What happens
Ben Potts, who runs the feed store and sings bass in the local singing group, learns that Eli Jenkins has claimed he pitches horseshoes better than Ben. Offended, Ben challenges Eli to a match to defend his title as champion horseshoe pitcher down their way. Word spreads quickly through the town's party lines, and the two men's friends and wives react to the rivalry. At the group's rehearsal at Eli's parlor, the singers try to keep the peace, play a game of pretend house, and reflect on how the people they love most can hurt them the most.
A small rural town, where Ben Potts runs the feed and grain store and the singing group gathers for practice in Eli Jenkins's parlor.
Characters: Ben Potts, Eli Jenkins, Jenny Jenkins, Bessie Haskins, Cliff, Alice, Chris
Listen for: Ben's phone call to Eli and the news spreading through the party line, the group's rehearsal, the pretend house game, and the closing reflection on friendship.
Written from the episode itself; it never gives away the ending. Every recording is remastered for the stream: cleaned of rumble, hiss and mains hum (and the old TV whine where we found it), then levelled in two passes to steady broadcast loudness, so one show is never quieter than the next.