Max and the boys are excited as Honey is well enough to accept visitors and they plan to visit her at the sanatorium in Gravenhurst. Newly independent Toppy, who has just bought a house, is attracting the attention of Archie. Although she supports her soon to be ex-daughter-in-law, May can only publicly support Toppy so much because of her blood ties to Bob. And Grace is also showing some independence in spending a week alone at the cabin at Bass Lake. Jim and Pritchard coincidentally are also spending the week at the lake, about which Grace is quietly excited. Even though she knows she and Jim have nothing in common, she is attracted to him, but she receives more attention from her crush, the junior Flett, Pritchard. The threesome's time at the lake faces some challenges because of the difference between Jim and Grace, but also because of two escaped convicts, including Mr. Sainsbury, who has a personal vendetta against the Baileys. Jim and Grace come to a new quiet understanding and... Written by Huggo

Now that Toppy has moved out of the Bailey house, she has to find something to do with her life. On Archie and Grace's urging - especially since Grace needs acts for her radio talent show which Callie threatens to cancel - Toppy decides to open a school for the performing arts. The first hurdle is that Toppy needs Bob to co-sign the bank loan, which she refuses to even ask Bob to do. Grace thus decides to become Toppy's business partner, financing half the school. May doesn't think it a good idea since she sees neither Grace or Toppy being business minded. However an argument over the matter results in May throwing Grace out of the house, Grace who ends up rooming with Toppy. The school gets no business until Althea Bridgeman, an old friend of Toppy's who has just returned to New Bedford from Toronto, gets her daughter Laura to teach a ballet class at the school and uses her networking among the town's woman's club to have all the daughters enrolled. Laura catches the eye of Hub, the ... Written by Huggo

As Ollie helps Grace find a car, she unwittingly becomes a wedge between Ollie and Marjorie. But Ollie confesses to Marjorie that what looks like doting on Grace is just doing some activities that are enjoyable to him regardless of the person. Alice returns to New Bedford to live with her impoverished mother, Lorna, and drunkard father, Eugene. Alice has been telling everyone that she left her cousin's farm on her own accord, but she confides to Hub that she was kicked out because she's pregnant. Hub will do whatever he can to help her out, even offering to marry her. But Alice, under the guise of needing money to take the train to live with an aunt in Buffalo, decides the best thing to do is to get an illegal abortion. Not knowing what to do, Hub finally confides to Grace, who in turn confronts Alice for using Hub. Alice in turn accuses Grace of not ever taking any responsibility in her own life, which Grace admits to herself is the truth. This accusation helps in both mending her ... Written by Huggo

Novelist Hugh Frampton comes to New Bedford to do research for his new book. He is a drinker, a womanizer and gruff. Everyone in New Bedford however is in awe of his celebrity, especially Max, the aspiring writer. The only person not in awe is Toppy, who stands up to Frampton after he paws over Grace, who was hoping to do an interview with him for her radio show. After sobering up, Frampton realizes that it is Toppy who is the love of his life. After seeing a more compassionate Frampton, Toppy too begins to have feelings for Frampton. The two start courting in front of a jealous Archie. Meanwhile, tales of an undiscovered lode of silver in the old abandoned mine owned by May brings out the curiosity and adventure in Fat and Pritchard. Despite warnings from Maisey and Hub, Fat and Pritchard go into the mine and get trapped. Max in particular feels guilty about the boys' precarious situation since he has been ignoring the kids to pursue his writing. The town comes together to mount a ... Written by Huggo

Leo McGinty passes away, leaving Maisey all alone in the world. May is the executor of Leo's will and he appoints May to be Maisey's guardian and leaves all possessions, including the pawn shop and the building, to Maisey. As such, Maisey is to move in with May and May suggests closing the pawn shop until Maisey becomes of age. Maisey has other ideas - she wants to run the pawn shop and continue to live there on her own. Maisey and May continue their battle of wills as Maisey does move in with May. However, Maisey is certain that drifter ex-con Eddy Jackson is her biological father. She runs a classified ad in the Toronto newspaper hoping that Eddy will read it and come for her. He indeed is her father and does come to New Bedford, with his wife Lucille in tow, to collect Maisey. Eddy seems to have got his life in order, however May won't absolve her responsibility toward Maisey that easily and allow Eddy and Lucille to take all that was left to Maisey. After Fat and Pritchard catch ... Written by Huggo

Toppy accompanies Grace to Lillian Day's traveling gospel revival show. Lillian is an evangelist and faith healer, and Grace is there to interview her for her radio show. Before Grace can get her interview, Lillian runs off. Lillian had just had a major breakdown in faith when she saw her manager, Hiram Beecher, pay someone who she thought she had just healed. Lillian manages to make her way to New Bedford, where, obviously distraught, she runs into Fat, who out of compassion offers to put her up. But she doesn't tell him who she is, and as such, Fat believes she has amnesia. As she can't stay at the hotel due to the Cramp's strict policy, Max decides that Toppy and Grace's house would be the most appropriate place for the mysterious stranger. When Lillian arrives at the house, Grace and Toppy don't recognize her since she is out of costume. However, once a major news release is issued regarding a reward for the return of Lillian Day, Grace knows who her new house-guest is. Lillian ... Written by Huggo

Remembrance Day 1935 is approaching and the Nazi uprising in Europe is taking place. For the Remembrance Day service in New Bedford, a new cenotaph will be unveiled. As usual, Alden, the supposed war hero, adamantly refuses to partake in any of the formal rituals of the day, Callie not even knowing why. Despite he not having died in the war, Old Roolie wants the name of her son, Karl, placed on the cenotaph; she accuses everyone in the town, but especially May, as being the cause of his death. Roolie later tells the kids that Karl was a conscientious objector, who because of his beliefs, was ostracized from the town and beaten to death. They learn from Alden that Karl is actually still alive and living in a nearby town. Grace is livid that Karl has not taken responsibility for his mother, who is now at a stage in her life where she needs someone to look after her. After initially denying that he is Roolie's son, Karl comes to see his mother for the first time in twenty years. He also ... Written by Huggo

Del returns to New Bedford. His stay is uncertain as he left his assembly line job in Windsor, which he hated, with possible thoughts of going west to Vancouver. The two people in New Bedford closest to him, Max and Grace, have mixed feelings about his return. Max wishes that he could get settled and be stable in his life, but after an initial brush-off, decides to let his brother stay with him. Grace, not having heard from Del since he left over a year ago, says that she has moved on with her life, but she obviously still has feelings for him as he does for her. She admits to Toppy that those feeling are primarily of a sexual nature, to which Toppy responds that that can only get one so far in a relationship. One other relationship Del strengthens is with Fat, who he sees a lot like himself at that age: the underdog. Del mentors Fat in boxing, with Del's emphasis on fighting, while Max dotes on the star boxer, Hub. Based on Del's coaching, Fat's style is more street boxing which ... Written by Huggo

It was a dark and stormy night as the first storm of the season passes through New Bedford. The storm has knocked out the power in town and the telephone lines at the hotel are malfunctioning. Along with this, the latest police serial magazine has hit the newsstands. Strapped for money, Max thinks he can write a story for the magazine, which is offering $100 for accepted stories. But he only has until the end of the weekend in which to complete a story from scratch to meet the magazine's deadline. To make things easier, he decides to set the story on a stormy night in a small town hotel much like the New Bedford Hotel, with a cast of characters that loosely resemble townsfolk. The only difference between reality and fiction is that in the story there is a killer loose in their midst, the murder victim being someone resembling Callie Cramp. Potboilers not being his usual writing genre, Max accepts suggestions from anyone he can, and everyone has a suggestion to offer, all in the vein ... Written by Huggo

Grace is chairing her 20th class reunion committee, with Marjorie being her chief volunteer slave. The reunion is a time for her class to reflect on their lives. Marjorie is happy with her life with Ollie, but is concerned about continually not being able to make ends meet. She also wants to start a family, which Ollie does not want to do until they are financially solvent. Ollie, on the other hand, is unhappy with the path he chose for his professional life, stating that if he had to do it all over again he would choose to be a pilot. This unhappiness spills over into his personal life which in turn concerns and affects Marjorie. As Grace complains that no one in New Bedford from their class has made anything important of their lives that would be inspirational enough to be the keynote address for the reunion, Fred Wales, an old classmate and renowned pilot, makes an emergency landing in New Bedford with his business partner, Warner Shank. Fred's arrival stirs up the 'what I should... Written by Huggo

The Sutton and Bailey families are getting an early Christmas present: Honey is well enough to come home, they hope for good, after spending a year at the sanatorium. Honey wants to resume her life in New Bedford just they way she left it, but it ends up not being as simple as that. With the hair dressing shop, all of her customers have gone elsewhere and the general consensus amongst the townsfolk is that Honey is still contagious from her tuberculosis. Her children are a year older, and Hub in particular is verging on manhood. Honey doesn't like the fact that Hub is showing so much attention to Alice, who Honey feels should be supported by the baby's biological father regardless of the suitability of him as a father or husband. Ultimately, Honey comes to the realization that she is treating Alice the way that the townsfolk are treating her. Meanwhile, Eddy has some grand plans for the pawn shop. Based in part by some comments by May and by Eddy himself, Maisey begins to have ... Written by Huugo

Doris, Toppy's daughter, comes back to New Bedford during a break from school in Toronto. Spoiled Doris acts as if the world has dealt her a rotten hand in life, especially that the disintegration of her parent's marriage has placed her in a lower social standing among the elite class in Toronto. She hasn't even been invited to the Winter Ball - the social event of the season in Toronto - she feels because of her parent's situation. Even Hub has been invited to the ball by the Bridgemans as their guest. Hub really likes Laura and really wants to go, but feels that he's a little out of his element. These issues may be immaterial as he doesn't have the proper attire and Max and Honey can't afford to buy it for him. His relatives do whatever they can for Hub, and May comes through buying his clothes saying that he will represent the Bailey family at the event. This irks Doris, who feels like the family will do anything for Hub but nothing for her. Doris also brings news from her father ... Written by Huggo

Valentine's Day 1936 is approaching and Max is directing this year's edition of the Valentine's Follies. Against this backdrop, romantic relationships are formed and broken. Toppy is not feeling much in a romantic Valentine's mood as she has just returned from Toronto with her signed divorce papers in hand. Archie, however, has other ideas. He proposes to her that he, when appropriate, will ask her to marry him. Although she knew that he would eventually ask her, she was not prepared to actually hear the words. She is also not prepared for her encounter with Mother ...