CHAMPION—June 1, 2009

 

        As is true in most parts of the world, it turns out that in Champion the flip side of adversity is opportunity.

        By all reports the Proctor Family Reunion was a big success, as was the Fair Grove School Reunion.  How pleasant to live in a part of the world where people still care enough about each other after all these years to want to renew their old acquaintances.  Memories must be sweet to pull them back from so far afield.

        Haymaking is going at a breakneck pace, but no broken necks have been reported.  Champions will keep it that way.  Harley is home for a spell catching up on the farm work and the tranquil surroundings of a country estate.  Barbara was left home in Illinois where she is planning a California adventure, perhaps a buying trip for her burgeoning handbag collection.

        Linda’s June Almanac is ready over at the Plant Place in Norwood.  It indicates that from the third all the way through the seventh will be advantageous for planting.  Late Champions will be getting things in finally so they can start concentrating on the weeding and watering.  It will be a busy season.  Some versions of the almanac went out indicating that June’s flower is the Lily of the Valley.  That is May’s flower.  June’s is the rose!  As temperatures rise and greens collide it is amazing that it is so fast upon us when the winter seemed so very long.  It still is a surprise to see how far the season has progressed.  Some are enjoying big beautiful heads of broccoli already and lots of sugar snap peas.

        Champions over west of Clever Creek were surprised to find a 6’1” snakeskin out in their yard.  The snake had cleverly slipped out of its skin leaving a perfect transparent image of itself, except perhaps a little smaller.  It was not known exactly what kind of snake he was, perhaps a black snake or a bull snake.  These Champions are also enjoying the entertainment of a dozen swooping martins picking mosquitoes out of the air.  Things are not very exciting over their way and that’s just the way they like it.

        Fortnight Bridge was quite an interesting game Saturday.  Hosted by Brushy Knob with Charlene Dupre sitting in for the distracted Champion player, the game belonged to the player from Vera Cruz.  She won six of the seven rubbers played.  All but one were 700 rubbers, meaning that the opposing partnership did not win a game.  There was one unbid slam made by Charlene and the Norwood player who wound up with the low score.  The game was over by 11:30 and with such unbalanced hands and distribution everyone was glad, with the possible exception of the Vera Cruz winner!

        Little Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman have taken their Mom on a trip over to Tennessee to spend time with cousins Dillon and Dakota.  They will have spent a week or more there before their return.  They will be taking in a singing school there in Murphysborough.  All these youngsters share musical talent passed down from their grandfathers.  With some good training perhaps they will pass the joy of music down to their own future grandchildren.  They will be able to stand on the porch at Henson’s Store in Downtown Champion and explain to their grandchildren that the broad expanse of Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive was named after their great grandfather.  Maybe one of them will be a mandolin player and another will remember “Sadie’s Got Her New Dress On.”

        Ed Henson would have been 104 on his birthday, May 27th, this year.  He was a driving force in the community, setting the tone for good humor and good behavior.  He liked a practical joke better than most and pulled some good ones in his time.  Mostly what people remember about him was his good natured smile and his willingness to be a good neighbor.  He set a fine example.

        Dalton Trumbo wrote a novel and a screenplay called “Johnny Got His Gun.”  It is a disturbing story that chronicles the tragic fate of a World War I soldier.  He survived a land mine explosion only to have lost his arms, legs, ears, eyes, nose and mouth.  Initially, he doesn’t know if he’s dead, alive or dreaming.  Whatever a person’s stand on the current conflicts or military conflict in general this is a story that provokes thought.  Champions keep the U.S. Service people in their thoughts with Love and Gratitude for their service.

        Examples of opportunity or optimism can be sent to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  (I’m looking over a four-leaf clover that I overlooked before!)  E-mail them or any distracting kind of sunny side song to Champion News.  Hang around down at Henson’s Store on the North Side of the Square in Historic Downtown Champion and wait for some old timer to come along with a story to tell about Ed Henson.  Stand out on the porch and soak in the spring to summer seasonal changes to the constant beauty of the place.  Look in every direction.  It’s Champion! And you are Looking on the Bright Side.

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