Felix must decide where his future lies; the farm or the hotel. The choice is too difficult and Felix rebels. He is too tired to work well at either the farm or hotel; and gives up his job. Alec, seeing how unhappy Felix is, urges him to resume working at the hotel. Felix befriends a millionaire, who teaches him the importance of Fathers and Sons and how to ""talk"" to his father.

The family is planning a 50th birthday party for Hetty. Her publisher, no longer wants ""Romance"" novels from her. Muriel Stacey returns to town and takes over the general store. When Hetty succumbs to appendicitis, her out look on life changes. She decides to write about what she knows; her childhood and the beauty of the island.<br /> <br /> This episode is Heather Conkie's shining moment as a writer for 'Avonlea', as we are given insight to the young Hetty King

Plans are on the way for the American millionaire (see Home Movie) to turn the old cannery into a distillery. An outraged Hetty persuades H.B. Dunn sells the cannery to her, but she doesn't know how to run it. Jasper and Olivia take over the day-to-day running of the cannery, and use Gus Pike's expertise in operations. Problems arise that must be solved. Gus and the King family pitch in, even Felicity, and all the lobsters are canned; so Hetty decides The Dales must buy the cannery from her.

Davey Keith is already in trouble after the first day of school. After getting caught fighting in the playground, Clive Pettibone assigns him one hundred lines to write as punishment. While this might be difficult enough under any circumstances, for Davey it is doubly severe because he cannot read or write. After he inadvertently lands Sarah in trouble she learns his awful secret. With her help, however, he begins to learn how to read.

Avonlea is hosting the annual drama competition and Hetty plans to win.She makes a wager with Eleanor McHugh,betting a secret family recipe.Asking Janet to play the lead role,She callously recasts the role when the opportunity arises,giving the part to Isabelle Carrington,famous stage actress.However it turns out that Isabelle's refusal to play the part as originally written (by Hetty of course)forces Hetty to fire her only one day before the competition is set to begin.<br /> <br /> So Hetty must beg Janet to retake the lead role in time to save the play.

Felix wants to enter the steeplechase; but Janet is afraid he'll get hurt. He trains for the race without her knowledge and is injured. Janet and Felix, face their fears; and he enters the race. Clive Pettibone wants to prove to his son that he is still as good a rider as he used to be and also enters the race. Who will win???

The Kings find a man in thier barn and give him work, but is he all that he seems?

John Hodgeson, a candidate for Prime Minister, stays at the White Sands with his daughter. Adeline takes a liking to Felix. Alec considers a life in politics after John's encouragement.

The King family finds out that Cecily has TB and the townsfolk try to avoid contact with the King family.

As penance for a careless accident he caused, Hetty orders Davey (he and Dora who Hetty is looking after for the afternoon) to perform three good deeds. The first is directed toward Jasper. Davey is the cause of yet another accident in Jasper's laboratory, but one that helps Jasper create a new unbreakable ceramic-like material. Olivia thinks that Jasper should patent it and use it for widespread purposes. The only person who Jasper believes could assist financially and with business expertise is his black-sheep cousin Jeremiah Dale - he being the black sheep because he went into business. However Jasper does not want to ask as he has not spoken to Jeremiah in over twenty years since Jeremiah made his life miserable when they were growing up. Looking remarkably similar to each other, Jeremiah used to pretend to be Jasper while wreaking havoc. Without telling Jasper, Olivia decides to ask Jeremiah on Jasper's behalf, a move which doesn't sit well with Jasper. Olivia, Jasper and Jeremiah have to reconcile their feelings if there is any chance of Jasper's invention making a mark in the world. Jeremiah's plans are to seek investments of $8,000 to make the business fly. But Jasper and Olivia have no idea what Jeremiah's exploits have been in the past twenty years. Those exploits ultimately direct the success or failure for Jasper, Olivia and the investors of what Jeremiah has coined "Jasperon Incorporated".

Certain people in Avonlea are hoping for a progression in romance. Ever since Morgan went away to military school, Izzy has been Clive's singular focus. She feels he needs a wife, and searches through the list of spinster women in Avonlea for a suitable candidate. Izzy sets her sights on either Hetty or Muriel. With an established relationship, Gus and Felicity each have news which could affect their future. Gus has been promoted to Assistant Manager at the White Sands Hotel, meaning that he now has the financial means to ask Felicity to marry him, which meets with Alec's approval. Felicity however has just been accepted into Dalhousie University's medical school in a fast tracked process. Because Gus wants to get married now, whereas Felicity wants to wait until she finishes school - which could be upwards of seven years - Gus and Felicity have to decide what to do about the possibility of a future together. Gus' thoughts are affected by Matt O'Donnell, an old sailor colleague who is passing through Prince Edward Island, while Felicity's are directed by Dr. Jones' practice as well as the financial ability of the Kings to send her to school for seven years.

A new minister comes to Avonlea; Rev. Elliott. However, many of the townspeople are put off by his use of humor during sermons. Hetty, in particular, is put off by his son Booth's forwardness in asking Sara to dance a new dance, the Ragtime, with him. Janet is the only one who makes friends with the minister's eccentric wife Viola.

When Janet and Viola go for a joy ride in Miss Stacey's new automobile, it raises rumors that Mrs. Elliott has a drinking problem.