Mister Rogers looks at a book about trolleys and then goes to a museum to see real trolleys. Later he shows his viewers how they can make their own trolleys. He talks about his grandparents. A French trolley visits the Neighborhood of Make-Believe and delivers a message that Grandpere’s granddaughter, Colette, is coming to visit.
Mister Rogers makes a wind-chime and goes to Negri’s Music Shop to hear violinists. He shows a photograph of himself as a young boy with his parents. Later he watches a film about how people make straws. In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, everyone is preparing for a visit from Colette. Daniel Striped Tiger says that he has no grandparents.
Mister Rogers remembers his grandparents’ car. He remembers driving the car in the country and the happy times he had with his grandparents . Mister Rogers shows a picture book of tools. In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Collette and Officer Clemmons discuss their hobbies. Collette takes pictures of wild animals, Officer Clemmons sings and Neighbor Aber, photographs tame animals. Collette visits the school and shows her photographs of a lion, giraffes, a tiger, and a platypus. Mr. Aber shows his videos of cows, pigs, a rabbit, a cat, parakeets, a horse, and ducks. Daniel Striped Tiger asks about grandfathers, and King Friday commissions an opera about a grandfather. Mister Rogers talks about kinds of grandparents in general and his own grandparents. Mister Rogers makes a picture frame out of construction paper and explains that opera is singing a story.
Mister Rogers has a tape recorder on which he plays voices of grandparents. He visits an aquarium and sees many of his neighborhood friends. The Neighborhood of Make-Believe is planning for an opera about trolleys, fish, and grandfathers.
Mister Rogers talks about absent grandparents. Today is the day of the opera, “A Grandad for Daniel.” It is Grandparents’ Day, and Daniel is searching for a grandfather. Mr. Mefford, a former straw salesman, arrives. He and Daniel ride the Trolley that Daniel’s mother drives. Their first stop is the aquarium where Mr. Mefford meets a Star Fish. The Star Fish joins Mr. Mefford, Daniel, and his mother for a trolley ride to the police station where Officer Clemmons hums and blows bubbles through a straw. Daniel cries as he wonders if his grandfather is thinking about him. They continue on the trolley to the jungle where Daniel’s father is polishing. Mr. Mefford and the Star Fish plan to wed. Daniel’s father discovers that Mr. Mefford is his father, so Daniel has a grandfather. Mr. Mefford takes everyone on a trolley ride around the world, except for Officer Clemmons who has work to do.