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CHAMPION—July 18, 2011

        Summertime in Champion is easy as Champions walk about under leafy boughs conducting their business from shade to shade.  The gentle quietitude reflects the liberal distribution of harmonious sentiment.  The unexpected stirring of a breeze is as a gift that plays itself out in contented smiles on the faces of relaxed Champions.  “How are you today?” inquires one of another just arriving.  “Oh, tolerably well,” she replies.  He asks, “What are you up to?”  She says, “I thought I would sit a spell over in the Loafing Shed and then do a little shopping.”  “Well,” says he, “if it is shopping you are interested in, just step on into the Temporary Annex of the Historic Emporium over there on the West Side of the Square.  You’ll not be disappointed!”

        Favorite Champion, Louise Hutchison, is home from her stay in the hospital and is doing well.  She says that she and Wilburn stay busy taking care of each other.  She has had many visitors, phone calls and has received many get-well cards.  Louise is such a vital, productive person that it will likely be a chore for her to slow down though she may not have much choice.  The Skyline Auxiliary had a meeting over in the Loafing Shed last Monday evening and talked a good deal about Louise and the central role she has always played in the Fire Department activities.  Plans and ideas for the Annual Picnic were the subject of much of the conversation.  Louise will be in an advisory position this year and it is sure to be another excellent picnic even with much of the workload redistributed.  A good picture of Esther with the Picnic Quilt was taken at the meeting and may be in the paper, certainly a nice color version can be seen at www.championnews.us, as well as on the refrigerator inside Henson’s Store, where tickets are available.  One Champion is giving tickets for this quilt as a wedding present to a distant nephew who will be married August 23^rd.  It is a gamble, certainly, but the young couple has already determined that, apart from their affection for each other, there are few ‘sure things.’  This quilt is a real beauty, though, and they will be lucky to win it for sure.

        Government regulations require that a ramp built to accommodate the Americans With Disabilities Act not be an eyesore to neighbors.  It is not only Not an eyesore, but quite an attractive little addition to the already beautiful Recreation.  Everything is up to date in Champion, and the ubiquitous loitering onlookers have not proven themselves to be much of an hindrance to progress as they come and go, though it is unknown just how much more could get done without their presence.  They are Champions, after all, much interested and full of the zeal that provokes accomplishment.  No one is critical, because it is just so…so dad blamed pretty!

        Towns named Champion in Texas, New York, North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Ohio are interesting and diverse places.  It turns out that Champion, Pennsylvania is in the southwestern part of that state and at the 2010 census had a population 981.  It seems that the largest employer in the area is the Seven Springs Resort.  It is a ski resort and a convention, event center where elegant weddings and reunions are held.  The schools in Champion, Pa have about 17 students per teacher.  That actually sounds pretty good, nationwide.  Champion, Missouri, deep in the heart of Booger County, also has a favorable teacher/student ratio and some elegant facilities for reunions and weddings and while the topography is certainly steep enough to ski, Champions are pleased not to have so much snow annually to accommodate the practice.  Just a few short months ago it was quite cold around this part of the world.  Champions were reminded that it also gets very cold in Afghanistan where so many American service people are stationed currently.  It gets hot there too, and while many are suffering from the heat here, the stresses and dangers that those serving are experiencing are much more intense.  Champions extend their best wishes for their safe return.  They have the Love and the Gratitude of the Nation due them.

        A big time Kansas City journalist and writer of books has a country home over in Champion South and had occasion to spend a week-end there recently.  The retreat is a short walk down a wooded path from his brother’s home and it provides solitude and comfort for a busy mind.  The first night of his stay, he settled in ready for some rest, when he discovered that a coyote (maybe) had settled in to den up under his house.  While he never caught a glimpse of his guest, it was clear that the animal felt intruded upon and behaved in an aggressive complaining manner all through the night.  The spare room at his brother’s house sheltered him the next night and the story leaked out all the way to the Douglas County Herald.

        An advertisement for the Du Pont Company in the National Geographic Magazine says that the world’s population will grow by 150,000 people daily for the next forty years.  Then it goes on to emphasize how the company is working to find ways to provide everyone with enough safe, nutritious food in collaboration with growers, governments and other companies around the world.  Champion gardeners are particularly partial to some old heirloom varieties of their favorite vegetables—squash, cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers.  A number are experimenting with saving their own seeds from year to year and it is the heirloom plants that can be relied on from year to year to reproduce themselves faithfully.  While hybrid varieties often produce specialized traits and have claims for disease and pest resistance, they cannot be trusted for true replication of themselves the next year, and indeed, may not even produce viable seed.  There is good information available these days on saving seed and conservative Champions are investigating.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood says that root crops can be planted on the 24^th and the 25^th and again on the 28^th and 29^th.  Some Champion housewives are getting the fall turnips in the ground with the hopes that Lem and Ned will be by for a few days this fall.

        A nice chat with Esther, a Champion in residence at Vanzant, revealed several interesting things.  First, her friend Brenda, gave her a picture of the bear up in the sweet gum tree that had traffic stopped on 95 Highway back on the 8^th of July.  She is going to share it around.  Randy and Linda Mallernee stopped in for a visit with her on Saturday.  They were taking some little Oklahoma friends out on a sight seeing tour and dropped in on Esther.  She reported that her son, Larry Wrinkles, and his wife Teresa have just had their twenty-fourth wedding anniversary.  “We’ll sing of the old and we’ll sing of the new.  We’ll sing of the changes in years.  I can’t tell a lie.  Last night we had pie, for the first time in twenty-four years!”  That is an old song that does not apply to Esther’s family and friends.  Years ago the Kelley’s gave Esther the sign that she has up on the wall in her dining room:  “Pie Fixes Everything.”  Champion!  Send the songs that apply to you and your family and friends to Champion News or to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  Sing of the old and of the new right out loud while touring the sites in glorious Downtown Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—July 11, 2011

        Champions have no requirement for others to boast on their behalf.  Neither do they boast themselves, as it is unseemly.  It is enough to acknowledge with a simple nod of the head or a raised eyebrow the pervasive tranquility and completeness of the place.  Laconic locals exchange glances and knowing smiles as they lounge in languid ease in the now famous Loafing Shed while commerce advances around them.  An hour or two in that prime location serves to enlighten and inform.  Champion!

        It was there that Darlene Conner’s little red tomato was summarily devoured by the judges and declared the undisputed winner of the First Ripe Tomato in Champion Contest.  It was ready to eat on the 4^th of July!  Steve and Darlene live up on WW Highway just not all that far from the Champion City Limits.  They bought the place that had been owned by Ruth and Orville Hicks.  Sometime back before Ruth and Orville owned it, Everet Tate lived there and Leona Bull owned it.  That is just information for reference to distant Champion readers.  Steve and Darlene have made the place very much their own and it is lovely.  They moved to Champion a few years ago from Springfield and have become excellent neighbors.  They had hardly been in the area any time at all when they chipped right in to help with the Skyline VFD picnic a few years ago and certain Champions will be pleased to report the enormous help they have been in various phases of construction in Downtown Champion.  The judges sang their praises loudly for any number of reasons as they dabbed at the tomato juice on their various chinney chin chins.  Champion!

        The Skyline Ladies have a meeting planned there for six o’clock on Monday to get that picnic ball rolling.  It should roll as well as Wilburn’s tractor did when he got off of it the other day.  He had been trying to get it started by rolling it and it was being stubborn.  He left it in neutral when he got down off of it and then watched as it took off on its own down the hill where it met up with a tree.  He and Louise just laughed about it.  Now Louise is up in St. John’s Hospital for a few more days doing some physical therapy.  Her Champion and Skyline friends will all be glad when she is home again and they all send their best wishes for a speedy recovery.  Wilburn will be glad to have things back to normal again.  Louise has always been a key player in the Skyline picnic.  Perhaps she will take on the roll of ‘advisor’ or ‘consultant’ this year and leave some of the hard work to others.  Once again Geoff Pardeck from the White River Valley Electric Co-Operative has given his official ‘okey-dokey’ to the donation of a hundred dollars worth of free power to be awarded to some lucky Skyline VFD supporter.  This donation has become an annual occurrence that signifies the community involvement of the co-op.  Champion!

        People around Champion are busy trading produce.  Green beans, cucumbers, squash, peppers and garlic are circulating and Champions are being healthy eaters.  It is easy to do with so much good food around.  Champions are ever mindful of their own good fortune relative to most of the rest of the world.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood shows that the 14^th will be good for planting above-ground crops.  Then the 15^th and 16^th will be good for planting beets, carrots, salsify, Irish potatoes and other root crops.  Bill Long says to dig potatoes in the dark of the moon so they will keep better.  Get a look at that almanac on the refrigerator in Henson’s Store currently located in the Temporary Annex next to the Loafing Shed and across the boulevard from the Recreation of the Historic Mercantile on the North Side of the Square in downtown Champion.  The almanac is also available at www.championnews.us and up at Linda’s Place in Norwood. 

        Neighbors over in Vanzant had themselves a delightful picnic.  Bill Emory was busy telling about the traffic jam out on 95 Highway Friday evening caused by a little bear up in a sweet gum tree.  The story was verified by a number of people some of whom were able to take pictures.  While people were looking at the pictures in their cameras and milling around, the little bear got down and got away.  What direction he went is anybody’s guess.  Bill did caution Esther Wrinkles to be careful when she got home.  The picnic was well organized and that fish dinner was a bargain—not to mention the pies!  The music was good.  The children had great games to enjoy and a super bouncing house.  Neighbors got together to do some serious visiting.  Saturday night the crowd was extraordinary and Esther said that the fireworks were spectacular.  This was the 45^th annual Vanzant Picnic.  Well done! Again!  The Veterans organizations were well represented at the picnic and there were many expressions of Love and Gratitude for all those who serve and who have served to the benefit of the nation.

        Those Tennessee boys were in town for the picnic and to spend a few days with their Grandmother.  There has been much fun afoot.  They are growing up.  Dakota has his driver’s license now and Dillon is taller than his Aunt Tanna.  Foster and Kalyssa are just wild about their older cousins and love it that they will play with them.  Foster has a doctor’s appointment Wednesday to find out why he has been having a bad stomach ache from time to time.  Nobody likes a sick child.  Of course, everyone who knows Foster loves him; they just do not like it when he is under the weather.  When he is feeling good, the whole world is a happy place, so Champions all keep him in their best thoughts for a quick remedy.

        In recent weeks the communities of Champion, TX, Champion, NY, Champion, NC, and Champion, WI have all been explored.  Each of these spots on the globe has its own particular charm, but none comes close to the pacific, irenic nature of Champion, MO sheltered with all discretion on the wide and unbridled banks of Old Fox Creek, where lives a groundhog of such gigantic proportions that folks over in Spotted Hog are jealous.  (Not to dredge up old scores, but they have long been jealous of Champion for myriad good reasons.)  Champion, Ohio is east of Cleveland some fifty or so miles and about that far south of Lake Eerie.  It is in Trumbull County, which was established in 1800.  The Township was named after the man who owned it, Henry Champion.  When he died in 1825, the western half of the township went to his son, Aristarchus Champion, and the eastern half to his son-in-law, Henry C. Trumbull.  In the census of 2000, the population density of Champion Township, OH was 378 per square mile.  Champion, MO is in Beautiful Booger County, MO, which boasts approximately 17 persons per square mile.  Champion!

        The Non-Blondes, Randy Travis and a group called Devo all have songs called “No Place Like Home.”  Blu Cantrell’s song of the same name includes these thoughts:  “I’ve met a lot of different people and I have seen my share of things.  So much I have come across while traveling.  But nothing can compare to what I have come to know and love…There is no place, quite like home.”  Come take a stroll around the Square and see the sights! What a delight!  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—July 4, 2011

        “Champions are pleased to be Americans and to sit in safety under their own vines and fig trees where none make them afraid.  Here paths are scattered with light and in all their several vocations Champions are useful and accustomed to happiness.  It would be inconsistent with the frankness of their character if these Champions were not to avow that they are pleased with life in this lovely place and grateful.”  It seems that the General drew heavily on the style of that other General George Washington in this oration, though it was to a sleepy crowd at the Champion’s Annual Sunrise on Independence Celebration.  The poor attendance was counterbalanced with the tidiness of the throng so that when it was all over, it appeared never to have happened.  Look at www.championnews.us to find a stirring rendition of America The Beautiful particularly that verse that says, “O beautiful, for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved and mercy more than life!”  Find all the words and music there too for When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again—“Hurrah! Hurrah!”

        “Since it is Independence Day, I think I’ll do just as I please,” said a particularly popular and productive Champion.

        A nice note from Eva Henson Phillips of Bella Vista, AR says that she recently attended her All School, Ava reunion where she had a great time.  Her friend, Cathy, brought her the Herald where she read about Esther Wrinkles having a 94^th birthday.  She knew Esther back in Champion when her family lived near Rufus Keller’s farm.  He was Esther’s dad and his farm is still in the family.  Eva said she would send a card.  Hopefully Eva will make it to the Champion Reunion again this year.  Esther will be there.  On the Fourth, Esther was expecting her son Larry and his wife Teresa and her son Lonnie, his wife, Verla, their daughter Deanna and her husband Greg, and their son Gavin, and maybe others.  Ah Family!  How Champion!

        The Skyline Ladies Auxiliary celebrated Esther’s birthday with a cake and a song at their meeting under the pleasant canopy of the Loafing Shed on Tuesday.  Then they got right down to business with the picnic planning.  It is just around the corner a few weeks away, but the very next corner is the Vanzant Picnic coming up on the 8^th and 9^th.  This is likely to be an excellent picnic this year on account of a recent influx of interest in the old Clifty Hall School and all the enthusiasm of all the fine folks that live in that neighborhood.  Champions will be there in bunches to celebrate with the Vanzantians.

        A favorite Champion curmudgeon celebrated his birthday on the 1^st and Karen, the mail carrier, said, “He’s almost a Firecracker!”  Almost?!  Karen, herself, is a Firecracker with two big gardens, 100 tomato plants and green beans to give away already!  They say if you want something done to give it to the busiest person around.  The Nation celebrated 235 years on the 4th and on the 6^th Darrell Haden turns 80.  He was raised over in Smallett and made some youthful memories, cutting a fine swath around Ava.  They have their Haden Family Reunion on the same day as the Champion School Reunion every year on the Saturday before Labor Day.  Perhaps when the Hadens come for their reunion, they will have a chance to take a gander at the recreation of the Historic Emporium in Downtown Champion, so long as they are in the neighborhood.  Darrell shares his birthday with the Dalai Lama who will be 76 this year.  He has stepped down from his political role in Tibet, but is still the spiritual leader.  He says that whether one believes in a religion or not, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t appreciate kindness and compassion.  Everyone finds himself in a situation where he would like to ease the suffering of some dear friend or family member.  Sometimes there are chores, errands, and meals that can be taken over for a while and sometimes there is nothing to be done apart from affirming that desire to help.

        The tree huggers were out in force at the Mill Pond again on the Fourth.  Old friends so seldom seen have much to share with one another—a year’s worth of happenings, births, deaths, marriages, gardens and yarns.  There was one story told about how a prominent lawyer and public servant on his way to the funeral of a dear old friend came upon the hearse broken down on a lonely dirt road.  The ‘old friend’ was not in a coffin but just on a gurney covered with a blanket on his way to a little country chapel where his many friends waited in the 102º August heat to bid him farewell.  There was no way to repair the hearse quickly and time was ticking by so it was decided that the two of them would transfer the old gentleman’s body into the Jeep of the friend for transport.  And so it was done with just exactly enough room to accommodate him in his supine position.  Meanwhile, back at the chapel, mourners were waiting and wondering.  When the Jeep backed up to the door questioning glances were exchanged and when the pop cans and beer bottles left over from a recent outing, rolled out of the back as the door was opened a ripple of laughter passed through the crowd.  Their old friend would have loved it!  Things do not always happen for the best, but they happen and it is up to friends to make the best of them.  That is a Champion precept. 

        Wonderful rain and wonderful natural fireworks kept the night sky busy as the Fourth of July gave way to the fifth.  Gardens are flourishing and the air is heavy with optimism.  There is a report that the First Ripe Tomato in Champion Contests has been won and so life goes on in Champion.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood says that from the seventh to the eleventh all those days are good for planting, thus gardeners who have been slow to get things in still have some time for some nice fall crops.  Find that almanac at www.championnews.us or at the Plant Place or posted on the fridge at Henson’s Store temporarily located just across the broad expanse of Lonnie Krider Memorial Avenue from the Recreation of the Historic Mercantile which is approaching perfection.  Autumn will be here in the blink of an eye.  Keep your eyes wide open and your happy hearts light.  Music has real medicinal qualities.  “Look on the brighter side, shadows will pass away.”  That is from a song frequently sung in Champion where the citizenry is always Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—June 27, 2011

        Champions are by their very natures ‘time travelers’ as they move effortlessly from the present to the past and the future.  The cicadas are gone!  Everyone knew they were here, but no one seems to be thinking about how they are gone now.  One old Champion says it is only just a little quieter now because she hears that little crickety sound in her head all the time.  It is called tinnitus and occurs for various reasons among older people.  It may be that some of those older Champions will be around in thirteen years to hear the male offspring of this brood sing again.  Apparently there are two basic types of cicadas, one being that 13 to 17 year bunch that Champions just enjoyed and the other is the periodic cicada.  These insects have a 2 to 8 year cycle and “seem” to appear every year in some areas, because their life cycle is staggered.  Actually, a different brood is hatching each year to make it seem like they are annual.  Some Champions can remember thirteen years ago when there was an harmonic convergence of cicada as thirteen year broods hatched out simultaneously with some two and seven year outfits.  It was dazzlingly loud.  Now some Champions are comforted to know that they will not have to wait the full thirteen years to hear them again.  June rolls around regularly.  Champion!

        Mail carrier, Karen Goss, is the major link that many Champions have with the rest of the world and she is much appreciated for her good work.  Back in May she enjoyed the company of her daughter and family down from Minot, N.D.  Tony, Gavin, and Noah Owens are her grandchildren and they live on the U.S. Air Force Base near Minot where their Dad is stationed.  They have not been affected by the flooding up there personally except to the extent that they are witnesses to historic events and are, no doubt, acquainted with newly displaced persons.  The wild vicissitudes of nature remind Champions that it not ‘safe’ anywhere on the world.

        Norwood has enjoyed regular rain in recent weeks–Linda said about every two or three days.  Postmaster, Kirk Dooms, said that while Norwood has seen frequent showers, over in Sweden they have hardly had a drop.  Champion is somewhere in the middle, but not complaining.  Kirk’s Aunt Esther Wrinkles said it would have been good to be able to store up all that rain from back around Easter and use it a little along as needed.  Gardeners would sure like that.  Linda’s Almanac says that the 30^th is the best day for planting root crops and excellent for sowing seedbeds and flower gardens also that it is a good day for transplanting.  Some are struggling with the aphids and not wanting to use insecticides because they have some friendly bugs (the Ladies) that they want to protect and encourage.  One is setting ant traps hoping to disrupt the ant colonies that ‘farm’ the aphids.  If it were not such a challenge to grow them, those wonderful tomatoes would not taste so good.  Anticipation is building as the “First Ripe Tomato in Champion Contest” is in its final days.  Just a little salt, perhaps, and the tomato juice will be flowing.  Certainly some are salivating already.  The antique (old) fruit jar will soon change hands and the blank spot on the “Certificate of Champion Achievement” will be filled in with the winner’s name.  Remember that song, “Just two things that money can’t buy and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.”

        A nice chat with Pete Proctor covered a lot of territory.  He has been up to Columbia to the convention of all the VFW Posts in Missouri where his Mountain Grove Post 3770 was acknowledged for its good activities and good leadership.  Pete’s son is Bryan is stationed in Qatar currently where he is scheduling airlifts over Iraq and other places ‘over there.’  It is easy to see how proud Pete is of his son.  Pete joined the many Veterans who attended the memorial service for Private Matthew England over in Gainesville a week ago Sunday.  Pete travels in support of the Patriot Riders and said that there were 119 motorcycles in the throng.  He said that there were protesters there from the Westboro Baptist Church but that they were not able to get close to the actual memorial service.  He also said that there were signs in windows of restaurants and other businesses in Gainesville that indicated the businesses would not serve the protesters.  There was a report of some livestock trailers having been positioned so as to block the progress of the protesters.  Interestingly enough, Pete said that when people are in the area around Topeka, Kansas they are making it a point to protest against what they call a hate group at the church which is located on West 12^th street about three miles west of the Kansas State Capitol.

        Several gathered at the Skyline School on September 21^st to learn more about the Skyline R-2 School Foundation that will be an affiliate of the Community Foundation of the Ozarks.  The School Board will be appointing five board members for the new foundation, which has a purpose of supplementing the school’s income to better serve the children of the Skyline District.  One of the interesting topics covered was Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library.  This is a program that Dolly started up in her home county over in East Tennessee.  Her idea is to foster a love of reading among preschool children and their families by providing a brand new, age appropriate book each month to every child from birth to age five regardless of their family’s income.  Their last month in the program they receive a book called “Look Out Kindergarten Here I Come.”  Find out more about it at www.imaginationlibrary.com.  The program can go a long way to foster a successful school experience, which, of course, makes Champions in life.  Look in on the home of the Skyline Tigers at www.skylineschool.org.

        Mr. and Mrs. D.M. Cline will be returning from their extended summer vacation along toward the end of the week.  It will be exciting to hear all their observations and reflections concerning traveling, being home, and myriad other subjects.  It will be particularly interesting to learn if they were able to visit Champion, N.C. to inspect their excellent Champion Volunteer Fire Department.  Next time they go a’wanderin perhaps they will check out Champion, WI.  It is an unincorporated community in the town of Green Bay in Brown County, Wisconsin.  It is part of the Green Bay Metropolitan area.  Champion is the home of the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help.  The Virgin Mary is said to have appeared there three times to Belgium immigrant Adele Brise in 1859.  Devotees have since visited the site to pray for miracles and to seek solace and comfort.  In December Green Bay Bishop David Ricken read a proclamation that said the Vatican in Rome approved the formal declaration that puts the Shrine at Champion on the same Ecclastical level with the Shrines at Fatima, Lourdes, Guadalupe, and other places where there have been Marian apparitions.  At home, local Champions will host the Skyline VFD Ladies Auxiliary meeting on the 28^th.  It happens to be Esther’s birthday.  She is a vision!  Eva Powell is too and will also be celebrating all week.  Champions know how to do it!  Happy days to them and to Butch Kara!  Felicidades! 

        Find solace and comfort in metropolitan Champion, Missouri, nestled discretely in the luscious leafy bosom of Booger County where there are never any plumbing problems and summer days are delicious.  Stroll about the Historic District and see past, present, and future all come together in a little country store!  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—June 20, 2011

        Champion fathers were much in the thoughts of Champions on Sunday as they often are.  Old timers remembered their old time fathers long gone from the world and others remembered with sweet sadness fathers who have only recently passed away.  It was good luck for everybody with a dad to see the old guy or to talk to him or just to remember him and the good things he did back in those youthful days.  When grandmothers talk about how much they had loved their own grandfathers that feeling of continuity is encouraging even when the father’s fathers are not ones own.  People in this country have been marking a special day of acknowledgement for fathers since about the time Champion first showed up on a map.  One good thing leads to another in Champion.

        Summer officially arrives at 12:16 p.m. Tuesday the 21^st with the longest day of the year and the shortest night.  This celestial event is celebrated around the world, most notably in England at Stonehenge and Avebury, where thousands gather to welcome the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.  Champions have their individual ways of marking the day.  One family watches the splash of sunlight coming through one particular window and marks it with a pencil on the wall when it reaches its farthest point.  They check to see if it matches up with last year’s mark, just to verify that the world is turning according to schedule.  Modern associations with the solstice go to the idea of lucky June weddings and honeymoons.  Staci and Dustin Cline are off on a second honeymoon after three successful years of marriage.  They are spending time in Tennessee with Linda and Marty Watts and then heading out to get a good look at the ocean.  Linda has her birthday on the 21^st so there will surely be some partying going on. Champions look forward to their report.  The 21^st is also the birthday of Sierra Parsons, a Champion granddaughter, who must be sixteen this year!  Where does the time go, Grandmother Judith?

        Perhaps the Clines will drive through Champion, North Carolina on their way to the ocean.  The community is in Wilkes County and it shows up on the map a little south of the Blue Ridge Parkway and a little east of the Cherokee National Forrest.  The current population of Champion, NC is said to be 1,561 people.  The community is very proud of the Champion Volunteer Fire Department, which has two substations and covers an enormous area.  The northern part of their fire district is rugged and mountainous.  The largely rural area has many homes built deep in the woods.  The southern area has some quite high-end resort kinds of residences on the water.  The fire chief there says that as first responders they go on as many as two hundred medical assist calls a year.  That is about what the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department does.  All of the Skyline fire fighters are first responders and they go through the annual training programs to maintain their certifications.  Champion, Missouri deep in Douglas County is quite fortunate to have the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department in such close proximity.  The Skyline VFD Ladies Auxiliary will meet in Downtown Champion on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at 1:30 in the afternoon.  Anyone in the fire district is welcome to attend.  There will be old business to discuss and the new business will most likely be centered around the Skyline Picnic which is scheduled for August 12^th and 13^th this year.  There will also be some lovely business of celebrating Esther Wrinkles 94^th birthday.  She has been a tireless worker for the fire department since it started up many long years ago and her contributions are much appreciated.  Eva Powell, another auxiliary member, will mark her birthday on the 29^th as will KZ88 Radio personality Butch Kara.  Celebrating friends and neighbors is a very Champion thing to do–very Champion!

        A Champion gardener is having difficulties with a raccoon damaging garden plants as it digs around under the mulch and makes a general mess and nuisance of itself.  Four nights in a row it has thwarted the ‘hav-a-heart’ trap and has made off with the bait.  The second night, the critter spent some time in the trap and left a little tuft of hair, but managed to escape.  It must be the same raccoon that the Champions spouse wanted to shoot earlier the previous week.  The gardener spoke up to discourage the killing, but now has had second thoughts.  It is quite probable that there are several raccoons responsible for the mayhem in the garden, so it is hoped that there will be several relocations of raccoons from Champion North to, well, no telling, or maybe that spouse will do some dispatching.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood shows that the 22^nd and 23^rd will be good days for planting root crops, as will the 26^th, 27^th, and 30^th.  Check out the almanac at www.championnews.us in the links section.  Get a look at those First Ripe Tomato in Champion Contest Winners there too.  It could happen any time now, a Champion with the winning ripe home grown tomato could waltz into Henson’s Store with it.  It is not required that the contestant waltz, just that he (or she) be willing to share that tomato with the judges who will verify its ripeness and award the prizes. “Prizes?” you say.  Yes, indeed there are prizes!  For starters there will be the old fruit jar (antique) and some canning jar lids and perhaps some other things as well.  Organizers are getting organized and will hopefully have their act together before the tomatoes start rolling in. 

        Private First Class Matthew Joseph England was killed earlier this month while serving in Iraq.  He was 22 years old and had lived in Ozark County since he was a small child.  A memorial service was held for him in Gainesville on Sunday as miles of cars, emergency vehicles, and veterans lined up to pay tribute to him.  Champions honor all those Veterans and those serving in and out of uniform at the behest of the Nation and extend to them and to those they leave behind Love and Gratitude for their service.

        Some Champions are looking into old song books to be sure they remember the words to some of those patriotic songs that are sure to be sung in masse at the Annual Champion Fourth of July Celebration.  “He has trampled down the village where the shapes of wasps annoyed” or “there the drapes of glass avoid.” Send your own favorite patriotic song to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to Champion News.  Remember “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and sing it out loud as you wander the wide and wooly banks of Old Fox Creek on the Eastern boundary of the bucolic wonderland that is Champion–”Glory, glory Hallelujah!” Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—June 13, 2011

        Unrelenting optimism and profound Gratitude are some of the hallmarks of Champion as a community and of Champions as individuals.  One Champion, as she turned to address a long series of kinks and crimps in her garden hose, smiled recalling the absolute delight that she had felt last winter upon finding such a wonderful bargain on a fifty foot garden hose.  It was easily a third less expensive than the last one she had purchased.  Such a bargain!  Prudence requires her to use the hose now though it is time consuming, easily by a third, and inconvenient.  Next year when she has to replace this one, as she surely will, she will recall with a smile how seldom she had sworn at the old one.  When her neighbor’s numerous cats visit her garden beds as if they were sand boxes, she recalls how often she has seen one of them leaving her place with a large rat in its mouth.  Balance, perspective, forbearance, humility, and humor are all Champion traits, along with Love and Gratitude.

        Champions traveling to Norwood have been treated to an unusually brilliant display of Echinacea blooming along both sides of the road for several miles.  Sections of this stretch of highway have always sported nice stands of the charming pink flower but his year is unusual.  Perhaps the abundant rain earlier in the year had an effect.  It may be that reduced funding for MODOT has caused a slowdown in the roadside mowing.  Maybe the mowing will come after the blooming.  The stringent rules concerning the harvesting of roadside plants may have been a factor.  Whatever the reason or combination of reasons, Champions are pleased at the sight and glad for the conservation of such an interesting and beautiful plant.  Echinacea was one of the basic antimicrobial herbs of eclectic medicine from 1850s through the early 1900s and its use was documented for snakebite, anthrax and for relief of pain.  In recent years it has been used to help stave off colds and flu.  It is said that Native Americans learned of Echinacea by observing elk seeking out the plants and consuming them when sick or wounded.  Seek them out at The Plant Place up in Norwood rather than on the side of the road.  Linda always has some good information to share about whatever growing thing interests you. Check out her almanac at www.championnews.us or get a copy from her.  She will tell you to deadhead your flowers to encourage them to continue to bloom since the plant’s goal is to produce seed.  “Deadheading” means to pick off the wilted, spent flowers.  The term is also used by truckers who are driving down the road without a load.  In aviation, deadheading is a term used when members of an airline’s flight staff are carried free of charge but not working.  The term also applies to the recipients of free tickets to theaters, concerts and the like who are seated in unsold seats after the performance has started as a way to increase the audience’s overall responsiveness to the performance.  To deadhead a pump means to restrict its discharge completely.  That is not a problem for centrifugal pumps, such as sump pumps, but for horizontal split case pumps, positive displacement pumps, turbine pumps, piston pumps and jet pumps deadheading can be the death of the pump.  Champions know their pumps and have no concern about vandals taking the handles.  Some use ‘deadhead’ to comment on the intellect of another person (not Lem or Ned) or to indicate that one is a die-hard fan of the band The Grateful Dead.  Bluegrass mandolin legend Jesse McReynolds has released “Songs of the Grateful Dead” on Woodstock Records according to www.mandolincafe.com.  Songs covered on the album include The Wheel, Fire on the Mountain, Deep Elem Blues and Black Muddy River.  Champions who have not been over to Poplar Bluff in a while wonder how folks there are getting along as they recover from the big flood of the Black River.  The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said this summer’s Missouri River flooding could rival the record years of 1952 and 1993 in some places in Missouri where it could rise as much as ten feet above flood stage.  It all goes downstream.  Champions extend their best wishes for a good recovery to all the storm and flood victims all around the country.  The Missouri National Guard has been and will continue to be responding to these disasters.  Champions appreciate all those wearing uniforms of the Nation.

        A Champion friend informs gardeners that sweet-corn can be planted as late as July 15^th with the expectation of a good harvest.  It seems that haymaking is one of those activities that can really get in the way of a gardener.  Timing is everything.  Harley was heard to say that if they had not paid attention to the weatherman they would have had their hay in by now.  He left some nice tomatoes and green beans in his garden up in Illinois and will be glad to get back to see how they are doing and to enjoy the always pleasant company of Barbara.  He seems to be glad to be wherever he is at the time and that is the mark of a real Champion.  Foster and Kalyssa have been having a good time with cousins Eli and Emmie who have been visiting for a few days.  It is summertime and children are enjoying their heyday.

        Champion, New York is a town in Jefferson County in the north central part of the state.  It was named after General Henry Champion, settled in 1798 and at the 2010 census it had a population of 4,494.  The Black River flows along the town’s east boundary, but it is most likely not the same Black River that flows through Poplar Bluff.  Champion, Missouri, by contrast, sits on the broad shady banks of Fox Creek.  Population estimates are subjective and vary according to who is doing the telling.  No real information has come to light concerning the origin of the name of the beautiful place, so if you know, share your knowledge of the place name at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO or at Champion News.  Stroll around the square to count the locals, or to assess the relative merits of the old and new as the recreation of the Historic Emporium settles in next to the tidy little garden and starts to appear as if it has always been there.  It is not a replica of the old store, but it very much has the flavor of the old place and affection and appreciation for its many fine qualities is growing steadily.  Off in the future it will become the old store that many remember from the prime of their Champion lives.  “Sometimes the lights’s all shinin’ on me, other times I can barely see.  Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip it’s been.”  What a trip!  To Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!