Richard Thomas introduces this movie based on the TV series and occasionally narrates as adult John-Boy.Shortly before Thanksgiving 1934, the Waltons have harvested their corn crop and, while it didn't bring in as much money as they wanted, John and his two older boys are working for the Baldwin sisters doing odd jobs. The biggest of these jobs is building an addition to their house so they can produce more of their "recipe", which is now legal.Even though Thanksgiving is several days away, the family members tell what they are thankful for as they sit down to eat.Elizabeth and Jim-Bob are playing when Abner's truck arrives with equipment for the County Fair. The children meet a red-haired boy identified only as "Red", who says he will be working the duck pond at the fair. He is very friendly and quite intelligent, but he lived in an orphanage until Abner and his wife made him their foster son. The boy, who the Walton children later describe as older than Erin and younger than Mary Ellen, is treated harshly by his foster father, who seems only interested in getting the boy to work for him and not in a permanent adoption. The children give the boy a lucky penny.Elizabeth wants a pet bunny but the family has enough animals and can't have any just as pets.After coming home from work and cleaning up, John-Boy meets the new librarian Edith, who has come to deliver Erin a book about Romeo and Juliet. Erin, who is 13, wants to portray Juliet in the fair's talent show. John-Boy seems interested in Edith, who is also in his class at school, though there are no scenes showing them at school. However, he has also received a letter from Maggie, the previous librarian who cannot come home from college unless she gets a ride. John-Boy's interest in both girls is distracting him from more important responsibilities.At Ike's store, Olivia meets the Baldwin sisters and mentions that she will be one of the judges in the fair's pie contest. Rose, who is also there, will be a judge as well. The Baldwins think this will be good for Grandma Walton, who wins the pie contest every year with a pecan pie that has a secret ingredient. Olivia claims she will be impartial but is having her doubts.Mary Ellen wants to sing at the talent show and she is very good. But she thinks Jason isn't playing the banjo well enough and keeps stopping to criticize him. Sister Harriet and Brother William, who are watching the pair practice at their church, try to give advice, while Erin reads her book and seems to be enjoying the bickering.Grandpa and Grandma show up at the Walton house. Jim-Bob asks Grandpa if he ever hit his kids, and Grandpa says no, because his father believed in hitting his kids, and Grandpa managed to find a way to keep his rowdy boys in line without hitting. Inside, Grandma says she is out of her secret ingredient and wants to know if Olivia has any. She confesses that it is the Baldwins' recipe, and she correctly assumes John has some.Erin rehearses her performance in front of the family but the young kids are bored. Mary Ellen and Jason continue to disagree on how they should handle their situation, but Jason agrees to play for her if she will do his chores.After she finds out Olivia will be one of the judges, Grandma is outside Ike's store when she tells Grandpa she feels good about her chances because she knows her pie is the best and not because Olivia is family. While Grandpa goes in the store to get aspirin for Grandma's headache, Grandma puts the pie where he will be sitting and he sits on it, thinking that was an accident.It is time for the fair. The family goes together and, while they will go their separate ways for different activities, they are all expected to meet later. Edith comes with John-Boy, who is advised he will still be responsible for Elizabeth.Grandma sneaks into the tent with the pies and pours recipe in her pie. After she leaves, Olivia, Rose and the third judge, Charlie, arrive.Mary Ellen meets a boy. They compete in a game involving water pistols.Elizabeth sees the duck pond and wants to play. However, John-Boy and Edith take her on rides. Afterward, she doesn't feel so good. Still, she sees that the duck pond has a large bunny as a prize and she wants to win it. Using a fishing line, Elizabeth has to catch one of the ducks. If it has a 3 on the bottom, she wins the big prize. Every duck has a 1 and John-Boy runs out of money. The boy running the game gives her his lucky penny and Edith chips in. Elizabeth wins the big prize. Actually, she didn't pick a duck with a 3 on it, but the boy pretended. Abner finds out and is very hard on the boy, saying no one is to win the big prize, and that he will have to keep working long enough to make enough to pay for the big bunny.The pies are judged. Grandma's looks and tastes terrible, and only Charlie believes it is the best one. Olivia can't tell which pecan pie is Grandma's, which is just as well. When Grandma loses, she says she has plenty of blue ribbons.At the talent show Erin freezes. She is comforted offstage by Olivia, and then Mary Ellen sings with Jason on banjo. The boy Mary Ellen likes is in back, and Mary Ellen stops singing. Jason helps out by singing the words she was supposed to, and they do a duet until Mary Ellen is confident once again. A saw musician who was shown wins first prize. Another person whose talent the movie did not show wins second place, and Mary Ellen and Jason come in third. They are still happy.The family is supposed to meet for the fireworks later. Maggie shows up, saying she got a ride, and she and John-Boy have a conversation, while Edith is nearby. While he is distracted, Elizabeth sees a bunny in the woods. The duck pond boy sees her follow the bunny. When John-Boy realizes Elizabeth is missing, the family and others search all over for her. The duck pond boy knows where she went but won't say anything. Elizabeth falls and hurts herself but keeps going, leaving her stuffed bunny behind. Dhe realizes she is lost and starts calling for help.The duck pond boy finally decides to go after Elizabeth. Abner sees he has left and angrily puts up the "closed" sign. The boy finds Elizabeth and brings her back. No one is in trouble (except the boy). Everyone is just glad to see her. Abner grabs the boy and mistreats him, and John tells him he shouldn't do that and that there will be consequences. John tells the boy his name and to come to him if Abner ever does that again.The family watches the fireworks and it is time to go home.Olivia and John agree John-Boy is punishing himself enough and they don't need to take any other action. There is a knock on the door. The boy has been beaten up, and he walked the entire six miles because John had said to come to him if he needed to. He had no place to go and everyone knows how to get to the Walton place.The boy is given a place to sleep but he is used to the floor, so Olivia and John are shocked to find he slept there. The boy is outside doing chores to repay the Waltons for what they did for him.Abner is arrested and his wife, who was also abused, is free of him.The family accepts the boy and treats him as one of their own. He has never had a family like this and he is so grateful. He tells them his name is Ben.Olivia and John decide to officially adopt Ben, and the family is shown having a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. Grandpa is asked to carve the turkey but he hands the knife to John-Boy.The narrator says the process was hard but Ben eventually became a real member of the Walton family.