What a bummer this is! Wally, Beaver, Tooey, Chester and Lumpy all get free tickets to the carnival, the last day it's being held. They're all excited: it's going to be a good Saturday ("about the only good day when you're a kid," explains Beaver).
Then Aunt Martha calls and says to June that she and her friend Mrs. Hathaway are going to stop by on their way somewhere else. It's been a year and Aunt Martha wants to see how much the boys have grown. Meanwhile, Wally and Beaver got their dad to say he will to take them to the carnival and back.
June puts a damper on those plans by explaining about Aunt Martha's call. "When she leaves, you can still go to the carnival," she tells the shocked and now-worried boys.
I can't believe that June - who normally is so concerned about the boys' happiness - is so unthoughtful as to do what she does in this episode. The aunt is ready to leave early, which means the boys can go the carnival on time, but Junes insists the two women stay for lunch! "The boys have nothing to do," she says. (Hello??!!). Ward goes along with it silently.
Two hours later - long after their friend have all left - the guests finally leave and Ward volunteers to take the boys to the carnival. Wally declines, too upset over what happened. He goes up to his room, followed by Beaver, to sulk.
The boys are lectured that by Ward that "sometimes you have to do some things that may make you unhappy but will make other people happy." He explains how important Aunt Martha is to June and why she didn't want the woman to leave so fast. The boys then apologize to their mother for their selfish behavior.
A frustrating episode to watch.....but there was the typical nice, feel-good ending.
