DreamWorks

CHAMPION– June25, 2012

           A Champion off in distant places occasionally meets up with a music promoter who is given to drink.  While never totally inebriated, he seems to be half way there continually.  He has grandiose schemes for the advancement of his musician friends and is want to sprinkle his prose with the word ‘opperchancity.’  Upon first hearing it, the Champion thought, “What an interesting misspeak,” but subsequently he found that it is just a part of the publicist’s lexicon of drunk-speak.   Still, it is an interesting word that goes along nicely with the Champion Word of the Week, ‘impetus,’ which is anything that stimulates activity; driving forces or motive; incentive; impulse.  “The Champion impetus is to maximize every pleasant opperchancity.”  What a place!

          The opperchancity for some ‘porch-picking’ is here.  Friday, the General himself has been invited to bring his guitar up on the porch at Hensons’ Grocery and Gas over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion to entertain shoppers and visitors.   Some delusional person suggested that he might bring his accordion or, at the very least, some musical friends.  It will be the first ever ‘last Friday of the month Champion porch-picking’ and area musicians are encouraged to dilute the program.

          The Old Grandfather of Tar Button Road celebrated his birthday on the 25^th of June and the 26^th had Sweet Dancing Nancy of Westava just in the planning stages of her own festivity.   Casey Boyd, Skyline 8^th grader, and Devin Scott, second grader, also celebrate that day as their own.  River Clunn, a Skyline fourth grader will be nine on the second of July.  Summer school is still in session at Skyline and the busses seem to be jolly as they roll down the scenic country roads.  The 28^th is the birthday of Ester Wrinkles, but her party will be on Saturday, the 30^th.   Friends will gather over at the Vanzant Community Center from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. to make merry on the occasion of her 95^th birthday.   Friday the 29^th is the birthday of Mrs. Eva Powell and of KZ88 Radio personality, Butch Kara.  Champions are hoping they will both make it down to the square in Downtown Champion to join in the fun of a community day.   It is presumed that there will be at least one oration of the “Near Drowning of Cowboy Jack” during the day and perhaps some new adventures will be recounted of the Crystal Creek Gang or of the Fox Trot Follies.

            Get well cards are in the mail to Sue Upshaw who has taken a fall.  Her many friends are hoping that her fractures will heal in short order and that she and her pleasing smile will soon be back out among them.   Someone said that an arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward.  When life is dragging you back with difficulties, just imagine that it’s going to launch you into something great.  At some point, however, one hopes for more gentle launchings.   Neighbors over at Mad Goat Flats seem to have had a nice launching of a worthwhile community enterprise.  A vacuum has been filled in a most pleasant manner and Champions applaud the initiative!

          Route 2, Champion mail carrier, Karen Ross (not Goss or Doss) has already canned 32 quarts of green beans!  She lives up on top of Whetstone Hill and some Champions think that her elevation and sunny location is the reason for her great agricultural success.  Others know it is on account of her hard work and her accumulated knowledge of garden lore.   Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood says that from the 26^th all the way through the 3^rd of July will be a good time to plant crops that bear their yield above the ground.  Get a good look at the new Almanac on the bulletin board at the Historic Emporium in Downtown Champion or at www.championnews.us.   It is available up at The Plant Place too.  Linda will soon get a good visit with her granddaughter who has just returned from a two week school trip to Spain.  Linda is excited to hear the details.  So far all she has heard is that Danielle had a good time but did not really care for the food.  Olivia, Charlene’s granddaughter, is visiting from Florida.  She will be nine in October and is quite a charming young lady.  Grandson, Harper, has been visiting over at Teeter Creek with his Rock and Roll Grandma and will have some good stories to tell when he goes back home to Arizona. 

           The Skyline Auxiliary will have its meeting on Wednesday the 27^th for the purposes of planning the Skyline VFD Picnic.  It is an exciting time of the year in Champion.  Friends are excited at the possibility that Louise Hutchison will make it to the meeting.  The organization has felt a void for some while now and it will feel whole again to have her there.   Connie Lansdown spends a lot of time with Louise and Wilburn and reports that they are doing fine.  She also wanted to make a special point of saying how very much their family appreciated all the calls, cards, and letters and all the wonderful food that people brought for them during recent weeks when they were experiencing a succession of sad losses.  Family members came in from out of state and it was a difficult time made less so by the compassion and kindness of the community.  Connie says genuinely, “Thank you, everyone.” 

          Buffy St. Marie is a folk singer who has written many interesting songs.  One is “If You Ask Me.”

She says, “He’s got shoulders like a mountain and a smile like a sunny day, the patience of a gardener and the will to find a way.  We love him more than tongue can tell and more than song can sing.  He’s a pretty good man, if you ask me.”  Husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, grandfathers and friends in Champion can have this song sung about them on their birthday or on any day of the week.  The Veterans and those serving currently can have it applied to them as well with Love and Gratitude.   One of the rules about living a Champion life is, “When it is good, say so.”  So Champions are pleased to say they love their men folk and their soldier folk.  Send your favorite ’when it’s good say so song’ to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to Champion@getgoin.net.   Come on down to the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square at the end of WW where the banks of Old Fox Creek flatten out to incorporate all the placid beauty that is Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

 CHAMPION—June 18, 2012

          Tom Toles is a prominent national cartoonist and commentator who said that May is the very best month, except for June which is better.  Champions are in agreement and are very much enjoying a busy time of the year and these particularly good days.

          Young Champion future farmers had a good showing at the Tri County Fair in Mountain Grove this last week.  Jenna and Jacob Brixey of the Brixey Jersey Farm, had cousins Maddax and Tyler Klingensmith visiting from Springfield and Justin and Jason Schutter from Kirksville.  Together with Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman of Fox Creek Farms they showed their Jersey calves in three different classes and it is reported that they all did quite well.  They handled the animals well and deported themselves like true Champion young lady and gentlemen farmers.   The Fox Creek Rodeo was the precursor to the fair. Conflicting theories for calf roping were still being discussed between the sisters and their spouses days later together with a fanciful description of a butt butting episode that sent Harley home to Barbara.  (There are no worries that he will be offended by this report.  He just reads the first sentence of each paragraph.)  

          Neighbors over at Vanzant had a blow out of a pie supper on Saturday to benefit the Vanzant Community Center and to get a start on preparations for the annual Vanzant Picnic.  The Summer Social Season has arrived with the first of many exciting community activities.  Everyone cannot attend everything, but some are giving it a good try.   A certain coconut cream pie brought a lot of attention when the auction got started the other night.  People were bidding via the telephone all the way from Kansas City and other places, just like they do in big auction houses in New York and London.  It is reported to have been very exciting as Bobby Dean Emery out bid the phone bids to the tune of $315.00!  Another pie by the same venerable pie-maven brought $260.00 from Ron Wood.  The loosing phone bidder had wanted to be there so badly that he pledged a sizeable donation to the community center.  It speaks favorably of a community that can draw such consideration.  Even with the constabulary out of town, there were no reports of untoward, rowdy or disruptive behavior, though it is a given that the General was there and that wonders, indeed, do not cease. 

          The Skyline Auxiliary had a pleasant meeting on the 12^th and has another one scheduled for the 27^th.  It will be at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room at Hensons Grocery and Gas over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  There were nine in attendance at last Tuesday’s meeting and the beginning plans for the Skyline VFD Picnic were initiated.  Anyone in the Skyline Fire District is welcome to attend the Auxiliary meetings to see how this great little organization operates and new members are most welcome.  The Skyline Picnic always takes place on the second week end in August, so this year it will be August 10^th and 11^th.  The Fairview School Reunion will be August 11^th too, but it is earlier in the day.  The picnic generally starts at about 6 in the evening, so there will be plenty of time to attend both.  The election will be over by then, so a person will not have to elbow his way past the politicians to get to the pie!

          Rusty Darnell of Joe Bass Team Trail makes a good emcee.  He performed that service for the Skyline School Foundation at their recent fishing tournament.  Rod Crain and Stormy Williams were the first place winners with 13.24 pounds of fish.  They also won the Big Bass Prize for one that weighed 3.32 pounds.  Lane Nance and Les Loftis were second with 10.71 pounds and Dennis Watson and Jim Kirkland came in third with 10.33 pounds.   Skyline School Board member, Brian Sherrill organized this affair with the help of Foundation Board member, Tim Scrivner, and a number of other people.  They counted it as a genuinely worthwhile exercise and plans are in the works to make it an annual event.    It is great to know that so many are interested in helping this fine organization which is dedicated to the students of the Skyline School District.  The Nation’s rural schools need all the help they can get.  The Community Foundation of the Ozarks is the umbrella under which the Skyline School Foundation operates to help about a hundred country kids.  Champion! 

          One Champion gardener, trying to be organic, put some sticky traps out in the garden to catch some of the pests that seem so plentiful.  This is a viable approach, but gardeners are cautioned to use the right kind of sticky trap.  Industrial strength glue traps for mice catch honeybees too, and that is not good.  Champions are very protective of their wild honeybees.   Gardeners rely on them to pollinate their crops and to share their sweet honey.   Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood says that the 20^th and 21^st will be most fruitful days for planting above the ground crops and then again from the 26^th to the 28^th.  Hope Sandoval sings a sweet love song about “Butterfly Mornings and wildflower afternoons.”  The folks over at Teeter Creek Herbs say that butterfly weed is also called Pleurisy Root.  It is a favorite of butterflies and of the Native Americans and pioneers who used the root to relive pain and resolve symptoms of pleurisy and pneumonia, dry lingering coughs and fever.  It is one of the easy native plants to identify with its bright orange flowers and, of course, the butterflies.    A gardener is also cautioned to stay in his own garden to stay satisfied with it.  Venturing over to Linda’s garden or to Janet and Sandy Chapin’s garden out in Eastern Douglas County will cause one’s own inadequacies to blossom.  Janet and Sandy just hosted a pleasant gathering in honor of their daughter, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Commander Dana Chapin, who has been reassigned from the East coast to the West coast and happily passed by the old home place on her way to her new station.  She is a dynamic young woman and her family and friends here appreciate her service.  To all those serving the Nation and all her Veterans, Champions extend their Love and Gratitude. 

          Evans is a spot around the corner and down the road from Champion.  Fred Follis has been telling people that Evans is about to celebrate 75 years of being depicted on maps.  He did not say how this distinction would be celebrated but there was some mention of the New East Dogwood School Reunion.  Inquiries will be made.   “Who are you calling a clod?” asks a sometimes Champion in response to James Russell Lowell’s poem.  “Anyhow, you messed up when you were trying to tell people how to get to Champion from Mountain Grove.  If you turn ‘east’ off 95 on to 76, you are not headed to Denlow or Skyline at C!  You’d be headed off for EE or Big Ed’s down there on the way to Willow.”  Well, a good re-read shows the ‘clod’ to be correct this time.  A person who does not already know where Champion is and who is genuinely interested in knowing might look on a county road map, might Google up ‘Champion, Missouri’ or might go with the GPS device, though the last word was that the reading is off by a couple of miles.  If you get that close to Champion and have not found it, just ask the first person who comes along.   He will tell you to go on down to the bottom of the hill, where the pavement ends, where country roads meet, on the wide beautiful banks of Old Fox Creek to Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—June 11, 2012

          “And what is so rare as a day in June?  Then, if ever, come perfect days.”  So said James Russell Lowell (1819-1891).  The poem from which these lines are taken is full of keen observations about the value of natural beauty.   “Every clod feels a stir,” says he, and so it is in Champion!  “With the deluge of summer” near, Champion hearts revel in the lovely here and now.   Monday’s deluge of delicious rain was also most welcome.

          Emerson Rose and Eli Oglesby have been visiting their grandmother in Champion and having lots of fun with their sweet cousins.  Their aunt Linda Krider Watts will have a special birthday on the 21^st of June this year.   The first day of summer has been a special occasion for her family for well over three decades now.   Champion granddaughter, Sierra Parsons, who resides in Portland, Oregon, will be some undisclosed teenage age, maybe in the neighborhood of seventeen, but it does not matter.    Already a very talented artist, she has a great sense of style that may render her hair any color and her lipstick any shade.   She carries with her the self-assured, buoyant optimism that people remember themselves as having had at that age, though truly few ever did.  She has her Grandparents impressed and that is always good.  Alyssa Strong will be nine years old on the 23^rd of June.  She is a fourth grader at Skyline  School.  Nicholas, who lives over off Tar Button Road will celebrate his birthday on the 25^th.  He is an elder.  That is to say, “He is Old,” no telling how old.  Some young people refer to him as Grandfather, a role that he embodies with reverence.   Casey Boyd will be in the eighth grade this year and will have his 14^th birthday on June 26.  Devin Scott will be eight that day and will be a big second grader.  Summer school is in full swing over at Skyline and teacher, Terry Ryan, is reporting the Friday trips to the pool in Ava are being lots of fun. 

          Neighbors over at Vanzant will be enjoying the pies and the fun of the Saturday Night Pie Supper that is being held to benefit the Vanzant Community Center, which is turning out to be the very Jewel of Eastern Douglas County.  Of course, Champion is the Jewel of Central Douglas County and Ava can be the Jewel of Western Douglas County.  The other day someone asked, “Just where is Champion? “  Well, if a person were traveling to Champion from Norwood, he would go south on Highway C for about 14 miles and would make a left turn on WW Highway.  He would have passed the Skyline School at the corner of C and 76 Highway and would have gone on to WW, the first paved road on the left.  Two miles or so east on WW is Champion, clearly marked with shiny new MODOT signs.   If a person were coming from Ava, he would have to come out east on 14 Highway because of the timely work on the Bryant Creek Bridge on 76.  It is about seventeen miles to Evans, where he would then make a left on Highway C, traveling north.  Three or four miles north on C meets the intersection with WW and a person would make a right turn there and travel on down to the lovely burg.  From Mountain Grove, one might go south on 95 and then east on 76 to C, then on down to WW, and thence Champion.  From Gentryville, it is west on 14 to C and then north as before.  However, if you were coming from Drury, you might just go to V Highway and turn west.  Travel on the pavement for a mile or so and then just as the road makes a nice ninety degree turn to the left, a pretty dirt road takes off straight ahead.  That’s the road for you and if you bear neither to the left or the right, but stay the central course, in good time you’ll be in Champion and glad of it.  Once there, take the time to explore the Square.  Enjoy refreshments on the broad veranda at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium.  If you need some calf starter, some bailing twine for your bailer, a frozen pizza, certain plumbing parts, or just a cookie and a nice cup of coffee, Champion is the place to be. 

          A well-known, life-long resident of Champion and a self-admitted logophile was anxious to learn the New Word of the Week early, and he was told that it would probably be ’lugubrious’ because of the comical sound of the word.  But it turns out that the word means sad, mournful, gloomy, melancholy, and sombre,  none of which is at all in keeping with the feeling of Champion and so it has been replaced with ‘stellify’ which means to change or to be changed into a star.  “Champion has been stellified in the memories of former residents who sadly must now live elsewhere.”

          Champions did not forget that D-day was last week and that Father’s Day is this coming Sunday.  There is always plenty to celebrate and Champions are particularly pleased with their Veterans and their Fathers.   Champion gardens are luscious.  The bugs like everything.  Deer and rabbits are having their fill of people-vegetables and gardeners are making the adjustments required and taking the preventative steps available to save as much of the harvest as possible.  Linda’s Almanac is available for inspection at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion or at www.championnews.us.   It says that the 16^thand 17^th will both be good days for planting root crops and will be good days for transplanting.   The moon sign will change then and the 20^th and the 21^st will be favorable for above the ground crops again.  A Champion Veteran sings, “By the light of the silvery moon, I want to spoon. To my honey, I’ll croon love’s tune.  Honeymoon, keep a-shining in June.  Your silvery beams will bring loves dreams, we’ll be cuddling soon by the Silvery Moon.”  In Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

          A chance trip around the county was an opportunity to marvel at the beauty of a place like this.  The roadsides are strewn with Echinacea, butterfly weed, Queen Anne’s lace and an occasional purple musk thistle.  In places where the hay has been cut and rolled, the manicured fields show the care farmers have for their land, and in places where the hay has yet to be cut some meadows are waving high in mixed hues that reflect May’s dry weather and sudden new growth green.  Roiling clouds in blue shades moved by unseen swift winds filter and shift the light, or the sun breaks through to immortalize a moment somewhere along the lovely way home to Champion.  

          Monday morning found the school bus rolling down the road to Skyline as summer school begins.  Some of the great kids celebrating summertime birthdays are Ashlee Dean who will be nine on the 9^th and Rose Penn who will be nine on the 10^th.   Adeline Homer will be eight on the 12^th of June.  She will be in the second grade.  Glenn Dylan Ford will be eleven on the 13^th and on that day Wyatt Hicks will have his seventh birthday.  Zachary Coon will be six on the 15^th and so the first grade will be his destination.  Champion grandson, Foster Wiseman, will have his birthday on the 16^th.  He is growing up quickly, as are all these delightful young folks.  Summer school students will be brushing up their academic skills while having lots of fun including a trip to the Ava pool on Fridays.  Students do not have to live in the Skyline district to attend.  It will be exciting to hear more about the first annual Skyline R2 Foundation Bass Fishing Tournament.  The foundation is a new organization and it is off and running for the benefit of the area students.  The Dolly Parton Imagination Library program is a fine example.   There is information available about it at the school as well as at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion. 

          Harley and other Champion logophiles (people who love learning new words) have a couple of interesting specimens this week.  “Retrouvaille,” is a noun that means the joy of meeting or finding someone again after a long separation; rediscovery.  In a sentence, “The broad expanse of the shady veranda at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium is frequently the scene of nostalgic retrouvaille as visitors come and go.”  The other new word is “paucity.”   It means a lack of, or a rarity and was used last week in an article entitled “What About This…?”  An example of its use not found in the article but rather about the article is, “The paucity of tolerance for an Irishman by an Italian was ironically demonstrated thru copious declarations with many raised glasses of a very nice Chianti.”  On an unrelated note, it has been pointed out that ‘they’ is now being accepted as the third person personal pronoun, effectively doing away with ‘he’ and ‘she.’   For one particular Champion, the evolution of language seems sadder than they expected. (It just seems wrong.)

          Pete Proctor is not sad.  He just returned home last Wednesday from a two week trip to Virginia with his son Bryan and his family.  He was sorry to have missed the Denlow School Reunion, but he had a good time touring all the memorials in Washington D.C.   They took a lot of good photographs, one of which is of Pete touching the name of his friend, Terry, on the Viet Nam Wall.  Terry was from Tennessee and they were roommates for five months before Terry was killed.   At the World War II Monument, they ran into a bunch of Veterans from Baltimore.   Most of them were in wheelchairs, Pete said.   The Korean War Memorial was very eye-catching.   There are 19 statues representing all the Armed Services and an ethnic cross section of America.  The figures are wearing ponchos and seem to be walking up a hill with the cold winter wind at their backs, talking to one another.  Overall, it was an experience that Pete hopes every Veteran can have.  It would be a learning experience for any citizen, worth the time and trouble it takes to get there.  Bryan is stationed at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.  Pete is happy to know that he will be retiring in November and will move back to Mountain Grove.  His wife, Jamie, whom he met when they were both in the Service, and their two children nine year old, Tristan, and seven year old, Laney, have been living with Pete since February.  The kids love the Mountain Grove Schools.  Everybody will be glad when Bryan gets home.  This was a great trip for the family, particularly for Pete who has been the Post Commander for VFW Post 3770 for some while now and will continue to be active in this great organization though Archie Dailey will take over as the new commander shortly.   Those men do a good job of keeping those who serve in the thoughts of those who do not have to.  Champions! 

          Esther Wrinkles reports that there will be a Pie Supper to Benefit the Vanzant Community Center on June 16^th.  On the occasion of this benefit, someone suggested that candidates for office should pay double their bid on the pies just for the chance to glad-hand.  This lovely little building is certainly seeing some good use these days.  In addition to various musical pot-luck dinners open to the public, some area residents are hiring the building for private parties.   There was a report of a Good Neighbor of the Month award ceremony that was so surprising that the recipient grew hair!  He must have been bribing the sponsors over at the North Town Mall of Mad Goat Flats with peanut butter ice cream.  They say it is really good, but only ‘select’ Champions ever get a taste of it.  It would seem that we are neighbors, but just not all that close.  Perhaps the occasion of the Fairview School Reunion coming up August 11^th will be a convenient time to remedy some presumed slights.  The Skyline VFD Picnic will be that day too, so there will be plenty opportunity to prove its reputation—a peanut butter ice cream dream. 

          Frank Sinatra would have said that dreams are being fashioned in June when summertime is new.  He was right.  It is a delicious time when the garden is starting to produce and has not yet succumbed to drought, pestilence and disease.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place says that the 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th will be a good time to plant late beets, potatoes, onions, carrots and other root crops.  The 9^th will be a particularly good time to transplant.  Check it all out at www.championnews.us, at the Plant Place, or on the new bulletin board at the Historic Mercantile located at the bottom of some green hills, at the edge of a famous creek where the dirt roads and pavement collide.    Sing your favorite June song out on the spacious veranda.   Following an extended saxophone solo, Frank sang, “You’re the ghost of a romance in June going astray, fading too soon, that’s why I say, ‘Farewell to you, Indian Summer.’” Goodbye, Indian Summer.   Hello Champion!—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 28, 2012

          Most Champions know that the “Ag News” program comes on TV very early in the morning—very early.   Several were up early enough to hear it Saturday when it was reported that Missouri is flooded!  Cries rose up out of darkened Champion farm houses in the pre-dawn hours:  “Where?”  “We’re not we-et!”  “Bring it on!”  “Whhore’s ma boat?”  (Where is my boat?) Or in the case of a certain cowboy, “Whar’s my horse?”   From Coonts Holler to Champion, wherever Rowdy might caper, it is sure he is leaving his hoof prints deep in dry, sifting sand.   Champions have turned off their televisions and have gone out to water the garden. 

           A prominent occasional Champion denizen remarks that he enjoys taking his ease out on the broad, elegant veranda at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium where he and the fellows can contemplate new words.   “Sylvan” is the word of the day.  It refers to an association with the woods, with that which inhabits the woods, is made of tree materials or comprises the forest itself.   Used in a sentence:  “Champion’s sylvan surroundings embrace the serenity of the bucolic scene.”

          Some Champions are worried about the hummingbirds.  By this time of the year, in years past, the chore of keeping the feeders filled has been a delight but truly a chore as the voracious little critters kept things humming outside the windows.  This year Champions are reporting just having one or two pairs.  The Missouri Department of Conservation Ombudsman, Tim Smith, up in Jefferson City talked to the State Ornithologist who said that he is not aware of an overall decline in the population.  As their migration is triggered by day length, the unusually early spring here caused regular flowering plants to be past their prime already when the birds came through, so they just kept going.  He said that some areas are reporting a larger than usual population.  The dry weather may mean that only as many hummingbirds as the area can support will be entertaining here this season.  Champions are pleased with every one they see and do not take them for granted.  They are making smaller batches of food for their feeders and changing them frequently to keep the few little birds healthy.  The ornithologist said that late summer and fall may see a larger population in the area.  Champion!

          The Skyline  R-2 School Foundation Bass Tournament is reported to have been a lot of fun.  Rusty Darnell of Joe Bass Team Trail really pitched in to help and the Foundation is much benefited from his generosity and that of all the sponsors and participants.  Brian Sherrill has pictures to share and is busy planning for next year.  Expect continued excitement from this great new organization dedicated to the education of the great area kids.  So far, the Foundation has signed up twenty-nine children in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  This is an excellent program where the Foundation is able to provide a new book every month to children from birth all the way until their fifth birthday. The new age-appropriate books arrive in the mail.   It is a way to get them ready to read, ready to enjoy school, ready for a successful life.  Anyone in the Skyline School District is eligible to participate at no cost.  There are applications available at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion and from any Skyline School Board Member. 

          Wayne and Jo Ann Anderson celebrated their 56^th wedding anniversary on Saturday, May 26^th at the Denlow School Reunion.   Helping them enjoy their day was Linda Clark, Robert and Sharon Upshaw, Marilyn Hopper Gerald, Kendall Gerald, Malachi Gerald, Bill and Elgin Upshaw, Bethany Adams, Lavern and Jessie Mae Miller, Kenneth and Barbara Anderson, June Chambers, Walter (Pete) and Bonna Mullins, Lorene Johnston, Ed and Sonja Williams, Sally Prock, Carol E. Coats Barnhart, Ruby Proctor, Peggy Hancock, Vivian Floyd, Russell, Dean and Sue Upshaw, Tom Cooley, Darrell Cooley, Ray Hicks, Kenneth and Beverly  (Miller) Tooley, Robert Dean Brixie, Michael and LaSchell (Upshaw) Bearden with Meryl  and Catherine, Elizabeth Johnston, Kaye and Richard Johnston, Shelby and Madelyn Ward, Esther Wrinkles, Lonnie Mears,  Fred and Jean Follis and Virginia Jacobs.  These are not nearly all the people who were there.  Some neglected to sign the book and some were hoping to remain anonymous.  A number were off on other family business in Tennessee where Dakota Watts (Champion grandson) has graduated from high school.  Bravo!  Meanwhile, back in Denlow, Fred Follis led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance and then the fun began.   There was the obligatory recitation of the ‘shoot out’ of March 9, 1879, and a variety of questions designed to educate attendees on the version of history currently being popularized by the self-appointed historian.  By contrast, the food was most enjoyable.   After dinner the pavilion filled with well-fed friends and relatives for the annual auction.  Laverne Miller was the auctioneer and once again he did a splendid job in difficult circumstances.   Time and time again, the General bid against himself.  Being told that he already had the bid only seemed to spur him on to bid on things he did not even want.  It would have been sad, if it were not so funny.   On the serious side of things, the Veterans of the group were recognized.  Lavern, himself, landed on Omaha Beach shortly after D-Day and made his way all the way across France and Germany and was in Switzerland when the War ended.   The occasion of Memorial Day keeps Veterans and those currently serving in mind.  They have the Love and Gratitude of the Nation due them and the Flag flying over Denlow serves its grand purpose. 

          Gardeners have the good news that above the ground crops can be planted all the way from the thirtieth of the month through the third of June.  This is information from Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood.  In this very dry season mulch and irrigation are important.  Some things want continual moisture and some want occasional deep watering.  Haymakers are reporting fewer, lighter bales with less food value.  The price of beef in the grocery store would indicate that the sale barn might still be a good place for relieving the strain on the pasture.  

          “Mother” Mary Harris Jones is believed to be the inspiration behind the song “She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain.”  In the late 1800’s she was traveling around the Appalachian coal mining camps promoting the formation of labor unions when this version of the song became popular.  Miss Taegan Krider is singing it these days, “She’ll be driving six white horses, when she comes.”  It is a lovely song and at two years of age, this young lady does it justice.  Come on down to the Historic Emporium located over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion to sing your favorite verse.  (The one about chicken and dumplings is a good one.)  If singing is not your strong suit, perhaps you have an ax to grind.  You can do that at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or at Champion at getgoin.net.   If you do not want it speckled, grind it in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 21, 2012

           “Thanks for what little you did do.”  That jest from the parent of a Campion many years ago was meant to say, “I am grateful for your effort, but do not think you are through.”    When Sunday’s lightning and thunder produced almost enough rain to settle Champion’s dust some were looking the gift horse squarely in the mouth.  The horse is thirsty.  Champions never complain about the weather though it is frequently the subject of the conversation.  Now that many have their first cutting of hay up in the barn, it would be most timey to get some regular afternoon showers, or some all-night gentle soakers.   Champion, Terri Ryan, who teaches at Skyline School and has had a history of horses visiting her place, shares a remark made by Joyce Meyer: “There is no danger of developing eyestrain from looking on the bright side of things, so why not try it!” 

           Terri Ryan is also on the board of the Skyline R-2 School Foundation which is having its big Bass Fishing Tournament on Saturday.  Friends of the Foundation from Gainesville, West Plains, Mountain Grove, Ava, Thornfield and other places are sponsoring the event and providing door prizes as well.  The rules say the winner will have the most total weight of five fish and that all fish must meet legal Bull Shoals Lake length limit.  Ties will be determined by the largest fish.  Only artificial lures can be used.  The Joe Bass Team Trail is providing scales and the stage.  It will be held at the Spring Creek Boat Ramp in Isabella, MO from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.   Brian Sherrill, who knows about these things, has been instrumental in getting this great happening together.  He is a new Skyline School Board member and the father of a student who will be in kindergarten next fall.  By the time Silvana graduates from Skyline she will have been there for ten years and the school will have enjoyed the participation of these active, interested parents for a decade.   It happens that some students have their birthdays after school is out.   They have summer parties.   Joseph Kennedy will have his birthday on the 29^th of May.  He will be four years old and will be in pre-k in the fall.   Landon James will be six on the first of June and the first grade is where he is heading.  Michelle Cochran will have her birthday on the third of June.  She has graduated from Skyline now and is moving on to high school.  Time goes by quickly, or so it seems to old people.    

                   Neighbors over in Denlow are getting ready for the Denlow School Reunion on Saturday.  The General will officiate (again).  The program will begin at eleven in the morning and will include the regular quiz where Denlow students are pitted against students from Elsewhere.  The questions are ‘Generally’ contrived to give the Denlow students the advantage, but crafty team leaders like Linda Clark, and Elsewhere student, Cathie Alsup Reilly, have thwarted the home team on more than one occasion.  Cathie has stated that retribution for her victory caused her to be relegated the “hula” squad the following year.  “Don’t ask.”  The potluck lunch at twelve thirty does not require participation in the quiz or the hula, but just an appetite for good cooking and good conversation.   The food is always wonderful, but the best part is the chance to fellowship (used here as a verb) with friends and neighbors, new and old, in a most welcoming, hospitable situation.  This is another of those exceptional times when fond memories of days long gone collide with the delightful here and now.  “Champion!” or rather “Denlow!”  Memorial Day weekend is the perfect time for this affair and the perfect time to remember the Veterans who have sacrificed so much as well as all those so dearly missed. 

           Friends of Community Radio KZ88 gathered for a party in the park in Cabool on Saturday.   There was an eclectic program of live music which accompanied a barbeque feast celebrating the third birthday of the station.  KZ88 is licensed to Real Community Radio Network, Inc., a Missouri non-profit corporation based in Cabool.  The station concentrates on locally created programming and has an affiliation with Pacifica Radio and Free Speech Radio.    They encourage local musicians to submit their music for on air play and offer free classes in everything to do with radio.  It is a nice little outfit, commercial free and listener supported.  Find a link to listen live on line at www.championnews.us.  Among those at the party was a charming lady named Brenda, who has retired from teaching English and creative writing at Cabool High School for more than thirty years.  She is a very attractive lady who has maintained her sense of humor in spite of exposure to teenagers for decades.   She calls The Champion News ‘creative journalism’ and allows that it is perfectly acceptable.  Champion!

            Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood indicates that the 25^th all the way through the 29^th will be a barren period, good for killing plant pests, cultivating or taking a short vacation.  The 30^th and 31^st will be good for above-ground crops.   After Bud Hutchison’s trail ride a week ago last Wednesday, the Cowboy bowlegged (another verb)  his way up the steps of the Historic Emporium and allowed as how he expects to win the First Ripe Tomato In Champion Contest this year and for his prize expects some new Levis and a nice cowboy shirt.  He said that he already had tomatoes ‘this big’ whereupon he proffered a thumb and forefinger circle somewhere in size between that of a marble and a ping pong ball.  Speculation is that he spent $4.98 each on full grown tomato plants with tomatoes already on them.  Well, there is no way of proving that, but since the First Ripe Tomato in Champion Contest is sponsored by The Champion News, which has no revenue, it is likely that the prize will be the same as in previous years and will amount to an old fruit jar and a dozen canning flats.   Some say he is not even eligible, since he lives in Evans, but he seems to be a fixture in Champion and Champions are known for their latitude.   Little Emerson Rose brought the winner down to the Square on behalf of her Champion Grandmother back in 2010.  There are some nice pictures of her on-line out in the Loafing Shed and some question about whether her Grandmother collected her prize.  There are no pictures of last year’s winner and no one can remember just who it was, so most likely no prize was awarded.  The rules are simple.  The tomato must have been grown in Champion and must be shared with the judges who will be those people present at Henson’s Grocery and Gas when the tomato arrives.  A picture must be taken and pertinences revealed, such as the variety and culture of the winning fruit.  It is all very exciting.  Share your excitement at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or at Champion at getgoin.net.

                   The solar eclipse made quite a stir in some parts of the country.  Many Champions missed it altogether because of the nonproductive cloud cover, the hills that obscure sunset for some and suppertime for others.  As pictures of the event become available from those places to the west where it was most visible, it is easy to see that ancient peoples might have assigned a great deal of mystery and magic to such an occurrence.   Astronomers and NASA scientists have it all pretty well explained now and in sixteen years they say it will happen again just this way.  Meanwhile June Carter Cash wrote “Ring of Fire” and a plaintiff rendition of it can be heard in her album recorded in 1999, where she accompanies herself on the autoharp with just a fiddle in the background.   Come down to the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square and sit a spell.  Remember The Carter Family’s “Keep on the Sunny Side.”  You’ll be in Champion—already Looking on the Bright Side! 

 P.S. (For the Herald)

          Champions extend congratulations to friend Keith on the occasion of his fortieth wedding anniversary to the fair Charlotte.   He works in an industry devoted to the interests of all the people of Ava and some of the other people in Douglas County.  He makes some excellent points about the value of skepticism when it comes to the media and joins with Champions in wielding Ben Franklin’s speckled ax while in the pursuit of self-betterment and moral perfection.

CHAMPION—May 14, 2012

           Way off in the future there will be Champions who recall these pleasant days out in the wonderful glider and comfortable chairs on the front porch of the Historic Emporium.  Now that winter’s chill is a distant memory, much of the socializing has moved from around the stove to the porch, where friends and neighbors meet serendipitously, or by plan, to pass a few tranquil moments.  ‘Romantics’ from Almartha regularly spend a peaceful hour there, being willing to travel the considerable distance for the experience.  The fiddler’s brother in law asked (essentially) “Where else might one go to find a real country store at the end of the pavement, on the banks of a creek, at the conjunction of county roads, at the bottom of several beautiful hills in the midst of such agreeable company?”  That is Champion. 

           Cowboy Jack was leading the pack when Bud Hutchinson’s Annual Champion Trail Ride came into the Square Wednesday afternoon.  Fourteen riders made the trip and all seemed to report a good time.  Wilma Hamby and her son, Mike, were there.  Wilma only wears one spur.  Bob Herd has some nice spurs.  He dozed for a moment on the porch.  Junior Brown, Nancy Burns, Dale Lawson, and Marvin Eagleston enjoyed the ride as did Bill and Marsha Brunner.  Cheryl Fortunia rode a quarter-horse and the rest were on Fox trotters.  Hershel Letsinger shed some light on the number of available trails in the area.  He pointed out that this part of the country was deeded to individuals as it was settled.  Later the Forrest Service came in to buy up the parcels from the settlers to form the Mark Twain National Forest.   Many of the farm-to-market roads and trails and old Model T roads that became part of the Forest have not grown over altogether and so they provide many miles of trails for the horsemen to enjoy on their weekly outings.    Butch Linder brought up the rear of this trip, which Jack says is usual.  The two of them took turns leaning on the porch rail describing just how they are both related to the same people without being kin to each other.  They both grew up right in this area and so it is almost a chore to draw the distinction and it is a source of much amusement for onlookers.  This week many of these riders will head over to Braddock Lake for their jaunt.   With the “Near Drowning” still fresh in their minds, the Cowboy’s friends will be keeping a close eye on him.     

           School is out this week!  Skyline students are celebrating.  Summer stretches long and lusciously out before them now.  They will learn, when they get older, that summer really passes in quite a great hurry.  Young Meikel Klein will have his fifth birthday on the 17^th and so will go into kindergarten next year.  Grayson Atchison will be in the sixth grade and he will be eleven on the 18^th.  Heidi Strong will have her sixth birthday on the 22^nd and so will be a first grader next year.  Isaiah Collins will be eight on the 23^rd.  He will be in the third grade.  For a few weeks now many students will have choices about what they do through the day.  Some will sleep late.  Some will buck hay to earn a few dollars.  Others will go to camp or visit their Grandmother.  Champions hope they all know that these are some of the days they will look back on with great fondness in the distant future.   The Skyline R2 School Foundation is getting ready for the big Bass Fishing Tournament down at the Spring Creek Boat Ramp in Isabella, MO on the 26^th.  Brian Sherrill has all the good information about it at 417-683-7950.

           A distant Champion News reader writes that she appreciates the reference to the Suffragists Lucy Burns and Alice Paul, who labored against an oppressive regime to secure the voting franchise for women in this Nation.  “In this intensely interesting political climate,” she says, “it is good to remember that women cast more than half the ballots in the national elections and 66.6 percent of female citizens are reported being registered to vote.”  Lucy and Alice would be proud.  The occasion of the Skyline VFD Community potluck dinner brought out quite a number of political candidates.    It was a good chance for them to become acquainted with potential voters and vice versa.  There were no formal speeches made, but plenty of hand shaking and quality chit chat.  The food was plentiful and tasty and the fellowship most pleasant.   It would be a gift if all the political assemblies to come could maintain such a high level of civility with rancorous divisive rhetoric left behind.  People with differing opinions are still neighbors, still live in the same communities, still care about the same things.   

           A young soldier from Rolla was killed while serving in Afghanistan on Saturday.  He was Pfc. Richard McNulty III and he was scheduled to come home soon.  His wife is due to give birth to their first child in late June.   This is one of the many families suffering a terrible loss as the conflict goes on.   Since 2001, there have been 1969 US Military killed there for a total of 3005 coalition military fatalities. They are far away from their homes, but are fighting for the sake of their Nation.  They have Love and Gratitude due them from their Country, as well as some compassion and assistance.  Champions all. 

           Mother’s Day had the phone lines and flower shops busy as Champions paid attention to their favorite ladies.  Esther’s lovely pies got the attention they deserved at the pot luck and Esther herself was treated to dinner by both her sons on Sunday.  She said they really had a good time.      

           Linda’s Almanac says that the 17^th and 18^th will be good days to kill plant pests.   Pig weed is one that many gardeners like to kill, but some encourage lambs quarters, mullen, and dandelions.  It is said that a weed is simply a plant whose virtue is not yet known.  Pig weed has no virtue as far as can be discerned.  After the weeding, Saturday the 19^th will be a good day for planting root crops and for transplanting.  Sunday starts the good planting time for the above the ground crops again and the next good days for those will be the 23^rd and 24^th.  The Almanac is posted on the refrigerator in Henson’s Store and online at www.championnews.us.  It can be found at The Plant Place in Norwood as well.  Rain is being scarce in these parts, but gardeners who can irrigate and mulch stand a good chance of success in this unusual year. 

           Come down to the Historic Emporium on the north side of the Square to sing your favorite rain song.  “I never meant to cause you any sorrow.  I never meant to cause you any pain.  I only wanted to one time see you laughing in the purple rain.”  Whatever the color of the rain, if it is wet it will be welcome in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 7, 2012

                     Moonstruck Champions used many square yards of digital camera space taking pictures of the Super Moon.  Some think of it as phantom film.  Certainly the visage resembled an apparition.   Many just enjoyed the spectacle transfixed with no need to preserve it for the future.   It is quite a Champion thing to recognize the beauty of a moment.  

                  The internet is full of moon pictures from all over the world.  There were certainly some good ones taken around Champion, which has lovely topographical contours even in moon glow silhouette.  Neighbors over on Teeter Creek, southwest of Champion, have been posting some excellent pictures not just of the moon, though it is an excellent photo, but of native plants and herbs.  Fire Pink, for example, is a flower that many will recognize, but just may not have known the name.  There are also pictures of Blue Cohosh, Alum root, Toothwort and Giant Trillium.  The photos are taken out in the woods so it is a great help in identifying so many familiar plants.  The Teeter Creek Herbs site also had some great morel pictures earlier in the Spring.  They are good neighbors and it is a real gift to share knowledge.    A prominent Champion, known more for his work habits and responsibilities than herb lore, was heard explaining that the dandelion flower is very rich in Vitamin A.  Smartweed is a common weed in this area that everyone will recognize.  It is the very herb that the young lady was reported to have been collecting when the damp, shivering cowboy came riding into camp that day.  Conjecture is that it was really stinging nettle that she was collecting in order to prepare a tea for treatment of arthritis.  Whatever the herb, it was a most neighborly thing for her to abandon her own enterprise for the moment to help the struggling rider.  Help is coming in for him from all directions.  Anonymous donors have stopped in at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion with a set of “floaties” though they did not indicate whether they should be used by the cowboy or the horse.  Someone else has left a tiny bar of fine milled French soap (pilfered no doubt from a Parisian hotel) suitable for carrying in a saddlebag, should the wrangler opt for creek side ablutions in the future.  “Savon” by Lane of Paris has a pleasing aroma that may ameliorate the ambient odor of the saddlebags if not the cowboy himself.  Rowdy is supposed to smell like a horse.   Bud Hutchison will lead the annual Champion Trail Ride on Wednesday so there will likely be recounting of the Near Drowning and so much of the focus of the trip will be trying to keep the barber from losing his saddle to laughter.  By the time the bunch gets back to Champion there will probably be more stories to tell and Champion is a good place to tell them and to hear them. 

           Champions are finding ants in flowerpots, under stones and all the regular places inside and outside where ants like to live.  For getting rid of inside ants there are special ‘baits’ that really do the trick.  They are the best on the market for the job and they are the only ant baits available at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion.  It has proven out that the Mercantile has a very expansive inventory and that the diversity of the stock available is made possible by the quality of the merchandise.   It is as simple as that—the good stuff can be found in Champion.  More “good” to recognizes is the quality work being done by the County Road people.   The repair to and dressing up of the aprons at the low water crossings after the big rains makes it a pleasure to come to town.  

                    The outlook for a cooler week ahead has some Champions renewing enthusiasm for their gardens.  From Thursday through Saturday those root vegetables can go in with the prospect of good success.  Prospects for good success are the standard kinds of prospects in Champion.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood also includes information about the best days to prune in order to encourage growth and a list of the month’s best fishing days.   Area fishermen are looking forward to the big bass fishing tournament that will benefit the Skyline R-2 School Foundation.  Local businesses from all around the area are sponsoring the tournament which will be held May 26^th at the Spring Creek Boat Ramp in Isabella Mo.  Contact new Skyline school board member, Brian Sherrill, at 417-683-7950 for more information.  The school year is winding down and the week will be busy with end of the year activities.  Eighth grader Sage Clunn will have his 14^th birthday on the 10^th so he will get a chance to celebrate with his friends before school is out.  Saturday evening the Skyline School cafeteria will be the site of the Skyline VFD Community potluck.  This will be a prime opportunity for people who live in the Skyline Fire District to get together and to meet their volunteer firefighters.  The get-together will start at six p.m. and promises to be a lot of fun.  Her Auxiliary friends are hoping to see Esther Wrinkles there with some of her strawberry-rhubarb pie or whatever she feels like making.  Esther is a good cook and a longtime supporter, actually a founding member, of the fire department.  Anyone interested in the possibility of becoming a volunteer fire fighter or participating in the Auxiliary is urged to come. 

                   Mother’s Day will be a chance for Esther’s family to express their appreciation for her.  She has many fans outside her family as well.  There are some nice pictures of her on the website at www.championnews.us.   She has always been active in the community and has served on the election board for many years.  Mother’s Day is a fine time for the voting public to recognize the women like Lucy Burns and Alice Paul who fought so long and under such oppressive circumstances to gain the right for women to vote.  The 19^th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1920.  Alice Paul said, “When you put your hand to the plow, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row.”  They were great Champions of equal rights for women.  Happy Mother’s Day all you Champion women!  Send your songs and poems about your Mother to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717 or to Champion at getgoin.net.  If you are a good yodeler, come out on the porch at Historic Emporium located on the broad and shady banks of Old Fox Creek and sing that old Jimmy Rodgers tune that goes, “I’ll never forget that promise to my Mother, The Queen of My Heart!”   You will be in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

          The remarkable beauty of the Champion countryside this time of year fairly takes the breath away.  Turn suddenly around any corner to be dazzled by a scene that could well be painted in oil and mounted in a gilded frame on an expansive wall in a great hall to be admired by the unfortunate throngs shambling drearily past in the great elsewhere.  Champion!  Picturesque.

          Many pictures were taken at the family celebration of the second birthday of Miss Taegan Krider.  Cousins, aunts and uncles, grandmothers, and distant kinfolks and relations of all kinds did some big time ‘birthday song’ singing together with the young lady’s parents who both happen to be very fine singers.  Taegan, a.k.a. Peanut, has lots of good reasons to celebrate and Champions are pleased to have such a charming resident.   http://the-dairy-maid.com/ is an excellent place to look for Peanut pictures and progress on her new home as well as all the pretty cows.  It is a happy life.

          Happy birthday to Megan Whitacre, Skyline eighth grader.   She will be 14 on the fifth of May.  Most likely she and her friends are getting pretty excited about the end of school.  Since it has been her birthday every year since she was born, Megan probably knows all about the special significance of the Fifth of May–El Cinco de Mayo.  It is the day in 1862, when the Mexican Army was able to defeat a large French invasion near the city of Puebla.  It was a significant victory for the Mexican forces.   They were ultimately defeated, however, and the French set up Maximilian as emperor.   His reign only lasted three years, because the United States was by that time through the Civil War and able to be of financial assistance to their neighbors.  They were pleased to do so in light of the fact that the victory at Puebla had caused Napoleon such trouble that he had been unable to resupply the Confederate Army thus hastening the end of the Civil War.  Champions can see that a good neighbor policy can pay off in the long run.  Be one to have one—a good neighbor that is.  Good news is that the Dolly Parton Imagination Library is getting some good use through the Skyline School Foundation.   The last applications were given out at Henson’s Store the other day, but they will soon be restocked.  Reading is Champion cool. 

          Champion Pete Proctor writes that Bryan’s family has been with him since February.  His good news is that his son has just a few days left in Qatar, and then he will be home.  Bryan and Jamie are planning to take Pete on a trip to Virginia and Washington DC to see the Viet Nam Wall.  Pete is pretty excited and his Champion friends are glad for him to get to go.  They will be looking forward to the pictures and stories.  Veterans are some of the best story tellers.  They have the Love and Gratitude of the Nation due them and an appreciative audience, as well.  Another stellar local, a real live Veteran and jokester, El Generalissimo P’Shaw, has been ramrodding the Vanzant Community Musical.  David Richardson posted one of his wonderful movies on line and it can be seen by going to www.youtube.com and typing Vanzant Community Center Vanzant Mo(.)   It is 38 minutes long and well worth the time to watch.  It is like being there yourself, and you will recognize everyone.  Very cool.   One would be thanking the General for having such thoughtful and clever friends but he is off playing cowboy.  His pseudonym is “Liberty Valence” and he claims to be so tough that when he steps out in the street the sewers back up.

          Cowhand Jack would have landed flat of his back if the horse had thrown him off on the ground.  Instead of ‘thud’ and ‘grunt,’ it was ‘slosh’ and ‘snort’ and a true wonder the Cowboy didn’t drowned.  They had a nice plunge but forgot the sponge and left the barber astounded. There will be stories to tell of how he rose and fell, but this one in truth is well-grounded.

          A cult is growing up concerning the Near Drowning of Cowboy Jack.   Dramatic readings are being presented on the subject in the Conservatory on a regular basis by the elegant and well-spoken wife of the across the road neighbor of Zip Line Steve and Daring Darleen.  Among the four of them they comprise the stylish set of local Café Society, Café notwithstanding, but rather the Banquet Room at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Historic Downtown Champion.  They and the Emporium’s proprietor, the Barber, the Cowboy, the Farmer and casual stoppers-in can be found in any number enjoying the impassioned reading of the Champion News and recounting of the events of that fateful, near fatal, day. 

          The third and fourth of May will be an excellent time for planting corn, beans, peppers, and other above the ground crops, according to Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood.  The fifth through the seventh will be good days for, beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, peanuts and other root crops.  It says that this will also be a good time for planting cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, celery and other leafy vegetables.  Start seedbeds, it says.  Good days for transplanting.  Just reading the almanac makes some folks tired.  Others find that they cannot do as much physically as they used to do or as they still want to do.  They make sure that they enjoy what they do get done and do not fret overly.  Find the Almanac up at the Plant Place and for inspection down at Henson’s Grocery and Gas or at www.championnews.us. 

          When a stranger becomes a friend, there is that exciting period of time when the two are learning about each other.  While that is going on, sometimes a person gets a view of himself through the eyes of the other and that can be an enlightening experience.  It is a gift when friends share friends with each other.  The mutual friend now has a new facet according to the relationship with each of the previous strangers and each has the pleasure of growing a bond.  It is a Champion thing to acknowledge that friendship is a true blessing.  Making new friends is a good excuse to look at old friends with new appreciation.  What a gift!

          Count your many blessings out on the porch at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium in Downtown Champion.  Admire the flowers and sit a spell.  Send your versions of the Near Drowning or such as that to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to Champion at getgoin.net.  Sing, “He’s an old cowhand, from the Rio Grande.  And he learned to ride, before he learned to stand.  He knows all the songs that the cowboys know, cause he heard ‘em singing on the radio, Woopie Ki Yo Ki Yea!”  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

           Champions do not fret about the unsettled weather.  Having no recourse, they just take what comes their way and make the very best of it.  As the hummingbirds straggle in and the bees occupy the big walnut tree in force, Champions acknowledge the changing of the seasons yet again and have hardly anything but praise for the whole of creation.   

           A nice note arrived from Kenneth (Hovey) Henson the other day.  “Your story of Homer Akers’ wild driving brought back memories.  When Homer came up from behind, people would pull over and let him go flying around.  Beings that the roads were extremely dusty, Dad decided one day that he was going to give Akers a good dusting.  Driving fast or faster he wouldn’t let him get around.  Dad liked to make people laugh.  My brother and I thought it was funny to look back and see frustrated Akers trying to go around us.  Harley Brixey and Ed Sutherland were very amused when we went flying past their house in a fog of dust.  Homer had married into the family, but we never heard anything from them about this incident.”  It is always good to hear from Hovey and his friends and kinfolks back home (here) hope he will make it back to the school reunion this fall.  There is an old cowboy saying that says “You’re either raising dust or you’re eating it.”  It is easy for Champions to imagine how ‘full of it’ the air must have been back in those days.

           The Wednesday Night Waltz was a popular tune long years ago.  These days Wednesdays are given over pretty much to trail riding.  Those fox trotters and others that ride and those that just watch them go by or just hear about the rides down at the store days later seem equally entertained though some do not have so many horse related chores as others.    Last Wednesday a group of about ten seasoned riders got together over at the Rippee Access with the idea that they would ride over past Brown’s Cave and around–about a five hour ride.  There are established trails all around this part of the country and any nice Wednesday can find a half a dozen or twenty-five riders out enjoying the countryside and the pleasant company.  Bud Hutchison will have a ride start up at Champion on May 9^th that will wander over to Drury and around.  This is an annual affair and the outfit always seems to have a good time.  Bud was not on the trail to Brown’s Cave the other day.  He and Wilma were busy working on the redbud trees and the dogwoods that they take care of as a beautification project for their community.   Anyway, these ten or so riders crossed the creek there at Rippee and the water was not too deep, but plenty cold.  It brings to mind that old saying that water and truth are freshest at their source and so straight from the horse’s mouth comes this account.  Now this cowboy will tell you two or three times in a row that he has ridden probably a million miles and has never had anything like this happen to him before.  He also has the reputation of one who would not mislead a person but would be most willing to haul him a load.    All of that aside, it seems that they had forded Rippee and crossed a big field to come up on Bryant Creek about two miles from where they started.  The rains had filled the creek and it was running deep and swift.  A couple named Kate and Steve had crossed already and Charlie Curtis had gone on too.  Then came Joe and Wilma Hamby and they were moving across the stream steadily but slowly when Cowboy Jack on Rowdy came to the water’s edge.  Rowdy is a young horse, not too experienced, but he has an extravagantly long name and the potential to serve as a reliable mount for years to come and he had already carried the cowboy a fair portion of that million miles.    A person would have had to be there to figure out just how it happened that young Rowdy entered the water the way he did.  Maybe the proximity of the Hamby’s horses out in the creek or unease about the riders behind caused him to get just a little crosswise with the current and to lose his footing.  Down he went and the relentless current pummeled the steed so that he could not get his feet under him.  Under him, however, was Cowboy Jack!  The thrashing and splashing went on ceaselessly as the cowboy, rib deep (he is not real tall) in the icy stream, struggled to keep the horse’s head above the water.  The horse flailed and fought to get purchase with his front feet and finally did just before they both went down.  Charlie Curtis went back in the water to retrieve Jack’s floating saddlebags and said that he was thinking that he was probably going to have to go in the drink himself just as Rowdy recovered.  Soaked clear through, the cowboy mounted up and rode the two long cold miles back to the trail head.   There was a young lady there at the access pulling ‘smart weed’ to make a tea for her arthritis.  She helped the cowboy get Rowdy in the trailer and he needed the help.  He was so cold that he did not think about the set of insulated coveralls that he had behind the seat of his truck or the old coats back there.  When he finally made it home and opened the truck door, water ran out on the ground.  It did not take him long to get in the house to dry off and change clothes.  It took him days to get his saddle and gear dried out and cleaned up.  Butch Linder had arrived at the creek just as the excitement was over (Jack says he is always slow), but he has been laughing about it non-stop.  He said that Jack had taken his spring bath without the soap.  They say never ask a barber if you need a haircut, but it is ok to ask Butch on any Wednesday, because he closes up shop to ride.  The cowboys all know “You can’t drown your sorrows, they know how to swim.”  This is probably one of those stories that will be told over and over.  Maybe the next time it will not take so long.    

           Silvana Sherrill is a preschooler at Skyline.  She will be 5 on May first.  Third grader Madison Shearer will be 9 on the second.  Janet White will be 7 on May third.  She is in kindergarten.  Family and friends will help these girls celebrate their birthdays—merry as the Month of May!   They will know that their birthstone is the emerald and the Lilly of the Valley is the official flower of the month.  The full moon is called The Corn Planting Moon and Linda’s Almanac says that the third and fourth will both be good days to plant those above the ground crops.   Esther says, “Thunder in February—frost in May.”   

           Write your horse tales and send them to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO  65717 or tell them out on the porch at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  There are some chairs out there were a person can just sit and talk and talk and talk.  Look for trail ride pictures at www.championnews.us.  Saddle up and hum the Wednesday Night Waltz on your way down to Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!