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CHAMPION—October 21, 2013

        Bud Hutchison had a wonderful day for his fall trail ride out of Champion on Wednesday the 16^th.  Those accompanying him on the trail were Ronnie, Heather and Travis Thompson, Dale Lawson, Gene Dunn, Frances Fowler, Roy and Donna Brown, Randy Emory, Charlie Curtis, Don Hamby, Larry Cain, J.C. Owsley, and James Thompson.  Jack Coonts joined the group at Drury and rode to Champion with them.  Wilma Hutchison was there to meet the bunch at Drury and it is reported that she orchestrated some good photographs.  She is good at this kind of organization and her many Fox Trotter friends are looking forward to her pictures in the local newspapers.  A number of the regulars on this ride were off on a big national ride this time but they will be traveling with Bud on other roads.  The country is full of people on horses enjoying the glorious autumn in an up close and personal way.  Locals are ever vigilant to the possibility of horseback riders around any bend in the road.  The broad veranda at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium was the site of much good post ride visiting.  Anecdotes of panthers, mountain lions, turtles, foxes, hares, eagles and bears abounded together with the regular horse tales.  It is wonderful to live in a part of the country where wildlife is abundant and people are observant.  Those readers enjoying the Champion News on-line (www.championnews.us) can see some good photos of J.C. Owsley and his big black and white horse and the beautiful Appaloosa Domino owned by Don Hamby.  Of course there is also a great picture of Cowboy Jack and of the bunch of them up on the porch.

        Ethel McCallie is a Champion friend living over in Nowata, Oklahoma.  A good conversation with her the other day revealed that she is hobbling around a bit after having suffered a broken hip back in September.  She says she is walking just not as well as before.  Ethel had her 96^th birthday in August.  She and Esther Wrinkles were born the same year and were becoming acquainted in recent years.  The two had more than a birth year in common.  Their friendly personalities and years of life experience made them both good story tellers and continual gatherers of friends.  Esther grew up here in Champion and the place is full of memories of her.  Ethel was a Haden and grew up over around Smallett.  She married young and moved away, but her home is this part of the world and she comes back as often as she can.  Ethel says that no two of her children live in the same state though that does not seem to impact their closeness.  She is busy these days writing her biography and she has some real stories to tell.  Hopes are that she will share some with her distant friends together with a poem that her father wrote when she was a girl.  She said that it was read at one of the recent Haden family reunions and was well received.  She spoke of her cousin Darrell Haden over in Tennessee and of how fond the whole family is of him.  He retired a few years ago from the English Department at the University of Tennessee and was the first individual to write to this particular rendering of the Champion Items back in 2006.  He had positive constructive things to say and his encouragement is still encouraging.  It is great to hear a positive word now and again.  Ethel is very good at acknowledging the good in the present and that makes her a Champion!

        Royce Henson grew up in Champion.  He is a frequent visitor here though he lives in Springfield.  He is about to have his 80^th birthday and as part of his celebration the family plans to make a ramble through the neighborhood on their way down to Rockbridge to have lunch on Saturday, November 2^nd.  His Birthday is on October 30^th.  t is lovely to see a family rally around for a birthday celebration.  There is a story that Lonnie Krider said that he should have shot Marty Watts the first time he came up the driveway.  It is too late now.  Marty is a big part of the family with in-laws and lots of nieces and nephews in the area.  His birthday is October 20^th.  He shares the day with Skyline third grader Cyanna Davis.  The 21^st is remembered as Anna Henson’s birthday.  She has been gone for a long time now, but old friends and family remember her for being friendly and having a very good memory for figures.  She had a great sense of humor to go along with her business acumen.  It is an honor to share her birthday.  Skyline bus driver Beth Caudill has her birthday on October 22^nd.  She shares the day with sixth grader Talia Mancia and prekindergarten student Haylee Surface.  Donna Moskaly also shares that day with her son.  Donna is a wonderful artist.  See some of her prizewinning work at Henson’s Grocery and Gas.  Joe Moskaly just had his birthday back on the 15^th.  He is a handy guy.  The other day he was over at Wilburn and Louise Hutchison’s house helping Connie put up some plastic on the windows as part of a winterizing scheme.  Louise might like to have a more transparent protection on her big picture window, but for the moment she will be happy for the warmth provided by the opaque covering.  Wilburn and Louise have settled back into their wonderful place again and it is good to have them home.  Connie has made it all possible and her family and friends will celebrate her and her birthday on the 30th.  What a beautiful daughter!  Breauna Krider, another real beauty, will have her birthday on the 24^th.  Taegan will be singing that song to her Mommy.  Cousins and friends will be gifting her with coffee-cups that can be carried off to the barn and never returned!  On the 26^th Harley Krider will be sharing his birthday with his nephew-in-law Brian Oglesby.  Eli and Emerson Rose will be singing to their Dad.  Harley will soon be the oldest one in his crowd again and there might be some satisfaction in that.  Hopes are that he and charming Barbara will make it back home for Thanksgiving.  It will be a good chance to spend some time with his sister Vivian Floyd.  She has had some health issues lately and her Champion friends and family are all wishing her the best!

        Billy Currington is a singer songwriter who sings, “A bad day of fishin’ beats a good day of anything else.”  Phyllis Winn shares a quote:  “The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable and a perpetual series of occasions for hope.” Fishing is a quiet and personal activity.  Neuroscientists are saying that young people are so ‘plugged in’ to their smart phones and video games these days that they are not being taught how to be alone.  It is said that if a child does not learn how to be alone he will always be lonely.  Of course, a person can enjoy solitude while cutting firewood or working in the garden.  Drop a note to Champion Items, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to champion @ championnews.us with your best ideas about being quiet or occasions for hope.  Come down to the warmth of the community hearth in the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square where you can engage in an old fashioned conversation.  Sing your favorite fishing song (out on the veranda, please) while observing one of the world’s truly beautiful places.  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—October 14, 2013

        Bud Hutchison’s Fall Trail Ride is slated to take out of Champion on Wednesday the 16^th.  The weather sounds like it is going to be ideal for the ride.  The bunch will be made up of Foxtrotters and others equestrians who will rendezvous at Champion in the morning and then mosey over to Drury on the back roads.  They’ll make it back to Champion in the early afternoon and will be tired but satisfied for the adventure.  Happy trails!   They will have been dazzled by the autumn colors.  The sumac, poison ivy, and trumpet vines are all going to purples and reds; the persimmons are turning yellow; sassafras will be brilliant red and the beauty of the dogwood tree in every season is yet to be adequately described.  Fall elicits a special showing from the lovely State Tree.  The summer rains and recent mild temperatures are working together to make this a spectacular year for color.  Champions watch it happen and are jubilant!

        The Skyline VFD Auxiliary got together on Wednesday evening in the community room at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion.  President Betty Dye oversaw the meeting with Betty Henson, Betty Elliot, Lisa Shepherd, Fae Krider, Sharon Sikes, and Wilda Moses in attendance.  Chris Daily was detained by other obligations and was missed. Karen Griswold was helping her firefighter husband, Bill, as he struggles with health issues that a have all their friends, family and firefighting fellows thinking about them with good thoughts.  Pat Moser, a Skyline VFD fan from over in Brushy Knob, who exhibited enthusiasm for the organization at the summer picnic, did not get the notice of the meeting in time to attend.  She will be on the regular mailing list henceforth. Louise Hutchison did not make the meeting this time either.  She and Wilburn have just returned home from a lengthy stay in town.  The internet is a-buzz with ‘welcome homes’ to them, happy birthday wishes, and general well wishes from friends, family, and their happy Champion neighbors.  Louise has put a lot of time and energy into the Auxiliary over the years.  It is good to have the neighborhood complete again.   Back to the meeting:  regular business was addressed and then the focus turned to the chili supper.  It is figured that March 8^th will be a good day for it, March ^15th as a bad weather day.  Details of the music, the quilt and the food were discussed and good progress made toward another event that will be the cure for cabin fever come March.  Planning ahead is a good thing.

        A nice note from Pete Proctor lets Ruby’s friends know that she is doing well in her new situation.  She is in the Country Living Assisted Living facility north of the Fruit Experiment Station on Highway 95 in Mountain Grove.  Her phone number there is 417-926-1955 extension 118.   Her mailing address is Ruby Proctor Room 18, P.O. Box 649, Mountain Grove, MO 65711 if her friends wish to send a note.  Look in the Champion Snapshots section of www.championnews.us to see a picture of Ruby and her family when they were on a ramble through Champion back in 2011.  The Mountain Grove lot was joined by contingents from Cincinnati, Davenport and Bluegrass, Iowa.  The steps of the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion make an excellent stage for family photos.  This particular photo shows how Ruby’s sweet smile has been handed down and passed around to her whole family.  It’s a joy to see Ruby smile—a genuine Champion!

        Columbus Day came to be a celebrated in the 1930’s when the Knights of Columbus requested that President Roosevelt declare a National Holiday as a way to set forth a positive male role model for the Catholic Church.   Of course, Columbus was a religious guy.  He was also wildly curious as were all his stalwart companions on those early expeditions.  In a time when printing presses were a brand new technology, more than 20 books were published by the adventurers of those famed voyages in the immediate years after their return. There are surely some interesting reads to be had there, keeping in mind that circumstances were probably significantly more dreadful and dark than rosy history paints.  It was the 1490’s.  October 12^th was the day designated for school children to remember.  Champions remember it and all kinds of important historical information and continue to be wildly curious. Janet Chapin has her birthday on the 12^th of October.  She seemed to have a good time if one believes everything one reads on the internet!  “What a birthday! My Mizzou team beat Georgia. My Cardinals won their second game against the Dodgers. I beat Sandy in 10 straight games of Scrabble. We had a great hike and later, a challenging but beautiful bike ride on the Ouachita Vista Trail.”  Sandy’s birthday was back on September 24^th.  It is reckoned that he had a good time too.  Certainly he did if he spent it with Janet.  They are accomplished gardeners and, like Linda up at The Plant Place in Norwood, they are happy to share the knowledge they have accumulated with their successful gardens in the Ozarks over many years.  They live way over yonder, but they are Champions!

        The bluegrass jam session at the Vanzant Community building is a lovely way to spend a Thursday evening.  The pot luck starts about six with an ample spread and before long the music gets started and goes on and on.  Sherry Bennett seemed surprised the other evening when a nice looking young fellow wearing a t-shirt that identified him as a sniper and as a 2013 Veteran of Afghanistan, picked and sang one out of her repertory: “Five Pounds of Possum in My Headlights.”  He did a good job of it and Sherry seemed to enjoy it as much as the rest of the crowd.  Sherry also enjoyed the Older Iron Club show over in Cabool over the weekend.  She posted some really excellent pictures of the tractor parade, the quilt show and many of the other exhibits.  It looked like the weather was perfect for the occasion and that there was good attendance.  Champions certainly have interesting neighbors!

        The evening news is where they begin with, “Good evening!” and then proceed to tell you why it is not.  It is difficult to evaluate the message if you do not know the bias of the messenger.  When the news from every source seems so ominous and worrisome, it does a body good to remember the good things about the Nation.  Some of those things are freedom, liberty, equality, respect for the individual, respect for the law and for an independent judiciary, admiration for ambition, innovation and expanded thinking.  Drop a note to Champion Items, Rt. 72, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to champion at championnews.us with your ideas about what is good about the Nation.  Come down to one of the worlds’ truly beautiful places and sing, “America! America! God shed His grace on thee!”  You will be in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—October 7, 2013

        Folks touring around on the internet can wind up making mistakes.  For example, Pete was busy saying “Happy birthday!” to Cathie Alsup Reilly on Sept 27^th and someone mistook it for Pete’s birthday, which is really in February the day before his Mother’s.  So happy birthday, Cathy!  Your name will go on the official Champion birthday list.  The good news about Ruby Proctor (Pete’s Mom) is that she has moved to the new Assisted Living place up north of walmart in Mountain Grove.  Reports are that she likes it fine and has help with her chores and plenty of good quality visiting.  Steve Connor of Champion West has his celebration a week before his lovely wife.  His is on the 11^th and Darlene’s on the 18^th.  Meanwhile, Taegan will get to sing that birthday song to her Dad on the 14^th.  Taegan is a good singer and big time pre-kindergarten student at Skyline school.  She really likes it.  Skyline School third grader Draven Koepke has his birthday on the 9^th of October and Olivia Prock has hers on the 16^th.  She is in the 5^th grade this year.  It looks like school has gotten off to a good start.  The children are busy with lots of homework and interesting activities that keep parents busy as well.  Remembering the old school days is a way to keep young.  There are many ways to keep young.  Play music, play cards, play the dickens just for the fun of it.

        Just for the fun of it lots of people came out for the Pioneer Descendants Gathering over at Yates.  It was reported in the White River Current Times that it was going to be on Friday and Saturday rather than Saturday and Sunday and the published phone number was wrong.  A guy came down from Lebanon on his motorcycle Friday looking for the event and some other folks came down from Fordland.  They were good natured about the mix up and hopefully made the trip back on Sunday.  Rain came down off and on all day Saturday and Betty Thomas said that the crowd came and went anyway, but about half the number of the regular event.  In the midst of it all a tree that the White River people had been asked to cut down a number of years ago decided to fall across the power line so the musicians were out of amplification for a couple of hours and the kitchen was slowed down a little as well.  Betty reported seeing a ‘spark’ when prompted by the phone mail menu and so the White River men were out within the hour.  They came with two trucks and three men and got things going again in fairly short order in spite of not having phone service to coordinate with each other.  Sunday was a better day—a little cool, but Betty said the crowd was huge.  Roy Byerly won the hand-made quilt.  It was called ‘Morning Run’ and had silhouettes of horses running across it.  Mr. and Mrs. Byerly live up in Rogersville, but have ‘Iron Mountain’ out on 14 Highway that was her family (the Walkers) home place.  They volunteer a lot of their time and energy to the Pioneer Gathering, so it was a special treat to see Roy win the quilt.

        The Older Iron Club will have its annual show in Cabool on Friday and Saturday, the 11^th and 12^th.  It is always an interesting exposition.  The group was well represented at the Pioneer Gathering and was instrumental in extricating several trucks with trailers and a big RV out of the mud.  Those big old tractors were put to work.  Nobody got stuck in the public parking area, but out in the exhibition area and the camping area for the horse and wagon people there was a considerable amount of mud.  Dale Thomas used his tractor too and it was another adventure to go down in the history books.  Dale might also remember this as the year of the yellow jacket.  A few weeks ago he disturbed a nest of them and in running away from them through the woods he got tangled up in some hundred year old barbed wire and cut his leg badly enough that he had to go to the doctor.  He wound up with a tetanus shot (a good thing) and is about over it now, though he may have some scars.  They will not last as long as the good memories made at this wonderful event.  Betty said that Sunday’s crowd was one of the biggest they have ever had with people from all over—Indiana, Arkansas, Texas, Illinois and many other places.  Mark and Gretchen who live in the straw bale house at the location of the New East Dogwood School were there this year demonstrating and playing children’s pioneer games.  That was a new feature this year that was very well received.

        Mistakes get made.  The Current Times people have been kind enough to advertise events for the Skyline VFD in the past and have mistakenly called it Skyline Urbana.  It probably did not cause any major loss of attendance, but people like their information to be correct.  Betty said that it was not the first time the information about their event was not accurate.  Not cutting the old tree down in time caused a significant impact on the Pioneer Gathering, but it did not last too long.  Jeffrey Goss called to say that their organization was a little slow in getting their advertising out and there was a scheduling conflict with one of the main speakers and so the Christian Agricultural Stewardship Conference had a low turnout this year.  Their event was on September 27^th at the Vanzant Community Building.  Craig Wiles spoke on saving energy and alternative power sources.  He also warned of a scam where some people from Waynesville are selling a device that is supposed to make energy out of nothing for free.  Several people brought samples of corn.  Mary Kay Isaksson of Brush Knob brought blue popcorn and Lyle Miller who lives northwest of the Mount Zion area brought some very large ears of Greenfield 114 corn.  There was discussion of genetic engineering of grains and the concerns of some over Monsanto.  The literature concerning winter gardening was popular and there are slated to be some late winter events sponsored by the group.  Mr. Goss can be reached at 417-885-7787 for more information and he has said that he will get advanced notice out early for the next proceedings.

        Mistakes get made and Champions get over them.  A distant reader of www.championnews.us chimes in to say that it was not anyone by name of “Augustus McCall” from Lonesome Dove who said, “There’s no excuse for rude behavior.”  The reader informs that the two famous ex-Texas Rangers in the books and screen plays by Larry McMurtry were Captain Augustus “Gus” McCrae and Captain Woodrow F. Call.  The critic would have readers of the Champion News to know that the actual quote was delivered thusly by Captain Call, “I hate rude behavior in a man.  I won’t tolerate it.”  This was by way of an explanation for some rather violent behavior on his on part.  Another great Texan says that we never really grow up; we only learn how to act in public.  Phyllis is right.  Her favorite song is Deep Water by Bob Wills.  “Where will it lead me and where will it end.  I can’t help but wish I only knew.  I’m windin’ up in deep water, so deep in love with you.”  If she is lucky she will wind up in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—September 30, 2013

        It happens sometimes that an old friend introduces one to another of his old friends and the two strangers suddenly become acquainted as if they have known each other for years.  There is immediate trust and appreciation for the good taste of their comrade who is willing to share friends with each other.  They often find that they have much in common apart from their mutual acquaintance and new vibrant relationships emerge.  Bringing kindred spirits and good people together is a Champion practice well implemented.

        Good news is that Pete Proctor has had a birthday.  No telling how old he is, but everyone who knows him knows him knows him to be young at heart.  That is probably on account of having such a sweet mother.  Word is that Ruby has taken a fall and hopes are that she was not seriously injured and that she is much recovered.  The details have been sketchy but it was reported that there were no broken bones and that she was feeling better.  All her Champion friends are most interested in her because she is so well regarded as part of that generation of Champions that made the place what it is today.  She will tell you that Champion is where her heart is and her Champion friends all wish her well.  Graeme Laird, a fine singer-songwriter in Edinburgh, Scotland, celebrated his 42nd orbit of the sun on the 26th.  He wrote, “Now’s the end of the beginning.  The days are passing faster than the sun.”  Other birthdays being celebrated belong to Jana Brixey who marks hers on the first of October.  She shares the day with the shy cousin of her husband, most frequently referred to as “a prominent Champion.”  The very next day Wild Turkey Hunting Season opens.  It is presumed that the kind of wild turkeys being hunted will be of the avian variety and not the distilled kind, though there likely will be some of that floating around.  Conservation officials say the number of adult turkeys should be plentiful thanks to good reproduction over the past couple of years.  That is good news for hunters who are looking for turkeys with meatier bodies.  Back in the late forties Sylvia Henson was writing the Champion Items and remarked that the Upshaw family had increased by two on October 4th.  The twin girls had a number of big brothers to spoil and tease them and Morton and Mable must have had their hands full with such a boisterous household.  Linda Kaye comes back home to visit often and Karen Fae keeps the home fires burning and the welcome mat out for all the family.  Between them they have ten grandchildren so there is always fun and excitement going on.  Skyline Auxiliary President Betty Dye celebrates her special day on October 7th.  She may decorate her own cake, a skill at which she excels.  She has many talents and keeps the auxiliary humming along in a productive and supportive way.  Betty will let an interested party know that the Skyline Auxiliary is not just for ladies, but for anyone who wishes to support the wonderful little fire department that allows home owners to have insurance and the protection provided by the able volunteer fire fighters.  Champions all!

        Sherry Bennett has posted some excellent pictures of the Pioneer Descendant’s Gathering on the Facebook.   They were made in 2011 on a bright sunshiny day.  David Richardson also posted a fine video of the 2011 gathering.   Bob Berry’s gorgeous red Studebaker was prominent and it makes friends lonesome for the sight of Bob and Mary.  Hopefully they will be here again this year.  With recent rain and promise of cooler temperatures, the weather ought to be perfect on the 5th and 6th.  A note from Cathy Mallernee to champion @ championnews.us asks “Can you tell me were (The Pioneer Descendant’s Gathering) is located and give me directions please?”  She also says, “Thank you.”  Cathy, if you are in Ava, go East on Highway 14 for 18 miles to County Road 341. If you are in Mountain Grove, go South on 95 Highway to Gentryville and turn right on Highway 14 to get to County Road 341.  From there go South for four miles following the signs to the Edge of the World.  The road is well marked and the parking is good when you get down there.  They always provide golf carts from the parking area to the event grounds for anyone who might need some help getting around.  Bring your lawn chairs to rest under the big pavilion where lots of live music will be going on.  There are acres of interesting exhibits and demonstrations and the chance to bump into folks that you may seldom see.  There is plenty of good food.  The event is scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday and from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.  There is no admission and it is a wholesome family affair that will draw you back year after year.  Have fun!

        The last of the tomatoes are coming in and some of the greens planted last summer are making.  Pretty soon there will be hardly anything to do in the garden.  Go up to The Plant Place in Norwood to find a few things to put in this fall and to visit with Linda about how to bed your garden down for the winter.  Then go enjoy some music.  There are reports on the internet of another superb night at the Vanzant Music Jam with lots of tasty food, nice folks and music, music, music.  It happens every Thursday Night.  Ruth Collins says that she appreciates such a fine group of pickers and listeners.  Gospel songs, bluegrass and country music make her happy and her smile is a light for the room.  She wrote a note to Sherry thanking her for lugging that big old bass around and said “It adds so much to the music.”  It does.  Sherry provides a solid beat that makes it all just right.

        When a friend, a family member, or a rank stranger knocks on a door in Champion unexpectedly, he is met graciously.  The house may not be clean.  A person may have plans and be busy.  The caller may just pop in for a moment or may arrive with expectations of a lengthy stay just figuring that he is loved and welcome.  Whether or not accommodations are easily available or the visit is appropriate or fitting, Champions are most likely to extend the courtesy to invite the guest in, or at least to stand on the porch and visit for a spell in the case of the stranger, particularly if he is rank.  Champions do not need lead-time, advanced notice or an R.S.V.P. to be polite.  It is just natural.  They say that hospitality is making your guests feel at home even when you wish they were.  Augustus McCall of “Lonesome Dove” fame said, “There’s no excuse for rude behavior.”  It certainly does not fly in Champion and the rest of the world could well take a lesson therefrom.  It could just be that a surprise is anathema to some and the rebuffed should endeavor to not take it personally.  A traveler to other parts of the big world might well say, “Come on down through the beautiful hills to the end of the pavement, where country roads meet by the wild wooly banks of Old Fox Creek, where generous spirits prevail  and where ‘Welcome!’ is the byword– to Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!”

The good news in Champion comes in the form of wonderful weather, though some are beginning to feel a little chilly in the mornings.  Those folks who are responsible for cleaning the flues and getting the kindling boxes full figure that they should have had it all done already. There are so many distractions this time of the year it is hard to focus on what is important until the toes hit the cold floor one morning.  The woods will be full of the sound of chain saws as the slackers start gathering wood that should have been in the shed already.   There will soon enough be frost on pumpkins whether or not residents are ready.  Champions are ready.

Betty and Dale Thomas are getting ready for their 12^th annual Pioneer Descendants Gathering down at the Edge of the World.  This year it will happen on October 5^th and 6^th.  There will be lots of live music provided by local bands.   They have constructed a marvelous huge pavilion where people can sit in their lawn chairs and listen to music the whole day long.  The many demonstrations of the 1860 to 1960 era, the wonderful food and wagon rides down along the creek make this a popular annual event.  It is promoted by the many descendants of Tom Brown and John Burden.  Royce Henson and Jo, of Springfield, are most likely going to come out for the festivities.  It will be nice to visit with Royce to find out how his wagon ride went.  He caught the wagon train in Champion on Thursday, the 12^th and rode down to Cold Springs with them.  That is the reverse of the walk he likes to take to get to the Champion School Reunion every year.   He is an intrepid traveler and a true Champion.   It will be good news to Royce and to others who attended the Champion School Reunion that things are back to rights in the old school building after the dramatic flood of August 8^th.  The floor and the carpet have been thoroughly and professionally dried and reattached.  The pews are back in place and all is well.  Young Drayson Cline, now a month old, enjoyed some singing there Sunday and did some of his own.  He comes down to see his Grandmother often and the whole community enjoys getting to spend some time with him.  He is already a Champion.
Skyline School fourth grader Dustin Johnson will have his birthday on September 26^th which is Thursday.  Maybe his folks will give him a treat and get him started off right with a trip to Vanzant to the bluegrass jam that happens every Thursday there.  He could share his birthday cake at the pot luck and then settle in for some good music.   Ms. Nicki, the preschool aide at Skyline will celebrate on the 27^th.   Friday is always a good day for a party.   A regular follower of The Champion News who lives in Texas sometimes and in Belize other times, Becky Heston, shares her birthday with Judge Dale Johnson of Mason, Texas on the 29^th.  They are longtime friends of each other and of Champion as well, Judge Johnson by his nature and Ms. Heston by experience, having toured the place a few years back.  Newt Souder is in the 6^th grade and will have his birthday on September 30^th.   A birthday on a Monday is a splendid way to start any week, Newt.  “Tuesday’s child is full of grace” according to a traditional British rhyme and so Lydia Harden will enjoy her day with her kindergarten class at Skyline.  Birthdays seem more exciting to five year olds than to people in their late middle age, middle age being considered between age 55 and 70.    A prominent Champion, who graciously likes to go unnoticed, will celebrate quietly that day and will open his birthday cards in private.  He always remembers that if a person acts like he is having a good time, pretty soon he will forget that he is acting and he will really be having a good time. People reading The Champion News in other parts of the country are often looking for names of people they know.  It turns out that some people do not like having their name in the paper.  Some do not mind.  Some rather like it.  The often vague references to individuals or affectionate diminutives referring to one or the other will not confuse distant readers.  You probably know who they are—those Champions.  Send your guesses of who might be who to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to the new email address Champion@championnews.us.  Wander through the website at www.championnews.us for clues while you are resting up from working in the garden.  Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood says that the 28^th and 29^th will be good days to plant turnips!                     Those pleasant, helpful, friendly, hardworking, productive, efficient and good looking gentlemen of the East End County Road Shed over in Drury have been steadily working improvements on the much damaged roadways in the area.   August’s floods wreaked havoc on low water crossings and some road beds that had never before been under water.  The Clever Creek crossing has a new extension of concrete covering an area that has washed out repeatedly over the years.  New slabs and repairs to old ones up and down the road make it a safe and beautiful drive, ride or walk.   It is the very definition of infrastructure.   Thanks, fellows!

Gary Allan is a singer songwriter who says, “Every storm runs out of rain just like every dark night turns into day.  Every heartache will fade away just like every storm runs out of rain.”  As things get back to normal in Champion it is hard not to think of the many people in Colorado who have lost homes, and roads, and whole communities , as well as lives, to the disaster of floods that followed fires.  Every part of the country is subject to some kind of weather calamity, though the catastrophes may not happen often.  In Douglas County, it is reported that there has been a tornado to strike in every month of the year.  It just goes to show that danger is ever present no matter where one might live.  Since the whole round world seems to be fraught with peril to some degree, it only makes good sense to live at the end of the pavement, at the bottom of several hills where country roads meet.  A person can stop in at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square for necessities, niceties, news and neighboring.  Hum that tune, “Country roads, take me home, to the place I belong,” while you are out on the spacious veranda enjoying the tranquility of one of the world’s beautiful places—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—September 16, 2013

        The excitement of the wagon train left Champion feeling good.  It is a real gift to be part of a vital community that can support and encourage such an interesting and important event.  It is more than nostalgia that keeps these people rolling along in mule and horse drawn wagons.  They make up a great and close community among themselves while preserving the technology and knowhow that might prove invaluable one day.  Without prognosticating any calamity, it is still good to know that these skills have not been discarded.  The train has been coming through at this time of the year since the early 1980’s.  Some of these folks have made every trip.  It is one of the many bright spots in the Champion year—one of the brightest.

        It was a good time on the side of the hill with all the spectators and musicians on Thursday.  The General showed up and wisely loaned his guitar to Butch Stone who sang one great old song after another with Wayne Anderson, Jerry Wagner, Sherry Bennett and a number of other players who came and went during the course of the afternoon.  Butch left saying he was supposed to have been home two hours earlier.  His audience was glad he had dallied.  The General got tangled up in a fairly short loop of string but finally got loose for the last few tunes of the day.  He was so loose, in fact, that he started the Dueling Banjo’s on the guitar.  He was hard put to keep up the speed with Wayne on the real banjo.  His family always finds him entertaining.  It is a sweet experience to hear the stories of the old days back in the fifties when a lot of these fellows were teenagers.  Joann Anderson says that her children are always wishing their dad would record these memories.  They might have to come armed with their own tape recorders.  Though hearers may not remember the details of the various escapades of the storytellers, it is sure that the flavor is captured and affection shared and built with an understanding of the history of the place and the people.  It is also a lovely thing to see the look on a musician’s face as he struggles to remember a tune.  Their faces relax and their eyes look up as if the notes were written on the clouds.  When they find them, it always brings a smile.

        It was a great surprise to see five wagons going south on Cold Springs Road Saturday.  These folks were on a self-contained trip back to Viola, Arkansas.  Visiting brothers from Iowa, who had missed the wagon train earlier in the week, had the chance to see this bunch up close as they camped in Champion overnight.  It is a genuinely hospitable place.

        Champions can find something special about any day that comes along.  It is part of the overall philosophy of the place to be alert to the good things as they are happening.  Sunday started off with Elmer Banks birthday, and then Monday, the 16th of September is the day Mexico celebrates as the start of their eleven year war of independence from Spain (1810-1821).  Linda’s Almanac says that Tuesday will be a good day to kill plant pests like poison ivy and weeds of all sorts.  Wednesday will be good for planting crops that bear their yield above the ground and Thursday will be good for root crops and for transplanting.  The Harvest Moon is full on the 19th at 6:13 a.m.  Friday may still be ‘date night’ for some households, but certainly not all.  Then comes Saturday and Skyline VFD Auxiliary members Louise Hutchison and Betty Elliot share their birthday.  The 21st is also the birthday of Champion granddaughter, Zoey Louise, and her second cousin Penelope, both of Austin, Texas.  In years past the Autumnal Equinox was celebrated on the 21st thinks one old Champion.  A little research reveals that due to the necessity of recent astronomical measurements, the date of the holiday is not officially declared until February of the previous year.  It became a public holiday in 1948—Equinox Day, September 22nd.  Skyline’s preschool teacher, Ms. Angie, has her birthday on the 23rd.  Landon King is in Kindergarten at Skyline.  His birthday is on the 24th.  Every day of the week has something interesting going on.

        The weather seems to be moderating nicely and Champions have no kind of complaint.  A little rain settles the dust and saves some irrigating, and cooler temperatures foretell the autumn chill ahead. There is much to do this time of the year and Champions are busy.  When the Work is Done This Fall might be a song to add to a cowboy repertory.  One of the jolly cowboys discussing plans at ease said that when the roundup days are over and the shipping all is done,” I’m going right straight home, boys, before my money’s gone.  I have changed my ways, boys.  No more will I fall.  Yes, I’m going home, boys, when the work’s all done this fall.”  Getting the last of the harvest in and a few fall things planted will keep some busy while others are ambitious and getting the big plots in the garden tilled, fertilized and mulched over for winter.  Others are planting winter rye.  Houseplants are coming in from outside.  Walnuts are falling.  It’s that time of the year.  Bud Hutchison’s trail ride will be coming up soon and the Pioneer Descendants Gathering will happen the 5th and 6th of October.  Time passes quickly.

        Look in on www.championnews.us  to find pictures of the wagon train, the music and frivolity, which may include some shots of the general in a tangle.  Send your news and birthdays to the new email address Champion @ championnews.us.  Come stand out on the broad veranda of the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square to sing your favorite end of summer song.  Ray from over at Almartha rides his Harley over a couple of times a week just to enjoy what he thinks is one of the last such places in the country –a community at the end of the  pavement where country roads begin, at the bottom of several hills on the wild and wooly banks of a wet weather creek under the shade of ancient trees.  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—September 9, 2013

        It is a lovely sight in Champion to see the pastures still green even as the wet weather creeks have dried up again.  Few complaints are to be heard as the moderation of the temperatures and hope of a little rain will smooth out minor wrinkles that vex perfection.  Champion–glorious in all seasons!

        Bud Hutchison hosted an impromptu trail ride to accommodate folks from Michigan and Louisiana on Friday.  He will have his regular fall event coming up in October, but the serendipitous spontaneity of Friday’s ride honored a promise to show these out- of- towners the sites.  Festus Hagen would say that Champion is plumb ‘sitesome’ or maybe he would say ‘looksome.’  The sightseers ambled around for several hours covering a solid 20 miles of beautiful Champion territory and are all much plussed for the experience.  They are reported to have had a pleasant, uneventful ride and that none had to be fished from the drink.  Their names are written in the guest book at the Restoration of the Historic Emporium together with notations of their home places.  That guest book is doubtlessly an interesting read.

        Cowboy Jack did not make this ride, but made it down to Champion to visit with his friends.  He will most likely make an appearance as an out-rider with the West Plains Wagon Club wagon train when it sashays into Champion on Thursday.  They generally leave West Plains on Monday and make it to Champion about midday on Thursday.  They loiter about the Square to give themselves a rest and observers the opportunity to examine these wonderful rigs and beautiful draft animals up close.  The General has made a tentative commitment to show up about eleven with his guitar.  The preeminent resident of Champion would specify that The General often commits and then is called away on business so urgent that he cannot be held in contempt for a failure to appear.  He is an important man.  Spectators will park out on the road or on the edge of town so that the wagons and animals can enjoy the little church yard under the big trees for their rest.  Spectators will include a sizable contingent of the General’s blood kin and so if he does show he will be on good behavior.  Cooler weather is predicted for the Champion segment of the wagon train’s journey so the travelers will all be in a good mood when they arrive.  The wagons have rubber tires and spring seats but the hard work, knowledge and skill that it takes to roll across country behind a team is authentic to the experience of those who ‘paved’ the way long ago.  Welcome!

        A prominent citizen in Champion concludes that fall is on the way.  He says that the walnut leaves are fluttering down in golden swirls, just a ’trickling down to the parched, dry ground.   He speculates that should the Cowboy take a tumble from his mighty high horse, he would come up coughing and sputtering, perhaps gasping and snorting to clear his windpipe of the dreadful desiccating dust.  Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood says that any above the ground crops planted on Friday and Saturday will do well.  Some are planting spinach, lettuce and radishes thinking that these things can stand a little frost.  That frost could be around the corner in two or three weeks is another of those startling yet not unexpected proofs of the rapid passage of time.  Where did the summer go?

        Tanna Jo will have her birthday of Friday the 13th!  That will be just fine.  She is not superstitious and is a lucky person blessed with a beautiful family and a great joie-de-vivre.  Foster and Kalyssa can use their new tuning forks to pitch a great happy birthday song to their dear, sweet Mother.  On the 14th a regular visitor to the Ozarks, nephew Konrad, will have a birthday that will be celebrated in song by daughters, Sophia and Penelope who are great Champion aficionadas.  Over at Skyline School, two seventh graders, Derek Camp and Donavon Sarginson, celebrated on September 5th.  Lexus Ledbetter is in kindergarten and has a birthday on the 10th of September.  Breann Davis, sixth grader, has hers on the 14th.  Grandparents Day at Skyline School was a particularly wonderful day for Taegan Krider.  She is in pre-kindergarten and loves it.  She had both of her Grandmothers visit her in school Friday.  They did a little hand print craft project together making some good memories.  Elmer Banks has been out of school for a long time but still has birthdays and his is on the 15th.  He knows how to enjoy himself and people in his company are usually having fun.  He has recently gained some admirers for a particular exercise in restraint.  He is a transplanted Transylvania Champion well met!

        The Thursday night jam session at the Vanzant Community Building draws musicians from all around the county and beyond.  Here are some but not nearly all of the songs heard there recently:  Five Pounds of Possum in My Headlights, When It’s Springtime in Alaska, I Thought He Walked on Water, Somebody Touched Me, Mule Skinner Blues, Walk Softly On This Heart of Mine, Long Gone Lonesome Blues, Where Could I Go But to the Lord, Wabash Cannonball, Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Fox on the Run, Bear Tracks, Blackberry Blossom, God Gave Me You, Wildwood Flower, Memories That Haunt Me, Oh! They Tell Me of an Uncloudy Day, Cry Cry Darling, Why Did I leave The Plow in the Field, Wayfaring Stranger, Crazy Arms, Shady Grove, There She Goes, and I’ll go Stepping Too.  Musicians are often some of the friendliest and most generous people around.  They are interested and supportive of each other in ways that the broader community could stand to emulate.

        Send news, birthdays to celebrate, traits to emulate or favorite songs to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717.  The email address is changing to Champion @ championnews.us.  The website www.championnews.us is full of pictures of the Brushy Knob bear, the Champion flood of 2013, wagon trains, school reunions and a video of The Grand Opening of the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in 2011.  Archives of all the Champion News since August, 2006, are there as well.  A stroll through cyberspace is an agreeable method to idle away an hour, but live and in person is the best way to enjoy one of the world’s truly beautiful places.  Come south on C Highway from Norwood, or north on C from Highway 14 and turn east on WW.  Follow it for two miles or so over hill and dale until the pavement runs out and there you will be in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—September 2, 2013

        The hottest day of the year so far was Saturday, August 31^st and also the day of the annual Champion School Reunion.  That did not seem to make much of a difference to the fifty or so stalwart Champions, families and friends who enjoyed the afternoon under the ancient walnut trees in the old school yard.  Ruby Proctor pointed to the tree that was home base and told about the batter who let go of the bat after a hit.  It hurled right into her face and she said she still had the scar, but her sweet smile hides it well.  Some of the others who passed the day with Ruby were Elsie Curtis, Debbie Massey, Connie Brown, Robert Brown, Paul Brown, Lee Brown, Richard and Kaye Johnston, Karen Krider, Ray Hicks, Pete Proctor, Harold and Eva Phillips,  Elva Ragland, Sheila Brown, Betty Henson, Fern Bishop, Kenneth and Barbara Anderson, Wayne and JoAnn Anderson, Russell and Dean Upshaw, Frank and Freda Proctor, Arlene Cooley, Tom Cooley, Laine Sutherland, Frances Sutherland, Billy Jo Lambert and his son, Don Krewson, Anita Krewson, Wayne Sutherland, Modeen Dooms, Mrs. LuAllen and two daughters, her son and his wife, Benton Hutchinson, Jackie Coonts, Dale and Betty Thomas, Leslee Krider, Bill Smith, Wilma Hutchison Pointer and her husband, Royce and Joe Henson and Vaughn Henson.  Royce and his son Vaughn completed the Walk of Ages again this year from Cold Springs all the way to Champion.  Champions know about how far that is and about how long ago it was that the roads were full of young folks going here and there.  A few old pictures came out at the reunion, and many old memories of pleasant days long gone.  They may seem more pleasant now than they were then, but memory plays some great tricks.  It is easy to forget the hard times after a while and to let those sweet remembrances hang on.  There were some notable absences, but perhaps next year the weather will be more mild and those who could not make it this year will be able to come home again.  Champion!

        So many inquiries were made concerning the dates of the wagon train schedule this year that a call was made to West Plains Wagon Club ramrod, Clifton Luna.  He says that the outfit plans to leave West Plains on the 9^th of September and will roll into Champion on Thursday the 12^th at about their regular time.  That is somewhere around late morning to noon.  They generally rest up and lunch in Champion and then make their way up Cold Springs Road to a campsite north of Skyline.  Look at pictures of previous wagon trains on line at www.championnews.us.  Everyone is invited to come out to the Square on Thursday to enjoy seeing all the various wagons and rigs and the beautiful horses and mules.  One year a guy showed up in a cart pulled by a goat.  It was funny looking but it got there just the same.  Moderate weather will be expected and appreciated for the sojourn as well as for the journey.

        The Dogwood School Reunion is coming up October 19^th at Evans.  Betty Thomas claims to make excellent cheese enchiladas and plans to bring some to that gathering to satisfy the hankering of a native Texan whom she has invited to attend.  She and Dale were also handing out flyers for their twelfth annual Pioneer Descendants Gathering down at their place at Yates on October 5^th and 6^th.  This event has become a great new tradition in these parts out on the “Edge of the World.”

        Birthdays are good for your health.  Studies have shown that people who have more birthdays live the longest.  Kalyssa had a great sixth birthday on Saturday and was treated to a roller skating adventure by her family.  Reports have not arrived concerning the celebration of Jenna Brixey, born on the same day, though it is a fairly sure bet that it was a good one.  The first of September is the birth anniversary of Larry Wrinkles.  Teresa is certain to have made his favorite dish.  Perhaps Sandy Ray Chapin will have prepared something wonderful for his lovely wife, Janet, on her special day as well.  Over at the Skyline School seventh grader, Derek Camp, will have his birthday on Thursday the 5^th.  The 8^th of September will be on Sunday this year.  That is the birthday of intrepid bridge player Carol Tharp of Vera Cruz.  She has a birthday buddy group that knows how to celebrate and then her bridge friends will put the icing on the cake at their next game.  Elmer Banks has a birthday coming up on September 15^th.  Various hunting and fishing seasons open up in Missouri on that day and in the United Kingdom it is The Battle of Britain Day.  Elmer shares his birthday with Roy Acuff, Jackie Cooper, James Fennimore Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones and other famous people.  Elmer makes quite a good local celebrity and always has some interesting information to share.  He is quick to attribute his facts to the proper source, but Champions generally just remember that Elmer said it.  For instance one can learn from him that Douglas County is the second largest county in the state and is the least populated and the most economically depressed.  It is also the only county with only one town.  Some prominent citizens dispute that fact, however, and can be heard doing so vociferously in the community meeting room at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.

        Taegan (Peanut) Krider has taken to pre-school like a duck to water and her folks are feeling like empty nesters.  They grow up so quickly.  She is very fond of her new cousin, Drayson Cline, who was in Champion for the first time Sunday.  He was very well received and there was a line waiting to get the chance to hold him.  His great uncle Richard very much enjoyed his turn with the little fellow.

        Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood indicates that the 3^rd through the 6^th will be a most barren period, best for killing plant pests or doing chores around the farm.  After that there will be several good days for planting crops that bear their yield above ground, especially leafy greens and the like. Linda has some nice Cole crops started for the fall.  Find her Almanac on line at www.championnews.us or at Henson’s Grocery and Gas or up at The Plant Place.  She always has some good advice to share and is pleased to answer any gardening questions.  The erstwhile barber of Champion West should ask her why his beans bloom but do not set any fruit.  He was down at the store on Wednesday bragging about all the canning he was doing with crates and cases of food he had bought in various places.  Once his brand new overalls are washed a few times he might start looking a little less like the city slicker he plans to be when he moves to town.  When he gets there he will look like a country boy.

        “Why did I leave the plow in the field and look for a job in the town?”  Now that is one that many know and it is likely to be sung at the Vanzant Thursday Night Jam Session.  Last week a dozen or more musicians entertained a good size crowd.  It is wonderful to see the age range from fourteen to way-on-up-yonder all enjoying the musical tie that binds.  Your good news is welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or at Champion at getgoin.net.  Spread it in person out on the graceful veranda of the Elegant Emporium in the city center–Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—August 26, 2013

        Good news comes in a wonderful little package by the name of Drayson Vaughn Cline.  He arrived on the 23^rd at 10:24 in the evening.  The good news came to many on the social network facebook via the young man’s proud aunt.  He is a popular guy already.  On one side of the family alone he has cousins:  Dakota and Dillon Watts, Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman, Eli and Emerson Rose Oglesby, and Taegan Krider.  There is another whole side of the family, the Clines, out there also very much excited about a newcomer.  In just a few minutes internet messages arrived from Cathie Alsup Reilly, Nadine Shaffer Smith, Leigh Ann Lewis, Katie Vivod, Candy Clark-Hibbitts, Emily Ash, Teresa Chapman-Stout, Anna Johnson, Barbara Brooke, Wilma Ash, Darcy Cecil, LaDonna Garrison, Wilda Moses, Steve Krider, Sherrill Ash, Christy Berry, and Kathy Krider.  By now, the Mother and Father are no doubt swimming in well wishes and their Champion friends and family are overjoyed for them and wish them every good fortune.  “Mama rock a little, Papa rock a little too, gonna try to do a little sleeping maybe.  If it’s just for a moment or an hour or two, it’s entirely depending on the baby!”  Champion!

        Birthdays continue to be a favorite subject particularly among those people having them.  Dakota Watts just had one, and Foster’s grandmother, Bernice Wiseman, just had one.  Kalyssa Wiseman and Jenna Brixey have one on Saturday.  They will both be six on the 31^st.  That is the day of the Champion School Reunion in Champion and the Brixeys are having a family reunion over in Nixa, so everybody will be celebrating and having fun.  Skyline School teacher, Mrs. Gunter, celebrated on the 23^rd and Crystal Sartor will have her special day on Thursday the 29^th.  Skyline teachers will be enjoying the book fair starting the 29^th.  It will last until September 9^th.  They say there will be plenty of time to buy the newest books, including Grandparents day on the 6^th.  Everyone is invited to stop in to see what is available.  Back to birthdays, years slip by more quickly it seems as people age.  The nature of the excitement over a birthday changes with age as well.  Expressions of Love and Gratitude are the order of every day for celebrating Champions. “Happy birthday!” they shout, “We are glad you could join us for another year!”

        The famed bear of Brushy Knob can be seen on the community events page at www.championnews.us.  It might be easy perhaps to be a little dismissive of what seems like the disproportionate fears of an otherwise solid, well-grounded citizen reporting having seen a bear in her yard.  Then the picture of the bear appears.  No wonder fear gripped the heart!  The folks at the Department of Conservation say to make a lot of noise when you are out if you suspect there is a bear in your area.  A couple of pot lids banging together can be as noisy as a shotgun and perhaps a little less dangerous.  Of course if a person goes in the house to get pot lids, chances are pretty good that the bear will not follow.  If he does, however, go for the shotgun.   Mostly people are admonished to stay alert.  That is always good advice and it was good advice on Sunday when a night owl over in Champion East looked up to see a brown striped scorpion walking toward her across the clean wood floor!  She captured it and photographed it for the Champion News.  She said she had no idea that there were any of these things around here and had never seen one.  The University of Missouri extension office says that this is the only naturally occurring species of scorpion in Missouri.  Young scorpions are pale yellowish-brown, usually with two lengthwise dark stripes on the abdomen; older scorpions are uniform dark brown with the stripes faint or lacking.  This one is young.  It takes about four years to become adults and then they only live a couple more years.  A good piece of information about all scorpions is that they glow under iridescent light such as a black light.  The high tech night owl of Champion East probably has a couple of black lights hanging around so she can scan her floor if she gets worried.  Research informs that scorpions hide during the day and are active at night.  They eat soft-bodied prey such as spiders, ants, crickets, beetles and butterflies.  The Department of Conservation says that while these scorpions are usually found in drier habitats, they require moisture and may be attracted to moist areas.  They tend to live under boards, stones or other objects, or beneath loose bark on trees and logs.  They generally do not like extremely high temperatures and, during the summer, may enter the living areas of a home seeking relief from heat and dryness.  When they come indoors, they are most often found in crawl spaces and attics.  It may be that the unusual weather of recent months has the little critter confused.  He is very interesting, but not welcome.  Not welcome inside at all—neither scorpion nor bear.

        Pete Proctor posts on Facebook that a 20-year old northwest Missouri man has died during fighting in Afghanistan.  The Department of Defense announced Sunday that Pvt. Jonathon Michael Dean Hostetter of Humphreys was killed Friday by an improvised explosive device.  He was a combat engineer who joined the Army in September 2012.  Also killed in the explosion was 23-year old Army Spc. Kenneth Clifford Alvarez of Santa Maria, California.  Both men were assigned to the 40^th Mobility Augmentation Company, 2^nd Engineer Battalion.  Pete is good to keep the U.S. Service personnel in the forefront to remind the community of the sacrifices people are willing to make for their Country.  His Champion friends appreciate his efforts and his own service.  For many reasons, including the noble purpose of preserving freedom and insuring the safety of the Nation, young people join the military.  A popular posting on social media has a young child asking his mother, “Why do we have wars?”  The mother answers, “Because we are ruled by an elite group of psychopaths who own the banks that control the government and media.  They fund both sides of war for profit and they manufacture the consent of the public through the propaganda of the media.”  The world is an increasingly dangerous place and for whatever the reasoning, Champion applaud those willing to protect and defend.

        Pete will probably be at the Champion School Reunion on Saturday.  Friends are looking forward to seeing Ruby Proctor there with her sisters and children and dear friends.   There will probably be a bunch of Browns, Cooleys, Sutherlands, Hutchisons, Wrinkles, Hensons, Andersons, Kriders, Upshaws and many others.  Hopes are that the weather will be cool and pleasant.  The big walnut trees have shaded this event for many years now.  It is sure to be an excellent gathering again.  There was some talk last year about people bringing their pictures to share.  Hopefully, some of that will happen and the debris in Fox Creek will doubtlessly spark memories of high water marks in the past.  The school house floor is dry again and there will be some who have not seen the nice steps and wheel chair ramp that have been added in recent years.  The water covered the new steps and reached the steps of the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square but it stayed high and dry.  It is delightful to be part of such a progressive community so dedicated to its wonderful past and so keenly alert to its excellent present.  Everyone is welcome to join in the fun at Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—August 19, 2013

        Lawnmowers and weed-eaters have been working overtime in this post picnic dry spell.  Those willing to get up at a descent hour have been able to enjoy the ethereal beauty of mists rising from valley floors and fog hanging on hill tops.  Coming home from town in the early evening, viewing the familiar scenery in a new light, Champions are amazed at the verdant splendidness of the place they are fortunate enough to call home.

        Ogden Nash was born on August 19, 1902.  He said, “Children aren’t happy with nothing to ignore, and that’s what parents are created for.”  It is sure that Eli and Emerson Rose Oglesby will not ignore the chance to sing happy birthday to their Mother this week on the 22^nd and the 24^th will be the birthday of their cousin, Dakota Watts, over in Tennessee.  Daniel Cohen up in Pennsylvania has his birthday on the 24^th as well.  He spent some of his formative months/years in Champion where he learned to make an exceptional pineapple upside down cake and proved himself to be extraordinarily good company.  He teaches literature now in a private school in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and lives in the 200 year old house where he grew up all except for the wonderful time he spent in Champion.  People like their roots.

        Thirty or so Upshaws celebrated their roots together with ice cream and family fun over in Upshaw (Swanky) Suites and Spa in the Villa at Vanzant. The General is said to have spun yarns and ice cream freezers and is accused of spinning the press as his picture seems so prominent in local papers.  Family members poured in from Marshfield, Champion, Alaska, Mountain Grove, Idaho and other places just as the rain was letting up.  Those from farthest afield were able to stay around for a few days to see things dry up (the General notwithstanding).  Darcy Cecil found a way to get the quilt she won at the Skyline picnic home to Boise and so all is well.  It makes for happy hearts when so much of a family cares enough about each other to spend time together in this fashion.  They are Champions all, even those with Denlow leanings.

        Gardeners have an abundance of grass cuttings set aside now for garden mulch and just need to spend these early cool mornings weeding their rows.  More seasonable weather might bring on a resurgence of produce and though some things look a little worse for all the water, no one is complaining.  Linda’s Almanac says that the 22^nd and 23^rd will be good days for planting root crops, as will the 27^th and 28^th.  One old girl will be sure to get some turnips in the ground against the possibility of having Lem and Ned stop by late this fall.  These are a pair of roaming hillbilly boys who show up on occasion looking for hard work to do in exchange for a sack of turnips.  They like them raw or can tell you just how to go about making a turnip pie.  It is kind of like a pumpkin pie but without the pumpkin.  It is not a favorite of many around here which may be why one rarely hears about it, though it turns out there are 42 different turnip pie receipts on one internet site alone.  www.yummly.com/receipts/turnip-pie.  Who would have thought it?  While she sows her turnip seeds, the woman will think about how she would like the old chicken house cleaned up and the grapevine taken down out of the far yard trees and some big rocks moved out of the drive way.  Those boys only come by once in a blue moon, so she generally has a backlog of work lined out for them.  She might be surprised to know that August’s full moon on the 20-21^st is considered to be a Blue Moon.  The seasonal definition for the term is the third of four full moons in a single season—a season being defined as the time period between a solstice and an equinox or vice versa.  (The popular definition is the second of two full moons in a single calendar month.)  She will be caught short of turnips if they show up this week.  Perhaps some immature parsnips would do, or perhaps some of the Kohlrabi that was up for bid at the silent auction at the picnic.  It is sure that if two stout young men with good attitudes show up looking for work, vegetables can be found to satisfy their fee.

        Rebellious, non-progressive, tree hugging, eco-greenie, conservationist radicals are taking advantage of the prevailing conditions to catch up on their laundry as they string their non-electric, zero carbon foot-print, non-toxic, solar powered clothes drying apparatus from tree to tree.  It is an ancient technology as useful and efficient today as when Eve pinned the family fig leaves there on that first wash day.

        The Champion School Reunion is just around the corner.  It is expected that the crowd will be bigger than usual as school alumni return to verify that their wonderful old building has been reclaimed from the flood waters.  They will be delighted to see that big industrial floor drying fans were implemented to good effect.  The reunion comes on the Saturday before Labor Day every year and marks the beginning of the fall social season.  Soon Bud Hutchison’s Fall Trail Ride will be ambling through town and the West Plains Wagon Club will be traipsing through.  Those Pioneer Descendants will gather down at Yates to see what the flood wrought there.  The trail rides will be a little less interesting as the erstwhile barber who generally rides drag will be absent.  He has sold his horses and has plans to move to town.  His Champion friends might miss him if they saw more of him.  He has a guitar and the hairdo of a country music star.  He probably knows that old saw, “How can I miss you if you won’t go away?”  He has a choice piece of real estate and so chances are good that one of these days new neighbors will be getting acquainted with all the mysteries and magnificence of their new home and their beautiful neighborhood, while he settles into the conveniences of town living.  Change is good and Champions wish him well.

        Pictures of the flood in Champion are on the website at www.championnews.us.  The broad inviting veranda is there high and dry and available for anyone to use as a platform for looking out over one of the world’s truly lovely places—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!