Jason works on a composition for school called “Polyphonic Overture” but he is having troubles. His professor comes in and tries to give him guidance. He says that this composition is not supposed to be easy, it is the culmination of his four years at the conservatory. Jason says that if it were a country music he’d have been done long ago. His professor replies that he wouldn’t be in the class if that were the case.
At home, Jason struggles to work on his piece, Elizabeth, Grandma as well as Ben and Cindy disturb his ability to concentrate. He leaves the house to find another place to work.
The Baldwin sisters work on where to store their important papers and memoirs to prepare for when they are gone. That even includes their plans for the “recipe”. Jason arrives and ask if he can practice at their home. They happily agree and they sit down as if they are to hear a concert. They whisper to each other each time he stops playing the piano to write down a few more notes. He stops and tries to get them to return to their own activities. They then describe their desire to make something of all of their past history and realize that maybe they need to hold a special event to do so. They ask Jason for his help to bring items down from the attic.
At Godsey’s store the Baldwin’s reveal their plan to hold a Founder’s Day for all the residents of Walton’s Mountain. Corabeth quickly takes over in delegating plans and creating a committee to organize the event.
Jason has now resorted to composing on his guitar in the barn. His father comes in and suggests that he starts listening to his own voice instead of his professor’s.
Jim-Bob comes down from the attic with an old musket that he wants to trade in at Buck'd for some parts for his plane. The family disagrees with his lack of respect for his heritage. They come up with ideas of items they can display at the event.
The Baldwin sister’s find a letter that reveals that their ancestors settled on the mountain before Rome Walton and therefore should be named after their family.
Late that night while Jason continues to struggle on his composition Elizabeth sneaks downstairs to get John-Boy’s book she left in the living room. Jason hears her and says there is no point in trying to be quiet, he isn’t making much progress. They talk a bit and she says that John-Boy kept things simple and wrote what he knew about. He sees her point and begins to simplify his composition, He changes the title to “Appalachian Portrait”.
The next morning the family talk about the plans for the Founder’s Day event. They discuss what special activity they should do and Grandma comes up with the idea that Jason should perform his composition. The family loves the idea but Jason in just overwhelmed.
At the store Ike fills up John’s truck with gas. He is just about to tell John that his Great-Great-Great Grandfather was the first to settle on the mountain when the Baldwin ladies arrive and ask John if he can help them to decide to whom if any they should leave the “recipe” to. They had planned to give it to his father Zebulon but now that he has passed on they look to his counsel.
The sisters go inside to meet with Corabeth and Mary Ellen to discuss the plans for the celebration. Miss Emily and Mamie want to see a hall built someday to hold all of the important documents. The group can’t decide where to hold the event, each of them what to do it at their own place. It then becomes a battle as each family representative claims to have been the first to settle the land.
At home that evening Mary Ellen informs the family of the disagreement. Grandma gets her feathers ruffled and gets Rome Walton’s diary that she has kept in safe keeping and gets her son to read 2 different passages which claim that Rome was the first on the mountain and greeted both Fitius T. Baldwin and Isaac Edelbert Godsey when they first arrived into his home. Mary Ellen is pleased that she will be able to tell Corabeth that the event will be held at the Walton house.
The next day Elizabeth asks her father if he will take her to talk to Jason’s Professor. She believes she can convince him to come to Jason’s Founder’s Day Recital but she is worried that her father will lose his temper. They go and discover that the professor is as stuffy as the room he teaches in. The professor doesn’t have any patience for Jason’s work. Even a fellow student tries to be supportive of Jason’s composition but the professor wants to hear no argument. Elizabeth gives him her copy of John-Boy’s book explaining that
The community sets up various displays for the celebration in the Walton’s yard. Corabeth begins the ceremony by inviting the Baldwin sisters to address the crowd. They announce that they will bequeath their home to be used as the museum to hold all of the possessions on display after they have passed. Corabeth asks John to address the crowd. He says that his father would be the one to talk if he where still with them but he continues by saying that what is important is that many of the families on Walton’s Mountain go back many generations and that is what matters and not who was the first to arrive. He then turn’s it over to his son Jason who plays his new composition for the crowd and his professor who had a change of heart and arrived just in time to hear him perform.
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