord!

Godsey's Mountain!

John, you could have knocked me
over with a pin.

We opened up that safe,
took out those old papers,

and one of them said that my
great-great-grandfather,

Isaak Adelbert Godsey,
was the first one...

(CAR APPROACHING)

(CHUCKLES) Here come
the Baldwin ladies.

EMILY: Hello, gentlemen!

-IKE: Hi, Miss Emily.
-Hi.

-JOHN: Afternoon, ladies!
-Good afternoon, John.

IKE: Hi, Miss Mamie.

-Nice to see you.
-Oh, it's nice to see you, too.

Oh!

Sister and I have made
the most wonderful discovery.

We're just bursting with plans!

Oh! Oh, Sister, do you think
it's appropriate

to bring it up at this time?

-You know what.
-I don't see why not.

Now, you both have always said
that we could come to you

in time of need.

Is something wrong, Miss Mamie?

If our dear friend, Zebulon
Walton, were still with us,

nothing would be wrong.

Mr. Walton was always
so accommodating.

Well, I can't pretend to fill
Pa's shoes,

but I'll help you if I can.

It's the Recipe.

We agreed years ago
that if our time came,

we would entrust
to your father's eternal care

the contents of the Recipe.

As it is, we will just
have to bring it with us.

-Take it with us, Sister.
-Oh, yes.

You mean you're
looking for volunteers?

We want your
careful consideration.

And we don't expect
an answer immediately.

-Whom shall we leave it to?
-Whom shall we leave it to?

If at all.

That's a big
responsibility, ladies.

But we'll help you decide.

Oh, Sister, the load seems
lighter already.

Yes, indeed, Sister,
much lighter!

Oh, my! We'd better get to
Corabeth's committee meeting!

Oh, dear.

You know, people have been
trying to find out the Recipe

as long as we can remember.

CORABETH: Very good.

Now, everyone in the area
has been alerted

as to our celebration.

Mrs. Miniver would be
so pleased.

Sister and I have been looking
down the long road,

when a Founders' Hall
will be established

to house the papers permanently.

We're devoting the remainder
of our years to that project.

Well, that's a very admirable
and foresighted thought, ladies,

but first things first.

Now, Mary Ellen,
how is our program coming along?

If it's alright with everyone,

Jason has agreed to play for us
his senior composition.

It's called
Appalachian Portraits.

-Oh!
-Lovely!

And if an encore is required,

perhaps I could be persuaded
to render a vocal solo.

I've always wanted
to play the harp.

Now, as to the more pressing
matter on our agenda,

the location
of the celebration itself.

Oh, Sister and I have agreed
it must be in our garden.

We have plenty of room
at our house.

Oh, but if the road in front
of the store, were blocked off,

why, we could set up
our booths and our displays.

They'd be more centrally
located,

and people could enjoy
and appreciate

our fountain and our park.

Oh, Sister and I insist.

It was our idea in the first
place, don't you know?

I believe it was Jason
who suggested it first, dear.

MARY ELLEN: Then it's
all settled.

We'll roll the piano out
onto the front porch for Jason.

Well, I hadn't wanted to bring
this up at this moment,

but there is a reason
why Godsey's Store

is the more appropriate place
for our celebration.

You see, Mr. Godsey and I
have uncovered evidence

that proves that it was
one of his ancestors

who first settled this mountain.

But Sister and I have papers
in our possession

which positively identify
the first settler.

As Phinneas T. Baldwin,
founder of Baldwin's Mountain,

mistakenly
called Walton's Mountain.

Correction, dear ladies.
Godsey's Mountain.

Grandpa always claimed

it was his great-grandfather,
Rome Walton,

who opened up this area.

Ah, but have you proof of that?

We do, of Phinneas T. Baldwin.

As do we,
in Isaak Adelbert Godsey.

MARY ELLEN: Well,
I'll have to ask Grandma.

Very well. We shall
table the decision

as to the location
of the celebration

until I present the evidence
and study the matter further.

(BOWEN MUTTERING)

I don't understand this.

This is not
the assignment I gave you.

We were to write something
utilizing the musical principles

you've given us,
Professor Bowen.

Now, I did that.
It's alright here.

I just took it one step further
into a more contemporary mode.

Without my permission?

It was the only way I could see
to approach this piece of music.

May I play some of it for you?

You expect to play this
at the faculty concert?

I'm gonna try it out at
Founders' Day first.

Founders' Day?

Kleinberg was founded
in September, not in the spring.

Ceremonies disrupt open classes.

I'm talking about my home,
Professor Bowen.

Walton's Mountain Founders' Day.
I'd like you to come.

I can't quite believe it.

You not only go
against all musical convention,

you expect me to come hear you
play in some small county fair?

You

apparently don't care much
about passing my class.

Professor Bowen, I have to pass
your class

if I hope to graduate.

But if it means lying
to myself musically

or borrowing
someone else's style,

then I don't think I'd be very
proud of that degree.

I'll be here

if you change
your mind, Mr. Walton.

It's warm tonight.

Looks like spring
has settled in for good.

The sun's staying up
a little later each day.

Reminds me of what
John-Boy said in his book,

about spring climbing up
the side of Walton's Mountain.

From what I hear,

we have no right
to call it Walton's Mountain.

Who says so?

Well, Corabeth
and the Baldwin sisters

have been digging
through their old papers.

Each of them claims
to have an ancestor

who was here before
the first Waltons.

Can't be.

Rome Walton was the first man
to settle these parts.

MARY ELLEN: Corabeth showed me.
It's in black and white.

Oh!

Where you going, Grandma?

What's got her dander up?

All of a sudden
the family pride is in doubt.

Are you going
to the Dew Drop already?

Yeah. Callie wants me
to learn a new number.

Sleepy Lagoon.

How does your professor
like your composition?

He doesn't. He's threatening
to flunk me.

-Can he do that?
-He sure can.

I offered to have him come

and hear me play it
at Founders' Day,

but he wasn't interested.

-What are you going to do?
-I don't know.

I just can't believe that he
wouldn't even listen to it

just because it's too
contemporary for his taste.

Well, see you later.

-Bye.
-Bye.

Poor Jason. He's worked
so hard on his music.

BEN: What you
got there, Grandma?

That looks like
Rome Walton's diary.

Pa used to read it to me
when I was a little boy.

Always wondered
what happened to it.

-What, you've been hiding it?
-Yes.

Read it.

Oh, yeah.

It's been a lot of years since
I've seen this.

It's about Rome Walton's

second freezing winter
on the mountain.

ELIZABETH: Does it say
what year it is?

JOHN: 1766. Huh!

"I heard the pounding on the
door over the howling storm,

"and opened it on a man in..."

Oh, "...who seemed
not to feel the cold.

"Later I drank
from the bottles he carried,

"and was myself warmed
by the best whiskey

"ever to touch my lips.

"The itinerant was
Phinneas Lewis Baldwin

of Culpepper County."

An original Baldwin.

I didn't know
the Recipe was that old.

Is that what...
Oh, wait a minute.

"It was two days
before I sobered up enough

to notice the
storm had cleared."

Is that why you hid it, Ma?

You didn't want us to know
Rome was a drinking man?

Well, it says his visitor came
the second winter

he was on the mountain.

BEN: Say anything
about Isaak Godsey in there?

-Yes.
-Ah!

Yeah! It says here he took
supper with him,

sometime the tenth year
Rome was on the mountain.

-This is fun, isn't it?
-It won't be for Corabeth!

Where are you going?

Well, to call her!

I'm gonna tell her
that Founders' Day

is gonna be held right here!

BEN: (CHUCKLING) Is she
gonna be mad!

No!

(JOHN LAUGHING)

Elizabeth, honey, I got to go.

-Can I talk to you?
-Anytime.

Jason doesn't think Professor
Bowen's gonna come tomorrow.

I know. Well, there's not much
we can do about it, Elizabeth.

There is. If I could talk to him
I think I could make him come.

Want me to go along with you?

I thought of that,

but I'm afraid
you might lose your temper.

You know how
overprotective you get.

(CHUCKLING) Well, I could
promise to behave myself.

-Alright, then we'll both go.
-Come on.

I got to drop
these frames off, first.

Oh, no, no, no, no!

Oh, you were doing so
beautifully, and then...

Do the last four bars.
You can do much better.

Much better.

Much better.

BOWEN: No.

No!

-A little musty, isn't it?
-Yeah.

No wonder Jason's having
trouble writing music.

Feels like it needs
some air in here.

-Professor Bowen?
-Yes, I'm Professor Bowen.

They told us at the office
we could find you here, sir.

Yes, well, I'm very busy.

I have a student
whose time is limited.

-Would you wait?
-Only take a moment, sir.

-I'm Jason Walton's father.
-Yes.

-This is his sister, Elizabeth.
-Yes.

Came to personally invite you

to hear
his composition tomorrow.

I am gravely
disappointed in Jason.

I think he has a fine talent,

but he refuses
to take direction.

He must have had his reasons.

He wouldn't go galloping
off on his own.

I set the rules,
and my students follow.

No. Excuse me, Professor. Now...

You see, music has been
Jason's whole life

ever since he was
a real little boy.

His mama and me have always
encouraged him in that.

He's worked real hard to get
himself a music education.

And I'm proud of him.

Now you're telling me
you're disappointed in him

because he did
what he thought was right

instead of what you thought.

I've heard parts of his work
and it's very good.

I see, now you are questioning
my judgment.

Jason would question
my judgment. The whole family!

Oh, no, sir. If it'd be more
convenient, I'll come back...

No, no, you stay
right where you are.

Mr. Walton and I have
finished our discussion.

Tell Jason I wish him
only the best.

Thank you, sir.

Yes. Yes. Now...

Yes, dear? Yes? Yes?

Everything my father was trying
to say, it's in this book.

It's in my brother's music, too.

Thank you. Thank you.

Mozart's No. 12 Sonata.

(INSTRUCTING IN ITALIAN)

Yes, sir.

Yes! Yes, yes.

(BOWEN MUTTERING)

(CHATTERING)

I'm giving some thought to what
you said about the Recipe.

Whatever could we have said?

You know, about who you were
gonna leave it to?

Oh, dear friend, the way my
sister and I feel today,

we're gonna live forever!

-Punch, Sister?
-Oh, thank you, dear.

Here's a napkin.

-Sisters.
-Oh, John.

BOTH: Hello.

Have they decided
to take it with them?

They decided not to go!

Oh, it is just too bad
that Olivia couldn't be here.

I talked to her on the phone
last night. She'll be here.

-Oh?
-At least in spirit.

Oh. Oh, yes, of course.

Well, I suppose that it's time
to get started.

Might as well
take a crack at it.

Yes, well,
I will gather them together.

(CORABETH CLAPPING)

Now, quiet, everybody! Please.

Now, gather around
for our musicale.

People there, back
at the punch bowl, come along.

There'll be more later.

Jason, Professor didn't call
or anything, did he?

-Nope.
-Oh, well, don't give up hope.

-He might change his mind.
-I doubt it.

-Good luck.
-Thanks.

Oh, Mr. Godsey.

Mary Ellen.

Committee.

Ladies and gentlemen,
we are so pleased

that you could all be here
for our little celebration.

But at this moment,

the Baldwin ladies would like
to make an announcement.

My sister and I feel

that our community should have
its own Memorial Hall,

where all of these priceless
objects from our past

might be permanently
displayed and preserved.

So for that purpose,

my sister Emily and I
are going to bequeath

our home to future generations.

That is, of course,
after we are...

Well, not here.

When we are elsewhere,
don't you know?

What a very gracious gesture,

and we are all looking forward
to that day.

(ALL LAUGHING)

Oh!

(STAMMERING)

I mean, when you bequeath
your magnificent mansion

for our Founders' Hall.

(CLEARS THROAT)

John, would you care
to say a word, please?

I want to welcome you all
to our Founders' Day.

I know Ma's mighty proud today.

And I know my pa would be, too,
if he were still with us.

In fact, he'd be standing here
talking to you instead of me.

You know, it seems to me

that it's not real important
who was the first one here.

What's more important is that,
for many of us,

families have been here
for generations and generations.

Our folks moved
into this territory,

cleared the land, worked it,

raised decent families,
worked hard.

You know, in a way,
this day is in honor of us all.

I'm proud of us. I hope you are.

My son, Jason, has a better way
of saying things.

JOHN-BOY: There is something
within us

that tells us all we will ever
know about ourselves.

There is a destiny that tells
us where we will be born,

where we will live,
and where we will die.

Some men are drawn to oceans.

They cannot breathe unless
the air is scented

with a salty mist.

Others are drawn
to land that is flat,

and the air is sullen
and as leaden as August.

My people were drawn
to mountains.

They came when the country
was young,

and they settled in the upland
country of Virginia

that is still misted with a
haze of blue,

which gives those mountains
their name.

They endured,
and they prevailed.

Through flood and famine,
diphtheria and scarlet fever,

through drought and forest
fire,

whooping cough and loneliness,

through Indian wars,
a Civil War, a World War,

and through the Great
Depression, they endured,

and they prevailed.

In my time, I have
come to know them.

Grandpa, in memory,
I touch your face.

A distance from me now,
I feel you near.

The coyote will disappear
from the Earth

and the whooping crane will
follow the passenger pigeon,

but you will endure
through all of time.

Grandma, I touch your hand,

and when I do I touch the past.

I touch all the small ships
that brought us

to this country, and all
the strong, brave women

who faced a frontier
and made it home.

Strength and love
came together here.

So not the same,
they did not seem a pair,

bound together, they were so
much one.

All I ever want is what
they've had so long,

and lived so well.

A brother with an alien name.

The ancient Jason
went searching

for the Golden Fleece.

Our Jason makes
voyages every day

and never leaves the mountain.

A first baseman grown
to wife and mother,

soft and stronger as she grew.

A temper always at the ready
hides the best of him,

but I know my brother
as my friend.

A pretty girl
deepens into beauty,

impatient for time to pass
and bring her love.

His head most often
in the clouds

causes the rest
of him to stumble,

but seldom really fall.

The little sister,
full of wonder,

and far enough behind
to be a joy.

And close as family
were our neighbors,

linked to us in ties
as strong as blood.

Gentility and graciousness
lived there, too,

the past flowing
into the present,

the present blending
with yesterday.

I have walked the land

in the footsteps
of all my fathers,

back in time to where
the first one trod,

and stopped, saw sky,
felt wind,

bent to touch Mother Earth,

and called this home.

This mountain, this pine
and hemlock, oak and poplar,

laurel wild, and rhododendron,

home and mountain,

father, mother.

Grow, too, the sons and
daughters,

to walk the old paths,

to look back in pride,
in honored heritage,

to hear its laughter
and its song,

to grow to stand and be
themselves, one day remembered.

I have walked the land
in the footsteps

of all my fathers.

I saw yesterday,

and now look to tomorrow.

(ALL APPLAUDING)

-ELIZABETH: Daddy?
-Yes, honey?

Is Rome Walton my great-great
great-great-grandfather?

Well, let's see. He was Pa's
great-great-great-grandfather,

so that makes him your...

No, that's wrong,
there's too many greats.

ELIZABETH:
Don't you know, Daddy?

JOHN: Look it up
in the family Bible, honey.

That's great, Daddy,
really great.

ALL: Good night, Elizabeth!

ELIZABETH: Good night, everyone.