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CHAMPION—April 6, 2009

        April slipped in to Champion quietly as the March lamb left and all was springly sweet and pleasant those first few days.  T.S. Elliot was right though when he said, “April is the cruelest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain.”  Mr. Elliot wrote his poem, “The Waste Land,” in 1922, and it lives up to its name with some very dreary imagery.  Clearly, he was not from around here because even the brutal cold winds of those next few days with threats of snow and frozen flowers did not frost the spirits of Champions though they may have been picking ticks from their long handles.

        Long time Champion Minnie Snoddy marked her 100^th birthday recently.  She lives at the Ava Place and her daughter-in-law, Louise Hutchison, said the dining hall was so full of people they couldn’t be stirred with a stick.  It was a great party.  The Mayor gave Ms. Snoddy a key to the city but nobody said what it unlocks.  These wonderful gatherings always unlock a lot of memories though, so the day was full of all the best things…family and friends.  A big group from Iowa, which included her son, Manuel Hutchison, and much of his family, joined with local family to honor a great Champion.

        Those Tennessee boys have been back in the neighborhood.  They are growing up fast.  They like coming to Champion and are always a big help on the farm.  Dakota has been doing a lot of scrubbing in the dairy barn and there is not much telling what all Dillon has been up to.  He is great entertainment to his younger cousins, Foster and Kalyssa.  He and Foster have the same kind of cowboy boots…snakeskin with brass trim–very fancy.  Kalyssa is developing her singing voice.  Her vocabulary is expanding rapidly and so is her vocal range.  It has been clear since she was just a little thing that her Grandfather Krider’s music legacy has found a fine home.  That gift has been spread liberally among Lonnie’s grandchildren.  Some will not give up volume for control, but that is just a matter of youth.  Their great uncle Harley has some volume and some control of some things.  He was part of that Arthur Peterson led trio…he and Eldridge Hicks and Larry Wrinkles.  Those three could blend voices, it is said, in such a way as to draw tears from the eyes of cynics, snobs, and beaurocrats, as well as from the eyes of honest farm people and shopkeepers.  Perhaps the trio might reunite and reprise some of their earlier work.  They may last have sung together in the 1960’s, so they might better hurry if the legend is to be preserved.  Harley and Barbara will be back in town for the Champion Easter Parade and Egg Roll so a musical interlude might be forthcoming.  Fashionista Barbara will be setting the standard for Spring attire as usual.  Hopefully their visit will overlap with the Tennessee contingent and if Vivian Floyd can make it over from Rogersville, Champion will be roiling in pleasantness!

        Sometime after his Mother’s 100^th birthday party, Wilburn Hutchison went over to the Plant Place in Norwood and got himself some Egyptian Walking Onions.  They are also known as winter onions and dividing onions and probably other things.  He had been looking for some for a while so he was really pleased to learn that Linda had some.  She has her Almanac for April out as well which indicates that the 10^th of April all the way through the 14^th will be good planting days.  When April finally decides to behave herself, gardeners can get back out there and get some groceries in the ground.  Unsettled weather is, well, unsettling and while Champions are not dependent upon the weather for their happiness, their gardens are different stories.  Patience is a Champion virtue put to the test by natures vicissitudes.  “Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for any fate; Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.”  That’s Longfellow’s advice in the “Psalm of Life.”  He sounds like a Champion.

        The Military Service is an honorable calling from which the entire population benefits.  Love and Gratitude is the soldier’s due from the Nation he serves.  The men and women in the dangerous places of the world doing now what is asked of them will have requests of their own when they get home.  Their families struggle in the difficult economy and Champions find ways to help.

        Charlene Dupre has her good right arm pinned together with some big fancy pins.  She can still manage to hold a hand of cards, however, and on Saturday night she sat in for the absent Vera Cruz player at the Fortnight bridge game.  She was the decided victor with a  score of 7050.  Brushy Knob came in second at 4850 and Champion third at 4230.  Norwood was low with 4090 points.  That player took home $.50 and Charlene walked off with the grand prize money of $1.40!  The Champion hostess served chicherrones, Cheetos and cherry pie.  She means well.

        Music adds richness to life.  It holds keys to memory and emotion, lifts spirits and opens the floodgates to release great sorrow.  What a wonderful gift!  Rudy Valley sang, “Keep A Little Song Handy wherever you go and nothing can ever go wrong.”  Things can and do go wrong, but those little songs can be a comfort.  Songs about love and home and tomatoes are all welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717.  Guy Clark, who wrote that song about home grown tomatoes, also wrote one about tornadoes.  He said, “take the paint right off your barn……blow the tattoo off your arm!”

        Champions will hope to have no reason to sing that song as some are very attached to their tattoos.  For almost any situation there is a song.  Email interesting ones to Champion News.  At the www.championnews.us website in the “School Reunions” category a person can hear a short selection of Lonnie Krider, Wayne Anderson and Wayne’s daughter singing “We Live in Two Different Worlds.”  The administrator of that site hopes to have more of that good music up soon.  Meanwhile, a person can stand out on the porch at Henson’s Store and gaze down the broad expanse of Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive and feel a little melody rise up in him.  Now he can send picture postcards taken from that very spot to lift the hearts of unfortunates living elsewhere in the dull and dreary parts of the world.  Champions are a melodious lot and are ever Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—March 29, 2009

        In Champion the old weather adage about March played out this year.  March came in like a lion and left like a lamb.  He entered in a blizzard that startled sweet southern visitors and Chili Supper attendees.  He is leaving with lilacs in his hair across flower strewn lawns that already need mowing.  The seasons roll around.

        Great news has come from Champions Pete and Kate Proctor.  Their son, Bryan, is back in the US and by now is back home with his family.  He has been in Afghanistan.

        Any family with a soldier deployed to the dangerous places of the world has a great gladness about them when their loved one gets home.  Love and Gratitude.  Bryan’s grandmother, Ruby Proctor, says that he is a very good-natured person and he says, “It’s my job.”  She does hope that he will be home for a while.  Ruby misses Champion and living in the country.  She says it will always be home to her.  She misses making a garden but says that Barbara is working full time and making a garden too!  They are a busy family.

        “The best laid schemes ‘o mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.”  Often that line is paraphrased in English as ‘The best laid plans of mice and men / Often go astray.”  Robert Burns wrote it in a poem called “To A Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest, With the Plough.”  He wrote the poem in 1785, but it could well have been written in Champion on March 32^nd, 2009.  Not that anyone is plowing up mice, but rather trying to keep the plough out of the armadillo hole!  The first and only one time ever event previously referred to as the First Ever Biennial Armadillo Round Up and Art Festival has been taken a step back.  The (Secret Planning) Committee presented pertinent and worrisome issues to the General in a secret planning session at an undisclosed place and time.  An anonymous source reports that there had been no provisions made for the health and safety of the proposed spectators in the presences of so many dead and decaying armadillos, not to mention the live ones.  At the very least some variance from the Health Department or the Conservation Department should have been arranged.  This issue the General summarily and judiciously adjudicated by saying, essentially, “ Very well then!  All entries will henceforth be presented in photographs or other visual media not to include any actual armadillo parts or substances.”  The deadline for entries is April 30, 2009.

        What the General did not say was that two of the headline participants in the Art Show have each had a calamity that prevents the completion of their entries!  Barbara Krider has been flat on her back getting accustomed to her new stent!  She is making a good recovery and will in all likelihood be satisfied to simply photograph her original armadillo handbag collection.  They are couture.  She is rumored to have the largest and most complete collection of couture armadillo handbags east of the Mississippi.  Her avant guard fashion senses and adventurous nature are frequently the subjects of comment in her absence.  Charlene Dupre’s calamity came in the form of a broken arm!  A misstep and a tumble has her good right arm immobilized now and her good left arm is in training just to do the ordinary chores!  Charlene is a talented artist who works in a variety of mediums.  Many of her pieces can be seen at The Gift Corner over at the Plant Place in Norwood.  Her foray into florescent armadillo forensics will have to be put on hold until she has use of both arms again.  That plaster of Paris doesn’t mix itself.  Then, of course, the Art Guild’s own Donna Moskaly with blue ribbon winning paintings already on display at Henson’s Store, has yet to receive her invitation to participate!  The General’s confusion (partially) has been concerning the amateur status of the entries.  Ms. Moskaly is a professional artist with accolades and notoriety, not to mention a tenured spot in the hierarchy of the established art community.  It was on this point that the SPC finally took its overdue stand with the General.  He ultimately agreed that exclusivity is passé.  Anyone who wishes to participate may do so by sending a photo or rendering (no lard please) of an original art work depicting the life or demise of armadillo.  E-mail them to Champion at getgoin.net.  Send them in the mail to Champion Items (Armadillo Department) Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717 or stop them off at Henson’s Store on the North side of the Square, just off Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive, in Historic Downtown Champion.  (Entries from Spotted Hog are subject to dismissal without cause.)  There is no entry fee and as yet no prize, as the General has been busy.  Judging will be done in secret during the Champion May Day Celebration and the results announced eventually. 

        Not only is March 32^nd April Fools Day, but it is a poor day for planting. The second through the fourth will be good for planting anything that bears its yield above ground.  That is according to Linda’s Almanac.  A distant Champion e-mailed that “Homegrown Tomatoes,” the song, was written by Guy Clark.  “There’s nothin’ in the world that I like better than Bacon, lettuce and home grown tomatoes Up in the morning and out in the garden Pick you a ripe one, don’t get a hard un.  Plant ‘em in the springtime eat ‘em in the summer, All winter without ‘em’s a culinary bummer.  I forget all about the sweatin and the diggin Every time I go out and pick me a big’un.”  It is a three cord song, so even the General could play this one! 

        Mary Graham still has the little dog Brownie who needs a good home.

        Meanwhile, tomato songs, reasons for Love and Gratitude, garden advice and best laid plans of mice and men may be sent to the usual addresses.  Wander around in the www.championnews.us website just for another look at Champion.  Ms. McCallie will be pleased to know that her Champion picture postcards are in the mail and now she can join Champions in Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—March 23, 2009

        In Champion the flowering trees have just become full blown and already the wind is dispersing those blossoms.  So it is in life—it all happens so quickly.  Champions stay in the moment appreciating the beauty while it’s going on.

        Mary Graham, who lives over in Champion East, has a pretty little terrier-heeler mix at her house that showed up there back in December badly mauled.  He’s healthy now and is a good little watch-dog and varmint dog, going after rats and rabbits.  Mary thinks he is about two years old.  He weighs 10 to 12 pounds and has short brown hair.  She calls him Brownie.  He’s not house-broken so he will need a pen or a fenced yard, but he will make somebody a good little pet and Mary wants to see him go to a good home.  Find out more from Mary at 948-2755.  Over the years she has found homes for many stray dogs…such a Champion!

        Last weekend was surely a good one for long time Champion, Esther Wrinkles.  Her granddaughter, Dianna Harris, came down from Olathe, Kansas to visit with her folks, Lonnie and Verla Mears.  They all came over to Esther’s house and joined Larry and Theresa Wrinkles there for dinner on Saturday.  Making time for family and friends is one of those real Champion things to do.

        When some folks make a washtub bass, they take an old tub and turn it bottom side up and tinker an eye-bolt into the middle of it, generally using a big washer on the inside and locknut.  Then they take a nice length of clothes line and tie it to the eye-bolt on one end and through a hole in one end of a broom handle on the other end of the line.  Some folks cut a notch or groove in the bottom of the broom handle so it can ride on the edge of the tub.  With a small chunk of something on the floor to raise the edge of the tub up a little bit, the musician is all set to go.  With one foot on the tub and the other on the floor, the virtuoso then puts the groove on the rim of the tub and pulls back on the stick to make the line taut and then plucks away, pulling and relaxing the stick to change notes.  It can be a marvel.  There are all kinds of variations and preferences depending upon the virtuoso in question.  On Thursday over at the Junction, diners were treated to an infinitely more sophisticated version.  David Richardson, from out west of Norwood somewhere, has produced the Stradivarius of washtub basses.  His is an upright double bass with a wooden sound board and four strings.  It has regular tuning pegs and a tub big enough for a family bath, though it is clear from its dazzling shine that this tub has never seen any lye soap!  It is just a beauty to look at and David really knows how to play it.  He joined with Sue Murphy, Norris Woods, Jerry Wagner and that welcome visitor, Mr. Hancock of Idaho, plus a number of other regulars to make a lovely evening of music.  Lynette Cantrell came over from Cabool with her mandolin—a rare and welcome treat.  While the General was in attendance, the orchestra seemed well enough peopled and he occupied himself productively working the crowd.  He still hasn’t let the armadillo out of the bag as to the nature of the prizes for the First Ever Biennial Armadillo Round Up and Art Fair and the 32^nd or the 32th–the thirty-tooth is drawing nigh!

        Since the war began in Iraq on March 19, 2003, there have been 4,260 American Military Casualties there.  The total number of wounded is estimated to be over 100,000.  There have been 1,320,110 Iraqi Deaths due to the U.S. invasion.  Since 2001, 667 U.S. Service personnel have died in Afghanistan.  No matter whether one agrees with the philosophies behind these actions, it is understood that the troops serving, those who have returned home, and the families of those who will not return home, all deserve the Love and Gratitude of their Nation.  They are all Champions.

        There was a splash of laughter the other day when a favorite Champion remarked that she had heard that retirement is like giving nuts to a squirrel after he has lost all his teeth!  “When a fellow loves a Maiden, and that Maiden doesn’t love him, it’s the same as when a bald man finds a comb upon the highway!”  That is a translated verse from the old Mexican song “La Cucaracha,” and it kind of expresses the same sentiment that so often life plays a little trick and the result is squandered youth!  Alas!  With Spring so evident, it is a sure bet that Champions will be ‘gathering rose-buds while they may.’

        Champion falls between 6 and 7 in the Arbor Day Foundation Hardiness Zone Map of the United States.  It’s just about the same for the District of Columbia, so out there on the South Lawn of the White House, the First Lady of the Land and a bunch of school children have dug up 1100 square feet to plant a vegetable garden!  It is the first vegetable garden there since Ellenore Roosevelt planted a Victory Garden to feed the troops back during the War.  Some folks will say that there is plenty of natural fertilizer in Washington D.C. and that’s no doubt true.  It is certainly going up and down the roads by the truck loads here.  The number of vegetable gardens in the country is increasing by 40% this year according to the U.S.A. Today people.  Gardeners are a generous and thoughtful lot of people.  It is a good sign during a time when good signs are so much in need.  Champions will watch to see if Mrs. Obama plants by the signs and will wish her every good luck in her endeavor.  One of the Beautiful things about America is the willingness of its people to help each other when things are difficult.  Any number of Champions would be willing to help the First Lady get started.  Ed Henson would tell her to wrap those seed potatoes in newspaper to keep the dirt out of their eyes.  She will no doubt have advice from all over the Country.  Even the scoffs and skeptics and respectful dissenters, sore looser, bigots and fear mongers of the Nation like home grown tomatoes.  “There are just two things that money can’t buy and that’s True Love and home grown tomatoes.”  Linda’s April Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood will soon be available and research is being done to find all the words to the “Homegrown Tomato” song.

        Describe good week ends, pretty dogs, interesting musical instruments at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  E-mail any song about tomatoes to Champion News.  Go over to the www.championnews.us website to get a picture of a tidy little Champion garden.  Go over to Henson’s Store on the North Side of the Square just off Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive.  There the gardening advice will flow like honeydew vine water and they are always Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—March 16, 2009

        In Champion a man calls his dear silver haired old Mother on his birthday just to say, “Thanks for the trouble you took to have me and I hope you like how I turned out.”  It is a Champion kind of thing to do that a boy takes on as a habit at an early age and it comes out of an atmosphere of optimism and gratitude—looking on the bright side!

        On Tuesday the 10^th the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department Ladies’ Auxiliary got together to go over the results of the Chili Supper.  About the time for the meeting to get started at Henson’s Store there came such a deluge of rain that it fell faster than it could soak in or run off.  So there were a few wet feet, but the meeting was well attended.  Only Esther Wrinkles had the good judgment to stay in out of the rain.  She also lives the greatest distance from the meeting place and knew that she would be appraised of all the happenings.  The consensus of opinion was that the Chili Supper was a grand success.  It was a matter of great note that so many braved the elements to attend.  The snow was one of those beautiful snows that comes down in big fluffy flakes.  The second wave of it was the deciding factor for many to stay home and stay safe.  No reports have been received of any difficulties out on the road that night.  At the meeting the Auxiliary members reported on the receipts and wrote thank you notes to the bands and various other folks who had helped with the event.  The meeting was punctuated with laughter and topped off with carrot cake and coffee.

        More news concerning the Skyline VFD Auxiliary has to do with the lovely queen size quilt that was one of the centerpieces of the Chili Supper fund raiser.  The winning ticket for the quilt belonged to Toni and Kurt Clinkenbeard of Ava.  When Esther Wrinkles took the quilt to town to deliver it she was met with a pleasant surprise.  Because of her years of service to the Skyline Fire Department as a founding member, the Clinkenbeards decided among themselves to give the quilt to Esther as a gift.  The Clinkenbeard family has always been a great supporter of the Fire Department and this gift to Esther is just another example of their good community spirit.  The further news is that Esther has decided to donate the quilt back to the Fire Department!  The Auxiliary will be pleased to be able to offer the chance to win this quilt again at the summer Picnic!

        A pair of marauding mules have been wandering freely about the Champion community.  The storekeeper at Henson’s store was kept busy fielding reports of their whereabouts for several days.  They are a beautiful matched pair of young mules.  One has short white stockings on the rear feet but otherwise they are perfectly matched, tall with thick black coats.  For several days they wandered about nibbling the new grass but leaving the daffodils and other bulbs alone.  They are not shy–they will look right in a window.  They have been corralled over in Champion—East waiting the interest and effort of their owner who is said to live down on the Fox Creek road somewhere.  Things are never dull in Champion.

        Plumbers Junction, over a little North of East Champion, was certainly a happening on Thursday.  The General led the band that included an itinerate yodeling fiddler, Jerry Somebody (“Waiting for a Train”) from over in West Avee.  Sue Murphy (“Just Because”) and that banjo player (“Frauline”) kept things going.  Brother and Sister Green Mountain Messengers (“Orange Blossom Special”) joined in comfortably.  Then some fellow came in with signatures all over the face of his guitar, a nice hair cut, and some kind of electronic tuning device attached to the pegs of the guitar.  The gadget appeared to work because he fit right in singing several good songs and it was all most harmonious!  A certain Mr. Hancock from up Idaho way sang a stirring rendition of “I Saw the Light.”  When he realized that his cousin, The General, is personally putting up the prize for the First and Second Place winners of the First Ever Biennial Armadillo Round Up and Art Fair, Mr. Hancock saw the opportunity to continue his sojourn in the warmth of the Relative South (with his relatives, Sister Peggy, et.al.)  He is rumored to have an entry for the Art Fair which has yet to be presented to the jurors.  It seems that all those Cousins get kind of jittery when there is a jury involved.  The General was so jumpy Thursday that he was seen several times handing his guitar over to a mandolin player while he just sat staring off into space.  He must be doing some serious planning or conjuring to come up with the appropriate prizes.  The General seldom fails to surprise if not delight.  (He may also just be turning loose of that guitar when a song comes up that does not require the three cords he knows.)  The 32^nd will soon be here and he is under pressure.

        Champions are sure that Spring has not arrived too soon.  Potatoes are going in the ground and truck loads of manure are being driven about and evenly distributed.  It is all so exciting.  The economy has lots of people thinking about growing food.  Seeds have become expensive.  Gardeners are routinely some of the most friendly and generous people in any community.  To be able to share the harvest and abundance with others is one of the real products of gardening.  As the soil warms and frost seems less of a threat there will more sharing of starts and information, lore and advice.  Linda’s almanac is available in the Link section of the www.championnews.us site.  She has copies available at the Plant Place in Norwood.  Occasionally one can be found at Henson’s Store on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  A person can read it while they stand around the stove trying to soak up the lore.  This is not lore, but a pure true story that has probably already been told around several stoves.  It was about last Wednesday evening, the 11^th, when five of the stalwart , virile, city fathers of Champion, including the mayor, the head of the tenants association, the absentee landlord, the neighbor on the hill, and the self proclaimed mushroom king of Champion got their collective rear ends kicked trying to load one small calf in a trailer.  It must have been a comedy of epic proportions.  Unless everybody clams up about it more will be revealed.

        Expressions of Love and Gratitude for their service can be written to U.S. Service Personnel in care of any Veterans’ organization.  They have contacts.  They have an understanding of the sacrifices made by military families and they appreciate the acknowledgment.

        Acknowledge faith, good fortune, community, family, friendship and Music at Champion Items, Rt, 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO, 65717.  Epic comedies are welcome at Champion News.  Stand on the porch at Henson’s Store and look down the broad expanse of Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive.  It’s getting green out there and the place is simply dazzling—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—March 9, 2009

        Champions are awakening to beautiful greening yards full of daffodils and robins.  The word of the day is optimism.  Many Champions have their taxes done and can just start visiting their favorite mushroom spots in anticipation.  Some of the waiting is already over for one Champion from Champion-East.  He has picked his first tick of the year!  The seasons roll by and Champion is the ideal spot to view them in their steady passing splendor.

        The Champion mail-boxes have been busy.  Another newsy letter has come to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO from Oklahoma friend, Ethel McCallie.  She reports on her Tennessee cousin, Darrell Haden, that he isn’t doing too well currently and that she sure misses visiting with him on the phone.  She went on to talk about what it was like during the great depression when her family was out in the Imperial Valley in California.  “We were simply starving under Hoover.  They called jack rabbits ‘Hoover Hogs.’  A poor ole jack rabbit sure didn’t dare show his head, if he did, he’d be sure to get shot.  Oh yes!  I can remember those depression days very well.  But Roosevelt sure got things going—soup lines and shelters for the starving ones living on the streets, and he created a lot of jobs like ‘CCC’ camps and ‘WPA-CWA.  My husband worked on both of those and my brother was in the CCC.  My dad got a farm loan, bought milch cows and sold milk.  FDR didn’t fool and piddle around.  He really helped the poor folks to get back on their feet so’s they could do for themselves.  They didn’t want charity or handouts—just wanted to be able to do for themselves on their own.  Roosevelt was the first president I voted for.  I turned 21 that year.  I like our new President and I think if they’d not keep trying to tie his hands, he’d get some things done that’s badly needed done.  I remember when FDR was elected, they tried to do him the same way, but they didn’t get the job done—but he did!  We were starving under Hoover!”

        Mail to the www.championnews.us site came from Michael Greengard who said, “I learned the song you call “Take Me Back to Where I Came From” (with only slightly different words) from my late father, who grew up in St. Louis.  If he ever told me where he heard it, I don’t recall.  Can you tell me who wrote it and who (if anyone) first recorded it?”  Uncle Al—The Lonesome Plowboy used to sing the song that he called “Whur the Mocking Bird is Singing in the Lilac Bush,” but he only remembered from the part that said, “I met a man in Kansas City and he asked me if I thought that I would like to step around….”  Mrs. Catherine Coffman of Mountain Grove, Missouri filled in the first verse that says, “I’m going back to whur I come from, where the honey suckle smells so sweet it darn near makes you sick…”  She says that the singer Phil Harris recorded it.  A search of his recordings did not reveal a title that sounded like the song, however, there were many good ones:  “The Preacher and the Bear,” “I’m My Own Grandpa,” “I’m a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas,” and “If You’re Ever Down In Texas Look Me Up.”  “If You’ve Got Someplace to Go, Go Ahead” is another of the Phil Harris recordings that sounds like it could be pretty lively.  While not much was learned about the song in question during this research, it is clear that as surely as one thing leads to anther, with adequate time stumbling around from one wonderful musical website to another, marvelous discoveries will be made and chances are reasonable that all will be revealed concerning “Whur I Come From.”  Meanwhile, Champions are most interested in learning any version of the song and hope Mr. Greengard will share his.

        The third letter came to the Champion at getgoin.net address.  It is from Belizean, Rebecca Quexacotl who has relished sylvan afternoons on Champion hillsides and shares this philosophy about the ‘opportunity to respond.’  “You have the opportunity to respond to whatever happens in your world.  And the way you respond determines the quality of your life.  What matters most is not what happens to you.  What matters most is the way you respond.  You can respond any way you choose.  So choose those positive, empowering responses that will move your life forward.  It may seem in certain situations that a negative response is the only possible response, and yet that is never the case.  Always, a positive response is just as possible, just as realistic, and a whole lot more beneficial.  Get clear on your purpose and know your intentions.  Respond to whatever happens in a way that moves your life in the direction you have chosen to go.  For the opportunity to craft your own response to each event in life is indeed the opportunity to set the direction of your life.  Remember always that you have a choice, and use that choice to add great value to your world.”  Perhaps summer will find Ms. Quexacotl reveling out on the Champion scenic overlook again.

        A trip for chicken manure on a cold day turned colder as the old truck broke down on the road and the double cousins had to be rescued by Linda from over at the Plant Place who took time from her busy transplanting to transplant the two in out of the cold wind and back to their place—63 words with no punctuation.  That Linda is a good neighbor and her gardening friends have a new old truck already full of manure and life goes on.  Things are really starting to percolate over at Linda’s place.  Her new almanac is out for March and it sure gets the gardeners excited—it’s a doosey!  It can be seen on the www.championnews website over on the right hand side under Champion Links or pick up a copy in person at The Plant Place.

        A chance glance at the world news shows it the to be in an uproar everywhere.  Champions appreciate their peace and tranquility and extend good thoughts and best wishes for the whole troubled world to be so sweet a place.  When the soldiers come home from the dangerous places where they have sacrificed to serve their Nation, let them be met with Love and Gratitude and Help.  The seriousness of the Veterans’ situations cannot be overstated.

        As the 32^nd of March rapidly approaches, Armadillo Rights Activists (ARA) from over at Spotted Hog are rallying to protest the General’s planned First Biennial Armadillo Round Up and Art Festival in Champion.  (If a jack rabbit is a ‘Hoover Hog’ then an armadillo is welcome in Spotted Hog and they can just keep them over there.)  Ideally, the Art Show is accepting only two-dimensional entries–flat and painted (with spots?).  All others will be automatically entered into the Great Elimination.  Details have yet to be revealed as the General is being secretive if not furtive.  There is a fine line between a festival and a circus.  Perhaps the General will remember that this time.

        Harley and Barbara are in town for the nonce.  They have a requirement of a certain amount of time in Champion annually just to keep their spirits up and their humor lively.  Champion always benefits from Harley’s lovely singing voice and Barbara’s sense of style.  They make a lovely place more lovely.  Find them and other Champions enjoying each other’s company around the stove or out on the front porch at Henson’s Store taking in the sites.  From the North Side of the Square there is a broad view down Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—March 2, 2009

        Champion joins with Sister-City Skyline in celebrating another successful Skyline Ladies Auxiliary Chili Supper!  The snow kept coming and so did the people.  The wind howled and the music soared.  The hot wholesome food warmed the bodies and the hearts were warmed by fellowship with old friends and family—much loved but seldom seen.  And the pie—beautiful Pie!  M.C. Steve Moody opened the musical program with a tribute to Champion Lonnie Krider, saying that his absence was conspicuous.  In very few words he expressed the feeling of the community that he loved and that loved him.  He was a founding member and staunch supporter of the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department and an elegant musician with great appreciation for humor.

        The silent auction at the Skyline Chili Supper always has some interesting items that bring in good money for the Fire Department.  There was a certain hand made wooden car planter that received a lot of attention and a big basket of hand-picked Rio Grand Valley grapefruit and oranges are being enjoyed by a lucky bidder.  Somebody got a very fancy Vitamaster treadmill at an amazing price.  There were a great many wonderful things on the block and it says great things about the community that people are so generous with their donations and so generous in their bidding.  One of the items was listed as “Jesus Picture.”  It was a print of the well-known image in an 8”x 10” frame.  Teresa Blakely opened the bidding with $1.00.  Sharon Woods came along and bid $3.00 and Teresa later raised it to $4.00.  Sharon raised it to $6.00 and Teresa upped that bid to $8.00.  After fifteen bids Teresa won the bid at $35.00. Then she gave the picture to Sharon as a gift!  Fun and friendship are always well represented.

        Janet Taber, of Almartha, who writes for the Ozark County Times is a regular visitor to Champion.  An e-mail from her says, “…..A few weeks ago you mentioned a teacher struck by lightning:  the event was purported to have taken place near Champion.  Perhaps I can shed some light on that topic.  In the August 21, 1890 edition of the now-defunct Ozark County News, the following news item was published:  On last Wednesday, Martin Smith, son of W.A. Smith, was struck by lightning and killed while in a school room teaching, on Brixey, in the north part of the county.  The school was in session at the time and some fifty pupils were in the school house.  A thunder shower was passing over, and a tree near the school was struck by lightning and at the same time the electricity came down the flue and struck the teacher killing him instantly.  Many of the children were shocked by the stroke but none were seriously injured.  Mr. Smith was an exemplary young man, about 21 years old, just entering upon a life of usefulness.  His sudden death has caused sorrow among all his acquaintance, and we deeply sympathize with his parents in their untimely loss.  I am guessing that this is the incident which some thought took place in Douglas County.  The Smith family, of which this young man was a member, lived at Brixey, and in fact some of their descendants live there today.  The wording of the newspaper item says, ‘on Brixey,’ which probably refers to the fact that the schoolhouse sat very near Brixey Creek.  Brixey is in the northeast part of Ozark County.”  Ms. Taber goes on to have some very nice things to say about Champion.  They are all true.

        A change has been made in government policy that once again allows for the flag draped coffins of returning military personnel to be shown on television and pictured in newspapers.  Now the decision to show these images is made by the survivors of the deceased soldier.  Some want the procedure to be private.  Others want the world to see and recognize the sacrifice of their loved one.  Whatever the decision is, that it is a choice is a remarkable and good change.  The cost of foreign conflict is staggering financially and much of that cost has been hidden.  That the precious human cost is once again visible helps reflect the Love and Gratitude of the Nation.

        The music at the Skyline VFD Chili Supper was a delight!  Those Green Mountain Messengers continue to please.  They are young, enthusiastic and a very talented brother and sister.  They together with Spring creek and the Back Yard Bluegrass kept the place hopping all evening.  “Well, I love my gal.  She’s a little bitty booger.  Just as cute as a bug and sweet as sugar.  I’m agonna buy her a diamond ring and we’ll get married in the Spring!  Do you need any help?  No help wanted.  Could you use a little help?  No help wanted!  Just call on me if you need a little help!  I can handle this job all by my self!”  That tune was new to some…but a sweet old one to others.  Some time has passed since Champions have heard from Tennessee friend and great music lover, Darrell Haden.  Word arrived a while back that he has had some ill health.  Champions wish him well and look forward to more good correspondance with him soon.

        Linda’s almanac is available again over at the Plant Place in Norwood.  She is busy getting things together so that Champion gardeners will have what they need when they need it.  The little dab of snow fixed some nitrogen and gardeners are getting excited though they know the average date of last frost in this wonderful part of the world is May 10^th!  People with dirty hands can also be impatient!

        Examples of patience, fun and friendship can be sent to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  E-mail any kind of offers for help to Champion News.  Look around in the archives at www.championnews.us just to see what can be seen.  There is a lovely picture of a Texas Armadillo Expert who is pleased to inform the General about the true nature of a good armadillo.  His big event, coming up on the 32^nd of the month, is already causing controversy.  Those folks from Spotted Hog are rumbling about it and will not let their jealousy rest.  What a sad and forlorn little community like that needs is a bunch of Champions!  Standing around the stove at Henson’s Store on the North Side of the Square, just off Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive, Champions can’t help but Look on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—February 22, 2009

        After 20 days on the road and 2700.00 miles on the trip meter, a wandering Champion can dutifully report that a dead skunk in the middle of the road smells the same no matter upon what highway in America the lovely fur is spread.  Driving along a person can always say, “It smells like home!”  Home.  What can be better?

        Among the pleasant surprises waiting the wanderer, an email:  “Hi, I am writing to say how much I enjoy your article in the newspaper.  I am not a native Championite however my husband’s family owned the Cold Springs store as long as it was in operation.  My husband, Jay Mallernee, passed away in 1997 and all his siblings and of course his parents have passed away.  His sister, Vivian Robertson, taught school at Champion.  Pete Robertson, J.D. Elliott and myself are the remaining in-laws.  I have many friends that grew up and lived in the Champion and Cold Springs area.  Jay and I graduated from Ava high school and lived at Denlow before moving to Kansas for 23 years.  Keep up the good work in writing the weekly articles……Sincerely,  Catherine Mallernee”

        Tersera, the third child in her family, writes of the importance of a matter under consideration by the current state legislature.  It has to do with proposed changes to the Historic Tax Credits program.  This Champion from Champion—South strongly believes that there should be no change since these tax credits are very important to jobs and the economy of the State.  Many small contractors and their employees will be impacted by major changes in this program.  These Tax Credits create jobs (40,000 since the program began) and better our economy by lowering slum and blight, crime, and other problems in our older communities.  She suggests that citizens become informed and contact representatives, senators, and the governor to let them know that it makes no sense (given the employment, housing, and banking crises in our State and in our Country) to change this program that produces jobs when we have this level of unemployment in our state and unemployment continues to rise.  Champions are ever on the look out for the benefit of their neighbors.

        “Lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet, but the fruit of the poor lemon is impossible to eat!”  That is an old calypso song that some old Champions might remember.  It turns out to be partially true.  The lemon flower is the most deliciously fragrant bloom and the leaves of the tree so shiny green.  The trees are big—fifteen feet in every direction—but these Valley Lemons from the Rio Grand Valley are not at all impossible to eat.  They are big and juicy with thinner skins than the bright yellow ones found in the grocery store and puckery good.  With luck, that traveling Auxiliary woman will bring some to the Silent Auction at the Skyline Chili Supper on Saturday.  They say there will be some real surprises at this auction.  Excitement is building as preparations are getting underway.  It will be the first of these events for a visiting double cousin, though she has been hearing about them for years.  She is a real pie lover, so she is in for a treat!  She has her quilt tickets and is ready for fun!

        In 1942 the Army Emergency Relief was founded to ease cash emergencies of active-duty soldiers and retirees and provide college scholarships for their families.  Its emergency aid covers mortgage payments and food, car repairs, medical bills, travel to family funerals, and the like.  The AER is the biggest charity inside the US Military and active duty soldiers and retirees fund it.  The American Institute of Philanthropy is one of the watchdog organizations that look at all charities for fundraising practices and distribution.  The AER was graded “F” by the oversight organizations because of hoarding.  The charity has been stockpiling tens of millions of dollars meant to help put returning fighters back on their feet.  Most watchdog organizations view 1 to 3 years reserves prudent, but the AER currently has enough reserves to last about twelve years at its current level of aid.  Contributions to the fund are often extracted from enlisted personnel by what amounts to coersion by superior officers and commanding officers make the determination about who is eligible for help.  That any soldier is in need is a shame, and more is the shame when help is available and withheld.  These are troublesome times.  Champions agree that active duty soldiers and veterans all have coming to them the Love and Gratitude of their Nation.  A helping hand helps.

        Champion gardens are still chilling out.  Champions know that things are beginning to percolate under the soil, however, and soon Spring will be busting out all over.  A cousin in Arkansas already has planted a hundred pounds of potatoes!  Buddy likes to get them in the ground by Valentine’s Day.  Up here St. Patrick’s Day is the target date of some gardeners.  Mrs. Buddy hates gardening so much that she said she would wish to get snake bit just to get out of the pea patch!  Linda over at the Plant Place in Norwood will soon have her planting guide almanac ready.  Champion gardens are happy places.

        Tales of the open road are welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717.  E-mail calypso music or letters to the gov’ment to Champion News.  Bob Conrad from Spokane, Washington sent a note asking about how to find the most current Champion items on the www.championnews.us website.  Then he e-mailed to say that he had found out how to go to the archives to get the latest news.  If he were here, he could get it around the stove at Henson’s Store.  The great Armadillo Round Up may be a topic of conversation there if the General wanders in.  He ‘generally’ only shows up to stir up trouble or mischief of some kind.  Still he is a welcome site in the cultural hub of Champion.  It is on the North side of the square, just off Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive.  The picture postcard business is booming in Champion.  Far-flung Champions and other unfortunates have their optimism renewed by that great view:  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—February 9, 2009

        The further downhill a person goes from Champion the more clearly he remembers the view from that beautiful place.  Why anyone chooses to leave is a mystery, but life is mysterious and people go wandering for any number of reasons.  A temporary absence is the best kind and the Homeward Trail is the best one to travel.

        A letter from Eva Phillips Henson says: “We have snow, ice,sleet and 17 degrees.  When [a Champion cousin] wrote that Lonnie Lowell Krider passed away, it brought back memories of the Champion School.  Lonnie was a good singer and always in our Christmas programs.  Our teachers would begin in October planning who would do what.  When Kenneth, my brother, [Hovie] was in the first grade, he had a poem.  ‘On Christmas morning I get up so early, I beat all the other folks.  Pa says every morning should be Christmas, but that’s just one of his jokes.’  In 6th grade I recited ‘The Night Before Christmas’ and never missed a word.  I was Proud!  We all were so proud of our program and our parents were pleased.  Then ‘Santy Claws’ would come.  It would be a rotund ‘plump’ man and the kids would not know him.  One year no ‘rotund’ man was available, so Ed Henson played ‘Santy.’  He was tall and skinny with no padding.  We all knew who that ‘Santy’ was.  Then the little sacks of hard candy would be passed out, and our program was over or another year.  Some of my teachers were Vivian Robertson, Doris Giles, Edgie Tate, Opal Powell.  While I was there, no man ever taught school at Champion.  Just thought I’d pass on some history, back in the 40’s and 50’s.  Have a good winter, Eva Henson Phillips.”

        An e-mail came to the Champion box from Cindy Peterson.  “Lonnie was a wonderful person who was our high school counselor.  I never knew anyone who did not like Lonnie.

        “Nothing more has been said about the lightning strike that may have happened at the Champion School (or some place nearby) except a comment made by Mark Twain to the effect that choosing exactly the right word might be the difference between a lightning bug and lightning!

        News reaches other parts of the world that the ice and snow have  melted and things are windy and about to get stormy in Champion.  It is also reported that the seed orders are beginning to arrive in the mail.  Not too far South already vegetable plants are beginning to become available and a little farther South yet, the Boggy Creek Farm is harvesting many winter vegetables.  The farm is about six densely planted acres surrounded by a big noisy city.  On Saturdays and Wednesdays city dwellers flock to the farm to buy organically grown broccoli, cabbage, kale, lettuce, spinach, chard, turnips, beets and green onions among other things.  The produce is more expensive than the regular supermarket fare, but it is well worth it to folks who are hungry for good food and the feel of country life.  City children enjoy feeding the Boggy Creek chickens and it is a good educational experience for them.  Some of them already know The Chicken Song:  “C–that’s the way to begin.  H–that’s the next letter in.  C-H-I-C-K-E-N  That is the way to spell Chicken.”  There are many versions of The Chicken Song some say ‘C–is for the cluck, cluck.  K–is for the kackle, kackle.”  Uncle Al, The Lonesome Plowboy used to play the Chicken Reel on the French harp and a person might start looking for eggs!  The Chicken Song is a good one for any musical repertoire.  Over at the Plant Place in Norwood, Linda frequently has some wonderful brown eggs for sale.  She is getting things ready for Champion gardeners to get a good start on growing some wonderful food.  It won’t be long now!

        In addition to some interesting and pertinent information about the  coming electrical rate changes in April, the Rural Missouri monthly paper had a nice mention of the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department Chili Supper coming up on the 28th of February.  The Ladies Auxiliary is having meetings and making arrangements for musical entertainment as well as that great chili, the ham and beans, the chicken and noodles, and all those scrumptious donated pies that come in the door with the membership of the Fire Department.  This event marks the end of winter’s gloom and is the sure cure for the cabin fever.  There will still be some dark and damp days before full-blown Spring sets in, but Champions are happy for rain and not interested in complaining about the weather!  One of those Auxiliary members is making a Southern trip and will be down near the Mexican border gathering up some nice surprises for the Silent Auction that will take place at the Chili Supper.  Tickets are being sold for the drawing for beautiful queen size quilt from one end of the country to the other.  One of the great sights on the way was an enormous wind farm just North of Abilene.  There are hundreds of windmills generating that clean power.  They are huge and graceful against the big, blue Texas sky.  Douglas County has a few windmill electricity generators!  It is said that Booger County is a “windy” place for a number of reasons.

        No new letters to the Government have shown up in the Champion mail box this week, but Champions are still paying attention to everything that’s going on up there in Washington.  One terribly sad report says that in January more active duty U.S. Service Personnel took their own lives than died in combat.  When the Veterans of these conflicts come home they should be met with Love, Gratitude, Understanding, and all the Help they need.  It is the dear Hope of all Champions.

        It has recently come to the attention of the CEPC [Champion Events Planning Commission] that The General plans to sponsor the First Biennial Great Armadillo Round-Up to culminate in a Festival on the 32nd of March.  As he has not as yet cleared the project with the Committee, no real specifics have been learned.  He did suggest that entries would be limited to the first one thousand, though ‘dead or alive’ has not been indicated.  The General was overheard to say something about ‘the best paint job.’  He is such a rogue element in the community that the details will likely be sketchy up to the very last moment.

        Sketchy details, chicken songs and life mysteries are welcome at  Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 36, Norwood, MO 65717.  E-mail dear Hopes and copies of letters to the Gov’ment to Champion News.  Look around in the archives at 222.championnews.us just to see what has gone be3fore.  Stand around on the porch at Henson’s Store on the North side of the Square just off Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive to see what a beautiful community looks like.  Picture post-cards of the dear place are available in limited supply.  They have been know to lift the spirits of unfortunates living out in the dreary and dull parts of the world.  They bear the motto:  Champion–Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—February 1, 2009

        Champion is a beautiful place under ice and snow, under rain and mud or leafy boughs.  Champions, for the most part, have adopted the Champion attitude that changing weather is just an opportunity to adapt.  That is easy to do when the power doesn’t go off and there are no major catastrophes.

        Champions have been lucky and they know it.

        Barbara Krider currently of Elmwood, Ill, has suggested that Main Street in Champion be renamed “Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive.”  It’s a good idea.  Bernice Morgan, of Marshfield, dedicated this poem, entitled “My Good-bye” to the Krider family.  “Do not sorrow for me now, nor mourn me if you please.  I’m going home! To be with God where I’ll have rest and ease.  And though we now must part awhile, we have done so before, And soon to never part again, we’ll meet on heaven’s shore.  So share my joy, I’m going home.  I’ve been away too long.  If you want to please me now, then sing a joyful song.  Then if you wish we’ll meet again when you too can come home.  We’ll spend eternity with God, where never more we’ll roam.  For I know as Paul of old, I have fought well the fight.  I have a mansion and a crown.  They shine forever bright.  And when you too have finished with your work down here below.  You’ll join me there to praise and share the love of God, I know.  Sing no sad songs then for me; no tears should flow this day, But songs of joy and praise to waft my soul upon it’s way.  And if you’ve loved me in this life then you must love Him too.  And we shall share His promised joy where life begins anew.”  Ms. Morgan is a talented poet—a Champion.

        There are some who think that the lightning strike that killed the school teacher who was standing under the stove pipe may have happened somewhere other than Champion, but in the general area.  Virginia Jacobs wrote to say that she had not heard of the story.  No one has come forward with any information other than it most likely didn’t happen at the Champion School.  Someone said it must have been over at the Cheney, but residents there say that while there was a store there, there was never a school.  Students attended the Old East Dogwood School.  The store at Cheney is now a barn and Rick and Judy Sleep occupy the adjacent residence.  He is recuperating from a broken hip and hobbles around on his walker fighting off cabin fever.  Judy is holding up well and is most grateful for good neighbors named Mastrangelo.  D.J. comes over to do her chores morning and night.  He is a Champion fellow!  He is a junior firefighter with the Skyline VFD as well as a solid citizen and good neighbor.  Perhaps the lightning strike story will get sorted out, meanwhile it spurred the telling of another story about Ellis Brixie.  There came up a big storm and all the kids ran for the feather ticking, because it was believed that lightening would not strike a feather bed.  Ellis, however, stretched out on a sofa right by a window.  Lightening struck and killed a dog that was just outside the window.  Ellis was not harmed. Interesting.

        An article in the paper about a professional timber harvester program hit a sad and sour note with some Champions.  Grieving over what can’t be undone is a sorry waste of time.  Butch Stone’s deer kill with his homemade bow and arrows is another story.  It is good to know that Douglas County has some folks who not only know and care about the old ways, but put them into use.  Champion!

        Letters to the Government have been pouring in.  A couple of them from Champion-South contain the following and were addressed to senators and representatives:  “Please oppose the bill to allow utilities to charge customers in advance for building power plants.  This legislation could lead to very serious consequences for utilities customers.  There would be virtually no cap on the costs, no way to know when the plant was paid for, and no say in the type of plant built.  We don’t want nuclear power.  The nightmare of spent fuel rods has not actually come to light yet.  That is just a matter of time.  We can ill afford to add to our 300 million tons of nuclear waste.”  In another missive addressed to Kit Bond, Claire McCaskill and Joann Emerson:  “I can not believe that Wall Street institutions would use the argument that these bonuses were necessary to keep the top talent.  These are the same people who got us in this mess in the first place and if these people are the only ones qualified to do the job one wonders why we bailed them out in the first place.  They should be up on criminal charges, not paid for a lousy job performance.  Surely, in the whole of America there are more qualified individuals.  Certainly to promote these is ridiculous.  Please take actions to correct this mistake.”  This Champion makes sense.  Often those items in the Looking Backward section of the paper from 75 and 100 years ago are humorous to readers.  Sometimes as history seems to repeat itself they act more as a warning.  The new administration in Washington faces some terrific problems.  It’s good to see that there are people out there like the Champion from Champion-South offering some positive suggestions.  The 1932 movie with Groucho Marks called “Horse Feathers.”  There is a great song in it that could be directed to obstructionist who would rather see something fail than to lend a helping hand for the overall good of the Nation.  The song “Whatever It Is, I’m Against It” was written by Harry Ruby and the words were by Bert Kalmar.  “I don’t know what they have to say, It makes no difference anyway—Whatever it is, I’m against it!  No matter what it is or who commenced it, I’m against it.  Your proposition may be good But let’s have one thing understood—Whatever it is, I’m against it!  And even when you’ve changed it or condensed it, I’m against it.  I’m opposed to it—On general principles I’m opposed to it!  (Chorus) He’s opposed to it!  In fact, in word, Indeed!  He’s opposed to it!”

        Champions have sent in their orders and are waiting by their mailboxes for those seeds to show up!  Linda came through the snow to the Plant Place in Norwood to get the cole crops started.  She is making arrangements to get the onions sets and seed potatoes in.  Charlene is having a birthday on Groundhog Day so there will be celebrating going on over at the Gift Corner as well.  Congratulations to a good Champion friend.

        An e-mail from Champion Bob Conrad in Spokane shows two deer with their heads poking out of what looks like 4 foot deep snow.  The note says, “Winter’s almost over and we can see the deer wandering around.”  It is as cold in Iraq as it is in Champion.  Much of the winter gear provided to Marines is made of synthetic material–polypropylene, which the U.S. Military has learned—the hard way—melts much like plastic around a fire—like a roadside bomb—and can cause burns.  So soldiers try to layer their clothing of natural fibers for warmth when they have to go out.  Champions hope to be joining the whole Nation in expressing Love and Gratitude for their service.

        Beautiful poetry, applicable songs, old stories, and good advice are all welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  Those blind copies of letters to the Government are appreciated and informative.  Keep them coming to Champion at getgoin.net.  Look around Champion via the website www.championnews.us and see what all the wonderful fuss is about.  Stand near the stove at Henson’s Store (but not against it!) just to soak up the warmth and comfort.  The Store is on the North side of the Square just off Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive.  A limited edition of the third picture postcard in the series is currently available.  Where ever the US Postal Service can reach out in the dull and dreary parts of the world there are folks hungry for a Champion view—looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—January 25, 2009

Champion has had an emotional week.  On Tuesday evening Champion Lonnie Krider passed away.  He was in his home in Champion with much of his family near.  He had a gentle passing after a long and difficult illness.  Many, many people came to memorial services to express their appreciation for having had him in their lives.  They came to offer condolences for his loss to his dear family and to each other.  Over the years Lonnie influenced many in positive and constructive ways through the church, the schools, the farming community and the music community.  He was a kind and good fun loving person—a spreader of good cheer and wonderful music. 

          Bernice Morgan, of Marshfield, is the author of the poem she has dedicated to the Krider family. 

My Good-bye

Do not sorrow for me now, nor mourn me if you please.

I’m going home! To be with God where I’ll have rest and ease.

And though we now must part awhile, we have done so before,

And soon to never part again, we’ll meet on heaven’s shore.

So share my joy, I’m going home.  I’ve been away too long.

If you want to please me now, then sing a joyful song.

Then if you wish we’ll meet again when you too can come home.

We’ll spend eternity with God, where never more we’ll roam.

For I know as Paul of old, I have fought well the fight.

I have a mansion and a crown.  They shine forever bright.

And when you too have finished with your work down here below.

You’ll join me there to praise and share the love of God, I know.

Sing no sad songs then for me; no tears should flow this day,

But songs of joy and praise to waft my soul upon it’s way.

And if you’ve loved me in this life then you must love Him too.

And we shall share His promised joy where life begins anew.

          The congregating of so many people who love Lonnie and Fae Krider necessitated the telling of many old stories.  One such was that when Oscar Krider was in the first grade at Champion, lightening struck the chimney during a thunderstorm.  It came down the stovepipe and struck dead the teacher who was standing under a long horizontal length of it at the time.  His pocket watch melted.  The children all witnessed the event.  It would be interesting to hear accounts of the descendents of other witnesses.

Storyteller, Virginia Jacob, Champion cousin and Herald Correspondent, probably knows somebody who knew somebody who was there.  Perhaps she will shed some light on the incident.  Champions enjoy a visit with her on her rare trips over from Bryant Heights. 

With the new administration in office in Washington, some Champions are paying closer attention to what is going on and think they will participate a little more.  Mailing addresses for all local, state and federal elected officials are available through the phone book, the internet and local libraries.  A letter was recently written by a Champion from Champion-South and sent to all the appropriate addresses.  It includes the following:  “While this recession (depression actually) is hurting so many people, and we have sacrificed a lot already, I would ask all the branches of the federal government to vote themselves a substantial pay decrease.  They should not reap rewards while the citizens of the country suffer, especially since they are to blame for the depression in the first place.  Let’s have real change.  Amend the terms for the supreme court.  We made them lifelong but that is so outdated.  We will not achieve real change with the legislation that we have now because there is no penalty for outrageous actions.”  Feel free to send ‘blind copies’ of your e-mail letters to the government to Champion at getgoin.net.  Send them in the mail to Champion Items at Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717.

          Friday Evening on the way back to Champion from Mountain Grove, a Champion happened to stop in at Plumbers.  The band, Swift Kick, was just winding up the last set.  Ray Souder was getting ready to leave, but spent a moment visiting.  He has been in the American Legion for fifty-five years.  He is of the Korean Conflict era of Veterans.  His point of view regarding the Veterans Administration is that it could use some overhauling.  He voices concern that so many of the Veterans of the current conflicts in the Middle-East will not have their injuries manifested until long after their VA benefits have expired.  The climate of the military service is such that Veterans are frequently reluctant to ask for help relating to psychological distresses.  Much has been said about post traumatic stress syndrome.  It is to be hoped that it will be met with Love and Gratitude whenever it shows up.  Another Champion Veteran recently spoke to the damage done to the Geneva Convention in recent years.  There is a document!  It speaks to the humane treatment of prisoners of war among other things.  Champions will hope for its restoration.

          John McEuen and the String Wizards did the incredible version of Stars and Stripes Forever that made such a delightful bluegrass Inaugural celebration.  It is a very complex and beautiful song.  To hear the banjo and mandolin and fiddle doing the parts that have previously been the brass section and piccolo is just splendid!  It is an excellent song to keep in mind when contemplating the challenges ahead for The Nation.

          “Great grandpap when the west was young, bared his door with a wagon tongue.  Times were rough and the ‘indigents’ mocked, and he said his prayers with his shotgun cocked.  Now, twenty-one children came to bless the old man’s home in the wilderness. Doubt this statement if you can, Great grandpap was a busy man.”  This song celebrates Wilburn Hutchison again!  Great granddaughter Lauryn Kate Snodgrass was born on the 22^nd of January up in Moberly.  She weighed 7 ½ pounds and has a big sister named Bailey.  She joins a growing group of great grand children!  She has a great great grandmother over in Ava who will soon be 100 years old!  They are Champions every one!

          The deep cold of recent days is doing good work out in the garden. One of the good things the deep cold does is give the gardener time to study and research and to plan.  Seedlings will soon be showing up on window sills.  Linda has some good things going already and so it is just a matter of being patient. 

          Share some good stories of old Champion times at the Champion mailbox.  Send blind copies of letters to the Government there.  Go online to www.championnews.us to find archives of all the Champion news.  Go stand around the stove at Henson’s Store on the North side of the Square in Downtown Champion to get the news first hand.  Feel free to warble an old ditty there that might lift a spirit.   The new picture postcards of Champion are going like hotcakes because unfortunates living out in the dull and dreary parts of the world are hungry for that fine Champion view…Looking on the Bright Side!