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CHAMPION – February 19, 2007

        The good news in Champion once again has to do with grandchildren.  Those boys from Tennessee were back again making life on the Krider farm joyous.  Dakota and Dillon keep young Foster, visiting from Marshfield,  well entertained and the three of them together is a sweet sight.  Foster is also an excellent entertainer and is currently practicing a duet with his Mom: “You Are My Sunshine.”  Some of the best news around has to do with the weather.  There has finally been a break from the deep cold.  Remembering that recent winters have been unusually mild doesn’t make the hard ones any easier to bear.  Buzzards were reported to be flying around the Skyline Ladies’ Auxiliary Shoot Out the other day, so that is  portentous of something, perhaps just the passage of time.  Warm days make the garden call out to Champions.  Linda over at the Plant Place in Norwood says the cole crops are looking good and their second leaves are beginning to emerge.  Mailmen will be burdened with seed catalogues and the seasons keep rolling around. 

        The sad news in the community is word of the passing of Murnice Hamilton.  She was a most consistently good humored person with an openness for friendship that is seldom seen.  Kind words, compassion and a sweet laugh were her hallmark.  Her gentle smile will be missed by all whose lives she touched.  She was a great repository of Love and Gratitude.

        Gunfire echoed throughout the hills and hollows of Champion as those Auxiliary women blew off steam.  Their chili supper will go off on Saturday.   It will be the event of the season.  People will be celebrating a change in the weather, a change in the season, and the chance to get together for some good visiting and good food.  The music will lift every spirit and everyone will benefit.  The Skyline Volunteer Fire Department will be the designated beneficiary, but the whole community will share in the uplifting. 

        Monday was marked by The Return of the Buzzards, then comes Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and then it’s the birthday of Farel Sikes, and Friday the birthday of Staci Krider. Yipee!  Farel is making a good recovery from his injury and is doing what he has to do regain his strength and mobility.  There are many people struggling to overcome serious injuries sustained in the line of duty.  There are more than twenty thousand veterans of the current war in Iraq whose lives will never be the same.  No one who has served there will return as the same person who left.  Hopefully they will be met here with Understanding as well as the Love and Gratitude that is their due. 

        The Missouri Song List will surely become longer as a result of the Skyline VFD Ladies Auxiliary Chili Supper.  Words to “My Missouri Home” are still being sought.

1. The Missouri Waltz
2. Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie
3. I’m Goin Back to Whur I come From
4. The Wesphalia Waltz
5. The West Plains Explosion
6. My Missouri Home
7. Kansas City, Here I Come
8. May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You

        New songs for the Missouri Song List, old stories from around Champion, family histories, new or old news, poetry, admonitions, complaints, speculations, exaltations—all are welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, at Henson’s store in the heart of Champion and at Champion News.

CHAMPION – February 12, 2007

        The very good news in Champion this week is the beautiful weather!  Sunday was so lovely with such blue skies.  People felt good about being out and about.  Raymond and Esther Howard were visitors in Champion and Eva Powell enjoyed the company of three of her four children and their spouses.  Grandson Brian is always a welcome guest.  They all enjoyed lunch at the North and South and had some food and good conversation.  One thing that came out was that when it is all said and done Springfield is going to have produced what amounts to a brush pile covering forty acres three stories high.  Many Champions have not yet been up to the big town to look it over.  They should be ready for a shock. Mrs. Wrinkles said it looks pretty shaggy.  A number of folks from around Champion are lending their hand in the clean up.  Good neighbors are a gift.  Bad weather can happen anywhere. 

        Roses are red and violets are blue, Champion is Sweet and so are you! (Champions!)  The original poem may be “May All the Flowers” written in 1590 by Sir Edmund Spenser for his epic “The Faerie Queene.”

She bathed with roses red,
And violets blue
And all the sweetest flowers
That in the forest grew.

        As it was published in 1596, the epic presented the following virtues: Book I: Holiness, Book II: Temperance, Book III: Chastity , Book IV: Friendship, Book V: Justice , Book VI: Courtesy.  It sounds like a pretty wholesome read.  Perhaps a review of  “The Faerie Queen” will be appropriate for next Valentine’s Day.  Meanwhile Gratitude for Love is appropriate in Champion and everywhere.

        When Abraham Lincoln became President, the U.S. Population was 31,443,321.  There were thirty six stars on the flag when he left office.  Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

        As of February 13, 2007 Greenwich Mean Time,  at 3:16 a.m.  The U.S. population was 301,160,400 and the population of the World was estimated to be six billion, five hundred seventy-five million, nine hundred seventy-nine thousand, four hundred and eighty five people.  That’s 6,575,979,485.  Champion has a lot of neighbors.

        Looking for Missouri songs, Red Foley who touched the whole country with the Ozark Jubilee used to end the show with “May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You.”  It turns out that that is the work of  Meredith Wilson who wrote the songs for “The Music Man” and many other great songs.  He wrote it in 1951.  Wilson was from Iowa.  Champion has a solid connection with Iowa (Wilburn and Louise among others) and everyone has sung this song, from Perry Como, Roy Acuff, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, as well as Red Foley.  Until there is an oversight committee to say otherwise “May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You” will be included on the list of Missouri songs just because Champions have a lot of sweet connections out there in the big world including soldiers and sailors serving in harm’s way. During the week that ended February 10^th, twenty more Service People lost their lives in Iraq.  Here are the words to the song:

May the good Lord bless and keep you,
Whether near or far away.
May you find that long awaited,
Golden day today . . .
 
May your troubles all be small ones,
And your fortune ten times ten,
May the good lord bless and keep you,
‘Til we meet again . . .
 
May you walk with the sunlight shining,
And a blue bird in every tree.
May there be silver lining,
Back of every cloud you see . . .
 
Fill your dreams with sweet tomorrows,
Never mind what might have been.
May the good Lord bless and keep you,
‘Till we meet again . . .
May the good Lord bless and keep you,
“Till we meet again. . .

        Somebody always has something to say about maudlin sentimentality.  Too bad.  So here is the updated Missouri Song List.   Words for “My Missouri Home” are still being sought.

1. The Missouri Waltz
2. Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie
3. I’m Goin Back to Whur I come From
4. The Wesphalia Waltz
5. The West Plains Explosion
6. My Missouri Home
7. Kansas City, Here I Come
8. May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You

        Aw Shoot!  The Second Annual Invitational Shoot-Out of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department has had to be postponed again!  For one reason and another, i.e. weather, illness, schedule conflicts and requirements to go off and meet new grandchildren, the fracas will have to be put off.  Last year there were about twenty people and about a hundred guns in attendance.  It may happen that it will have to be held in two “heats” in order to get all the shooters in. (Most everybody would like some kind of heat for sure.)  Anyway, it gives the ladies more time to work on their costumes.  Some will have hats with feathers and some long skirts that look good with holsters strapped across them.  It’s a fashionable affair, though marksmanship has  not much to do with wardrobe.  They are shooting at alarm clocks and wrist watches among other things.  There is likely to be a pile of shot up stuff on display at the Skyline Chili Supper.  Those Auxiliary women are a wild bunch and they make good chili, ham and beans and chicken and noodles.  The Membership is responsible for all the beautiful pies.  It’s coming around pretty soon.  Excitement is building! 

        Farel Sikes is making a good recovery.  He’s got some good weather this week for recuperating.  On a dreary rainy day the gardens are getting just what they will need.  On the cold days it may be that the ticks and chiggers are loosing ground.  Persevering through a hard season in hopes of better days ahead, Champions plug along.  Some of them are more careful about having an ‘emergency’ blanket in their cars during times like these.  These little pieces of reflective plastic just cost a couple of dollars.  They are folded up small so they can easily be carried in a purse or a glove compartment.  A moment to be safe and well prepared is a moment well spent.  Send your admonitions for prudent and safe behavior to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, drop them off at Henson’s Store in downtown Champion, or e-mail them to Champion News. Valentine or other poetry, songs, statistics, observations and any other pertinences are welcome.  There were many eloquent elegies written about Molly Ivins.  Her most popular book is Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?

Champion – February 5, 2007

        There is an old saying in Champion that there will be a day in February when a dog will hunt the shade.  In Champion, as in other places, this past Friday was both Groundhog Day and February’s Full Moon, called the “Snow Moon” by some.  Some groundhogs saw their shadow and some did not. So anybody’s guess about the upcoming weather is sanctioned by a groundhog somewhere.  The Champion Woodchuck is a monster.  He stands up nearly as tall as the dinner table.  If he had been prowling around Friday night, C.W. could have seen his moon shadow and what weather that would portend is speculation certainly.  Speculators are a dime a dozen around Champion.  One of them thinks this whole Global Warming thing is a put up job by the Government because anyone can see that it is as cold a winter as has been had around here in a long time.  “It’s the frequency of violent weather in general that’s the result of the warming,” says one.  Somebody else said that man is not having any kind of effect on the weather because it is all in God’s hands.  Then somebody said that God gave man dominion over the earth and man is fouling it up.  Some say their point of view is backed up by scientific data.  Others say there is no point in reading all that stuff because a person can find paperwork to prove anything.  Cabin fever may be playing a part in this surly discourse.  Feel free to participate in the discourse at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, at the Champion Store (write it down and give it to someone in the store who has recently had a birthday) or e-mail opinions to Champion News. The whole argument may be more compelling in late summer.

        In answer to a request, these are the words to “The West Plains Explosion.”  “ In a little town of West Plains In old Missouri state Twas in the month of April They saw the hand of fate.  The springtime flowers were blooming  The world was bright and gay  And no one dreamed the danger Would come to them that day.  Was there the young folks gathered One fatal Friday night  And to the dance they wandered With hearts so gay and light.  And there they spent the evening Without a thought of fear For nothing came to warn them That death was drawing near.  The dance was nearly over The evening nearly past When from the floor beneath them There came an awful blast.  The building all around them Came tumbling to the ground  And there they fought and struggled But the hot flames beat them down.  How quick the scene was shifted From one so gay and light How hard the brave men struggled To save their friends that night.  How sad the fears of loved ones Who came at break of dawn To see the great disaster Where forty lives had gone.  We can’t explain the reason These awful things must come But we should all be ready to say, ‘Thy will be done.’  And tho Our hearts are weary Our burdens hard to bare  We have one consolation We’ll meet them over there.”  That is a sad song.

        The  Missouri Song List currently is:

1. The Missouri Waltz
2. Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie
3. I’m Goin Back to Whur I Come From
4. The Westphalia Waltz
5. The West Plains Explosion
6. My Missouri Home
7. Kansas City, Here I Come

        The words to “My Missouri Home” have not yet been found.  “The Shotgun Boogie” looked like a pretty good candidate for the song list.  Red Foley used to play it, but it was written by Tennessee Earnie Ford and was his ‘hit.’  The subject matter looks like it’s straight out of Champion with its references to squirrel hunting, etc.

        Little Granddaughters, Zoey Louise and Alexandra Jean will have to look for someone else to teach them to lift up the underdog and to hate it when the wealthy make excuses for injustice.  Their great fellow Texan, Molly Ivins,  passed away this last week.  She was sixty two years old and had made every moment of her life count for something good.  It was her intention to keep the war in Iraq in the forefront of American thought.  With Love and Gratitude for her and for our precious soldiers over there, it is to be noted that eighty four of them lost their lives in January.

        UFOs have been reported between Willow Springs and Houston.  It is understood that there have been several sightings.  Champion has some interesting neighbors.  Linda over in Norwood at the Plant Place has some of her perennials in already and the Cole crops are about up.  When the moon sign is right in a few days she will plant the herbs.  It is nice to know that gardening season is coming up.  Plans need to be made.

        The much anticipated invitations are in the mail!  Auxiliary members will soon be donning their hats and six shooters.  Rifles will be slung over delicate shoulders and the order “Commence Fire!” will be heard.  The Second Annual Invitational Shoot Out sponsored for the Members of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department is in the works.  Last year crock pots, coffee pots, toasters, and a few other things were the targets of their rage: “BLAST IT IF IT WON’T WORK!” was their cry.

        This year……who knows?

CHAMPION—January 29, 2007

        It’s cold in Champion.  No one is complaining, however, as the discomfort and damage has been so minor compared to neighbors close at hand.  Springfield will be a long time recovering from the ice storm that made the national news and was reported on the BBC around the world.  Some Champion residents are still going over to help in the clean up.  It’s a good feeling to be part of such a generous community.

        The big ‘goings on’ in Champion this past week revolved around cousins Foster and Eli and second cousin Madelyn Ward.  They, together with various parents and grandparents, descended on the Krider farm to the extent that hardly anything was accomplished.  Oh, the cows got milked and fed the way they always do, but the family focus was on the wonderful swarm of little people.  There is a reason for Love and Gratitude!

        The Krider ladies were not present at the Auxiliary meeting of the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department, but they were subsequently informed by friends and neighbors of the proceedings.  The meeting was held in the home of Esther Wrinkles.  Attending were Ms. Wrinkles, Louise Hutchison, Sharon Sikes, Sarah Sikes, Betty Dye, Ruth Hamilton, Murnice Hamilton, Susan Griswold, Karen Griswold and Wilda Moses.  The main topic of the evening was the chili supper which is scheduled for February 24^th.  In the event of bad weather an alternate date of March 3^rd was determined. Details of the menu were discussed and responsibilities were delegated and assumed.  In addition to chili and ham & beans, this year chicken and noodles will be available for those who can’t eat spicy food late in the day.  Ruth brought the Chipmunk 22 youth rifle to show the membership.  It is a lovely little gun with a walnut stock. There will be separate drawings for the Chipmunk rifle and for the Mossberg 535 twelve gage shotgun this year.  It was reported that ticket sales have been brisk.  Ruth also brought the lovely red, white and blue star quilt to show the members.  It was completely hand made by Loren Mastrangelo and has been donated to the Auxiliary as part of the fund raiser.  It is six feet square and hand quilted.  It would serve as a beautiful wall hanging or as a quilt.  The membership was happy to learn that the Bressler Brothers will perform again this year as will Back Yard Bluegrass and The Blades of Bluegrass.  Booger County Bluegrass and the Firehouse Quartet are perennial favorites and this year for the first time Bill Conley an Ozark String Band will perform.  Other items on the agenda included the report of donations of some new merchandize to the silent auction by Betty Dye and  rumors of an impending shoot-out somewhere in the suburbs of Champion.  The meeting was concluded with coffee and Ms. Wrinkles’ excellent apple cobbler. 

        Friday is Groundhog Day.  A few years ago there was a movie made by that name staring Bill Murray and Andy McDowell.  It is one of those ‘feel good’ movies that stresses the idea that a person can start over and do a better job of living, or that when a person extends himself to help others his own life improves.  There are several songs about groundhogs too.  One such, sung by the American Indian singer Buffy St. Marie, has a verse that goes, “Groundhog, groundhog, what makes you smell so bad?  I been livin in the ground so darn long, I’m mortified in my head, head!  I’m mortified in my head.”  Several lovely people have their birthdays on Groundhog day too.  One such lives over on the other side of Ava from Champion.  Judy Sharon is as lovely a person as can be found anywhere, full of  skills and talents with a genuine appreciation for and understanding of her many friends.  She’s got a smile like a sunny day.  Charlene Dupre over in Norwood is another one like that, multitalented, compassionate, high energy and ready for fun.  It’s a delight to have them for neighbors and a gift to have them as friends. 

        As the search was made for lyrics to “My Missouri Home,” other discoveries were made. (There are quilt blocks called “The Missouri Daisy,” “Old Missouri,” and “The Missouri Star.”)  The song was suggested by Darrell Haden for the Missouri Song List and when the words are found, they will be reported.  Perhaps one of those bands that will play at Skyline’s chili supper will know the song.  Meanwhile, someone inquired about “The West Plains Explosion.” On Friday, April 28, 1928, about sixty young people had gathered at the Bond Dancehall, on the second floor of an East Main Street building (the first floor was occupied by Wiser Motors.)  At 11:05 pm, as the orchestra played “Sundown,” a violent explosion occurred.  Thirty seven people were killed and twenty two were injured.  Twenty of the dead were never identified, but buried in the Oak Lawn Cemetery, where they are memorialized by the Rock of Ages Monument erected October 6, 1929.  No cause was ascertained, though leaking gasoline from the garage below was suspected.  Windows were shattered throughout the  Halstead block and the heat, combined with subsequent explosions twisted cars on the street out of shape.  It is said that no dances were held in West Plains for many years.

        For appreciators of the old days and the old ways, these stories are interesting.  The Looking Backward column in the paper is frequently the first one read and the Reminiscent History of Douglas County together with the Centennial photos are most welcome.  From time to time a person is heard to say that he was ‘born a hundred years too late.’  The implication is that those days were better and a person could have lived a better life back then.  Those things may be true, but it would be a rare individual nowadays, brought up in the comparative ease and sloth of today, who could make a go of it.  Some look back on the old days to get an appreciation of today.  Today, almost thirty-one hundred U.S. Service People have lost their lives in the current conflict in Iraq.  That their sacrifice is appreciated by their Nation is the Hope and it is hoped that their survivors are recognized with the Love and Gratitude that is their due.

CHAMPION—January 22, 2007

        There is jubilation in Champion!  Kyle Alexander Barker has arrived!  He was born January 21^st at about 4:30 in the morning.  He weighed 8 pounds two ounces and was 22 inches long.  His mother and father are Deborah and Tom Barker. Deborah is the Special Education teacher at Skyline School.  She has a large support group there and everyone is celebrating.  Young Master Barker enters an expansive family.  Next week end Robert Upshaw, his maternal grandfather, plans to make ice cream to celebrate the birthday of Gene Barker, his paternal grandfather.  It’s nice they all get along so well.  By this time next year the little fellow will have determined what his favorite flavor of homemade ice cream will be and doubtlessly will have made other preferences known that will have him identified as an individual.  He has deep roots in this community going way back.  He is already a lucky lad to have such a beautiful home place and such a rich family heritage.

        Grandpa Upshaw (Robert) was one of several who answered the call to fight that brush fire back on December 27^th.  He was within ten feet of Farel Sikes when he ‘disappeared.’  Robert reported that it was a difficult situation to get Farel out of the spot into which he had fallen.  Other firefighters reported that it was slick and steep and a ‘brake’ rope had to be attached to the backboard to slow them down if things got too fast underfoot.  Good fortune mixed with good training and a genuine sense community affected a positive outcome for Farel.  To answer a number of inquiries,  he is making excellent progress in his recovery.  He says he can do pretty much anything he wants to do.  “Gee!” said a neighbor, “If I fall off a cliff can I go to the circus?”  The neighbor misses the point and probably will not get to go to the circus, no matter how much he likes clown(s).

        Sixty five years ago when Wilburn Hutchison was eight years old, he and Fleming Gheer were out in a hay field just south of Skyline when they looked up to see a dirigible!  Wilburn said it was going east.  He just celebrated his birthday on January 11^th.  He was born in 1934, which he said was reported to have been a very cold winter.  He was born very close to his current residence with his grandmother and Ms. Jessie Mae Paige there to help his mother.  He and Louise married in the house where they love now.  It was 72 degrees that morning, December 30^th, 1967, and by they time they had the ceremony that evening (the preacher had gone fishing) the temperature had dropped into the twenties and there was ten inches of show on the ground.  It was a dangerous adventure getting back to Iowa for the newly weds.  On November 11, 1911, there was an even more dramatic temperature drop.  Tom Hutchison’s mother and dad had gone to Norwood by wagon early in the day.  It was 80 degrees when they left home.  By the time they got back it was 20 degrees with the snow blowing and it was a treacherous trip.  In those days, with no weather service to warn them of impending disaster, people stayed prepared.  They put up their garden produce, butchered a hog, made their soap and ground their sorghum,  cut bee trees and fire wood.  They also helped each other and built deep, strong friendships…the essence of community.

        Wilburn was a school mate of Darrell Haden from whom a postcard has been received at “Champions Items.”  They attended Ava High School.  Mr. Haden writes a complimentary note and provides some excellent information about some Missouri songs.  He reports that “I’m Goin’ Back to Whur I Come From” was written by Carson J. Robinson who also wrote “Life Gits TeeJus.”  Since life can be tedious everywhere, that one will not be considered as a strictly Missouri song.  He also wrote that Robinson penned “The West Plains Explosion” for Vernon Dalhart to record in June of 1928.  From the internet these words are found:

VERSE 1
In a little town of West Plains
In old Missouri state
Twas in the month of April
They saw the hand of fate

VERSE 2
The springtime flowers were blooming
The world was bright and gay
And no one dreamed the danger
Would come to them that day

VERSE 3
Was there the young folks gathered
One fatal Friday night
And to the dance they wandered
With hearts so gay and light

VERSE 4
And there they spent the evening
Without a thought of fear
For nothing came to warn them
That death was drawing near

VERSE 5
The dance was nearly over
The evening nearly past
When from the floor beneath them
There came an awful blast

VERSE 6
The building all around them
Came tumbling to the ground
And there they fought and struggled
But the hot flames beat them down

VERSE 7
How quick the scene was shifted
From one so gay and light
How hard the brave men struggled
To save their friends that night

VERSE 8
How sad the fears of loved ones
Who came at break of dawn
To see the great disaster
Where forty lives had gone

VERSE 9
We can’t explain the reason
These awful things must come
But we should all be ready
To say, “Thy will be done”

VERSE 10
And tho Our hearts are weary
Our burdens hard to bare
We have one consolation
We’ll meet them over there.

        While many Herald  readers may be acquainted with this episode in local history, it is news to many others.  The sesquicentennial celebration of Douglas County that will culminate in October this year will hopefully give residents and readers the opportunity to learn much more detail about the recent history (150 years) of the area.  Pioneer Days will also be the first week-end in October and promises to be another great event highlighting the old days and the old ways.  Perhaps Darrell Haden will consent to a reprint of “The Headless Cobbler of Smallett Cave, The Origin and Growth of a Douglas County, Missouri, Legend.”  Encouragement from the likes of Mr. Haden is encouragement indeed! He also suggests “My Missouri Home” for the song list. Words for that one are being researched.  Additional encouragement comes from Patty Squirell, via e-mail. “Really wonderful, and I love Westphalia, passing through as I did on my trips back and forth to Columbia, MO. I’m concerned that you have forgotten to mention my favorite Missouri song though. I can’t keep myself from singing anytime I head to my sister’s. “Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.”

        The Missouri Song List

1. The Missouri Waltz
2. Take Me to St. Louie, Louie
3. I’m Goin Back to Whur I Come From
4. The Westphalia Waltz
5. The West Plains Explosion
6. My Missouri Home
7. Kansas City, Here I Come

        Encouragement, legends, histories, poetry, grumblings, musings and music are welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, at the Champion Store, and at Champion News.  Corrections are also welcome there.  Some misinformation about the Evan’s store will be corrected in the near future.  It was erroneously reported that Jesse Henson had started that store, when it was the Evans family’s business in its beginnings.  Readers and writers are looking forward to learning more about the truth of that matter.  There was no response to the solicitation for ‘tails’ in last weeks column. The idea of rabbits and dogs and birds loosing their trailing parts due to poor word choices is a dreadful thought.  Having fur and feathers show up in the mail would be worse.  So, tales are welcome, but no tails, please.

        The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department will override the State of the Union Message this week with its meeting on Tuesday evening.  A full report can be expected in the next issue as plans are made for the Chili Supper on February 24^th.  Excitement is building as time is getting short!  There is much to do and energy levels are running high!  Champions ooze enthusiasm!

        American Soldiers young and old are doing what is asked of them.  Love and Gratitude is their due.

CHAMPION – January 16, 2007

        No complaints of any sort are coming out of Champion.  Cold temperatures make things a little inconvenient, but just a glance over into northern and western counties is enough to remind even the most grumpy that Champion is again the seat of good fortune.

        Some good citizens from this area have gone into Springfield to help out with tree removal and other tasks for some old folks up there.  It is a good time to show our neighborly nature.  Everyone who doesn’t have to go out, however, is cautioned to say home and stay safe.

        The Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department has postponed it’s meeting again, this time due to the cold.  It will be held in the home of Mrs. Esther Wrinkles on Tuesday, January 23^rd.  It will be a productive planning meeting in preparation for the annual chili supper which is scheduled for February 24^th.  There is always a lot to do to get ready for one of these affairs.  Fortunately the ladies are up to the task.  Not much is going on around Champion in the cold. Even little shop keepers have let their special birthdays go by with no fanfare.

        The Westphalia Waltz” is a beautiful tune to add to the list of songs about Missouri.  Westphalia is up between here and Jeff City.  It’s a quaint little berg that has kind of a European look to it. (Champion is not a very European looking place, but it is picturesque as all get out.)  So far our song list is:  #1 The Missouri Waltz, #2 Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie, # 3 Take Me Back to Where I Came From and now # 4 The Westphalia Waltz.  One of the radio stations around here that specializes in old time music would probably have a recording of it to play upon request.

        In airports and bus stations around the country soldiers are leaving to go to war and some are coming home.  Outward bound, they part from their families without tears.  They are brave and stoic.  At a bus station recently a family was observed waiting for their boy.  Two teenage sisters, a wife, and a Mother and Father stood outside the terminal as the bus pulled up.  There were tender sweet hugs for the sisters and the mother and then an embrace with the Father that was at the same time beautiful and heartbreaking.  The young man, husky and a little taller than his father, seemed to shrink in the moments that they held each other.  The bristling tension of his body dissolved to a shaking that implied sobs with a Father’s comforting hand stroking and patting his son’s back, the way parents do when their children are hurt.  It was a long moment, held out no doubt by the rarity of an embrace between men.  When they parted at last and the young man opened his arms to his young wife they seemed to have a happy reunion, free of that great weight he had carried off the bus.  What passes unspoken between Fathers and sons is a gift of great Love and Gratitude.

        Send your stories of Love and Gratitude, your songs and poetry, your tails, your observations and news, your hopes and dreams, your criticisms and complaints to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  Leave them at the Champion Store or e-mail them to Champion News.

CHAMPION–JANUARY 8, 2007

        The prevailing attitude in Champion these days is Gratitude.  Farel Sikes is fairly bristling with it.  When asked about an event that occurred on Wednesday the third of this month he said that he had taken the quick way down and that he neither bounces nor flies.  The Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department had responded to a brush fire and just about had it wrapped up late that evening.  Farel and a couple of others with their team leader, Craig Blankenship, were taking care of a last little flair up.  He went around one end of the blaze with his leaf blower and was down hill from the fire and down wind of it when he said he thought he had stepped into a hole.  He said that his next thought was that he sure wished he could get his breath.  He had stepped off a bluff and had fallen some 25 to 30 feet.  He fell on his leaf blower, but fortunately landed in some moist soil.  A few feet in any direction would have had him piled up on the rocks.  He was Grateful for that bit of luck and also Grateful to have three First Responders immediately on the scene.  Craig Blankenship, Robert Hamilton, and Donald Powell carefully moved him  75 feet to a spot where an ambulance could receive him.  At the call, “Firefighter down!”  Cox Ambulance Service arrived promptly.  Paramedic, Rick Miller, and EMT, “Mike Michael,” took good care of him and got him to the hospital quickly.  There he remained until Saturday.  He has a fractured wrist which will be getting some fancy pins put in to hold it together and he has stress fractures to L1 and L3 that are called serious but not critical.  He will be wearing a “Ninga Turtle” brace for 3 or 4 months and will be restricted to no heavy lifting until he is mended.  He is home and up and around, admittedly uncomfortable but uncomplaining.  Farel also admits that it was a lack of attention on his part that caused his fall.  Accidents, however, are part of life and the reason the Champion community is so fortunate to have these well trained Fire Fighters, First Responders, Paramedics and EMTs.  As news of the incident reached neighbors traveling in distant places they called to ask if Farel needed anything from the great state of Texas.  He said, “No, I don’t need a thing.  My sweet Mother is already here.”  Mrs. Sarah Sikes had been visiting for the holidays and will extend her stay to be of help to Farel and Sharon during his recuperation.  He and Sharon are Grateful for that and for the outpouring of Love and support from friends and neighbors and their church community.

        Down in far South Texas the eighteen wheelers full of the luscious citrus for which the area is known are lined up in front of the juice plants.  Picking the sweet Valencia oranges and Ruby Red Grapefruit right off the tree is a genuine treat.  Cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower are being harvested now and peach trees are beginning to bloom.  While the palm trees sway in gentle Gulf breezes blown in from exotic places and family ties are precious a couple of songs about home in Missouri come to mind.  One is “Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie.”  The other most surely was written about Champion itself.  It has come from two sources.  One is Mrs. Katherine Coffman a long time resident from Mountain Grove.  She said the song was made popular by Phil Harris when she was a girl and its title was “Take Me Back To Where I Come From.”  The other source was W.A. Masters whose folks were born and raised over in McDonald County.  He was a one-man band known as “Uncle Al, The Lonesome Plowboy.”  He said that the title of the song was “Where the Mocking Bird Is Singing in the Lilac Bush.”  Whatever its title it does seem like it was written about someone from around here.  This is how it goes:

         “I’m going back to where I come from, where the honeysuckle smells so sweet it darn near makes you sick.  I used to think my life was humdrum, but I shore have learned a lesson that is bound to stick.  I used to go down to the station every evening just to watch those Pullman cars come rolling in.  And then one day temptation bit me and it took me to the spot that’s got me to the shape I’m in.  I took my hat and fourteen dollars and set out upon the path of sin that always follers when your rich and a huntin’ romance, but my huntin’ days are over I can tell you that.  I met a man in Kansas City and he asked me if I thought that I would like to step around and I said, “Yep, that’s what I’m here fer.”  So he said that he’d show me the hottest spots in town.  He mentioned things he’d have to fix up, so he took my fourteen dollars, but there must have been a mix-up.  He’s been gone since Thursday morning, and I’ve got a hunch I’ll never see that guy no more.  Now when I’m old and have a grandson, I will tell him ’bout my romance days and watch his eyes bug out, but chances are, he won’t believe me and he’ll do the same darn thing when he grows up no doubt.  But he can’t say I didn’t warn him.  Oh, what will happen when he meets up with that city-slick, golldarn him!  Take me back to where I come from, where the mocking bird is singing in the lilac bush.  Where the mocking bird is singing in the lilac bush.”

        Champion residents, past or present, are welcome to add to the list of Missouri songs at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  Write them in the notebook at the Champion Store or e-mail them to Champion News. Add poetry, history, yarns, tall tales or warnings or real news and make comments and corrections.

        The Missouri Song List so far:  #1.  Missouri Waltz, #2.  Meet Me in St.Louie, Louie, #3.  Take Me Back To Where I Came From.

CHAMPION–January 1, 2007

        Greetings to Champion and to all its charming Champions from far far away.  Happy New Year!  They say that home is where the heart is.  They also say that closeness has not all that much to do with geography.  Still, for those with families and loved ones dispersed across the country, sometimes it’s necessary to leave the best place in the world just to keep connected in that sweet familial way.  Emily Post said, “To do nothing that can either annoy or offend the sensibilities of others is the principle rule of conduct under all circumstances whether staying at home or traveling.”  That seems to call for short visits.  To those who have flung themselves out into the hospitality of others and to those receiving them it is to be hoped that at parting the shared affection lingers.  Stories of holiday adventures in Champion proper will be forthcoming in weeks ahead as they are leaked to the press.  No one will weary of reports of good cheer and fun around home. Leaks to the press are encouraged at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, at the Champion Store, and at Champion News. Histories, opinions, poetry, prognostications and any sort of pertinent yarn or admonition will also be happily accepted.

        Molly Ivins, quite a notable Texan, said that the reason the sky is bigger in Texas is because there aren’t any trees.  Well, that’s not exactly true.  There are some wonderful trees, just not too many and while there are some hills, they just are not all that tall (except for those Guadalupe Mountains.)  “There’s a Yellow Rose in Texas that I am going to see.  No body else could love her, not half as much as me….”  This popular song for voice and piano was published in an arrangement by David Guion in 1936 and dedicated to Franklin Roosevelt in honor of the Texas Centennial.  It is an old Texas folk song.  “The San Antonio Rose”, says, “Deep within my heart lies a melody, a song of Old San Antone where in dreams I live with a memory beneath the stars all alone.” That one was written by Bob Wills.  There are, no doubt, plenty of songs about Missouri.  The “Missouri Waltz” and _______?  Music loving neighbors over in Vanzant could probably crawl through a window and find stacks of songs about Missouri on pianos and bookshelves.  Compiling a list of those songs is as worthy a plan for the New Year as any. Any help with that project will be appreciated.  Send the title, author, history and as many of the lyrics as you can remember to the address above.

        More than twenty thousand U.S. Service People have been injured in conflict since March of 2003.  It is hoped that they are being acknowledged, encouraged and supported with Love and Gratitude by their families, communities and their Nation.

        The regular meeting of the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department Ladies’ Auxiliary will be postponed until the 16th of the month and will be held in the home of Mrs. Esther Wrinkles.

        Safe travels and happy homecomings to all those Champions on the road!

CHAMPION— December 25, 2006

        Having Christmas occur on Monday sets the tone for a lovely week in Champion.  Oh, the weather may be cold and damp and dreary, but the mood is festive and optimistic.  Holidays often bring somber moments fraught with memories of the past and of missing loved ones.  Those are what make the present such a precious commodity as we go on about the business of making new memories.

        For some children and some older people too Christmas is the ‘main day’ of the year.  It is the day that people imagine all year long as being the best day, the day when they will be happy, or get what they want.  When it is over and it is December 26^th again, the whole thing starts all over. The daydreaming about how things will be in the future, and the building of expectations begins again.  Sometimes comparing real events as they happen with those expectations is a receipt for disappointment.  Older folks see the years flying by quickly, but to young ones the space between Christmases can be an unimaginably long time. Living in the present is a real challenge no matter what the age.

        There was a request for the rest of that song, “Y’all Come.”  The missing verse is the first one:  “When you’re livin’ in the country everybody is yer neighbor.  On that one thing you can rely.  They will all come to see you and they’ll never ever leave you saying ‘Y’all come to see us by and by.’”  Then it goes on to the chorus and the verse about the kinfolks coming by the dozens, and then to the one where Grandma’s wishing they would all come to the kitchen.  It’s one of those songs that is a lot of fun to sing in a big crowd of people who all know it and want to sing along.  Maybe someone will organize a Champion ‘Sing’ one of these days and pull out all those old fashioned tunes and get everyone to crooning.  Somebody probably knows all of “Is That You, Myrtle?” and “The Old Knot Hole.”

        Seed catalogs are starting to show up in the mail already.  Gardening work is at a minimum during this cold weather, so there is time to review successes and failures to start planning now for next year’s garden.  Newly planted trees should be secured with guy wires according to some and some pruning can be done as weather permits, but not of spring flowering shrubs.  This is a good time to put out bird feeders.  The robins have been busy this week up on Clever Creek.  There have been some very exciting eagle sightings in the area lately and some rumors of wild coyote hunts.

        Judy Boykin was back to work by the middle of the week.  Rolling around in her wheelchair with her hand bandaged, she is keeping Glen’s Propane running smoothly.  She is an inspiration to anybody who thinks things can get a little rough sometimes.

        Charlene Dupre is finally home again at The Plant Place and The Gift Corner.  She has spent the last few months out in Virginia taking care of her sweet granddaughter, Olivia, while her mother was out on sea duty with the Navy.  Norwood is glad to have Charlene back, certainly her sister Linda Hetherington is.  It’s a gift to the local communities all around to have creative enterprising people and some solid family owned businesses in operation.

        Old Grandfather Weltanschauung and Crazy Sue spent the day around their own little hearth on Monday. Nobody’s feeling sorry for them though, because they so regularly visit with their children and grandchildren.  Not a week goes by without some trips back and forth.

        Ms. Wrinkles was scheduled to have her two sons and their families home on Monday.  The Kriders have some visiting currently and more on the way.  This will be a beautiful week for them. The Hamilton’s over passed Brushy Knob have had their three children and two grandchildren visiting.  Ms. Powell’s grandsons Brian and Derek spent part of Sunday with her.  Champion has been a regular hot bed of family fun.  Everyone is full of Love and Gratitude for the chance to enjoy each others company.

        Two cannibals were eating a clown and one asked the other, “Does this taste funny to you?”  That did not happen in Champion.  So long as Harley Krider is visiting, he could spend a few minutes telling some stories or histories or yarns and it wouldn’t hurt him one bit.  He probably knows few things on a Champion resident here or there, past or present.  If Cletus Upshaw (or any one of the other Upshaws, for that matter) could be convinced to open up, the Herald would be having to add pages just to get it all in.  There is a lot of highly interesting information out there regarding the Champion community of today and long ago.  Anyone is welcome to share some at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, at the Champion Store (There is a notebook there.  Just write it down.) or e-mail to Champion News.

        The New Year will start on a Monday too.  When asked about New Years resolutions, a wonderful man, good friend and great musician, Buff Manion, once said, “I’m just going to try to be a little nicer to people.”  So far 2978 U.S. Service People have lost their lives since the war began in Iraq in March of 2003.  There is always hope for a better year ahead, one full of Love and Gratitude.  Happy New Year, Champion!

CHAMPION—December 18, 2006

        Look out Champion!  The community is about to be overrun by grandchildren!  Scarcely have residents recovered from the onslaught of Hamilton and Powell grandchildren and great grandchildren, but here come Dakota and Dillon Watts accompanied by their parents from Tennessee and Foster Emmet and his cousin Eli are very likely to be around.  It will be noisy and busy with adventures on the farm.  There will be great feasts and plenty left overs and dishwashing.  When there is a big crowd, particularly if there enough women, those kinds of chores don’t seem to take up too much time.  There is an old song, however, that says:

“ Oh the kinfolks are a comin’,

yes, there comin’ by the dozens

and they’re eatin’ everything from soup to hay.

And right after dinner, they’re not lookin’ any thinner

and you can hear them say:

‘Ya’ll come!  Ya’ll come!

Ya’ll come to see us now and then.

Ya’ll come!  Ya’ll come!

Oh.  You all come to see us when you can.’ ”

“Now, Grandma’s a wishin’

that they’d all come to the kitchen

and help do the dishes right away,

But when they all start to leavin’,

even though she is a grievin’

you can still hear Grandma say,

‘Ya’ll come! Ya’ll come!

Ya’ll come to see us now and then.

Ya’ll come!  Ya’ll come!

Oh.  You all come to see us when you can.’ ”

        It goes on and on like that.  Fortunately the melody is pleasant.  Up on Clever Creek there will be a big influx of nieces and grandnieces who are doctors and students and musicians.  What can you do?  Some of those who are not expecting to have family visiting Champion for the holidays are going off elsewhere to find some.  The community is on the move.  Everybody seems to be full of Love and Gratitude at this time of year.

        A stranger to these parts happened along and noticed a long line of men filing slowly in through the gate of one of the local cemeteries.  A curious sort, he walked past the line of men until he finally came up to a new grave.  Beside it stood a man who was holding a small dog.  “Who is buried here?” inquired the stranger.  “It’s my mother-in-law” replied the man with the dog.”  “She died very suddenly after this little dog bit her.”  The stranger thought for a long moment and then asked, “Would you consider selling that little dog?”  The man with the dog said that he just couldn’t possibly sell it.  “Well, would you lease it?” pressed the stranger.  “Yes, I would lease it,” the man responded, “but you’ll have to go to the end of that line.”

        That is just a flat out yarn told the other day by a veteran yarn spinner.  Champion is a great part of the country for yarns, and songs, and sayings of all sorts.  Mrs. E. Powell said that if there was a couple having trouble in their marriage her aunt Frances Nettelton would say, “That’s their possum.  Let them wool it.”  By that she was saying to leave them alone to work out their problems.  This long time resident of Champion also noted that since World War II the country has really gone downhill.  Part of her point was that while technology has advanced, people are not so neighborly as they were back when everybody had to work together in the “war-effort.”  Neighbors over in Brixie had the opportunity to view the movie, An Inconvenient Truth on Saturday.  The message of the movie seems to be that the whole world has a possum to wool.  Here is part of an e-mail response to an inquiry made about the event:  “The movie was at the old Brixey church. ….  Steve Bennet, who moved back in the area after being gone for many years (and used to own the Gainesville paper), got up and made a passionate plea about how to stop the folks around here from clear cutting (he couldn’t believe how much more had been done in his absence).

        The movie made the rate of change expected in the next 20 to 50 years to seem overwhelming, and yet also showed how the most basic and simple conservation efforts do have quite an impact.  David Haenke made a plea that globalization and the huge amount of energy it takes to move products all around the world calls for de-centralization of goods and services to even begin to address the problem.

        On the local level it was discussed how the big pitch for ethanol was a diversion (too much petroleum input).  It was brought out that trees are our only proven method for taking large amounts of Co2 out of the atmosphere, and so how do we protect Ozark forests?  Goats (in a reasonable amount) were brought up as the better livestock alternative, and the use and production of more forest products, including the use of wood by-products as a source of fuel alternative (though the technology isn’t quite there yet).  Anyway, that’s some of the scoop.

        I think the best image I took from the movie was that of the Earth as a big breathing organism, giving oxygen in the Spring/Summer, and releasing Co2 in the Fall/Winter, and in many other ways is self-regulating.  Take Care,  Bob”  This Bob has a new grandson, born December 12^th, by the name of Braxton Liebert..  Grandparents make excellent world citizens as they are always looking out for the best interest of their most precious young ones.

        Neighbors in Norwood are distressed to learn that Judy Boykin of Glen’s Propane has had an accident Monday evening that resulted in a broken hip and broken hand.  She’ll be home from St. John’s in a few days with plenty on her plate.  She’s kind of a dynamo.  It’s hard to hold her down.

        The news this week has run a little long, with the warnings, songs, yarns, sayings, movie reviews, letters, observations, birth announcements and accident reports.  Any of those things or any other thing of interest to Champions is welcome from readers at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717, at the Champion Store, or at Champion News.