DreamWorks

January 23, 2013

Over here at the offices of www.championnews.us, we do not pretend to be journalists, but we know one when we read one.   This article was shared by a good friend of Champion. 

Charley Reese’s Final column!

A very interesting column. COMPLETELY NEUTRAL.
Be sure to Read the Poem at the end..

This is about as clear and easy to understand as it can be. The article below is completely neutral, neither anti-republican or democrat. Charlie Reese, a retired reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, has hit the nail directly on the head, defining clearly who it is that in the final analysis must assume responsibility for the judgments made that impact each one of us every day. It’s a short but good read. Worth the time. Worth remembering!

545 vs. 300,000,000 People
-By Charlie Reese

Politicians are the only people in the world who create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered, if both the Democrats and the Republicans are against deficits, WHY do we have deficits?

Have you ever wondered, if all the politicians are against inflation and high taxes, WHY do we have inflation and high taxes?

You and I don’t propose a federal budget. The President does.

You and I don’t have the Constitutional authority to vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives does.

You and I don’t write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don’t set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don’t control monetary policy, the Federal Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one President, and nine Supreme Court justices equates to 545 human beings out of the 300 million are directly, legally, morally, and individually responsible for the domestic problems that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board because that problem was created by the Congress. In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to provide a sound currency to a federally chartered, but private, central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for a sound reason. They have no legal authority. They have no ability to coerce a senator, a congressman, or a President to do one cotton-picking thing. I don’t care if they offer a politician $1 million dollars in cash. The politician has the power to accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist promises, it is the legislator’s responsibility to determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy convincing you that what they did is not their fault. They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being is an excessive amount of gall. No normal human being would have the gall of a Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for creating deficits.. ( The President can only propose a budget. He cannot force the Congress to accept it.)

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, gives sole responsibility to the House of Representatives for originating and approving appropriations and taxes. Who is the speaker of the House?( John Boehner. He is the leader of the majority party. He and fellow House members, not the President, can approve any budget they want. ) If the President vetoes it, they can pass it over his veto if they agree to. [The House has passed a budget but the Senate has not approved a budget in over three years. The President’s proposed budgets have gotten almost unanimous rejections in the Senate in that time. ]

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300 million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted — by present facts — of incompetence and irresponsibility. I can’t think of a single domestic problem that is not traceable directly to those 545 people. When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people exercise the power of the federal government, then it must follow that what exists is what they want to exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it’s because they want it unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it’s because they want it in the red.

If the Army & Marines are in Iraq and Afghanistan it’s because they want them in Iraq and Afghanistan ..

If they do not receive social security but are on an elite retirement plan not available to the people, it’s because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to regulate and from whom they can take this power.
Above all, do not let them con you into the belief that there exists disembodied mystical forces like “the economy,” “inflation,” or “politics” that prevent them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible. They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by the people who are their bosses. Provided the voters have the gumption to manage their own employees… We should vote all of them out of office and clean up their mess!

Charlie Reese is a former columnist of the Orlando Sentinel Newspaper.

What you do with this article now that you have read it… is up to you.
This might be funny if it weren’t so true.
Be sure to read all the way to the end:

Tax his land,
Tax his bed,
Tax the table,
At which he’s fed.

Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes
Are the rule.

Tax his work,
Tax his pay,
He works for
peanuts anyway!

Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.

Tax his ties,
Tax his shirt,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he
Tries to think.

Tax his cigars,
Tax his beers,
If he cries
Tax his tears.

Tax his car,
Tax his gas,
Find other ways
To tax his ass.

Tax all he has
Then let him know
That you won’t be done
Till he has no dough.

When he screams and hollers;
Then tax him some more,
Tax him till
He’s good and sore.

Then tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in
Which he’s laid…

Put these words
Upon his tomb,
‘Taxes drove me
to my doom…’

When he’s gone,
Do not relax,
Its time to apply
The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL license Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Excise Taxes
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon)
Gross Receipts Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Taxes
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Personal Property Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service Charge Tax
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax
Recreational Vehicle Tax
Sales Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Taxes
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What in the heck happened? Can you spell ‘politicians?’
I hope this goes around THE USA at least 545 times!!! YOU can help it get there!!!

CHAMPION—January 21, 2013

Champions embrace change. It is the nature of the place which is at once very much separate from the rest of the world and very much a part of it. This change is a hard one to take however, as one of its most notable residents has left her old home place for her Other Home. One time in a conversation with Esther Wrinkles, she said that Champion had really gone down, that it was nothing like it used to be when she was a girl. For those living in Champion today, it is just fine because the people who live here now love it the same way she did when she was growing up. It is just different. It seems that there were more young people then. Farmers had big families because the farm required many hands and because that was the how things were back then. What might be called privation now was the very set of circumstances that made people of Esther’s generation strong and resilient. They did a lot of walking and working and they played hard and ate wholesome food grown on the farm. They traded with their neighbors and visited with them regularly. There were few phones and no television to keep people sequestered from each other. It was a vigorous, thriving place, full of fun and excitement, even as it is today, but different. Esther stayed up with the times. Her enthusiasm for her family, her friends, and her community made everyone want to be a better person and a better citizen. She had a wide circle of friends who are calling on each other now with a sense of hollowness. As the emptiness of her absence fills in with all the good memories that the mention of her name evokes, it will be a little less plaintive and a little more joyful, just as she was. Who ever loved bluegrass more than Esther? She had been missing the Thursday jam sessions at the Vanzant Community Center in recent months, but very much enjoyed hearing about them from her many welcome visitors.

Esther wrote a community article for the local paper for every bit of fifty years. When she moved to Vanzant from Champion she changed the title of her article, but not her style. She enjoyed sharing the happenings of her neighborhood and kept a good positive view, pleased to point out the good things and to keep the negative things in proper perspective. She knew pretty much everything going on, but was not a gossip. She enjoyed talking about the old days and how she stayed an extra year in the eighth grade so that she could go to the same teacher who had taught her father. She rode a horse to school at Denlow and had some interesting stories to tell about those days and about traveling to the various cyphering matches and spelling bees around the country. She loved to play basketball and her overall athleticism is probably responsible for her vitality up until very recent times. And for friendship, she set the standard. More than one sick Champion has had the comfort of her regular call during a protracted illness. It can be said that she lived the life she believed in. Look to www.championnews.us in the Archive July 29, 2007 to read some conversations with Esther.

The Skyline Volunteer Fire Department has Esther largely to thank for its very existence. She was a tireless and inspiring worker and only in the past year resigned herself to the idea that she was slowing down. So the chili supper is coming up in a few weeks and there will be an empty seat when the music starts. “Time is filled with swift transitions.”

Miley Schoeber just had her second birthday on Thursday. She was excited particularly to see her Grandmother arrive before it was time for her to go to bed—her wonderful Grandmother with her birthday cupcakes. The joy that can be generated between grandparents and grandchildren is rightly some of the very finest of sentiment to be experienced in life. Who is being comforted when grandmother rocks the baby? It is the very definition of tenderness.

Cold days in January are the time to plant broccoli and other crops of that ilk. Linda over in Norwood is taking care of those chores for gardeners who have neither the aptitude nor the facilities to do that particular kind of delicate work. One day before long a person can pop into the Plant Place and pick up the early crops ready to transplant into the garden. The seasons roll around and the year passes quickly. “While going down life’s weary road, I’ll try to lift some traveler’s load. I’ll try to turn the night to day and make flowers bloom along the way. Life’s evening sun is sinking low. A few more days and I must go.”

The Nation is celebrating patriotism this week with speeches, ceremonies, parades and frequent homages to the brilliant Constitution. Love and Gratitude are order of the day in Champion—looking through a tear to the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—January 14, 2013

           A letter from Texas to Champion at getgoin.net asks, “What’s going on with Esther Wrinkles?  We haven’t read anything about her for a couple of weeks.  We have never been to Champion, but we feel like we know this lady.  Please send her our best wishes.”  Champions join their distant friends in extending their best thoughts and prayers to Esther who has been having serious health problems of late.  Her quilts and pies are legendary and those who have enjoyed the pleasure of  her friendship these many years are struggling to find the right words to tell Esther how much she is loved and appreciated—an original, a real genuine Champion. 

         Another letter to the email box complained that there was no song in the article last week.  Sometimes the whole article does not make the editorial cut because of content or most usually because of length.  If you think you are missing something look into the archives at www.championnews.us  to see the unabridged version.  As for the song, last week music lovers were reminded of Roger Miller who died at the young age of 56 back in the 1980’s.  He was known for some great songs like “Dang Me” and “You Can’t Roller-skate in a Buffalo Herd.”  The one most favored by some Champions is “Walking in the Sunshine, Sing a Little Sunshine Song.”  It goes on to say to put a smile upon your face as if there’s nothing wrong.  That sentiment echoes one made often to Champion’s tinkerer- in-chief particularly on his birthday: “If you act like you are having a good time, pretty soon you will forget that you are acting and you will really be having a good time!”  Reckon?

           Bob and Naomi Densel of Mountain Grove called to get directions to Champion.  Bob moved to Mountain Grove when he was two years old and Naomi was born there.  He is 85 now and the two of them have never been to Champion!  He is a retired painter (the very Rembrandt of house painters) and is getting over a broken leg.  He is out of the cast now and into the boot, but still has had to spend too much time on the couch.  By the end of the month, he should be moving around better and he is very much looking forward to it.  Bob and Naomi have some amazingly beautiful granddaughters who dote on them.  They are looking forward to moving out of the hustle and bustle of Mountain Grove and into the relative tranquility of Norwood.  That will be good because it will bring them a little closer to Champion which is the very definition of tranquil.  Bob had a friend, an armchair philosopher, who said, “Time is marching inexorably on.”  Plans are being made for a visit to Champion in the spring.  They have a treat in store for them and Champions do too, as it is always a joy to find new friends. 

          More information about the 12-12-12 picture has come from Laine Sutherland.  “I read your latest article with interest. Regarding Lester Sutherland being in the Denlow, 12-12-12 photograph, I can authoritatively state that the man standing next to Lola Proctor was not Lester Sutherland. I am attaching a photo of Lester for your comparison.  Lester was “sweet” on Lola but he was drafted Aug. 13, 1917 and died December 3, 1917 in boot camp at Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas, of measles and pneumonia. His mother, Neta Arada and his sister, Mary Ethel, traveled to Fort Funston when they received word he was ill. His mother asked him if he recognized her; he answered, “Certainly” and died. He died just 20 minutes after their arrival. Lester was in Battery “C” 342ND Field Artillery, and was quickly promoted to “B” Troop Military Police.”  The portrait is of a clear eyed resolute young man, dressed in the fashion of the day with the visage of the serious demeanor of the time.  While his exact age is not evident, he has the look of a mature, competent, confident individual of the sort that were bred and raised in Champion during that era. 

Lester Ray Sutherland

          There is an old song that goes, “My life’s all trouble.  I cannot be happy.  When I open my mouth, she sticks in her jaw. I’d rather be sent off to jail or to congress than to spend all my life with my mother-in-law!”  This is applicable here only in that Mary Beth Shannon is soon slated to be the Mother of the Bride.  She is not to expect such rough treatment from her future son-in-law as the old song suggests, because her brilliant daughter has proven to be level headed and mature in all important matters.  On Thursday Mary Beth has a birthday and that will invite another more appropriate song.  On Friday Champions can sing that song to their favorite merchant who has the bloom of youth about her yet.

         The Skyline VFD Auxiliary had its meeting at Henson’s Grocery and Gas on the Eighth of January (Elvis’s birthday and Rachel Evans, as well).  They are getting ready for their annual chili supper. President, Betty Dye, has produced a stunning queen sized quilt for the occasion, which is now on display at the store.  It has a chocolate brown lining and the bold geometric pattern is of her own design and superbly executed.  It was quilted by the nice folks at Jernigan’s over on the South side of the square in Ava.  The work is very nice and the quilt will be a treasure for the winner.  The lineup for the entertainment at the chili super is excellent again this year.  The Pocket Hollow Band and David Richardson’s Whetstone will be there.  The EMT Gang and Calvary Mountain Bluegrass will also perform.  The Pride and Joy Cloggers will entertain between bands with a program of precision dancing that is sure to delight.  Look for flyers to be going up around the area to get additional details about the event that always comes just in time to cure the late winter doldrums—cabin fever.  The next meeting of the Auxiliary will be at 6:30 on Tuesday, February 12^th.  Anyone in the Skyline Fire District is welcome to attend, to join up, and to participate in the hard work that makes this one of the hallmark happenings in the area.  Come down to the Meeting Room at the Historic Emporium over on the North side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  February 12^th—just two days before Valentines’ Day.

          An informed person says that singing causes the brain to release endorphins that help the immune system fight off disease, infection and depression.  “They took all the trees, and put em in a tree museum.  And they charged the people a dollar and a half to see them.  Don’t it always seem to go that you don’t know what you got till it’s gone.  They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.”  So the total amalgam of what everyone knew about Dave Miller left everyone surprised in some sweet way.  Mercurial he was and he is much missed by many who wish they had the chance to know him more.  Adios!  Amigo!

           Fight the early winter doldrums with a nice cup of Joe and some friendly visiting with colorful locals at Henson’s Downtown G & G on the North Side of the Square on the banks of Old Fox Creek, at the bottom of several hills and the junction of a number of gravel roads and one slick piece of pavement.  You’ll be in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—January 7, 2013

          For any who have not had the opportunity to visit Champion since Christmas, you will see that there have been some changes there.  Now in the window of Henson’s Downtown G & G is a neon sign that spells out the word “open” one letter at a time.  It is exceedingly fancy and it replaces the hand lettered sign that served the purpose for as long as anyone can remember.  It is bright and colorful and can be seen from a distance so that on any day except Sunday or Monday afternoon it is a cheerful welcome.  Champion is a place that is open to change in all of the good ways.  It is also a most hopeful place and right now Champions are hoping for a good change in the weather that will bring some much needed moisture to the area.  Optimism is Champion!

Cleaning up from the holidays is a good way to get to do a little reliving of the best part of the time spent with friends and family.  It is always a treat to go back through the cards and notes.   Betty and Darrell Haden over in Tennessee wrote to say that they have had a good Christmas and had been enjoying their first snow storm and artic winds.  One of the very first letters that came to ‘Champion Items’ sometime back in 2006, came from Professor Haden of the University of Tennessee.  He was in the English department there and it was both flattering and very encouraging to learn that The Champion News had appreciative readers in places where education was actually going on.  Walter Darrell Haden is one of Smallett’s Favorite Sons and has significant and credible credentials in the writing department, so a person can see how much his approval might mean.  It has been a real gift to get acquainted with him.  Look for excerpts of Professor Haden’s book, The Headless Cobbler of Smallett Cave, on the website at www.championnews.us.   It was published by The Kinfolk Press of Nashville, Tennessee in 1967.  Find it in the Champions Friends Category over on the right hand side of the page. 

          January birthdays are exciting.  The weather is cold, the days are short.  What could be better than a birthday party?  Of course Jacob Coon and his dad probably celebrate together since Dad’s is on the first and Jacob’s is on the third.  Mrs. Teeter Creek Herbs also has the first day of the year as her own.  Milo Gaudi Reay, of Edinburgh, celebrates his very first birthday on the 7^th, and another lovely new friend there, Miss Rachael Evans, revels the next day on the 8^th of January, also the birthday of Elvis.  Champion Elizabeth Johnston rejoices on the 9^th.    Champion’s favorite Shop Girl enjoys the 10^th as her special day, and then Wilburn Hutchison shares his day with Bob of Teeter Creek, who may be partied out already.  Willis Masters, of Abilene, Texas, will be seventy on the 14^th of January.  His Champion sister hopes he finds some pleasant way to spend it and that he will soften his attitude toward her.  Jacob Kyle Brixie has his special day on the 18^th and Kyle Barker will be five years old on the 21^st.  Billy Curtis celebrates his 13^th on the 24^th.  They are both students at Skyline School.  Doni Coonts is a teacher there with a birthday on the 25^th.  The 26^th is Brooke Johnson’s birthday.  She will be six and is a first grader this year.  Former Skyline student, Kaye Heffern Alexander is still in the full bloom of her youth and will be partying on her day, the 27^th.   She has already been doing some serious partying, but more about that later.  Erika Strong is in kindergarten now and shares a birthday with school board member James Brixey, who was reported to have been forty years old in 2012!  It just goes to show that there is reason to be happy every day of the year in Champion!  Seventy or eighty old rockers and rollers and old tree huggers and their children and grandchildren gathered for a Jan(uary) birthday party that will have them all smiling and reminiscing until their next gathering.  The place was full of Love and Gratitude, good music, food, and precious friendships.  What a joy it is to look across a room into the smiling face of a dear friend one has not seen in decades.  Champion!

          Concerning the old picture taken in Denlow in 1912, the one dated 12-12-12, there are conflicting reports about just who some of the people are.  Pete (Lyman) Proctor has a copy of the photo with his Grandmother Lola Upshaw Proctor’s handwriting on the back identifying the people as:  Top row, left to right—Lester Lemmons, Lola Upshaw, Howard Spurrier.  Bottom row, left to right—Frankie Sternberg, Lillie O’Neal, Fred Putnam.  In an earlier conversation with Anita Sutherlan Krewson, she said that she thought the young man identified as Howard Spurrier was indeed Lester Sutherlan.  That was also the opinion of Geneva Heinemann.  It seems that Lola Upshaw and Lester Sutherlan were sweethearts.  This is according to Pete’s aunt Alice and others.  He (Lester Sutherlan) was called up into the army and died in the war over in France.  It must have been in World War One.  It is a sweet, sad story and a joy that people are interested in the lives of the old folks.  If people off in the future will be interested in the lives of those living today, it might depend on how well they live them now and how well connected they are to their families and friends.   Connections are not all just about computers.    Not everyone has computer access or even an interest in them, but for those who do, the Douglas County Museum and Historical Society has a page up on Facebook with many wonderful and very old pictures of the area.  For those without computer access, a trip to Ava on a Saturday will find the Museum open from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.  Champions would not have known about the on-line access to the Museum if it had not been for The General sharing the information.  Say what you like about The General, he is always most generous about sharing what he knows.  He is a veritable fount of information and a real Champion.  Another Champion points out that digital photography is great, but it may be that not many photos are actually being printed out these days.  If the computer crashes or the technology is superseded, or the laptop is lost, or the internet goes down, or the electricity goes off, it could be that the pictures go with it.  Current times may end up not being as well documented as the distant past.  Share old or new pictures with The Champion News in the mail box at Champion at getgoin.net or in the mailbox by the side of the road, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717,  that is attended to so nicely by the wonderful US Postal Service.

          Even though some mornings are in the low teens Fahrenheit wise, the sun is out and hearts are light to begin the year.  “Walking in the sunshine, sing a little sunshine song.  Put a smile upon your face as if there’s nothing wrong.  Think about a good time you had a long time ago.  Think about; forget about your worries and your woes.  Walking in the sunshine, sing a little sunshine song.”  That is one of Roger Miller’s many great songs.  He died back in the 1980’s at the young age of 56.  He would have been right at home singing on the front porch of the Historic Emporium located over on the North side of the Square, at the beginning of the pavement, where country roads meet on the wide and wooly banks of Old Fox Creek.  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 31, 2012

              The picture of the ninth graders on the steps at the Denlow School has sparked interest across the country.  Geneva Heinemann up in Wasco, Oregon was the eighth of twelve children of Lola Upshaw Proctor who was the girl in the center on the top row of that picture.  Geneva thinks that the other girl was Enola Currnut, but she is not sure.  She also thinks that the guy previously identified as Howard Spurrier was really Lester Sutherland.   Howard Spurrier would have been 24 in 1912.  All this was told to her niece, Bonna Mullins, of Wichita, Kansas who called in to the Champion News to report the information.    Bonna plans to make it to the Denlow School Reunion this year and is very much hoping for the weather to be more pleasant and less hot than it was last year.  Champion friends join their Denlow Neighbors in hopes for a nice temperate spring and summer, however they are determined to enjoy whatever conditions are the prevailing ones at the time.   Bonna’s grandchildren have taught her how to use technology to steal pictures from the internet.  She can copy pictures from the www.championnews.us website or from her friend’s ‘facebook’ pages and then when the Snapfish people have their one cent sale she gets them printed up and shares them around.  She is one of those people who like to actually hold on to a photograph, to turn it over if she wants to write on the back.  She said that she has a picture of the Denlow School taken about 1914, and that it has the name of all the students written on it.  When she locates it she will be pleased to share it with readers many of whom are her kinfolks.   Bonna’s extended family happens to be quite a large part of the population of Douglas County particularly those who arrived here sometime before or after the Civil War.  Champions are much encouraged by her example and are looking through their pictures to find the ones that they have that nobody else has, or the ones that have unidentified people in them so they can share them around before people forget who is who. 

               “Slow down!” the General, hunched over his old guitar, was hard pressed to keep up with the lightening fingers of his nephew, Dillon Watts, on his beautiful Gibson banjo.  The meeting room at Henson’s Downtown G & G was the scene of the lively jam session on Friday afternoon.  They started off with Cripple Creek and the Foggy Mountain Breakdown and went on through versions of Dueling Banjos, Wildwood Flower, and Worried Man Blues featuring Dillon’s fine singing voice.  The General’s bright idea was to slow Cripple Creek down enough that it could be called Clever Creek.  It was noted that most of that creek seems to be dry most of the time.  Dillon had very much enjoyed the Thursday night jam session the night before over at the Vanzant Community Center.  It was reported that there were about sixty people there that night and the young player was much impressed with the talent of the many jammers.  He has gone back to Tennessee with his folks now, but he is looking forward to the next school break when he can come back to Champion’s Fox Creek Farms.  Champions like it when he is around.

              Graham Laird is a talented young songwriter who has written a song, “Now’s the End of the Beginning.”  It is quite a catchy little tune that goes on to say, “The days are flying faster than the sun.” This year ends with Bonna’s cousin, The General himself, beginning the tenth year of the ten years that go along with the three score that defines the span of a man’s lifetime.  Nobody ever says, “three score and nine.”  So, bravo! General!  Welcome to your tenth year!  This time next year it will all be over, that is to say, the tenth year.  Thereafter, your Champion friends will be pleased to celebrate your “three score and eleven years and twelve, and thirteen, etc. up to nineteen, then they will celebrate your four score.  You’ll be getting up there then.  Congratulations!”    Other notable birthdays include Skyline student, Jacob Coon who celebrates on the third of the month, two days after his Dad’s birthday. That is New Year’s Day and the birthday of Harper’s Grandmother, the rock and roll bassist of Teeter Creek.  It is also a day that speaks to new beginnings.  When the sixteen year old orphan, David Balfour, turned the key in the lock of his father’s house for the last time and sat out on his adventure, the first person he met was an old family friend, the local minister, who gave him some good advice:   “Show yourself as nice, as circumspect, as quick at the conception, and as slow of speech as any.”  The advice seems applicable to any young person or any old one.  Young Davie went on to have some great adventures and made some fine friends.  He would have made an excellent Champion.            

                   These cold days remind a person that it is time to prune fruit trees, and do the things that can be done this time of the year to get the garden ready for the growing season ahead.   Chances are pretty good that food prices will continue to go up.  Gardening is not just the good exercise that particularly older people need, but it can be the splendid source of the most nutritious food available anywhere, and it may end up being the most cost effective.  Of, course, gardening is not altogether inexpensive as the seed catalogues indicate, but the bulk of the cost seems to be in the labor.  On a snowy winter morning it is easy to daydream about how hard a person will work this spring.  As for resolutions, however, Champions are generally mild in setting up expectations for themselves.  One says, “We can resolve to be a little more kind to ourselves and each other, to acknowledge beauty and goodness with gratitude, and to express the love we have for each other while we are living.”  Those seem to be most appropriate ideas and one would add only “to keep a song in your heart” and to come often to Champion to Look on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 24, 2012

          Sometimes a person’s birthday can get lost in Christmas.  Some with late December birthdays celebrate their special day at another time of the year.  The lucky ones celebrate their special day every time they wake up.  Some special December birthdays include Skyline School students, Logan Fisher–December 18^th, Destiny Surface—December 20^th, Logan Brown– December 21^st, and Makayla Souder–December 22, Dillon Bennett—December 23^rd.  Willard Hall—December 25^th and Praxton Lunn—December 29^th.  Mary Goolsby has her birthday on the 20^th of the month and Sharon Sikes on the 23^rd.  VaNa MaZi violist, Corinne Hall celebrates on the 27^th and Eli Ogelsby on the 30^th.  The best way one can imagine finishing off a year is with a birthday party for The General.  His birthday is on the 31^st. 

          The serious winter weather that hit the area on Thursday carried debris around in yards; drove frozen little bits of precipitation into the faces of shoppers and farmers; and blew a big tree across Highway 95 on the south side of Mountain Grove.  The tree fell just at a spot where a dirt road comes into 95 on an angle and southbound drivers were able to make a diversion on to the little road.  Drivers headed north had to maneuver down a steep grassy bank which proved difficult for some.  Champions on their way home were diverted onto the unfamiliar lane and considered turning around and attempting the climb up onto the black top with the aid of their seldom used four wheel drive when along came The General and his lovely wife and consensus among the Champions was that she doubtlessly knew the way home and it was determined that they would follow along.  The General led the way without even knowing it.  Say what you will about him.  He is a Champion!

          The weather was too rough for the Thursday Night Light Watchers to see much this week, but a number were out looking anyway.  Some of the lights seen on other Thursdays were reported to have been red.  Another witness said only that she had seen the flashing like lightening.   Another eyewitness said that the lights he saw had no color, but were just lights and that there were several of them in a row, not like head lights, and that they moved around in an unpredictable manner.  Watchers in the area are not confining their vigilance to Thursday nights but are constantly on the lookout. 

          Five year old Mason Ross is feeling better.  He has had a cold that may have been strep throat, but nevertheless is feeling better and his grandmother Karen Ross, Champion’s much appreciated mail carrier, is pleased to be able to report as much.  Other good news lets Champions know that their friend Esther Wrinkles is making some good progress.  She gets a steady stream of visitors up at the Autumn Oaks which keeps her spirits up and she puts a lot of hard work into her therapy.  It is slow going and Esther stays steady at it like a real Champion!

          Email comes to Champion at getgoin.net about the picture in the paper of the ninth grade students at Denlow on 12-12-12.  “I may have the name of one person, possibly two, and the first name of another.  I have a picture (with names) of the Denlow basketball team dated 12-12-and maybe its 1912 or 1914 (I would guess 1912). I will see that you get a copy of the photo.  Comparing this picture and the picture in the paper the student in the top right is Howard Spurrier (99.99% sure), top left is Lester Lemmon (50/50) lower left is Bobby ? (very low %). When I see Inez Barker again I will ask about Lester Lemmon, as he would be her uncle.”  The picture is included in the post for December 17, 2012 in the website www.championnews.us where anyone can look it over and identify the young folks.   Life was quite different for those young people in many ways, but in the important ways it was probably pretty much the same.  They were optimistic and looking forward to a bright future.

A regular reader posted this picture to the Champion News as a way to help identify people in the 12-12-12 picture. He said, “Here is the world championship Denlow Wildcat Basketball Team of 1912. L to R: George McMurtry, Harrison Mathis, Howard Spurrier, Lester Lemon, Louis Givans, Nova Nash, and Bobby(?)” The picture received positive reviews on social media from Rhonda Tate McNamer, Cherri Lynch, Andrea Upshaw Adams, Benny Thomas, Frances Whanger, LaSchell Upshaw Bearden, Sherry Bennett, Elva Upshaw and Linda Clark.

 
          “If the sun should be turned into darkness and the stars from their orbits be hurled, how would it fare with you, dear brother, if today were the end of the world?”  The question was being asked frequently last week and the perceived uncertainty gave some pause for thought.   A philosophy group on the way to a bridge game on Saturday evening agreed that Gratitude is the appropriate response to waking up and finding that the world is still spinning around.  Aunt Eavvie said, “Tomorrow is just a promise.”  Friends and families are gathering in clumps to celebrate holidays, and the joy of being with their loved ones.  Champion!  Express some joy and genuine Gratitude at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO  65717 or in person out on the porch of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.   Sing your favorite end of the world song there or any song that evokes sweet nostalgia, or appreciation for home.  That uncertainty about tomorrow tweaks appreciation of today in the nicest way.   “Happy New Year” every day in Champion– Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 17, 2012

                As in other places, it turns out that some Champions are better house-keepers than others and that extends all the way to their computer hard drive.  A cyber folder somewhere holds the ‘original’ picture sent by Laine Sutherland of the students at Denlow, but it became lost among the cyber dust of zeros and ones.  Laine was kind enough to send the photo again and Champions are excited that someone may recognize an ancestor and share the stories of those lovely young people standing on the steps of the Denlow School on 12-12-1912.

                The Winter Concert at Skyline School was another delightful success.  The children all performed admirably and once again Charlie Brown was reassured about the nature of Christmas.  The children always give a good performance and are a pleasure to watch, but the audience is the real treasure.  Parents, grandparents, teachers and friends all lean forward with encouragement for their young one to do well, and their hearts are all swollen and full of love and tenderness for their fledgling.  The applause floods the hall and the whole place is awash with joy and expectation.  That is the way it was Thursday night and then Friday came the sad news from another school.  A prominent psychologist said, “We find a place for what we lose” and that after such terrible loss the acute stage of mourning will subside, but the survivor will remain inconsolable and will never find a substitute.  No matter what may fill the gap, even if it be filled completely, it nevertheless remains something else.  Champions hope for those suffering great loss now that one day the pain will be replaced with sweet recollections of their dear one in that place they find for what they have lost. 

                Dr. Blevins speaks about the ‘impermanency of our creations’ as he laments the passing of the old store at Champion.  To his credit, however, he has swiftly embraced the Recreation of the Historic Emporium as it sits in the very footstep of its predecessor.  He has naught but good things to say about the construction of the building: its appearance—as it resembles the old building in all the nostalgic good ways with the added feature of sturdiness; location—“nestled in a grove of trees on a creek bank beneath a hill at the end of a black top road”; inventory—extensive and aimed squarely at the needs of the community; customers—loyal and reliant on the store for many of their daily needs as well as the need for a community home-base; and the proprietor—about whom Dr. Blevins has much good to say, but who has modesty as her hallmark.  All in all, the quarterly review, Southern Cultures, is admirably enhanced by its inclusion of The Bright Side.  Perhaps the folks at KZ88.1 could get with Dr. Blevins to include some of his writing about the Ozarks in their programming.  They did an excellent job with Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” the other night.  The food was good, the crowd was friendly and sociable and the performance was splendid.  The recording will be played at various times during the Christmas Marathon on the radio from Sunday through Tuesday.  A look at the www.kz88.org website will reveal the times.  The performance was a fund raiser for the radio station that encourages local performers.  That is real community.

                Certain handsome sons-in-law would, and do, roll their eyes at the report of things they do not see.  It is such a habit of some to disparage the ideas, observations, and opinions of their wives and Mothers that it takes corroboration of a hearty brother-in-law farmer, a firefighter, and a Maytag man to give credence to the description of an occurrence they all witnessed.  For some it takes seeing to believe.  What was it?  It is being called “Thursday Night Lights” and is not altogether new in Champion.  Going way back to the 1970’s, Champions have been observing unidentified lights in the skies at night.  This is not like the dirigible that Wilburn Hutchinson and Fleming Geer saw up at Skyline that time when they were boys because they could plain as day see that it was, in fact, a dirigible.  These lights behave in strange and unpredictable ways.  Thursday, the 6^th of December, about seven in the evening a West-Champion saw something and called his neighbor who saw it too.  He ultimately dismissed it as his own electric fence charging itself.  His neighbor conceded that could be an explanation, but was not convinced and the next morning her son confirmed her doubts when he said that he also had seen the phenomena at about that same time the previous evening.  Thursday the 13^th proved to be an eventful night as well.  At about 10:30, observers from north-east Champion watched lights which seemed to skim quickly over the tree line, just barely above the trees, over the trees from the north, veering out east toward the south.  Then, suddenly the lights would appear in a different quadrant altogether with a greater brightness or intensity and seem to park still for a while then be gone.  No more reliable source for this information could be had and handsome sons-in-law must confess credibility.  It is causing such a stir in some quarters of Champion that the Thursday Night Light Watch has been instituted.  Travelers are warned in advance to take extreme precaution when driving Central Douglas County country roads on Thursday nights as “Watchers” will be out walking in the roads with their mouths open and their necks arched backwards looking up to see whatever can be seen.  Many are deciding to walk in the road since their yards are so steep and rocky and so soft from the mole hills and holes that night walking is perilous.  Life is exciting in Champion.

                Esther Wrinkles is getting some good Christmas cheer up at the Autumn Oaks as friends and family stop in to visit and wish her well.  Cowboy Jack has been out in the world expanding his broad, wholesome, charitable view of mankind, but he is back home now and his Champion friends are glad.  “Don’t let the stars get in your eyes!  Don’t let the moon break your heart.  Love blooms at night.  At daylight it dies.  Just keep your heart for me for someday I’ll return and you’ll know you’re the only one I’ll ever love!”  Sing your favorite sky gazing song out on the porch at Henson’s Down Town G & G.   Record it and mail it to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 and be careful if you’re singing it out in the road Thursday night.  If you recognize any of those Denlow students sing out to Champion at getgoin.net.  “Too many stars—too many moons can change your mind.  If I’m gone too long, don’t forget where you belong. When the stars come out remember”…..Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 10, 2012

          Thursday evening was an interesting one in Champion.  Unexplained lights hovering over West Champion blinked intermittently, disappeared and then reappeared.  It was impossible to determine the exact elevation of the lights and they were accompanied by some lightning and an eerie stillness. The phenomenon was first seen by Charlie’s Dad who called Tanna’s Mom who stepped out on the porch to look at it.  It was about seven o’clock.  Later she talked to Peanut’s Pop who said he had seen it too.  So it is official and corroborated by three reliable sources.  UFOs frequent Champion!  By Sunday the excitement had ebbed a little and the old line about tactical maneuvers of stealth bombers was being bandied about with an overtone of skepticism that would dissuade some from their belief in their own eyesight.  These are people who have seen bears!  They know the Bright Side when they are looking at it!

          Talking about brightness brings Ms. Clare Shannon to mind.  She is the daughter of Mary Beth and Clark Shannon and grew up over east of Vanzant.    On Friday she will graduate Summa Cum Laude from MSU in Springfield.  Clare is one of the many home schooled kids in the area and her graduating college with “highest honor” for her grade point average is a statement to the dedication of parents who put forth the effort to give her a good start.  Her Dad says it was all her own doing.  Clare says to the many friends and family who have responded to the good news, “Thank you for all the congratulations and well wishes!  You have all been part of my journey and helped me along the way.  Thanks for being there!”  Brooks Blevins of MSU has a nice piece called “The Country Store—In Search of Mercantiles  and Memories in the Ozarks.”  It is included in the magazine, Southern Cultures, Winter 2012, published by the University of North Carolina Press for the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Therein is a splendid view of Henson’s Downtown G & G.  The proprietor of the famous Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Historic Champion says that the piece is quite flattering and fairly accurate.  It promises to be a good read.

          Suzie Freeman addresses her envelope to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  She is from McKinney, Texas writes a beautiful letter that says she and Wesley are still kicking and are still hillbillies in Texas.  Suzie has had a rough year with her health but says that she is still standing on two feet because she had the Good Lord walking beside her.  She has excellent penmanship and is one of the few correspondents to the Champion mailbox who uses a genuine fountain pen.  Her cute hand-drawn cartoon shows a turkey complaining that he is fat, flightless and delicious.  Your Champion friends say, “Merry Christmas!” back at you, Suzie.

          During the past year a number of photos have come to the Champion at getgoin.net mailbox.  One of them was of about a half a dozen young folks on the steps of the Denlow School.  They looked to be teenagers—17, 18,19—years old, well dressed and kind of serious.  They may have been serious because in 1912, it was a serious matter to have a photograph taken.  The photo had the inscription, “Denlow 12-12-12” written across the bottom of it.  Somewhere in a cyber-folder is this great picture that was slated to be published this week just for the fun of it.  The plan was to see who might recognize a grandparent or other ancestor among the group and to tell as much of their stories as could be discerned.  One day the picture will emerge from its hiding place and all of that will occur.  For now some Champions and others are just celebrating the date 12-12-12 with open house parties and the acknowledgement that the date will most likely be the last of its kind in this lifetime.  Naturally, that is true of every date, but something about the repetitive numbers makes this one seem special.    Some special people have birthdays on the 14^th.  Shannon Alexander, photographer extraordinaire, handsome father of Ethan and Zack, shares his day with Judy T. Ing.  She was also a great photographer and graphic artist.  She ran the art department at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Lab for many years.  She and Shannon have Spike Jones as a birthday buddy.  People much older than Shannon know old Spike as the musician who introduced the slide whistle, the gargle, and the bicycle horn to classical music.  Amanda Mastin celebrates her day on the 16^th, good friend of Shannon’s wife and  the mother of Olivia and Leo, charming young people who are growing up quickly.  Grown up, Jesse Ing, Judy’s son, is a big time Hollywood producer out in California these days.  His birthday is on the 18^th of December.  Mary Goolsby has a birthday on the 20^th.  She is a lovely woman, who has been a dear friend to the Skyline VFD and to all the dear friends of her sweetheart, Bob Berry, formerly of Gentryville.    They are a lovely pair of Champions wherever they live!

          Bob has been a frequent visitor of Esther Wrinkles during her sojourn at the Autumn Oakes in Mountain Grove.  She was surprised happily the other day by a visit from Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman who were in town with their Mother that day.  Esther is making good progress with her therapy, but for an active person like herself, it seems much too slow.  Her many friends wish her well and encourage her to be as patient with herself as she has been with them over the years.  Friends like Esther are a real gift.

          Old Uncle Grover Norquest may be surprised to see how many rat heads are in his Coke bottles these days.  That is to say, how many who signed his pledge are now rethinking it.  It is an amazing thing that words can lift people, encourage them, build them up and make them better, stronger and more successful.  Words can also denigrate, undermine and tear down.  While some may think that Pollyanna herself was a communist, and that relentless optimism is naive and childish, there are others here to say that at moments when things are most perilous, a positive word can make the difference.  So to the troops who fought and who fight, Champions extend their Gratitude.  To elected officials, officers of the government, supporters of the Constitution and the wonderful Bill of Rights, Champions will be pleased to see that their mutual Love for the Country will win out over partisan rancor.  God Bless America!

          “God bless us every one,” says Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  The staff of the Public Radio Station KZ88.1 FM will present a dramatic reading of the play on Saturday, December 15^th at the Cabool Church of the Brethren.  Refreshments will be served at 6 pm and the performance will be at seven.  The auditorium in the basement of the church will hold quite a large crowd and it will prove to be most interesting to see how live radio works.  For any who will not be able to attend, the program will be recorded and broadcast again before Christmas.  Champions who do not enjoy driving at night much these days are planning to go en masse for safety sake as well as for the fun of it.  “Where there is a will there is a way,” they say.  For more information about this special holiday performance look to www.championnews.us for a link to My KZ88 Radio Home.    This is a wonderfully busy time of the year. The Skyline School’s Winter Concert will be Thursday evening at 7 p.m.  YEP is providing a dinner earlier in the evening designed to help support the school and it is slated to be another excellent event. 

          Cowboy Jack said that Ava got a lot more of the rain than came down over in Coonts Holler.  It was a lot colder over there in Ava on Monday morning too, as their deep mud puddles were full and frozen over.  They also say, “Whenever skies are gray, don’t worry or fret a smile will bring the sunshine and you’ll never get wet.   So, let a smile be your umbrella on a rainy, rainy, day.”   That is just the way it is in beautiful downtown Champion—Looking on the      Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 3, 2012

          A famous actress and intellect says that her father taught her that life’s important events occur in three stages…the anticipation, the participation and the recollection.  The participation part took up so much of the Thanksgiving holiday, that only now are some Champions getting around to the recollection and reporting phases of the experience.    A fellow named Richard Alpert wrote about being “here now” which seems to suggest that people who are thinking about things other than what they are doing may struggle with happiness.  Champions, where ever they were, were completely engaged in their various Thanksgiving customs and had no difficulty in acknowledging the virtue of living in that very moment—from the tree hugging crowd of East Evans, to Vivian’s elegant spread and Kaye’s traditional family gathering, to Esther’s bunch at her house and then up to see her at the Autumn Oaks, from Texas to Tennessee to downtown Champion, the merrymakers enjoyed the good food and the great joy of dear friends and family.  Gratitude is a year round, daily practice in Champion. 

           Madelyn Ward has a little sister named Shelby who will be three years old next Valentine’s Day and who says that their Granddad is funny.  His birthday is on the ninth of December (1955) but he is just a kid at heart.  His Mother is Lorene and she has a sister named Shirley who has some very nice things to say about the Champion News.  She allows as how she does not enjoy the paper nearly so much on the very rare occasion when readers are not reminded of the joys of living on the Bright Side.  Skyline School fourth grader, Katelyn More, will enjoy her birthday on the seventh and shares the day with Paul Boyd.  It turns out that Katelyn is just exactly old enough to be a fourth grader and Paul is, well, some would say, “old enough to know better.”  He really keeps things working well over at the school and everyone appreciates his good humor and willingness to help his friends and neighbors.   Chris Tharp’s birthday is the next day and he is like that too—a good neighbor.  A lovely friend who uses Pandora as a pseudonym over in East Champion has a birthday on the 10^th of December, but celebrates on a random day during the year so as to avoid the Christmas rush.  Eva Coyote was born on December 11^th over West of Champion a ways and lives way out West now.  She is going by the name of Kai these days, but her Mama and Papa know who she is.  Champion friend, Bobette Spivey will celebrate discretely on the fifth and Ed Bell will beat the drums for his own birthday on the sixth.  Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive is named for a favorite Champion who celebrated his birthday on the sixth as well.  He was born the year of the Pearl Harbor attack, so many will know how old he would be.  If a person gets to live a hundred years or just a few, it is sure that the lives that he touches are forever changed.   Certainly, the longer a person lives the more people he will know who have passed away from life.  The love for those dear ones who have pass on does not go away and everyone holds in his heart an album of loves, precious family, and dear friends who are no longer present, but whose memory is always close.  When sorrow is fresh, it is hard not to think of them as lost, but someday a smile will cross the face of the one doing the remembering just as the remembered one would want.  So it is in Champion and often the precious memories are brought by a song.   

          Champion Esther Wrinkles is making some good progress in her recovery once again over at the Autumn Oaks.  She is in room 203 again and working hard to get her strength back.  Visitors stop in frequently and that really lifts her spirits.  Champion News readers off in Texas and other places who have never met Esther say they feel like they know her and send their best wishes to her. 

          The nightly news that comes on the Public TV stations about 6:30 week-day evenings makes it a point to show pictures of the U.S. Service people who have lost their lives in current conflicts.  As their deaths are made official and pictures become available they are given a moment of silent recognition.  A viewer can see a group of eight or ten most any evening.  For the most part they are young people, but occasionally there will be some guy 48 or so.  Whether or not the conflicts that claim their lives are ones that everyone understands and supports, Champions all respect the sacrifices of the service personnel and their families.  They have Love and Gratitude due them. 

          The graph that depicts the temperature forecast for the month at www.accuweather.com  gives a picture of a mild spell followed by a cooler spell starting about the 20^th of the month.  That seems entirely reasonable and folks who are experimenting with high tunnel farming will be getting their money’s worth out of their investment of time and energy as they continue to harvest  greens of all kinds.  Swiss chard and kale are still thriving even without the advantage of the protection from the wind and cold and the benefits of very fresh home grown vegetables cannot be too much stressed.  Now is the time for Lim and Ned to be pulling turnips on the sly.  They (the turnips) will be crisp and bright and will keep well in the ground until a hard freeze.  Even then, with some mulch, they will be good food through the winter months, “…if there is nothing else to eat,” says one who is not a big turnip fan.  He has not yet experienced the pleasures of a good mess of mashed potatoes with just a couple of tender turnips thrown in for excitement.   Served with some of that wonderful venison out of the freezer, cooked long and slow and smothered in onion gravy, he would only know there was something unusually good about it.   He would like some of the kind of help that Lim and Ned are known for though—some manure hauling, sprout grubbing and fence mending.  This is the kind of weather and the time of the year when all manner of tidying up could be done around the farm.  The cold will be here soon enough and the novels and poetry waiting to be read will eventually get their due.  For now, in the sunshine, Champions are busy.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood says that the 9^th through the 11^th will be good days for transplanting and for planting root crops, if Lim and Ned have not bought up all the turnip seeds in the county.  There may not be any turnip seeds available at Henson’s Downtown G & G this time of the year, but certainly one can find bird seed there.  Cowboy Jack has probably planted all his turnips already and while there are many who say Jack is for the birds, they mean it in a nice way.  Pretty much whatever a person might need (turnip seed notwithstanding) can be found at the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion, the very jewel of Central Douglas County!

          Champions home from recent far travels are settling in again to their tranquil routine.  Relishing a sunny day out in the yard with only nature’s music to be heard, they are reminded of why they live here.  Still, the pull of distant dear ones says, “Let’s say goodbye with a smile dear.  Just for a while we must part.  Don’t let this parting upset you.  I’ll not forget you, Sweetheart.”   Share your favorite sweet-parting song via the much-loved U.S. Postal Service at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or at Champion at getgoin.net.  Ramble around the website at www.championnews.us for a good picture of the beloved place.  “Keep smiling through, just like you always do, ‘till the blue skies chase those dark clouds far away.  We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day!”  Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—November 19, 2012

           Good news travels fast in Champion.  Some of the good news is that Champions are coming home to roost for Thanksgiving and there will once again be a great grateful crowd over at Vivian Floyd’s house for Thanksgiving dinner.  It is a long standing tradition that the family gathers there for this particular holiday and she is always glad to have her brothers and all her sisters in law and all the nieces, nephews, and their children for a house full of fun.  Champions agree there is much good reason to be Thankful.

           Esther Wrinkles will soon be back in Autumn Oaks in Mountain Grove after a week’s stay at Mercy Hospital in Springfield.  She had a stroke last Monday morning.  Her family says that she has made some real improvement and should be getting back closer to her old stomping grounds soon.  She has had some good visitors including young Cloey Harris, age 7 years, who sits between Esther and her Grandmother at church on Sundays.  Cloey held Esther’s hand for a long time, joining her many other friends wishing her well and a speedy recovery.  Her mail still gets to her at Rt. 1 Box 845, Vanzant, MO 65768.  She had hoped to be at her house for Thanksgiving this year, but things do not always work out just as person might hope.  Wherever she is, she has good wishes surrounding her.   What a Champion!

          Edith Mae Percifield was 100 years old last February.  She passed away this week.  In a conversation that was reported in The Champion News back on February 6^th (Go to www.championnews.us to read the whole conversation.), she said that she remembered the first time she went to town.  She was four or five years old and she rode horseback with her mother into Ava.  It was not much of a town, just a few houses and store buildings.  A pleasant hour with her revealed that she was a bright, hardworking person with a good attitude and a great love for her home and for her family.  Many people will miss her.  Others are grateful just to have crossed paths with her even briefly.  When asked if she had any regrets over things she had not done or anything she wished she had not done, she said, “What would be the point of that?” That is a Champion kind of thought.  If a person gets to live a hundred years or just a few, it is sure that the lives that person touches are forever changed.  The love for the dear one passed does not go away and everyone holds in his heart an album of loves, precious family, and dear friends who are passed out of this life but whose memory is always close.   When grief is fresh, it is hard not to think of them as lost, but someday a smile will cross the face of the one doing the remembering just as the remembered one would want.  So it is in Champion.

          Deer hunting is occupying the thoughts and conversations of many a Champion these days.  One said that the deer do not seem to be worried about the sound of gunfire.  They are accustomed to hearing it in the country side regularly and appear not to recognize it as a threat to their very lives.  Many deer are being harvested and the hope is that they will have had a chance to fatten up a little or at least to have gotten a little real nutrition in them after the rains started back in September and the plant life began to recover somewhat.    There certainly are some big acorns out in the woods.   A nice dish of deer heart and red peppers graced the table of some Champions having a pot luck dinner on Friday.  It was very tasty and quite fresh as the deer had been walking around earlier that morning. 

          The Skyline VFD Auxiliary had its meeting in the meeting room at Henson’s Store on Tuesday, November 13^th.  Members signed a card to send to Esther to let her know that she is much missed and regularly thought of by her Auxiliary friends.  President Betty Dye had the Chili Supper quilt for examination and it is a real beauty.  It will be on display at the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion on the 8^th of January.  That is the date of the next Auxiliary meeting when the serious planning for the March 2^nd Chili Supper will get going in a big way.  Preliminary planning is already well underway.    Word is spreading and it seems that the membership is already setting aside those special items for the silent auction.  It is a great little community that supports its fire department so well.  Actually the ‘little community’ is about 125 square miles big.  Skyline VFD can use a lot of support!

          The other day some of the Skyline R2 Foundation board members met up in Ava to have their picture taken receiving a big check from the Douglas County Community Foundation.   The check was physically quite large and represented a $2,000.00 grant to support the Skyline R-2 School Foundation in their affiliation with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  Additionally, it was learned that the Douglas County Foundation has teamed with the Ava Public Library to provide the DPIL program to every child in Douglas County.  From birth to age 5 years, the DPIL sends a book each month in the child’s name.  These are age appropriate books chosen to promote a love of reading early in the lives of children.   Contact the library or Skyline School for additional information.  Applications are also available at Hensons Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion. 

          Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Great Britain since King George was not all that happy to let the Colonies go.  These days the relationship between the two countries is much better.  Gratitude is one of those Champion notions that this whole Nation embraces.   In the difficult time that so many are facing because of the recent storm, Sandy, and in the wake of so much rancor and dissatisfaction with the economy and politics one is reminded, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”  Send a list of your many blessings, or your favorite Thanksgiving song to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to Champion at getgoin.net.  Most school children know the song about Over the River and Through the Woods.  Around these parts, they’re going to Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!