Petticoat Junction: Betty Jo learns a lesson Part I

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This story is based on the 1960s sitcom Petticoat Junction. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.

Petticoat Junction

Part I: Betty Jo’s Mistake

It was early October 1951, and Betty Jo Bradley was 7 years old and in the second grade at Hooterville Elementary School. For the most part Betty Jo liked school, but she was also a daydreamer. She would stare out the window at times and think about playing baseball with the neighborhood boys. Betty Jo had always been a tomboy, the cute and charming kind of tomboy that everyone liked. All the kids loved Betty Jo, the boys and the girls.

She was a decent student but certainly not the brightest of the three Bradley sisters. She was smarter than her older sister Billie Jo but didn’t quite equal the academic brilliance of her other sister Bobbie Jo. However, Betty Jo did possess the most common sense and street smarts among the sisters. That was because she spent most of her free time outdoors, out and about playing and exploring. Her mother Kate didn’t mind this at all for she loved for her girls to have a good time. As long as the girls completed their homework properly and got their chores done, Kate was okay with whatever activities they participated in given that they were constructive.

Kate Bradley had raised her three daughters as a single mother ever since her husband died when Betty Jo was a year old. Kate had done her best to give them a proper upbringing and a firm foundation for the future. She hoped that each would go on to college and tried to set aside a few extra dollars per month in a savings account for that purpose. At the time of Bill Bradley’s death, Kate’s uncle, Joe Carson, came to live with her at the Shady Rest Hotel to lend support. Uncle Joe had been a wonderful uncle to Kate when she was growing up, and he loved his three nieces.

Betty Jo was the youngest, then Bobbie Jo in the middle, and Billie Jo was the oldest. On this particular day in early October, Kate had taken her daughters to school. In the Hooterville valley of this era, grades 1st through 6th were contained in the same building. Kindergarten was unheard of in that period. Betty Jo was in the second grade, Bobbie Jo was in the fourth, and Billie Jo had begun her final year before middle school and was in the sixth grade. Thus, all attended school in the same building, and at this age, Kate still brought them to school herself. They rode the cannonball into town and then walked the rest of the way.

When Betty Jo walked into Ms. Applebee’s classroom one of her best friends, Harold Peterson, told her he wanted to talk to her. They had about 10 minutes before the bell was to ring. “What do you want, Harold?”, said Betty Jo. Harold said with excitement, “I heard old man Watson tell my dad that the fish are biting like crazy in Miller’s pond”. “So”, replied Betty Jo. “So, let’s go fishing”, said Harold. Betty Jo thought that Harold meant after school or the upcoming weekend. “Okay, I’d love to”, she replied. “Okay, let’s sneak out while Ms. Applebee has her back turned”, Harold urged. Betty Jo had a look of absolute shock. “What? You mean right now?”, she asked in disbelief. Harold replied, “Yes, of course I mean right now”. “We can’t play hooky. You know we’ll get in bad trouble”, argued Betty Jo, “Why does it have to be now?”. Harold countered, “Because if we go now they’re won’t be anybody else there, and we can get all the fish we want. Old man Watson and some of his pals are going to the pond this afternoon. You know we can’t get any fishing done with them around”.

Betty Jo knew this was true. Old man Watson had always been mean to kids who tried to fish at the same time he was fishing, and she figured he would be fishing in the afternoons and the upcoming weekend if he knew the fish were really biting. Betty Jo loved to go fishing, especially when she and her friends had all of Miller’s pond to themselves. Betty Jo pondered these thoughts for several minutes. She decided that she definitely wanted to go fishing but was terribly worried about getting caught. She knew that Kate would blister her backside.

“Okay Harold, tell me how we’re not going to get caught playing hooky”, she demanded. Harold had an answer for everything. He told her, “Look, Ms. Applebee has been writing on the board, and she has no idea who is here and who is not. We can be gone by the time she takes role. Nobody will see us at Miller’s pond because they will either be at work or school.” Betty Jo thought a few seconds. “What about tomorrow when they ask why we were absent?”, she asked. “No problem. I am good at writing fake notes and signatures. I’ll write both of us a note saying that we were sick”, Harold stated with confidence. To Betty Jo’s second grade mind that sounded reasonable. “Okay, let’s go”, she said. Betty Jo knew what they were doing was wrong, but she wanted to do it, and if she could get by with it then she wouldn’t worry about it. It would just be one day she thought.

Go to Part II