Timmy's Cabin

Tom Riley is finally opening his late son Timmy's secret cabin as a clubhouse for the kids of Odyssey - just as Philip Glossman shows up with plans to bulldoze the whole apple farm for a new state highway. Then a cheerful stranger named Mr. Chapman turns up living in the cabin, calling himself an explorer of history and insisting on helping Tom fix the old place up. Whit pulls every string he has, but the state won't budge, and the bulldozers roll at the end of the month. On demolition day, a falling tree knocks loose Timmy's lumber and uncovers a star carved in the door frame... the mark Johnny Appleseed left on every cabin where he planted an orchard. The farm is a historic landmark, the highway is stopped, and Glossman is beaten. But Chapman has already wandered on, and nobody ever asked his first name - until Marsha comes running with her history book, which says Johnny Appleseed's real name was John Chapman.

Found on Meanwhile, in Another Part of Town Album 14 · 13 episodes

The run See every episode

0196 Harlow Doyle, Private Eye When a girl at Whit's End confesses she's lost her faith, Odyssey's eccentric new private eye takes the case - determined to find it like any other missing item.

0197 The Midnight Ride At Whit's End, Whit sets the record straight on Longfellow's famous poem, telling Marsha the fuller, stranger, and truer story of Paul Revere's midnight ride.

0198 Treasure Hunt A charity treasure hunt turned water-pistol war game collides with a manhunt when an escaped convict stumbles back into the one town he swore he'd never see again.

0199 The 'No' Factor When everyone in Odyssey suddenly wants Connie Kendall at once, her enthusiastic yeses pile into a schedule no one could survive.

0200 Feud for Thought When Eugene discovers he's related to Bernard Walton, his first family reunion turns sour as a fifty-year-old grudge over a pig deal puts his grandfather's honor - and his newfound family ties - on the line.

0201 Fair-Weather Fans When a heat wave hits Odyssey, Isaac partners with a smooth-talking new kid to sell miracle fans door-to-door - and learns that easy money always comes with a catch.

0202 Timmy's Cabin When the state moves to bulldoze his orchard for a new highway, a grieving farmer's last hope may rest with a mysterious wandering stranger and the old cabin his late son left behind.

0203 Double Trouble A famous actor's arrival in Odyssey sends the town into a panic when he turns out to be the spitting image of its most notorious villain.

0204 Wonderworld A reluctant Jimmy Barclay, convinced he's outgrown make-believe, gets strong-armed into babysitting Lawrence Hodges - a kid whose imagination refuses to take an afternoon off.

0205 Flash Flood Eugene's over-prepared debut on a camping trip tests the patience of his fellow campers just as a mountain storm threatens more than anyone bargained for.

0206 Pen Pal A girl's excitement about finally meeting her beloved pen pal face-to-face turns to confusion when the visit reveals a secret the letters never mentioned.

0207 The Case of the Candid Camera When a boy's camera vanishes at Whit's End, bumbling private eye Harlow Doyle takes the case - but the theft may be tangled up with the town's upcoming Bible Bowl.

0208 Pipe Dreams When a nervous kid passed over for his dream Government Day assignment gets stuck in the county's least glamorous office, a storm gives him more excitement than he bargained for.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 4 more roles

4 supporting roles

Marsha (b) Lydia Reissmueller Construction Worker Dave Arnold Timothy Riley Landon Arnold Mr. Chapman (a) Bernard Erhard

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Dave Arnold Sound Designer · Producer Paul McCusker Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Philip Glossman is back in Odyssey, and he has not come to make friends. He works for the state's Secretary of Transportation now, and he has mapped out a new highway whose cheapest route runs straight through Tom Riley's apple farm.

Tom has just opened up a corner of that farm he has kept closed for years: a cabin his son Timmy fixed up as a secret hideout before he died in a boating accident. Tom is giving it to the kids of Odyssey for a clubhouse, and while he, Whit and Marsha are clearing the trail to it, they discover a stranger has been staying inside. His name is Mr. Chapman, a cheerful wanderer who calls himself "an explorer of history" and is walking across America. He insists on repaying Tom's kindness by helping fix the place up. He shows Marsha the star hidden inside an apple cut crossways, spins legends like the Battle of the Apples, and works so hard that Tom, who misses his son more than he lets on, starts to feel that Chapman's arrival means something.

Then Glossman arrives with his paperwork. The state has eminent domain: the farm will be bought whether Tom sells or not, and the bulldozers come at the end of the month. Whit spends that month pulling every string he has and comes up empty. The night before the demolition, Tom walks out to the cabin to say goodbye and finds Chapman still there. "Don't give up, Mr. Riley," the stranger tells him. "You never know what's gonna happen until it happens."

In the morning the chainsaws take down the trees in front of the cabin - and when the bulldozer rolls toward it, Chapman refuses to get out of the way. One of the falling trees has knocked loose the fresh lumber Timmy put up when he reinforced the walls, uncovering a star carved into the original door frame: the mark Johnny Appleseed cut into the doorpost of every cabin he stayed in when he planted an orchard there. Tom's farm was planted by Johnny Appleseed himself, which makes the cabin a historic landmark the highway cannot touch. Tom hands back the state's check, the experts later confirm the mark, and Glossman is beaten.

By then Chapman has moved on, the cabin looking as if no one was ever in it. Nobody ever asked his first name. It is Marsha who comes running with her history book, because it says Johnny Appleseed's real name was John Chapman.