Hi everyone,

It's a long weekend here in Melbourne, as we celebrate "Labour Day", or the introduction of the 8 hour working day. Many, many years ago, the trade unions pushed for this and now it is a declared holiday for us all, which is nice. It also coincides with Moomba, which is a Melbourne fun festival, and now with the Grand Prix as well. I was in the city yesterday and it was packed with people. It was a lovely day and there is a lot going on for people to do and see.

I don't think John and Zeb Walton ever thought to have an 8 hour working day though! They seemed to work from early morning, until dusk, and even longer when it was necessary. There are several episodes where they are frantically trying to get orders finished. It would have been a hard way to make a living.

Here in Australia we have completed the first four seasons of The Waltons, but now they've started over again, so we are back to season 1 too, just as you are over in the USA. Only difference is though, that we are going by the production order, and you are going in the televised order. Anyway its a good chance to discuss them again so feel free if you find something that you'd like to mention. Actually I was watching The Sinner the other day, and I found a blooper. See if any of you can spot it and I'll let you all know next week. I don't think it's been mentioned on Alex and Marca's site either, so I'll have to add it after next weekend, unless someone beats me to it.

By the way, I've taped a Michael Learned film overnight called "A Change of Heart" (1998). Has anybody seen it yet?

Talk to you again next week. I'm really looking forward to another holiday in my weekend tomorrow. :-))

Goodnight everyone,

Karen.

This week in USA will have the last episodes of the Waltons regular programming. There will be a chat with Kami just before the Decade of the Waltons is shown on March 15. You need to go to TNN chat to make an appointment to be on the chat

Donald

KAREN'S COMMENT: Great reminder about the chat. Check out the information on the TNN site. I haven't had time yet.

>>Corabeth's father was Zeb Walton's brother. So that makes her John's cousin. -Beth. Ok, I'm trying to figure something out. Zeb had a brother named Henry who was married to Martha Corinne, and they were the parents of Boone, right? So did Zeb have another brother besides Henry who would have been Corabeth's father?>>

Apparently there was another brother. But I haven't seen all of the episodes yet so don't take my word for the gospel truth!

-Beth

KAREN'S COMMENT: Good question Beth, and I've got another one that I'm confused about. In "The Dust Bowl Cousins" Cora is cousin to John as well. John tells her husband that the Walton land was shared equally amongst the children. I take it to mean among Zeb and his brothers and sisters. Cora's husband says "I wonder what happened to Cora's Daddy's share?" Who then is Cora's Daddy? His name was Matthew I think, but was he another of Zeb's brothers?

HI,

I was wondering when the Waltons series ends. Tonight I saw the episode where Rose and Stanley get married. Does anyone have a sense of how many more episodes there are after that? I am going to go into Walton's withdrawals when I don't have any new ones to see again! I was so happy Rose and Stanley married. Does Olivia and John ever return to live at home again before the series ends and the specials begin? Will the last episode be one that has some closure or was the series just pulled? I hope it will have some closure before they moved on to specials. Thanks everyone.

Goodnight.

Susan

KAREN'S COMMENT: By now Susan, you will have seen the final of The Waltons. Somehow I think the three 1982 movies pull it together more than the end of the series. What do you think?

Hi,

This is really quite a random comment but I wonder if anyone else thinks it too. The Waltons try to have some kind of perfect family but they never treat their children equally. When John Boy goes to College there is a huge fuss and he gets his own car, but then Jason has to make do with far less attention and no car. Is it just me or are there lots of other examples of this sort of thing happening?

Mary

KAREN'S COMMENT: Probably there seems more fuss about John Boy, since the series is really through his eyes. I remember a lot of fuss being made when Jim Bob's car is ready to roll.

Hi Karen. In answer to your question about my Model 'A', yes it is just like the one in the episode THE CAR. You'll notice in that episode that the car is black in the beginning and he has it painted to a lighter color by the end. The picture that you saw of my car was taken in the Cascade mountains 25 miles from where I live. If anyone out there knows the whereabouts of the Model 'A' s used on the show, give me a holler. I do know where Jim Bob's car is. A fellow club member bought it from the studio.

Have a good day.

John

KAREN'S COMMENT: I'll have to have another look at the paint, but I think I can remember that. Do they mention about painting it in the episode? The Cascade Mountains look just beautiful. Very like the mountains near Bright here in Victoria.

Hello Digest Members!

I just wanted to mention that A Decade of the Waltons (which I think originally aired at the end of the eighth season) will be shown on TNN on Monday, March 15th at 9pm et/pt. I hope everyone who gets TNN will be able to see it.

I ended up missing the special that was aired on Saturday, February 13th! My Dad had been hospitalized that day to have an emergency operation on an abdominal hernia, and I had my Mom staying with me. (Dad is much better now.) The change from the usual comings-and-goings of daily life made me forget about the special being aired.

Daily, I keep in touch with a newsgroup devoted to Jethro Tull (my favorite band), and I happened to mention to the newsgroup members that I was sad to have missed a Waltons special on TV. Believe it or not, a Waltons fan doing a search of Waltons references stumbled upon my message in the Jethro Tull newsgroup and sent me an e-mail! Can you imagine how strange it must have been to do a search for The Waltons and end up in a Jethro Tull newsgroup? I must be sure to tell her about The Digest, just in case she isn't familiar with it already.

Well, have a wonderful day in whichever part of the world you are!

Claire

KAREN'S COMMENT: You meet Waltons fans in the strangest of places. At school I have a little girl called Mary Ellen, which is a really unusual name here. Yes her mother is a fan too. Glad to here your Dad's OK now. :-)

I have been to the Walton's museum. I loved it there. I watch the Walton's every day. I really would love to see a series on John Walton growing up. I think Ralph W. should play Zeb the father. I have also taped a lot of their shows. Where do you get the books to read?

Karen

KAREN'S COMMENT: Karen I found some of my Waltons books in a second hand book shop here, and the rest I have bought from the USA, and had them shipped over. I now have the complete set of hard covers and paper backs. There's a place to do a search called Bibliofind. Go to <www.bibliofind.com> and do a title search for "Waltons". It brings up a list of second hand bookshops which have Waltons books. It's a really interesting place to browse. I chose one which had the majority of the books I wanted, to save on shipping, and I emailed them first. They have been very helpful.

In your trivia quiz question abut John-boys romances, you failed to mention the French girl he fell in love with while in the service...Thought you'd like to know......If I think of her name I'll let you know....My wife Dianne says it was Simone....

Larry

KAREN'S COMMENT: Now since this was a later season, I haven't caught up with it lately. Can someone help with the name and episode please?

Hi Karen!

My name is Noreen and I am e-mailing from Vancouver, Canada. This is my first try at joining the digests I have enjoyed reading. I'm not sure how to get into the chat rooms. I am a Walton fan from way back although most of the episodes originally aired while I was living in Japan. Does anyone know what network will be picking up the series after TNN? I am one of those strange people who have never seen "The Homecoming" but, I have seen "Spencer's Mountain" which I really enjoyed.

Just one more question, Karen…I remember you mentioning in one of the digests that your husband wanted to go to Ireland because his ancestors originally came from Tipperary. That is also my ancestoral home. Does he know any Colberts? I am also a Titanic buff and surf the net to gather info on it. Any others with that shared interest? Bye for now.

KAREN'S COMMENT: Welcome Noreen. We have quite a lot of readers in Canada now. By the way, we hit the 300 member mark this week. There are always a few people coming and going. Yes my husband's family came from Thurles in Tipperary and he says that no, he doesn't know any Colberts. By the way, do we know where the Walton family originated from?

About the Waltons Museum: I have been to the Waltons museum and it is pretty easy to get to once you get to Charlottesville Virginia. Almost anyone, or any hotel, would be able to direct you. If you want actual directions I can give them to you. It's a pretty cool place to visit, and the real life James Robert Hamner lives kiddy-corner to the museum, in the Hamner home. He's a great guy. One the Walton Mountain web page, they give a name and number to contact about the cruise. It sounds like it should be alot of fun. Hope you enjoy Virginia, when are you going?

Courtney

KAREN'S COMMENT: Thanks for the info Courtney. Is anyone booked in for the cruise yet?

Hi Waltons Family,

I wanted to firstly thank all those who answered my question re Rose and Corabeth's relationship to the Waltons. I want to ask Karen what the 3 books by Robert Weverka were, I know of the self titled one "The Waltons" and "The Easter Story" The self tiled one and the Hardcover books (Whitman publications) that I have read are so in tune with the characters and the show that its hard to imagine they were all written by different authors..

Its been interesting following the items on ebay. the cookbook was just amazing. The last I saw it was $91.

I wanted to share with everyone some articles I received yesterday ..I will do a one a week (if my computer allows me, my screen is playing out badly) Its from a Teen magazine "Tiger Beat" there is 12 pages of Waltons pictures and info and some color pinups of John Boy.

Okay here's the first:

Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas, who played the eldest of the seven Walton children in the CBS Television Network special "The Homecoming : A Christmas Story" was born in new York City, June 13, 1951.

The fourth in his line to bear the name, he attended Allen- Stevenson School and McBurnley High School and spent two and a half years at Columbia University, majoring in Chinese.

He made his television debut at the age of 7 and has recently been featured in such series as "Medical Centre", "Marcus Welby M.D.", and "the F.B.I.". He also appeared in the motion pictures "Red Sky at Morning" and "The Last Summer.

He has taken up photography, not only as a hobby but to assist his career. During his spare time Thomas is writing screen plays and wants his own photographs at hand to record locations, scenery, interesting characters and faces he encounters, and to act as memory and mood joggers when he writes.

Richard has a grown brother, Robert and a sister Bronwyn, 12. His father operates a ballet school in New York City.

Goodnight everyone

Kaz in Oz

KAREN'S COMMENT: You must be a real hoarder Kaz, to have kept these articles all these years. :-) Thanks for sending this one, it's really interesting. Any idea of the date of this Tiger Beat? I'm actually hoping to compile a bit of a list of Waltons articles so if you have any, with dates, can you please send the title of the magazine and the date, and maybe a bit of info about whether there are good photos, many pages in the article etc. This way those people who are interested might be able to track magazines down a bit easier. About the Robert Weverka books, the two you mention are his and the other is "The Waltons: Trouble on the Mountain".

Hi Waltons Friends,

A new site has recently been added to the Waltons Webring, bringing the total of webpages in the ring to 15. Each site is unique and has something of interest to Waltons' fans. I invite all of you to check out the newest Waltons Webpage, Cynthia's Waltons Page, then follow the links in the Waltons webring and visit other Waltons webpages. Cynthia'a page can be found at:

http://members.tripod.com/~CynthiaWalton

Also, in the last digest, Kerith in the U.K. asked about the Waltons museum. I have visited the museum several times, and I don't think it is difficult to get to at all, but then I'm used to country roads. My advice is to go to Charlottesville first. From there, go south on U.S. Rt. 29. There are signs directing you to Schuyler and the museum. It really isn't hard to find, and it is well worth your time. Also, the scenery in that part of Virginia is beautiful, and there are many other places of interest in the area. Have fun!

Brenda in WV

KAREN'S COMMENT: The webring is certainly growing and it does make it much easier to find Waltons sites. I'm glad you thought of it Brenda.

I was watching the episode from Monday, March 1st " The Lumberjack" and I was wondering if anyone else noticed the scene when Ike and Corabeth leave the store to go into town to the surveyors office. There is a pause between scenes and if you look at the cars parked in front of the government building. They are like 1967 Volkswagen station wagon, a 68 Chrysler Newport and a couple other 60's cars. Didn't any of the producers or editors notice this during editing? Oh well, enough said. Take care and have a good one.

Mike

KAREN'S COMMENT: Whoops! Anyone else notice this one?