CHAMPION—April 30, 2007

 

        Champion is again in the spotlight!  Early last week customers at Henson’s Store on Main Street were surprised to find a film crew there.  There were interviews with various local people as a video was made of the store inside and out.  Over the years Champion and Henson’s Store have been featured in a number of publications including The White River Electric Co-Op paper, Rural Missouri, National Geographic, as well as others.  This group is making a documentary which will be called Old Stores and Old Stories or vice versa, Old Stories and Old Stores.  One of the visitors involved in the project is the granddaughter of Albert E. Brumley who is reported to have written more that eight hundred sacred songs including I’ll Fly Away and Turn Your Radio On.  This is some good quality attention that reminds Champions that they live in a very Special Place.

        Music was a key part of a lovely Saturday evening at the Skyline School where neighbors gathered on the 21st  to support the Rita and Larry Hicks family which is experiencing some large medical expenses.  After enjoying a fine bowl of chili, attendees repaired to the gym where several groups entertained.  Bill Conley an Ozark String Band, Kirby Clark, and Back Yard Bluegrass were the groups advertised and they were joined by a number of others including yodeler, Ms. Eula Lakey.  A pair of young fiddlers also appeared in their black cowboy hats and executed a fine rendition of the tune Red Wing as well as a number of other fiddle tunes.  As they exited the building through the throngs in the hall someone said, “One of these days we will wish we had stopped them for an autograph.”  The music was interrupted from time to time while Zack Kelly auctioned off the pies that friends and neighbors had brought in.  The food was excellent, the entertainment sublime, and the community spirit just what has come to be expected from Champions and their sweet neighbors.  It takes a lot of hard work to pull off one of these affairs and it is a delight to be associated with the old timers and new comers who have the will to get things done.  If the willingness of good hearts could HEAL Champion would be the Center of The Universe!  Mrs. Violet Melton, made the beautiful cross stitched Rose Quilt that was on display that evening.  It is a very well executed piece set in a tasteful border of subtle colors.  The quilting was done by Corinne Rodgers of Vanzant.  It is machine quilted in a rose pattern.  It is meticulously done and a fine keepsake it will be for Judy Sharon of Ava who won the quilt in the drawing!  The ticket was sold to her by good neighbor and friend,  Carol Tharp.  Ms. Sharon will count her Lucky Stars for friends!  She does already, because she, who is an excellent quilter herself, also is the Exemplification of Friendship.

        The whole World is in Trouble.  Beaus and Spouses of some of the Krider daughters have spent a phenomenal number of shotgun shells in the harvest of a few Sad Turkeys.  It took six shells between two of them to bring down a turkey that had half a dozen pellets in it when it was all said and done with.  Those Turkeys are not Sad.  They are Dead.  (The Sad ones are those left behind.)  Moreover , with trophies uncountable,  these hunters can hardly calculate the price per pound of turkey.  Is it Hunting?  A Sport? A Hobby?  It’s like the wizened Father In Law related in a story lately about the man who had decided to save money by heating with wood.  First he had to buy a stove that cost about $400.00.  Then he needed a chain saw, some splitting wedges and a maul that together cost about another $300.00 to $400.00.  Then he needed a truck.  A real truck cost at least $25,000.00.  Well, there may be a moral to this story about spending to save, but maybe not.  It was reported that a Church service over in Champion  (Proper!) broke up in gun fire on Earth Day!  Sentiments run high in these parts and it’s kind of hard to tell.  Turkey hunters are fine people, however,  and the Champion community embraces them with History, Hospitality and Humor.  The three H’s.

        George Washington  (George the First of the U.S.)  copied 110 Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation and the 6th one was: “Sleep not when others Speak.  Sit not when others Stand.  Speak not when you Should hold your Peace, walk not on when others Stop.”

        Concerning the speculation about Ben Franklin, it turns out, according to the Pennsylvania Gazette, that Richard Saunders, who was married to Bridget, was the pen name of Ben Franklin and he (Franklin) really did write Poor Richard’s Almanak.  He said some interesting things like, “There’s none deceived, but he that trusts.”  Matthew Henry said, “If truth is once deserted, unity and peace will not last long.”

        Mark Twain said something to the effect that “A Lie can travel around the world before the Truth can get it’s shoes on.”  The year he was born, Halley’s Comet passed over.  Twain vowed that he would not die until he saw the famous comet.  It passed over on April 20th, 1910 and Twain died the next day at 6:30 p.m.  All this is brought to mind on account of the news reported in the Looking Backward column in the Herald from 100 years ago when everyone was glad that the Marchette comet that had been recently observed by Prof. Matteucci, the Italian astronomer, did not crash into the World and to quote the columnist of the day: “We’re still permitted to eat our little dirty bite three times a day.”  A reasonably exhaustive search of the Internet did not turn up any significant information about the Astronomer or the Comet.  A Champion does recall that her Aunt Auddie, years ago,  said that when she was a kid she and all her family bathed and dressed in their finest and went out and sat in chairs in the front yard waiting for the End of the World. It was in the 1920’s.  She didn’t say what it was like when the World didn’t end, but life was never easy for those folks.  This seems kind of funny now, but people were genuinely frightened then just as many are today.  The advantage of today is that more reliable information is available, Matteucci or the Marchette Comet notwithstanding.  None of this relates to the current issue of Global Warming or the threat of Nuclear Annihilation.  The Supreme Court of the United States has recently made a ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for regulating the greenhouse gasses that are effecting climate change.  Champions will most likely vote down any proposal for a nuclear power plant in the neighborhood.

        It was a busy week for the Skyline Fire Department.  It’s members were some of the first to arrive at the crash site when the plane went down over on the Trappist Abbey Monastery property on Monday the 16th.  After the survivor made his phone call and a resident from the area who saw the plane go down called the sheriff’s office,  Skyline Firefighters aided by the Air Evac Helicopter located the downed plane and effected the extraction of the injured man and the fatally injured man.  Ultimately there were a number of teams on the scene.  A cooperative effort is always the key to the best outcome.  The next day the Skyline Firefighters were called to a  hunting accident that resulted in the serious injury of a local hunter.  He is making a good recovery, though the wounds of him who pulled the trigger will be slower in healing.  There is much Love and Gratitude that things are not nearly as bad as they could have been.  The Skyline-Champion community is a fortunate place.

        Wilma and Jack Howard of Marshfield used to milk cows.  They don’t do that any more so they are free to go out to breakfast on a Sunday morning and then for a drive that brings them all the way down to Champion.  Their little friend, Foster Wiseman, was also in the neighborhood and was pleased to report having recently seen a goose!  Two Canadian geese had landed in his Grandmother’s yard and it was a treat for him to get acquainted with them.  He likes baby chickens too.

        Hummingbirds are buzzing about Champion again and that is a real sign of  Spring.  Still the damage caused by the recent hard freeze is evident and will be for a while.  Gardens are going in and the World just keeps spinning around.  Over on the other side of it U.S. Military Service People are doing what they are being required to do. During the month of April more than 100 US troops lost their lives, which brings the total up to 3,346 which means that a great number were seriously injured.  This does not count for the psychological damage that will show up later, after the hope of help from the Service and the Veterans organizations is exhausted.  Champions all over the Country will have to step up with patience and understanding  together with Love and Gratitude in the years to come, recognizing that all injuries can’t be sewn up and bandaged.

        Mail to Champion Items last  week included a note from one of Champion’s favorite eagle watchers together with story complete with photographs about bald eagles swimming!  The National Bird is versatile. Anyone with something to Spotlight,  candidates for the Missouri Song List or the Champion Exploratory Committee, descriptions of lovely quilts, lovely friends, lovely neighbors, flora or fauna (including versatile birds,  turkeys and hummingbirds), astronomical observations, or any kind of reminiscence about the old days around here is welcome to send it to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to e-mail the information to Champion News.  The information can also be left at Henson’s Store on Main Street in Champion if there is not too much hectic congestion there from paparazzi.  CHAMPION—LOOKING ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

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