7.12: The Last Hurrah

Road To Avonlea: Season 7 (Buy This Season) | 7.1: Out of the Ashes | 7.2: Love May Be Blind, But the Neighbours Ain’t | 7.3: Davey and the Mermaid | 7.4: Woman of Importance | 7.5: Secrets and Sacrifices | 7.6: Ah… Sweet Mystery of Life | 7.7: King of the Great White Way | 7.8: Total Eclipse | 7.9: From Away | 7.10: After the Ball is Over | 7.11: Return to Me | 7.12: The Last Hurrah | 7.13: So Dear To My Heart

Jasper Dale returns from England to find that Olivia King-Dale has taken in poverty stricken cannery worker Lottie Cooper and her baby girl.

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Meanwhile, Eulalie Bugle and Archie Gillis are campaigning for Avonlea to amalgamate with Carmody, much to the horror of Alec, Bert Potts and Stuart. An emotional address by Jasper seals a victory for Alec and his supporters, but the winners luck changes when the Dale Cannery burns to the ground.

The citizens of Avonlea will never be same now that the Cannery, their main source of employment, is gone. Faced with no means of supporting her family, Lottie leaves her baby with Jasper and Olivia and disappears.

Notes & Inspirations

• Originally aired March 24, 1996
• The scene where the cannery is burning down, was the only time actress Mag Ruffman had ever requested a change to the script. “In the original script, Jasper and Alec ran off to fight the fire while Olivia stood in the farmhouse doorway, looking worried,” she recalled. “Now what Victorian woman in her right mind wouldn’t go with her husband to help?” The writers agreed and included Olivia in the scene. “I just loved running around and heaving water at the fire. I was so concerned about the horse being too close to the flames that it was my own idea to yell, ‘Get that horse out of here!’”
• This episode was dedicated to the memory of Barbara Hamilton (Eulalie Bugle), the real life sister of actress Patricia Hamilton (Rachel lynde) who had passed away in February of 1996.
• The explosion that was meant to replicate a lightning strike actually blew the roof off the set and shook the windows of neighbouring houses.
• The fires were all real but were controlled by the special effects crew. There was a fire truck standing by just in case the fires got out of control.
• The burned cannery ruins were built at Squires Beach in Pickering. This is the same location that was used for scenes from “Fathers and Sons” and “The Return of Gus Pike”.