Thu, Sep 23, 1999
In the three months since the victory of the miners strike, Willie's first act as the inaugural president of the Junior Mine Workers Association is to ask Mr. Crowe to send for a doctor trained in treating consumption. However, Spider and the other pit boys want to take advantage of Willie's position to ask to form their own baseball team which they name The Ponies. Meanwhile, Nellie tries to make Rose take Maggie and Sarah away as her health deteriorates. But Maggie refuses to leave and wants to stay in Glace Bay.
Thu, Sep 30, 1999
The National Coal Company's new doctor arrives in Glace Bay to treat the bedridden Nellie's advanced case of consumption. In a surprising twist of fate, the new physician turns out to be Tony Moressa, Nellie's ex-boyfriend. Tony makes a positive impression on everyone, including Willie, Maggie, and the other pit boys. But not to the gossipy Mrs. MacTavish over some past incidents. Meanwhile, Willie and the rest of the pit boys prepare for their first baseball game as the Ponies.
Thu, Oct 7, 1999
Willie conducts a dangerous safety investigation in which he has to determine whether one of the seams in the mine contains methane gas. During the safety check, an explosion causes the roof to collapse and Willie is blamed for the damage. Meanwhile, Maggie continues to aid Nellie in her slow recovery and notices Nellie's talent at drawing. Maggie asks Mrs. Borso to borrow a paint box for Nellie.
Thu, Oct 14, 1999
Wendell Crowe plots to keep Willie working at the Ocean Deeps Mine by having Mr. Frawley give him a raise to take charge of new pit ponies. But Willie's job continues to interfere with his schoolwork and baseball practice. As a result, Willie's combative attitude begins to alienate him from not only his co-workers, but the rest of his friends... including his beloved horse, Sable who takes off. Willie must choose between his job or to find his horse and walk away from it all.
Thu, Oct 21, 1999
Willie has trouble reconciling his all-too-adult responsibilities with being a kid. Charley takes Willie out fishing to help take his mind off things, including the disappointment that the Ponies are playing a big championship game without him. Maggie and Angus tag along, and things take a turn when Charley injures himself and Willie has to go seek help. Meanwhile, Tony has Mr. Crowe let Stringy work in the mine for a while longer. He has a plan to get Stringy out of the mine for good by having him show off his home run hitting skills at the Ponies upcoming game to a few major league baseball scouts.
Thu, Oct 28, 1999
Ned is surprised to find that Spider has been living alone for some time in an abandoned boat. He invites the pit boy home to his house to stay, in which Nellie and Maggie are happy to have company, but Willie isn't. Meanwhile, Nellie continues with her hobby (drawing), and dreams of someday moving into the company house to better her and Ned's lives.
Thu, Nov 4, 1999
The workers' fight to get adequate medical treatment proves a mixed blessing. The hiring of the company doctor, Tony Moressa, also results in some disadvantages for Ned and the rest of the cash-strapped workers. Tony's exorbitant medical bills are more than the miners can afford. So, Ned is tempted to take another job as the mine's over-man. Meanwhile, Rose and Sarah arrive in town for another visit. Nellie's plans to move into her dream house are quashed when the company buys Nellie's dream house for Tony to live in. Also, Charley is hospitalized with a head injury. Willie, Maggie and Mrs. MacTavish take turns to maintain a bedside vigil, as does Anne Harper.
Thu, Nov 11, 1999
Tony helps Ned prepare the Ponies who are about to play in the closing championship game. But the game might have to be forfeited when Ned and Tony get into a heated confrontation over the team's ability to play, and in the aftermath, the Ponies disband. Stringy wonders if he is doomed to be stuck working as a pit boy and seeing his dream as a major league baseball player quashed. But Willie and Maggie scheme to re-form the Ponies with some school mates as replacement players. They ask Stringy to stay on to show off his home-run hitting ability to some scouts from the Boston Pilgrims. Spider is also asked to stay on to show off his pitching ability, and Mrs. MacTavish decides to act as the new coach.
Thu, Nov 18, 1999
Willie and Maggie conspire to ignite a romance between Charley McGinnis and their school teacher Anne Harper. Their plan revolves around the upcoming school fund raiser. But the annoying, man-hungry Mrs. MacTavish has other ideas. Meanwhile, Ned studies for the over-man's exam with tutoring from Nellie.
Thu, Nov 25, 1999
Ned feels the weight of his new responsibilities in his new position as the mine's over man. During some dangerous work involving the use of explosives, a "tricked charge" triggers a collapse. Meanwhile, Nellie decides to help Anne Harper form her own school choir when a new piano is installed in the school - and even Spider, Willie and Maggie want in. But Mrs. MacTavish is the only one who sings off-key.
Thu, Dec 2, 1999
Completely indoctrinated from Aunt Rose's etiquette lessons, Sarah returns from Halifax to stay in Glace Bay, acting pretentious, while Rose travels abroad to Egypt. But Maggie can't stand her sister's fancy and shallow new behavior, and a rift develops between the two sisters. When Sarah loses a family heirloom locket during a theater outing, Angus and Willie decide to play-act as Sherlock Holmes to find where it may be.
Thu, Dec 9, 1999
When Stringy Borso gets a chance to leave Glace Bay to join a baseball camp down in Massachusetts, Nellie decides that her choir will give its first public performance to send him off in style - in which Angus is made the lead soloist. Unfortunately, Angus discovers he has stage fright. Meanwhile, Ned decides to install new electric lights for the mine despite objections from Cap, Jeremiah, and the other workers over the safety concerns when the pit ponies come down sick with a strange ailment. But eventually, Ned proves how useful the mine's new lights are when they show what is really ailing the ponies.
Thu, Dec 16, 1999
Willie, Maggie, and Spider find themselves lost and stranded on a reef while searching for an endangered eagle's nest. They must figure out a way to get to high ground before a rising tide consumes them, and only Willie's horse, Sable, can raise the alarm. Meanwhile, Ned's new job as over man begins to take its told on the rest of the miners who resent his management tactics and his introduction of the new advances in technology result in more mechanization at the mine.
Thu, Jan 6, 2000
Theresa Cameron, a gorgeous and talented musician, arrives in Glace Bay right before the annual Fiddler's Fall in which Mr. Frawley, Anne Harper, and Ned will be judges to determine the best fiddler. But the town's assumption that she'll be playing at the event could lead to its cancellation when several fiddlers, including the legendary John Scottie MacNeil, protest the appearance of a woman competitor in the event.
Thu, Jan 13, 2000
When a wild stallion steals the pit ponies from the mine, Jack Doyle wants to kill the creature and have done with it. Hoping to save the stallion's life, Willie and Charley try to tame the beast. Meanwhile, Ned and Mr. Frawley introduce new technology to the Ocean Deep Mines - new electrical power drills. But fellow minders, Rufus and Scotty, are wary to this change since they don't know how to use them.
Thu, Jan 20, 2000
Although the modern equipment is supposed to ease the workload in the mine, problems with the machines create new headaches for the miners. When Rufus and Scotty can't handle their coal cutter, they recruit Spider to help. But later, Tony figures out that Spider has been having access to the equipment and the constant roar of the drills have impaired his hearing.
Thu, Jan 27, 2000
Ned and Nellie unexpectedly receive a bundle of joy at their house when Anne Harper delivers to them an infant whose parents have given up for adoption. Unfortunately, the baby's arrival leads to a confrontation between the couple as they argue about the wisdom of a possible adoption. Meanwhile, Stringy returns from Boston for a visit where he shows Willie a school that may have high hopes for him. Also, Ned begins to feel the pressure when the new technology advancements lay many miners off, leaving them embittered.
Thu, Feb 3, 2000
Willie announces that he has accepted a scholarship to study at the Plymouth School in Boston majoring in photography and will be leaving Glace Bay very soon. Meanwhile, with layoffs continuing at the mine, Ned ponders a temping offer from Mr. Crowe and Mr. Frawley. But when Ned discusses job securities for the laid off miners, Mr. Crowe refuses to listen to anyone's opinion, which prompts the miners to stage a massive protest. Also, Nellie is depressed when she learns that her adoption application for the baby has been turned down.