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CHAMPION—May 16, 2016

This could be YOU enjoying the beautiful road to Champion!

        Answers to the question, “What is it?” have come pouring in over face book, by e-mail, in person at the Historic Emporium and by phone.  The first was from Jerry Proctor, via Facebook.  He said “It is a hay needle.  The old timers used it to put hay in the loft.”  Local archeologist, Mark Parsons, emails, “I saw one of these many years ago and it was explained to me that when hay was stored loose in barns the harpoon was plunged into the hay (dropped from a pulley?) and the barbs opened to pick up and move a big wad of hay.”  He also included a link to a Farm Collector article called “Putting Hay Away the Old-Fashioned Way” with a picture captioned, “This beautifully preserved double-barb, single –harpoon hawmow fork has one of the most complicated mechanisms…when retracted, the barbs are fully enclosed in the device’s hollow body.”  He included another link where a similar item was offered for sale.  “This is the Nellis model #7-28 single hay harpoon.  This piece was made in the late 1890’s.  Early hay bales could weigh hundreds of pounds.”  In person at the Emporium, Deward’s Granddaughter brought a print out of an article about a hay harpoon with the phrase, “Not to be confused with a whaling tool.”  Then Elma Shortt called to identify it as a haymow and to say her uncle had one.  She is 88 now and moved from Ava to Nixa about a year ago.   She is close to her daughter there and very much enjoying the company at the Senior Citizens Center where she enjoys brusque games of double pinochle and reading The Champion News.  Distant southern Texas readers of TCN, unfamiliar with hay barns and mountaineering thought it might be some form of mountain climbing tool.  Mark Upshaw’s question seems to have been fully answered.

Seamus Heffern, Physics Fair Finalist Picture shared by inordinately proud grandparents.

        The school year has ended.  Children are cut loose for the summer, which they think will last a long time.  Among the many brilliant scholars and gifted students finishing up the scholastic year is Champion grandson, Seamus Heffern, who was a finalist in Physics Fair in Springfield.  His grandparents are ecstatic over his accomplishments.  Congratulations to all you vigorous learners.  Have a good vacation while you continue learning things that school does not teach.  The Skyline R2 School is beginning a live concert series.  On May 21st there will be performances by Robert Wilson (folk rock), Curb Appeal (bluegrass) and Tavis Lawson (Blues Rock).  The admission charge is minimal and the funds will go toward replacing chairs in the school, which very much need replacing.  The little rural school that is turning out good citizens could use a little help.  The Fairview and Denlow School Reunion will be held Saturday, May 28th at Denlow.  These schools closed many years ago, but they are still dear in the hearts of their alumni.  The $0.48 tax levy increase for Skyline R2 will be on the ballot again in the August election.  It is said to have failed by 15 votes in April.  Passage of this small increase may be what allows us to keep our school going so that fifty years from now there will be nostalgic old folks gathering to reminisce, even as there will be for Fairview and Denlow on the Saturday of Memorial Day week-end.  Cathie Reilly Alsup will not be able to attend this year, so the hula hoop contest will be less exciting, but there is slated to be music and frivolity of various kinds in addition to the wonderful pot-luck luncheon, a Veterans presentation by Pete Proctor and the annual auction that funds the event.  The Spring and Summer Social Season for Champion and all its neighbors is off to a swinging start!

        Dear Champion friends, Esther and Raymond Howard have just celebrated seventy (70!) years of marriage.  Congratulations!  Champions Kenneth (Hovie) and Dawn Henson down in Houston, Texas are enjoying the birthday of their granddaughter, Avery.  Laine Sutherland posted on the internet, “I am so proud of Daddy (Wayne Sutherland).  He was presented the Distinguished Member Award by David Melton, President of the Ozark Older Iron Club at the Spring Tractor Show in Cabool.”  Teresa Wrinkles will have her birthday on May 22nd.  Heidi Strong celebrates that day as well.  She will be in the 5th grade when school starts up again in the fall.  There is plenty of reason for rejoicing in Champion, also for reflection.  This week marked the passage of Bernice Wiseman, a lovely lady, the paternal grandmother of Champion kids Foster and Kalyssa.  She was kind and good hearted and will be much missed but will always stay in the hearts of her family and friends.

        The Teeter Creek herb of the week is Goosegrass (a favorite weed in the township of Goose Nibble) which is also known as Cleavers (Galium aparine) and Bedstraw.  Herbalist Bob Liebert says, “The plant has weak stems with tiny hooks that help it to climb up other tall plants, often forming mats of the sticky plants.  Six leaflets form a ray from the stem, where the little white flowers emerge too.”  Get a good look at it at www.teetercreekherbs.com and connect to the Facebook page, where you will find out about its medicinal uses.  You will recognize it from your garden edges and from your walks in our rich open woodlands.  The Champion News Almanac for May says that the whole week up to and including the 20th will be excellent days for planting above ground crops.  Get out there and go to work, or just get out there to revel in Nature–Champion!

        “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”  “Success is not final, failure not fatal:  it is the courage to continue that counts.”  “A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.”  “If you can be content right now, then you’ll always be content, because it’s always right now.”  “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”  “We can effectively combat terrorism without sacrificing the civil liberties and constitutional protections which make us a free nation.”  “The cost of war is a battle that will continue until the very last veteran receives all of the care and all of the benefits they deserve.”  Quotes this week are, in no particular order, from Mark Twain, Willie Nelson, JFK, FDR, and others.

        When Bud Hutchison’s trail ride ambles back into Champion on Wednesday it is likely to be met by any number of spectators and music.  With luck, The General will be there with his guitar playing both parts of Dueling Banjos the way he did at the Vanzant Bluegrass Jam last Thursday night.  It was spectacular!  Chances are pretty good that he will leave his accordion at home, as he does not wish to spook the horses.  One wonders what songs go through the heads of those trail riders as they mosey along.  Perhaps, “I’m an old cow hand, from the Rio Grande, and I learned to ride before I learned to stand.  I know all the songs that the cow boys know, cause I heard them singing on the radio.  Woopie ki yea ki yo!” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!