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Lassie (US) :: Operation Woodland (09x28)
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Episode Information |
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| Title: | Operation Woodland |
| Episode #: | 09x28 |
| Original Airdate: | Sunday April 21st, 1963 |
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This recap is based on an airing of "Operation Woodland" on Discovery Kids February 19, 2006. Please note that Lassie episodes are often "cut" in airings today in order to accomodate more and more commercial ads. "Operation Woodland" as aired on Discovery Kids February 19, 2006 may or may not be as complete as the initial airing of the episode on CBS April 21, 1963.
Timmy's class has a guest speaker -- Ranger Allen of the USDA Forest Service. He leads the schoolchildren in a pledge to protect and defend America's wild resources. Junior Fire Ranger badges are distributed to all. Ranger Allen explains that the watershed has been burned off and winter rains may flood Claverton and the valley. He tells the children that in the morning they will be taken to the mountains to plant tree seeds as a flood prevention measure. The children are thrilled but even more thrilled when Miss Hazlit, their teacher, says there will be no school the next day and no homework that evening.
Ranger Allen says seeds needed for the project are extracted from fresh pine cones. He asks for a volunteer to gather fresh pine cones before the morrow's excursion to the mountains. Timmy offers himself and Lassie, indicating he knows a stand of pine trees. Ranger Allen gives him three burlap bags to fill. Miss Hazlit allows Timmy to leave school at once to begin gathering the pine cones.
At the Martin farm, Ruth is planting flowers at the edge of the house. Lassie keeps her company and helps by bringing Ruth a trowel. Timmy arrives home from school but prepares to dash away immediately. Ruth stops him and asks why he's home from school so early. Timmy explains to his mother the tree planting project then hurries away with Lassie in tow to gather pine cones. Ruth watches him depart with a loving smile on her face.
At the edge of a reservoir, Timmy and Lassie look for pine cones. Unfortunately, Timmy finds that most have opened and dropped their seeds. He spots some fresh pine cones clinging to the pine branches high above his head. He finds a long stick and tries to knock the cones down but the stick is not long enough to do the job. He tosses the stick aside and continues searching the ground for fresh pine cones.
A busy squirrel high in a tree attracts Lassie's attention. The squirrel drops a cone. It's a perfect pine cone! Lassie takes the cone to Timmy. Timmy looks into the trees and notices the squirrel. Together Timmy and Lassie watch the squirrel scamper about the tree tops. Finally the squirrel scurries to his cache of pine cones in an old hollow log on the ground. It is filled with just the sorts of pine cones Timmy needs for his project. Timmy wants to confiscate the squirrel's hoard but the squirrel chatters angrily from a branch above his head -- the pine cones are the squirrel's winter stores and he won't survive the cold season without them. Timmy doesn't want to rob the squirrel of the food that will keep him alive through the winter and hurries home with an idea brewing in his head.
In the Martin kitchen, Ruth is canning. She scoops ladle after ladle of cooked fruit into glass jars. Timmy rushes breathlessly through the kitchen door and asks his mother if she has any food for squirrels.
Without waiting for his mother's response, Timmy opens the refrigerator door and rummages about the shelves. Timmy tells his mother about the squirrel's cache and that he can't take the pine cones without leaving the squirrel some goodies in their stead.
Ruth looks through the refrigerator and finds corn, berries, and walnuts for the squirrel's table. She packs the food into paper bags for Timmy while Lassie looks on approvingly.
Back at the water's edge, Timmy and Lassie toss a nut to the squirrel. The squirrel adds the nut to his hoard then scampers into a tree. Timmy and Lassie are satisifed that the squirrel will accept their offering; they drop the entire contents of their paper bags into the squirrel's pantry and take the pine cones they need for the project. Timmy looks to the trees and thanks the squirrel.
Timmy's three burlap bags of pine cones are too heavy for him to carry home. He decides to leave the bags in the gully where he filled them and tells Lassie that he will bring his dad to pick them up in the morning before school. He thanks the squirrel again and hurries home.
Timmy wakes in the night to a terrific thunderstorm. He looks out the window at the deluge then dons his robe and runs into the hall calling his father. Ruth appears in her robe on the staircase. She tells Timmy his father has left the house to help the men sandbag the dam to prevent its overflow.
Timmy is frantic with worry; he tells his mother his seeds will be washed away in the storm. He prepares to leave the house to gather his pine cones. Ruth sternly forbids him to go out in the storm. Timmy is dismayed but his mother assures him the creeks and gullies don't fill up with the first storm of the year and his pine cones will be safe. Ruth tells him to go to bed and says she will leave a note for his father to wake him first thing in the morning.
Timmy returns to his room and watches the storm from his bedroom window. He climbs into bed, lays his head upon the pillow and stares at the ceiling. Lassie drops her head on the edge of the bed, sharing her master's worries about the safety of his pine cones.
Early the next morning Paul and Timmy drive to the gully at the edge of the reservoir where Timmy left the bags of pine cones. Water is pouring through the gully and Timmy's bags of pine cones have disappeared. Timmy is greatly disappointed.
Lassie "smells something in the wind" and trots to the water's edge. She looks and sniffs here and there. Meanwhile Timmy wonders aloud about the squirrel. The trees are silent; the squirrel is nowhere to be seen or heard. Lassie calls Timmy and Paul to the edge of the reservoir. Paul interprets Lassie's barking to mean the squirrel was washed away trying to protect his cache from the storm. Timmy grieves the loss of the squirrel and sits down dejectedly upon a log. But Lassie knows better and hurries off through the trees without attracting the notice of Paul or Timmy.
Paul sits beside his son and reminds him the children are waiting for him at school. Timmy says the children are waiting not for him but for the tree seeds he cannot supply. Paul tells his son he cannot blame himself for the loss of the pine cones. Timmy says if he'd carried the pine cones home the evening before all would be well today. Paul tells Timmy he cannot waste time considering the "ifs" of the situation.
Timmy asks his dad to call Miss Hazlit and explain the situation; he cannot face his classmates. Paul refuses and tells Timmy no one will think less of him if he doesn't have the pine cones but they will think less of him if he doesn't have the courage to face them.
Timmy considers his father's wise words; he says he will walk to school to think over what he will say to his classmates. Paul approves and then leaves. Timmy calls Lassie but she doesn't respond. Timmy walks away alone.
At the schoolhouse, the children are seated at their desks while Ranger Allen talks about the project. The door opens and Timmy enters. Miss Hazlit asks him why he is late. Timmy haltingly but courageously explains the loss of the pine cones to the assembly. Miss Hazlit assures him with kind tones that he did his best.
Suddenly Lassie pokes her head through the window; she has a fresh pine cone in her mouth. She drops the pine cone to the floor and Timmy carries it to Ranger Allen. He declares the pine cone perfect. Lassie indicates with impatient and excited barking that she wants everyone to follow her. The children troop away with Lassie.
Lassie leads the party through the woods to a heap of pine cones beneath the trees. The Ranger is puzzled but delighted. Timmy looks into the trees; the squirrel chatters at him happily. The squirrel has carried Timmy's entire store of pine cones to its new location to save it from the storm; the little creature has saved the pine cones for he who supplied him with nuts and berries! Timmy is overjoyed.
The children set about and busy themselves, shaking seeds from pine cones while Ranger Allen gathers them into paper bags. Lassie helps too, carrying the bags of seeds to Timmy. The seeds are planted. With the work completed, the children gather in a circle to sing and relax after their labors.
Ranger Allen commends the class for making the operation a success and singles Timmy out with special thanks for supplying the needed seeds. The Ranger hands Timmy a bag of nuts for the squirrel and then places a ribbon bearing a Junior Fire Ranger badge around Lassie's neck. Lassie is an honorary Junior Fire Ranger! Lassie sits up proudly -- then gives the Ranger a kiss.
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