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CHAMPION—June 6, 2016

Clever Creek rushing deep…

        The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.  In Booger County it falls harum-sacrum.  Folks over on the west side of the county are having to water their gardens, and some in the central part are saturated.  Seriously large hail hit Champion South with a vengeance recently, while four marble sized pieces bounced harmlessly a mile north of the City Center.  A look at A Champion Farmer’s Almanac at www.championnews.us will reveal that from the 12th of the month through the 16th, grains, flowers, seedbeds, leafy vegetables and all above ground crops planted now will do well.  It is a Champion time of the year!

Bingo Parlor ready for an update.

        The Skyline VFD fish fry was an unqualified success on Saturday, even in competition with the Douglas County Fair and celebrations going on in Denlow.  The sun came out after a lot of rain and it was a relief to get out in the beautiful afternoon and evening to a great dinner.  Dale and Betty Thomas were some of the first to arrive.  They are already getting ready for the Pioneer Descendants Gathering in October.  They were joined by friends and family for some good visiting over dinner.  Quite a few took advantage of the ‘take out’ service and were able to enjoy a lovely meal at home without a lot of dishes to do.  Generous portions of good food, fish or chicken, and all the fixings, made the contribution to the volunteer fire department seem like a bargain.  They plan another such event on June 18th.  Everyone is welcome and proceeds will be used toward the maintenance of VFD equipment and facilities.  Generosity is a hallmark of this part of the country.  Dr. Kay Talley, a recent arrival from California, who lives over in Vanzant now, found out about the fish fry while enjoying the Denlow School Reunion last week.  She is such a fan of Volunteer Fire Departments that she made a donation in advance.  She will make it out to one of these dinners soon to get acquainted with more of the community—a welcome addition.

        A young fellow named Josh Bradley, step-son of Bobby Davis (RD) and son of Trish Davis is fighting malignant melanoma.  Cancer is a fight that many of us know all too well.  At the very least, Josh faces chemotherapy, radiation treatments, and much travel and time off work.  He is going to Texas on the 13th to start treatment at M.D. Anderson.  Friends are sponsoring a “9 Pin No-Tap Benefit Tournament” for him that evening at the Springfield Lanes.  Call Jim Blair (417-459-5061) or Cindy Blair (417-459-5060) for details or to contribute items for the drawings which already include weekend getaways and bowling balls.  An account has also been set up at the Town and Country Bank in Ava in the name of Josh Bradley or Trish Davis to accept donations to help with expenses for this young family man—a husband, father, son.

        Sara Hardin, newly elected member of the Skyline R-ll School Board, and Skyline alumnus, was at the fish fry at the school Saturday providing information about the proposed school district tax levy coming up on the August 2, 2016 ballot.  The current levy is $2.9503 per $100.00 in assessed value.  With the increase to $3.43, and the matching funds that the State will then provide, the total revenue added to the school will be approximately $64,600.  That will go a long way toward the busses, safety updates, technology, chairs and desks and other necessities that our endangered little rural school needs.  “Only an educated and informed people will be a free people,” said John Kennedy.  It is to the advantage of everyone in the school district, whether or not they have children in school, to keep the little institution thriving.  The loyalty of alumni like Ms. Hardin will sustain the community well into the future.

        More little Dutch Bantam chickens were to be the gift for the archeologist to the west of Ava.  He celebrated three quarters of a century of living on the June 2nd.   Wayne Sutherland was 85 on June 7, 2015.  He has recently been honored by the Older Iron Club in Cabool.  These are Skyline student with birthdays in June:  Jacob Shannon, 1st grade, the 10th,  Meguell Townsend, 5th grader, on the 11th, Wyatt Hicks, 6th grader, on the 13th,  Zachary Coon, 5th grader on the 15th, and Sirinity Townsend, 4th grader, on the 16th.  In Ava, Janice Lorain has a birthday on June 15th and Foster Wiseman, Champion grandson, celebrates on the 16th.  Gifts, cards, songs and cake make for happy birthdays.  Being remembered is the best.

Denlow Alumni

Fairview Alumni

Lavern and Jessie May Miller celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary and her 90th birthday!

        The Fairview/Denlow School Reunion was another splendid affair.  Pete Proctor took over the master of ceremonies duties from The General and so a great deal of silliness was avoided, but there was still enough.  Cathie Alsup Reilly was able to make it over from Kentucky after all.  She had been having transmission troubles in her car, which was only going in reverse, so when she decided at the last minute that she could come to the reunion, her husband, Mickey, agreed to bring her in his truck rather than see her take off going backwards.  They made a fast trip of it and seemed to have a good time.  Later Cathie posted on-line an amazing description of the flood of 1876, which makes a very interesting read.  Laverne and Jessie May Miller were in celebration mode.  They have just completed 70 (seventy) years of married life and Jessie May’s 90th birthday.  Wayne Coats came up from Arkansas to act as auctioneer this year, and while he did a passable job and had a lot of fun at it, it was agreed by all that he could take lessons from Laverne.    Photographs were taken of the students who attended each school.  Some attended both.  Gracie Smith Hicks is reported to be the last surviving Denlow teacher.  She lives up in Oregon now.  Most of the people who attend this reunion did not actually go to either of these little schools.  The alumni are just willing to share their get together with friends and family and neighbors.

        Charlie Lambert was in Champion on Wednesday.  He attended the Wednesday morning jam at the barber shop in Ava and then made it out to his old stomping grounds.  It is 110 miles for him to make the trip now days and his friends here are happy to see him.  He stays busy with his grandchildren and all the things that people who are old enough to be grandparents do.  He said that he has not been playing music as much as he did when he lived around Champion and that it is easy to fall out of practice.  He and Lonnie Krider, Whitey Upshaw, Wayne Anderson, and others used to ‘tear it up’ around these parts on a regular basis.  Music is a great tonic, especially for those playing.  “Musician, heal thyself!”  The paraphrased admonition is directed to some favorite players who are being absent from local jams these days.  None of them are old enough to remember Rudy Valley singing, “Keep a little song handy where ever you go, and nothing can ever go wrong.  Keep a little song handy and sure as you know, the sunshine will follow along.  Any little single jingle is welcome when you mingle in any single throng, so keep a little song handy where ever you go and nothing can ever go wrong” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 27, 2016

The sparkling Champion waters of Clever Creek.

        The wet weather pattern in Champion is good for the aquifer and good for the garden.  Some remember the overabundant rain of last year to which they attributed the tomato blight.  Others had good luck in the garden all around.  Things have started out nicely this year and while Champions are grateful for their own good fortune, they do not forget the suffering of those elsewhere who have been experiencing destructive hail, high winds and tornadoes.  The anniversary of the Joplin tornado brought pictures of the devastation and of the recovery five years on.  It is a tribute to resilience.

        The Missouri Department of Conservation says that the American black bear is one of the largest and heaviest wild mammals in Missouri.  “Black bears are an exciting part of Missouri’s history and they are making a comeback in the southern part of the state.”  There is a lot of good information on the Department of Conservation website http://on.mo.gov/1VefbDI.  They suggest that if you encounter a bear up close to be sure the bear has an escape route—never corner a bear.  Back away slowly with your arms raised.  Speak in a calm, loud voice.  Do not turn your back to the bear.  Walk away slowly.  They emphasize not to run.  Dairy farmers in Near Champion West have sighted bears off and on over the years, as have folks up off of C Highway.  Last week Brushyknob neighbors reported that their bear was back.  “He tore down the empty bird feeder and opened our metal trash can and tore out the empty folded bird seed bags and strung them out.”  Three days later, ”Just a little way in front of the house in the woods there stood this big black bear!  He just kept looking and didn’t leave.  He didn’t even care that the dog was barking.”  Finally the neighbor fired a couple of gunshots over its head and it took off.  “Hopefully he’ll be afraid to come back.  There is no food for him.  The conservation guy said to be really careful next couple of weeks because they’re out of hibernation and hungry and there is not much food in the wild.”  Some selected logging has been down on their road by the creek, so the territory is getting smaller.  Send your bear stories to The Champion News, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to champion@championnews.us.

        In other wildlife news, it turns out that the opossum attracts ticks, as do any number of other mammals, but the opossum will kill more than 95% of those that find him.  They say that an opossum will vacuum up and kill as many as 4,000 ticks a week.  Some hillbilly entrepreneur could surely find a way to capitalize on this attribute.  Ticks are out already in legion.  When music lovers see that stuffed ‘possum below the bridge on Sherry Bennet’s big stand-up bass fiddle, they will think more kindly of it.  Sherry sings, “Five Pounds of Possum in My Headlights Tonight” to bring a lot of fun to the bluegrass jams around the area.  She has been absent from them lately and her friends are looking forward to seeing her out and about soon.  She has a beautiful voice and one of those smiles that light up the day.

        The internet has been full of pictures of the East Fairview School students, grades 1-8, from the 1950-1951 school year.  Some of those fresh looking, adorable faces are identified as Ken and Wayne Coats, Pete Proctor, David Coonts, and Jerry Wagner.  Sherri Tate Unger said that she had spotted Baxter and Sharon in the picture.  Olin Parks said, “I don’t see any halos on these youngsters.”  The posting of these pictures and others are designed to bring attention to the Denlow/Fairview School Reunion which takes place on Saturday of the Memorial Day week-end.  The blow by blow description of this year’s fine affair will appear in next week’s edition of The Champion News.  Meanwhile look in the May archives at www.championnews.us going back for the last nine years for highlights of reunions past.  There are pictures that will make you smile.  Some favorite folks will be absent this year, among them Pete and Bonnie Mullins and Cathie Alsup Reilly.  They have reasons that they cannot make it this time and have sights on next year for sure.  If history is any judge, this one will be just right.

        John Wayne’s birthday was May 26th.  He was The Ringo Kid in John Ford’s film “Stagecoach” in 1939.  He was a good looking young man.  Cinnamon Spence is a good looking young woman sharing a birthday with The Duke.  The 27th is the anniversary of Edgar Henson’s birth.  What a sterling fellow he was!  He was well known for his humor and friendly personality, but he was also a good businessman (with Anna’s help) and a good neighbor.  On a tour of The Historic Emporium in Downtown Champion a person can see any number of photographs of him and other mementos of his time as the hub of the community.

        It is wonderful to see Republicans and Democrats getting along.  In a move that completely shocked Republicans and Democrats alike, John McCain has come out publicly to sing the praises of Senator Bernie Sanders.  He was speaking on camera to the Veteran’s Affairs Committee when he made the shocking revelation and could not resist mentioning who else had a hand in making the new VA bill come to fruition.  “I want to thank you, and I would like to mention that it was the product of the negotiations with Senator Sanders who was then chairman of the committee, and I would allege that I’m one of the first to feel the Bern.”  Politico says, “The agreement struck between Sanders, an independent from Vermont who chairs the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and McCain, a Republican from Arizona, could salvage VA reform in the Senate.  The two senators began negotiations after it looked as though VA reform might become another victim of the chamber’s gridlock with the competing Democratic and Republican bills—which would have been an embarrassing failure for both parties amid the national attention focused on the VA’s troubles.”  Come down to the wide, wild, wooly banks of Auld Fox Creek to witness Republicans and Democrats getting along in Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 23, 2016

        What a great week in Champion!  Bud Hutchison’s trail ride was an unqualified success.  It was reported that Bud gave a short but brisk bronc-riding exhibition and managed to stay on top the whole time.  Otherwise, it was a pleasant and uneventful amble around the Shannon Ranch and back again.  Nine riders left the square mid-morning and came back together hours later to enjoy ice cream on the Veranda.  The consensus of opinion was that it was a great ride.  They missed the first of what will hopefully be a monthly musical interlude out on the wide veranda at the Historic Emporium.  The General led the band actually singing, “Around her neck she wore a yellow ribbon” and “Behind the door her pappy kept a shotgun…” apparently for the same fellow.  Candi and Jeff Bartsch added actual musical talent that made it a pleasant interval.  The fiddle player and her harmonica playing husband live on the outskirts of Vanzant and made their first trip to Champion that day.  They then were part of the Thursday night jam in their neighborhood.  Some infrequent but much appreciated musicians filled in for some notably absent ones last week.  Ruth Fish Collins’ version of “Beulah Land” is typically the last song of the evening and her friends have been missing her.  She is reported to be on the mend and will hopefully be back sharing her lovely velvety voice again soon.  Nancy and Don Mohrman were in town from Bridgeport, Nebraska ready to attend Nancy’s 55th high school reunion over in Dora.  They like to visit Jerry and Della Dennis when they come this way and they always like to make it to the jam when they are in the neighborhood.  “I just played enough wrong notes for a whole new piece,” some famous musician once said.  That has nothing to do with how much fun is had.

        Pete and Phyllis Proctor came out to the Wednesday gathering.  It’s always a treat to see them.  Pete came with gifts and good fellowship for his Veteran friends in Champion.  He will be presenting a program at the Denlow/Fairview School Reunion that will be held on May 28th at Denlow.  There will be a pot luck lunch at noon and later a fun fund raising auction at 2:00 out in the pavilion.  It is to be noted that The General has decreed that participation in the hula hoop contest is not mandatory.  Proceeds from the auction fund next year’s reunion.  It is always a great time and everyone is welcome.

        The musical evening at the Skyline School was not nearly so well attended as had been hoped.  The few who did attend were treated to some great performances.  The presentation was in support of music in public schools.  Many Missouri schools are suffering budget crunches and crises and Skyline is one of them.  The little $0.48 levy increase that will appear on the ballot in the August election is opportunity to really help our valuable little school.  This increase will bring the total school tax up to the minimum that is required in order to receive matching funding from the State.  This means that our school taxes are lower than most school districts right now and the little increase and all important resulting matching funds will make all the difference in the quality of school busses and any number of other important items that keep the little school going.  SOS!  Save our School!

        On the 4th of June, that is a Saturday, the Skyline VFD Auxiliary will hold a fish fry at the Skyline School.  It will take off at 4 in the afternoon and go until 8 in the evening–dine in or take out.  There will be fried catfish, baked beans, coleslaw, potatoes, and dessert.  The Auxiliary is happy to have some good cooking help in the fish frying department.  (Think about that great fish dinner you had at the Pioneer Descendant’s Gathering last year).  Find out more about it at 417-948-2440, 417-683-1816 or on Facebook at The Champion News….and ads in the Douglas County Herald and the News Journal next week.  Proceeds will go to the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department Maintenance and Building Fund.

        Bob Dylan will have his 75th birthday on Wednesday.  He will probably have a party with string beans and country pie.  Ed Henson’s birthday was May 27, 1903.  Champions still miss him.  He is featured with his dog Toby on a Champion Picture Postcard available at Henson’s Downtown G & G.  Brylee Clark’s birthday is May 28, 2010.  That makes her six years old.  Dale Thomas celebrates that day too, but nobody asks what year.  Kazie Perkins of KZ88 Community Radio celebrates on the 29th.  Her friend Harold Harnish celebrated on the 15th.  He had a surprise party thrown for him, but it is up in the air about whether it was a surprise.  Champion friends and neighbors wish him and all the birthday celebrators a happy day every day.  Harold’s radio program comes on Thursday morning and is called Roots and Branches.  He always has some great old tunes to play.  Joey Kennedy was in the 2nd grade at Skyline this year.  His birthday is on May 29th.  He will have the whole summer to think about how great it will be to be a third grader.  Alexandra Jean Moses will have her 10th birthday on May 31st.  She is a Champion granddaughter and Champion cookie maker.

        The full moon was a dazzling sight in a mostly clear sky on Saturday.  The Champion News Almanac says that Tuesday and Wednesday will be good planting days for root crops.  Saturday and Sunday will also be good days for planting below ground crops, for transplanting and for pruning to encourage growth.  There is always something to do out in the garden and wholesome fresh food is the reward.  Karen Ross, intrepid Rt. 72 mail carrier, is an avid gardener.  She has greens pouring out of her patch in abundance and she delivers a sweet smile with the mail.  Champion!

        A favorite quote this week comes from Audrey Hepburn.  She was a great screen actress, a fashion icon and she won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 for her charitable work in some of the poorest communities of Africa, South America and Asia.  She died of cancer at the tender age of 63, just a month after receiving the award.  She said, “Nothing is more important than empathy for another human being’s suffering.  Not a career.  Not wealth.  Not intelligence.  Certainly not status.  We have to feel for one another if we’re going to survive with dignity.”  It brings to mind that no amount of rambling misinformation and bigoted fearmongering xenophobia will change the fact that this is a Nation of immigrants.  With 7.4 Billion people in the world and much of the world in extreme chaos as a result of oil wars, a little of that Christian ‘love thy neighbor’ stuff could be implemented with good effect.  Most of the terrorism that is our day to day experience in this country is perpetrated by fearful men who look just like the people you meet in Walmart every day.  Perspective is a precious commodity.  Another good quote comes from George Bernard Shaw, the great Irish playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.  He said, “Now that we have learned to fly in the air like birds and dive in the sea like fish, only one thing remains—to learn to live on earth like humans.”  It is a Champion notion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 16, 2016

This could be YOU enjoying the beautiful road to Champion!

        Answers to the question, “What is it?” have come pouring in over face book, by e-mail, in person at the Historic Emporium and by phone.  The first was from Jerry Proctor, via Facebook.  He said “It is a hay needle.  The old timers used it to put hay in the loft.”  Local archeologist, Mark Parsons, emails, “I saw one of these many years ago and it was explained to me that when hay was stored loose in barns the harpoon was plunged into the hay (dropped from a pulley?) and the barbs opened to pick up and move a big wad of hay.”  He also included a link to a Farm Collector article called “Putting Hay Away the Old-Fashioned Way” with a picture captioned, “This beautifully preserved double-barb, single –harpoon hawmow fork has one of the most complicated mechanisms…when retracted, the barbs are fully enclosed in the device’s hollow body.”  He included another link where a similar item was offered for sale.  “This is the Nellis model #7-28 single hay harpoon.  This piece was made in the late 1890’s.  Early hay bales could weigh hundreds of pounds.”  In person at the Emporium, Deward’s Granddaughter brought a print out of an article about a hay harpoon with the phrase, “Not to be confused with a whaling tool.”  Then Elma Shortt called to identify it as a haymow and to say her uncle had one.  She is 88 now and moved from Ava to Nixa about a year ago.   She is close to her daughter there and very much enjoying the company at the Senior Citizens Center where she enjoys brusque games of double pinochle and reading The Champion News.  Distant southern Texas readers of TCN, unfamiliar with hay barns and mountaineering thought it might be some form of mountain climbing tool.  Mark Upshaw’s question seems to have been fully answered.

Seamus Heffern, Physics Fair Finalist Picture shared by inordinately proud grandparents.

        The school year has ended.  Children are cut loose for the summer, which they think will last a long time.  Among the many brilliant scholars and gifted students finishing up the scholastic year is Champion grandson, Seamus Heffern, who was a finalist in Physics Fair in Springfield.  His grandparents are ecstatic over his accomplishments.  Congratulations to all you vigorous learners.  Have a good vacation while you continue learning things that school does not teach.  The Skyline R2 School is beginning a live concert series.  On May 21st there will be performances by Robert Wilson (folk rock), Curb Appeal (bluegrass) and Tavis Lawson (Blues Rock).  The admission charge is minimal and the funds will go toward replacing chairs in the school, which very much need replacing.  The little rural school that is turning out good citizens could use a little help.  The Fairview and Denlow School Reunion will be held Saturday, May 28th at Denlow.  These schools closed many years ago, but they are still dear in the hearts of their alumni.  The $0.48 tax levy increase for Skyline R2 will be on the ballot again in the August election.  It is said to have failed by 15 votes in April.  Passage of this small increase may be what allows us to keep our school going so that fifty years from now there will be nostalgic old folks gathering to reminisce, even as there will be for Fairview and Denlow on the Saturday of Memorial Day week-end.  Cathie Reilly Alsup will not be able to attend this year, so the hula hoop contest will be less exciting, but there is slated to be music and frivolity of various kinds in addition to the wonderful pot-luck luncheon, a Veterans presentation by Pete Proctor and the annual auction that funds the event.  The Spring and Summer Social Season for Champion and all its neighbors is off to a swinging start!

        Dear Champion friends, Esther and Raymond Howard have just celebrated seventy (70!) years of marriage.  Congratulations!  Champions Kenneth (Hovie) and Dawn Henson down in Houston, Texas are enjoying the birthday of their granddaughter, Avery.  Laine Sutherland posted on the internet, “I am so proud of Daddy (Wayne Sutherland).  He was presented the Distinguished Member Award by David Melton, President of the Ozark Older Iron Club at the Spring Tractor Show in Cabool.”  Teresa Wrinkles will have her birthday on May 22nd.  Heidi Strong celebrates that day as well.  She will be in the 5th grade when school starts up again in the fall.  There is plenty of reason for rejoicing in Champion, also for reflection.  This week marked the passage of Bernice Wiseman, a lovely lady, the paternal grandmother of Champion kids Foster and Kalyssa.  She was kind and good hearted and will be much missed but will always stay in the hearts of her family and friends.

        The Teeter Creek herb of the week is Goosegrass (a favorite weed in the township of Goose Nibble) which is also known as Cleavers (Galium aparine) and Bedstraw.  Herbalist Bob Liebert says, “The plant has weak stems with tiny hooks that help it to climb up other tall plants, often forming mats of the sticky plants.  Six leaflets form a ray from the stem, where the little white flowers emerge too.”  Get a good look at it at www.teetercreekherbs.com and connect to the Facebook page, where you will find out about its medicinal uses.  You will recognize it from your garden edges and from your walks in our rich open woodlands.  The Champion News Almanac for May says that the whole week up to and including the 20th will be excellent days for planting above ground crops.  Get out there and go to work, or just get out there to revel in Nature–Champion!

        “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”  “Success is not final, failure not fatal:  it is the courage to continue that counts.”  “A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.”  “If you can be content right now, then you’ll always be content, because it’s always right now.”  “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”  “We can effectively combat terrorism without sacrificing the civil liberties and constitutional protections which make us a free nation.”  “The cost of war is a battle that will continue until the very last veteran receives all of the care and all of the benefits they deserve.”  Quotes this week are, in no particular order, from Mark Twain, Willie Nelson, JFK, FDR, and others.

        When Bud Hutchison’s trail ride ambles back into Champion on Wednesday it is likely to be met by any number of spectators and music.  With luck, The General will be there with his guitar playing both parts of Dueling Banjos the way he did at the Vanzant Bluegrass Jam last Thursday night.  It was spectacular!  Chances are pretty good that he will leave his accordion at home, as he does not wish to spook the horses.  One wonders what songs go through the heads of those trail riders as they mosey along.  Perhaps, “I’m an old cow hand, from the Rio Grande, and I learned to ride before I learned to stand.  I know all the songs that the cow boys know, cause I heard them singing on the radio.  Woopie ki yea ki yo!” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 9, 2016

Through the trees across the valley to the hills beyond…Champion greenery.

        Mother’s Day brought a deluge of emotion–gratitude, joy, sorrow, nostalgia and longing.  Champions lucky enough to still have their mother with them do not take the dear lady for granted.  The rest of us have our memories and the good example she set for us.

        Miss Elizabeth Heffern, Champion granddaughter, is celebrating her birthday on May 15th.  Linda Cooley celebrates that day as well.  The next day is for Karen Griswold Somebody who has been riding around in a car that had “Just Married” written on it.  The 16th is the 46th birthday of a red haired boy, an alumnus of Skyline School.  Meikel Klein, a first grade student there now has his birthday on the 17th.  The 18th is a special day for many reasons, but the current one is for Bud Hutchison’s trail ride.  It heads up in Champion in the morning and ends there as well later in the day.  Bud is a nice guy and will not mind spectators reviewing his outfit.  How inviting!  Perhaps there will be music.

        Pete Proctor made a guest appearance at the Champion Senior Center on Wednesday.  He met up with a number of fellow Vietnam Veterans there and they fell immediately into fellowship, though some had never met.  It is a phenomenon unique to that group.  Pete serves with the American Legion Post 30 and is an Adjutant officiating at the funerals of Veterans in the area.  He said there have been fourteen such funerals since the beginning of the year.  Love and Gratitude is due all our Veterans.

Champions are looking for information about this tool. It is about 3 1/2 feet long and weighs four or five pounds.  What is it?

        Mark Upshaw brought an item for the ‘show and tell’ part of the meeting that remains yet unidentified.  It was suggested that it might be a haying tool.  It is about the size of an average walking cane, but made of heavy steel with an open channel down the middle and a fairly sharp V point at the bottom.  A mechanism on the handle causes a pair of barbs about three inches long to fold out of the channel very near the end.  It is a curiosity.  Get a good look at it on the facebook page of The Champion News or at www.championnews.us.  If you know what it is, let us know at TCN, Rt.72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, or drop in to the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square with your information.

        Poke is up and beautiful all over the place.  Deward’s Granddaughter mentioned on Wednesday that she had heard a story of some college students who had prepared it as they would have with any other greens like collards, kale or spinach—just wilting them into a frying pan of bacon grease and onions.  The report was that the students slept for several days and were fortunate to wake up.  Old timers know how it is supposed to be done, but if you do not have an old timer at your elbow to ask, the folks at Google can help you.  The folks at Teeter Creek Herbs are local and a good source of information about the countless number of medicinal and edible herbs in the Ozarks.  They have a great website at www.teetercreekherbs.com and they now have a facebook page where they will be making weekly posts featuring photos and information about the many local plants and a great variety of other things.  A person never knows when it might be imperative to be able to identify what plants are edible and which ones will stop bleeding or quell infection.  Good neighbors over on Teeter Creek will be our huckleberries.  Champion!

Young poke blowing in the breeze…

        The bond issue for the $.48 per hundred tax levy increase failed by 15 votes they say.  It will be on the ballot again in August and hopes are that enough information will get out between now and then for it to pass this time.  The increase will bring the total levy up to the minimum amount required in order to receive matching funding from the State.  These are taxes that will definitely stay home and be used for genuine good in our own neighborhood.  School busses are expensive to operate and to maintain.  This was one of the topics of conversation at the Skyline VFD meeting on Tuesday.  It was noted that when a community loses its school, the community often disappears.  Other things covered at the meeting were the need for a new bingo parlor on the picnic grounds.  Bingo is a major part of the fund raising efforts for the fire department at the annual picnic in August.  Membership dues do not cover the expenses of training and equipping volunteers and maintaining firetrucks and other vital equipment.  Both the wonderful little school that is turning out good citizens and the terrific little fire department that protects our lives and property could use more community support.

        An accumulation of quotes by James Madison, Bill Murray, W.E.B. DuBois, Jimmy Carter, Anne Frank, Shannon Alexander, William Golding and anonymous others are presented here in no particular order:  “When the wealth of the nation will be in the hands of a few, then we must rely upon the wisdom of the best elements in the country to readjust the laws of the nation.”  “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”  “So, if we lie to the government, it’s a felony.  But if they lie to us, it’s politics.”  “Either the United States will destroy ignorance, or ignorance will destroy the United States.”  “We can’t be both the world’s leading champion of peace and the world’s leading supplier of arms.”  “Go outside…amidst the simple beauty of nature…and know that as long as places like this exist, there will be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be.”  “If you can’t give the public a good reason to vote for you, scare them into believing something terrible will happen if they don’t.”  “The legitimate object of government is to do for the people what needs to be done, but which they cannot, by individual effort, do at all, or do so well, for themselves.  That American can-do spirit is sadly missing in this campaign of small ideas.”  “If you cut a hole in a net, there are fewer holes.”

        The Champion News Almanac says that the 16th all the way through the 20th (next Monday through Friday) will be excellent gardening days, particularly for crops that bear their yield above the ground.  Some gardeners whistle or hum or sing while they tend their crops.  Others listen to the KZ88 Community Radio or to their iPod.  A good song in a person’s head can make the work lighter and less monotonous, can replace pain and worries.  This part of the country has music all over it.  Find a local jam like the one at Vanzant on Thursday nights and get an infusion of live music to help carry you through your difficult tasks and hard times.  “There’s a song, a sigh of the weary: Hard times! Hard times, come again no more.  Many days you have lingered around my cabin door, oh! Hard times come again no more!” to Champion—looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 2, 2016

Ancestral Texas farm land

        An eventful week in Champion included much needed rain, burgeoning foliage, music, and a pleasant get together at the Champion Senior Center, located in the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  People of all ages are welcome in Champion, it just turned out that most of the Wednesday group was over 60—some well over—and a generally pleasant gathering it was.  Age is not as important as young people used to think.  Maybe they still think it is important, but old people still feel young sometimes, so what is the difference?  Waldo Champion, Linda Heffern, has a birthday on May 6th.  Skyline second grade student, Gracie Nava, will celebrate on the 7th and Dixie Pierson, Skyline’s bookkeeper will have the 8th as her special day.  Bonnie Brixey Mullins will have a great birthday on the 9th.  She is having exciting times as she and Pete settle into their new home in Douglas, Kansas.  They lived in their last home together for sixty years.  Champions Richard and Kaye Johnston have just celebrated 39 years of marriage.  Construction on the second new house in Champion Heights in as many years will soon be completed.  The coming week promises to be as full and exciting.  There will be a meeting of the Skyline VFD Auxiliary; there will be music; gardens will be belching forth broccoli and kale, lettuce and radishes; and some old gardeners will get out there and get ‘it’ done.

Terraces casting shadows in the evening light.

        The memorial service for a dear brother way out in west Texas turned out to be lovely and imminently fitting.  It was just the way he wanted it to be.  In the old cemetery where rest parents, grandparents and great grandparents, the bluebonnets had mostly gone to seed though a great variety of other wild flowers covered every grave and pathway.  Enormous cedar trees swayed in the easy breeze when just at dusk the family circled his spot to sing “I’ll Fly Away.”  From the hillside there at Palava, the farmland stretching out for miles appeared kaleidoscopic.  Red plowed ground undulated in terraces with great smears of brilliant shades of green against blue mesas in the distance topped with their whirligigs of wind farms—all of it seemed ethereal in the mix of emotion.  Family reminiscences were full of his humor and the great role he had in all their lives.  He is resting in peace now and entirely unforgettable.

The Palava Cemetery in Nolan County Texas

        Days pass swiftly in Champion as do the years.  The admonition is, “Love ‘em while you’ve got ‘em.”  Make amends while it is still possible.  Come down to the wide wonderful banks of Auld Fox Creek to declare right out loud that it is a precious gift to be alive, to have loving family and friends, and especially to be in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side.

CHAMPION—April—25, 2016

An oriole stopped on a hummingbird feeder in Champion to add its voice to the sound of Spring.

        The week began on an eventful note with flooding in Houston, Texas.  Harold Phillips of Bella Vista, Arkansas sent a message to Dawn Henson in Houston asking, “Are you high and dry or awash?”  She replied “We are okay.  We live almost out of Houston to the south.  The heavy flooding was in the northwest.  Melanie lives in Katy, which is northwest.  They got a lot of rain but it didn’t get in their house.  Roads are impassable though.  Katy schools are closed all week.  We had Avery yesterday and might have her again tomorrow.  One of the creeks is still out of its banks, but it is north of where they live.  Thanks for checking on us.”  It is nice to have the internet to keep up with distant Champions.

        Two kindergarten students at Skyline are celebrating birthdays–Eli Johnson on the 28th and Taegan Krider on the 30th.  Beth Caudill drives a bus for the school.  She shares her birthday on May Day with Mrs. Ryan of the library.  Seventh grader, Madison Shearer, celebrates on the second.  A non-resident Champion double cousin living far away also celebrates on May Day and Olivia’s grandmother up in Springfield will be partying on the second.  Happy day, dear Champions!

The tailgate bench.

        A neighbor from over near Tedrick lolled away a pleasant spell in the Historic Emporium on Wednesday.  His name is Hase Tetrick.  He has a great-great grandfather, a Civil War Veteran, buried in the Tedrick Cemetery.  The community was named for the family, but the spelling was confused somewhere along the line. Mr. Tetrick hopes to get it all fixed one of these days.  He is one of seven survivors of a large family.  There were five boys born, then a girl, then five more boys and one more girl.  He said that when people asked about the size of his family, he said that he had nine brothers and each of them had two sisters…  It sounds like a family of 30!  Anyway, some of the remaining family still lives in these parts and he lives not far, as the crow flies, from his old home place.  He talked about riding a horse over to Champion when he was a kid and all the ball games.  He lived 12 years up in Davenport, Iowa, where a number of young Champion fellows found work for a while.  There are lots of stories about goings on up there, but it sounds as if some are better left untold.  Meanwhile, Deward’s Granddaughter had a picture on her phone of a seven foot long snake.  ‘Old Timers’ there at the store identified it as a coach-whip and shared a few stories about their encounters with them in years gone by.  She said that she had met the snake just as she was about to step off the porch.  She tried to coax it with a broom to turn around and head out of the yard, but the snake raised its head high and bolted strait under the porch.  It is a warning to be alert for snakes this time of the year.  Many of our local reptiles are beneficial.  A snake is a snake, but they are not all ‘bad.’  The Idaho Dooms brother will take his Champion brother fishing in Oklahoma again before he heads back north.  Mr. & Mrs. Partell had pumpkin pie to share with friends on Wednesday in honor of their wedding anniversary.  They say they will endeavor to carry on with married life.  Richard Johnston has used the tailgate of a Chevrolet pickup truck to make a bench.  The seat is wood and the backrest is the tailgate.  He has donated it to the Licking Senior Center.  It will be given away in a drawing on July 21st.  Hopefully tickets will be available at the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square.

Seven-foot Champion coachwhip–not a bad snake.

        The Douglas County Historical Society announced that the Summer 2016 edition of the Douglas County Historical & Genealogical Society Journal is available now.  If you are not a member of the society you can find the Journal at the Museum, open from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays, or at Memories on the Square in Ava.  The Journal is $7.00.  Membership in the Historical Society is $20 per year and with membership comes two Journals per year.  Join by mail at Douglas County Historical Society P.O. Box 986 Ava, MO 65608.  The current issue has a dedication to Dora Jo Mahan, stories on Skyline and Dora schools, Topaz Mill reopening and much more.  The picture on the cover is of Skyline’s First Year—7th and 8th grade class in 1955.  It will be an exciting read for some.

        Seldom seen friends over on the other side of Ava have a lovely little family of Dutch Bantams helping to keep the bug population down in their garden.  These chickens are replacements for chickens that met a cruel and gruesome end by a raccoon a while back.  They are fascinating to watch and the garden is an inspiration–already full of greens, onions and legions of the Stinking Rose.  The gardener had been concerned about dogwoods as it seemed that they have been dying out in recent years.  This year, though, they are vigorous and more visible and hopefully more numerous.  It is a pleasant sight in to see them strewn across the hills like popcorn.  The woods are filling in so quickly, the dogwoods will soon be out of sight.  Nature is overtaking, embracing, and hiding cabins deep in the woods as well as many homes along the road sides. They will reappear next winter.  Champions will still be able to find their friends—friends, what a gift.

        The wide, wild wooly banks of Auld Fox Creek are greening up.  The Behemoth Bee Tree is alive with bees and signs of leaves showing up on the sprouts far atop the massive stump are reassuring.  “I never lose.  I either win or learn,” said Nelson Mandela.  Those inspirational words can apply to politics, sports, love, gardening and doubtlessly other things.  Champion gardeners, inspired beyond their capability, remark, “I can’t believe how old people of my age are!”  The wind in the trees, the birds and frogs add to the tinnitus background for the song, “Time is filled with swift transitions.  Naught of earth unchanged can stand.  Keep your hopes on things eternal.  Hold to God’s unchanging hand…” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—April 18, 2018

Looking up through Champion dogwoods…

        “Well, I took my gal to the picture show.  She promised me a kiss when we got home.  To take her in my arms I just couldn’t wait, but when we got home her Pappy was awake.  ‘Is that you, Myrtle?’  ‘Yes, Papa.’  ‘Is that you, Myrtle?’  ‘Well, just a minute!’  ‘Is that you, Myrtle?  Is that you, Myrtle?  I guess you better send that scallywag home.  I guess you better send that scallywag home.’”  Myrtle Harris is celebrating her 80-something birthday on April 19th.  She comes to the Vanzant Bluegrass Jam when she can and is a great fan of all the music.  Dave/Robert/Jim/George/Somebody Thompson had his 44th or 45th birthday acknowledged there this last Thursday, but it was never clear if this birthday of his was on Thursday, Friday or Saturday or how many years ago it happened.  Over at Skyline R2 School, seventh grade student, Haley Wilson, will celebrate on the 23rd.  The next day, the 24th, will be the big day for Shelby Wilson, a second grade student.  Another second grader, Chris Alsup, will have his celebration on the 25th.  The nice thing about birthdays is that everybody has one every year for as long as they live!  Amazing!  Enjoy this one and all those to come, you Champions!

        The Goose Nibble Gazette reporter found out that Laverne and Jessie Mae Miller celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary on the 16th.  They live over in Willow Springs.  Jessie Mae is a native of Denlow where she grew up around Upshaw cousins.  It seems as if there was a story about a blind date at a bowling alley that resulted in her getting together with Laverne.  That may not be correct.  When the Denlow School Reunion comes around again there will be a chance to get the story straight.  Laverne has been the auctioneer at that annual event for many years, and sees that there is enough humor on the bill.  That happens on the Saturday of Memorial Day with a pot luck lunch and fun on the grounds.

        The Douglas County Health Department nurse, Rebecca Turcott, will be in Champion from 9:00 to 11:00 on Tuesday morning, the 26th, to offer free blood pressure checks for people who might like to keep up with those numbers.  It has been a lifesaving for some Champions.  She is in Champion on the last Tuesday of each month and then at the Skyline School on the first Tuesday of each month.  It is a great community service and Rebecca is friendly and good at her job, a Champion.

        The world has been shaken in Ecuador and in Japan.  By Sunday evening the death toll was 246 in Ecuador and the number of injuries unknown.  In Japan–many deaths and missing people.  More and more we become aware of how small the world is and how full it is with suffering and tribulation.  Ancient Greece, now modern Greece, is having its life blood sucked away by the corporations that own its national debt.  The Mediterranean and Europe are awash with refugees fleeing the middle-east as western nations plunder resources and fight proxy wars there.  Indigenous people of the Amazon are being murdered for protesting massive dam projects that would destroy their homes.  Norwegians are fighting mining interest that will destroy fishing in their fish dependent fjords.  It is like Ray Charles said, “The world is in an uproar—danger signs are all around.”  What can we do?  Be kind.  Be conscious.  Behave.  Help where you can and be grateful for your excellent circumstances, relatively speaking.

Champion’s dogwood drive…

        A frequent unacknowledged contributor to The Champion News (one of its foreign correspondents) presents a new word for consideration:  pleonasm.  It is a noun that means the use of more words than are necessary to convey a meaning, either as a fault of style or for emphasis.  Redundancies such as black darkness, burning fire, or people’s democracy are good examples.  It was suggested that another way to look at it is as “an army of words escorting a corporal of thought.”  The Wednesday Pleonasm League had a routine meeting last time.  Mr. Partell (too blessed to be stressed) had some interesting old blacksmith tools to show—tools for forming edges and making specific bends.  He had made a heavy-duty door knocker out of a horseshoe and a marlin spike.  Upshaws were well represented with Dean and Daily, Uncle Robert and Aunt Fae.  Elmer had interesting stories to tell of his many exploits and acquaintances.  This week there will bouquets of wildflowers and lilacs on the table and mushroom bragging.  Apparently no one wants to talk about politics.  That may be a good thing.

        Gardeners are having a wonderful time playing in the soil.  With the promise of a few nice rains in the week ahead optimism is running rampant.  The Champion News Almanac says that the 19th through the 23rd will be great days for starting seedbeds.  The first two days will be good for above ground crops and the next three days for below ground crops.  All those days will be good for planting leafy greens.  April’s full moon is called the Pink Moon and it is the smallest full moon of the year as the Earth and moon move to their furthest points from each other.  Sweet Pea is the flower for the month and the birthstone is the diamond.  A walk in the woods this time of the year is an opportunity for rediscovery.  Areas ravaged by the most brutal logging are beautiful again with dogwood drifts.  Pale greens are replacing winter’s gray brush.  Linda Watts made it back home for a few days to rediscover and relish the beauty of her home place and to enjoy being with her big lovely family.  She is back in Tennessee now with her busy life and her own wonderful flower garden to attend.  Harley is said to be making a good recovery from his knee surgery.  Hopes are all those distant Champions will make it home again soon.  The door is always open.  To finish that song:  “Well, I thought of a plan all of my own.  We pulled off our shoes about a mile from home.  As soon as we turned in off of the street, I believe to my soul he heard the patter of her feet!  Is that you, Myrtle?”

        Bring your funny old songs or your unique political perspective down to the wide, wild, wooly banks of Auld Fox Creek.  Stand on the wide veranda of the Historic Emporium and gaze out at one of the world’s truly beautiful places—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—April 11, 2016

A scan of the room was inconclusive…

        At last, the dogwoods are out even in the low places and Champions are beginning to feel as if Spring has arrived, even though we know there still are multiple chances for frost and freeze before it will be entirely safe to put the tomato plants in the ground.  Meanwhile, the mushroom feast is going on and around every corner some new glorious thing has burst into bloom.

        Champion Grandson Dillon Watts has a birthday on the 12th of April.  His friends around here are hoping to see him sometime this summer (or anytime), particularly in conjunction with his cousin Foster–banjo and a mandolin!  Foster has added “I’ll Fly Away” and other tunes to his repertory, and not long ago, Dillon was seen on the You Tube playing banjo on “The Rebel Soldier.”  Their Granddad would have been proud of them.  Champion family and friends certainly are and are moreover pleased not only to see music passed down through the family, but to see traditional music being appreciated by young people.  Dillon is competing this week in an elocution contest and Foster has been turkey hunting.  It is an exciting life for young folks.

        Wyatt Lakey is a lucky young man.  He gets to spend his first grade school year at Skyline School and he gets to share his birthday on April 15th with some other great people, like Drayson and Carson Cline’s Great Aunt Vivian Floyd and their old Dad, Dusty Mike.  Geo. Gary Jones celebrates that day too and his young friend, Olivia Trig Mastin, celebrates on the 16th.  Readers of The Champion News know Olivia to have caught one of the largest crawdads ever down at the Mill Pond a couple of years back.  Many happy returns all!

Foster getting it done.  Twenty-two pounds with a 10.25 inch beard and one inch spurs–his first big gobbler.  Champion!

        Bud Hutchison had a birthday on the 8th of April.  On the 18th of May he will host his annual Spring Trail Ride, heading up in Champion and going who knows where?  It is always a treat to see all the beautiful horses, and to meet the interesting people who make the trip.  Maybe Champion’s friend from Cross Timbers will make it again.  The last time he was here, he rode a big white mule.  He is most likely very well versed in the history of horse domestication and various uses to which man has put them through the millennia.  They are indeed marvelous to look at, with their soulful eyes, their muscular conformation and their luxuriant manes and tails.  Somewhere north of Gaskin, south of Croup, between Stifle and Dock, is a part of the horse that is often referenced in connection with a certain human personality type–generally an unpleasant one given to unseemly behavior, flaunting ignorance, disrespect and base morality as if they were lofty traits and some cause for pride.  It is the position of The Champion News, its staff and underwriters, that to call such a person a ‘horse’s (behind)’ is to defame, malign and insult the noble equine.

        Wednesday was mostly most pleasant down at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  Dean Brixey came down from Salem with Kaye and Richard Johnston for the day.  They met up there with a variety of friends and family.  Chief Bob Benge’s ax that was used to kill Sarah Livingston back in 1793 was the subject of some interesting conversation.  It is in a museum in Cherokee, N.C. where it has been seen by descendants of Sarah Livingston, who happen to be Upshaws.  They have a family tree that looks like the briar patch going all the way back to Noah.  Most likely, everyone has one of those, but they happen to know quite a lot about their tree.  Donald Dooms was visiting on his way back to Idaho after a few months in Arizona and a few forays down into Mexico, to Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlán.  He was born just across the creek from Champion and did his growing up here.  When he was 18, he and a couple of friends, took off for Idaho to work for the summer.  That was on the first of June, 1953.  By the tenth he had met Verna there and he never came back.  They were married for 54 years before she passed away eight years ago.  He was from a family of 13 children, six of whom are still living and some of them around these parts yet.  Wes Lambert came in asking, “Who’s telling the biggest lie?”  A scan of the room was inconclusive.

        It was disappointing that the levy increase for the Skyline School did not pass in the recent election.  Terri Ryan said, “I don’t think enough information was given so that people know there is a real need.  They likely see the walking trail, bike give-a-ways, fresh veggies and fruits, and our school nurse as things that are coming out of our budget, instead of a Federal grant that will not last much longer.”  Hopefully, the levy will get back on the ballot and pass.  The small increase will bring the total levy up to the minimum amount that will qualify the school for matching funds from the state.  Those funds will be critical to the survival of the school in the long run.  In the short run, the school busses could use an upgrade.  Terry said that someone had recently donated a refrigerator to replace the one in the teacher’s lounge that had stopped working.  It is reassuring to see the community step up to help in the ways it can.  A little money is still trickling in to the Skyline School Foundation which is still able to keep the Dolly Parton Imagination Library afloat.  The program gets children off to a good start, learning to love books and to love learning.  An educated population is the best hope out there.  Find out more about the Dolly Parton Imagination Library at Henson’s Store in Champion or through the Skyline School.  “It’s a universal law—intolerance is the first sign of an inadequate education.  An ill-educated person behaves with arrogant impatience, whereas truly profound education breeds humility,” said Aleksandra Solzhenitsyn.  He won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970, and after the Soviet Union broke up was able to go back home there after many years in exile.  Home is Champion wherever it is.

        There was a man who used to live over on the other side of Bryant Creek, past the monastery, by the name of Jack Ryan.  He and Gladys lived there a long time.  He loved to grow things.  Gladys kept chickens and was a great cook. “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”  That is a Greek proverb to which Jack subscribed.  “When you eat the fruit, think of him who planted the tree,” was a saying he said had come from an old Vietnamese gardener.  Jack loved Gladys, books, gardening, homemade wine, morel mushrooms, mules and people.  He loved life and saw good days in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—April 4, 2016

Champion Deer

        Spring arrives in Champion with morels for breakfast.  The season has begun and the little bit of much needed rain last week and some mild nighttime temperatures have made it so.  The country lanes are lined with wild phlox, red buds, peach trees, wild plum and cherry trees and it is apple blossom time in Champion.  The dogwoods seem late, though every burgeoning, budding, booming thing has residents again awash with awe at the splendor of their natural environs.  A facebook message appeared in recent weeks that said before it was Champion, this community was Goose Nibble.  “Nibbling geese played an important role in weed control in the cotton fields before poisons and carcinogens became the norm.  Weeder geese were often used in strawberry fields to control grass,” commented J.c. Owsley.  Perhaps Goose Nibble was a contemporary name with Militia Spring.  Notes from Hunter Creek was full of some very interesting local Civil War history and also located a small park operated by the City of Ava north of the Douglas County Herald Building where a person can still visit Militia Spring.  Local history is a well, well worth the plumbing.

        Deward’s granddaughter discovered among family treasures a newspaper article which she shared at the Wednesday get-together.  It concerned an ancient canoe that had been found embedded in mud in a creek bank a number of years ago.  It was a dugout canoe, probably made from a pine tree.  It was said to have still been in excellent condition considering its age.  For a while it was on display in Mansfield, but its current whereabouts is unknown.  It happened that Wes Lambert was there around the Wednesday tables.  He said that it was he and his wife who had found the canoe when they were out on the creek.  Local history goes back to prehistory.  Cletis Upshaw is well remembered in Champion.  He was another of those great local treasures who knew the history of every hill and holler hereabouts.  Visitors to www.championnews.us can go to Champion Snapshots and find pictures of the Denlow Civil War Memorial at its dedication ceremony.  Cletis provided much of the historical information associated with the memorial.  His son, Mark Upshaw, and his wife joined the Wednesday bunch.  Mark said that his grandson, who is 19, had just undergone Marine training at Paris Island just as he had.  Cletis was a Korean War Veteran and Mark, a Viet Nam Veteran.  Veterans are plentiful in the Wednesday group.  One of them shoes mules and said he met a guy from Mule Shoe, Texas when he was in Viet Nam.  Another Vet claimed to have passed through Texas one time and sported a 40 gallon hat to prove it, but he just turned out to be a hot-head.  Friends from opposite ends of the county, out on a lark, had been earlier to the G.T. Tire Shop for breakfast and thought they would sashay by Champion to see what all the fuss is about.  Any day of the week is a fine one to enjoy a tour of the village.  The creek bed is overgrown with lush green grass sprinkled with purple flowers.  The Behemoth Bee Tree is buzzing with apian life.  The wide veranda of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square invites a sit and a visit.

       Penmanship used to be a big deal.  Those of us lucky enough to have letters from our Mothers can see that they were taught to be precise.  One remembers a writing exercise required by her Mother in hopes of instilling some precision, was to copy the poem, “Rejected.”  It went, “A stranger stood at the gates of Hell.  The Devil himself had answered the bell.  He looked him over from head to toe and said, ‘My friend, I’d like to know what you have done in the line of sin that entitles you to come within?’  Then Franklin D., with his usual guile, stepped forth and flashed a toothy smile.  ‘When I took charge in ’33, a Nation’s fate was mine,’ said he. ‘I promised this and I promised that, and I calmed them down with fireside chat.’” The penmanship lesson did not have a great effect on the scrawl, but the poem persisted.  It went on and on to the conclusion that Franklin would not be allowed in Hell because the Devil was fearful of losing his own job.  The poet was not a fan of Roosevelt, though today he is often regarded with a benevolent eye, having shepherded the Country through the Great Depression and World War II, enough so that he was elected four times.  Some Old Champions are grateful for Social Security and say, “Thanks, Frank.”  His fireside chats were considered an effort to circumvent Congress as he took his messages directly to the public via the radio.  Today, hardly a breath is drawn by a politician or a want-to-be that is not reported in the press or on social media.  The world has changed.  Oddly enough, polite political conversation seems scarce, perhaps because it has just all become so bizarre.  It seems that it is hard for Republicans to talk about Democrats or Liberals to talk about Conservatives or Independents to talk about anybody without the added explicative “that so and so… whatever.”  It is sad to think that a difference of opinion in a democracy might require vitriol.  Who took the polite out of politics?  One reads that respect is earned.  Does a person who wins election by an overwhelming majority of the voters earn respect, or is the respect due to the Office itself?  Or is respect only due to people like ‘us’?  Must we be so polarized as to hate the ‘other’ when we are all in this together?  When the elections are over, we will still be neighbors and hopefully friends, Champions yet.

A Champion resident…

        They say whenever you see a pretty garden, there is someone in it.  Champions are getting excited for the season.  Some are pulling radishes already. Others are shoveling truckloads of good organic fertilizer.  The Champion News Almanac says that the 8th and 9th will be good days for planting aboveground crops.  It is not too early or too late for planting lettuce and leafy greens.  The 12th and 13th will be great for starting seedbeds.  Moles have been busy and it is advisable to be on the lookout for snakes.  A copperhead could be under that bale of straw left over from last fall.  Most of our local snakes are ‘good’ ones in that they eat rats and mice and other snakes.  Black snakes will eat eggs and chickens and baby bunnies, but if a person does not have any of those things, the big snakes are allies in rodent control.  It is a matter of perspective.  Add your perspective on garden lore, snakes, music, poetry, politics, and history at champion@championnews.us or The Champion News, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  Take a sashay any day down to the wide, wild, wooly banks of Auld Fox Creek to see what it is all about in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!