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CHAMPION—January 5, 2015

        The big full Wolf Moon rose late and rode high through the clear night sky setting just at dawn.  Of course, the rise and set may vary depending upon how high the surrounding hills are, but what a joy to see the big golden thing again and Monday’s brilliant sunshine brings smiles even with the deep cold.  “Sitting in front of my window drinking coffee and watching the snow’s lazy descent to the earth.  Occasionally the snow makes a last ditch effort to head back to the heavens on a wayward gust of air.  Beautiful.  Good Morning Friends.”  This was snagged from the internet, authored by Champion K.H. Alexander, living now off in the big town.

        Another posting had to do with pumping gas after dark at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion.  Sometimes, particularly when a person is cold, the sound of liquid pouring and the feel of it going through the gas pump can have a sudden, urgent physiological effect that cannot be ignored.  A much loved nurse experienced this phenomenon recently and was relieved to find an obvious solution.  She, however, was not observed and laughed, “…hehe…Yes, I did that!  It was very daring….living on the wild side….”

        January 5th marks the birthday of Georgie Anne Pendergraft Masters.  The only child of George Pendegraft and Margaret Henson Pendergraft.  Margaret died while her daughter was an infant and George married Malvernia Henson, Margaret’s sister.  She and George had a number of other children.  When Georgie Anne wanted to marry J.W. Masters, her dad refused and when she married him anyway she was forbidden to return home.  Malvernia, her step mother, made a little bundle of her other clothes and stashed them on the back side of the barn so that she was able to come by on the sly and get them.  In those days one change of clothes might be all a person had.  This was over in McDonald county just before the turn of the last century.

        The Eighth of January is a favorite old tune in these parts.  Elvis Presley was born that day in 1935.  Fair Rachel Evans was born in England on that day and has since made a cozy spot with many friends in Fair Edina.  Elizabeth Johnston celebrates the next day and her extended loving family will tell her in words and actions how pleased they are to have her in their lives.  She shares that date with a favorite Champion nephew, Dr. Phillip Holden-Schmeckle, another Brit, a gourmet raconteur, and an excellent purveyor of Humanism.  The tenth is given over to Sir Tom Van Dyke.  This do-gooder (in the extreme) stops in Champion every so once in a while and leaves it much improved.  A wake of improvement follows him.  Reports of mission trips to Kenya, Cuba, Guatemala, and Oklahoma come in welcome postcards.  The next day Teeter Creek Herb’s own herbalist, Bob Liebert, celebrates his birthday.  He is the author of “Common Medicinal Herbs of the Ozark” and “Osage Life and Legends.”  He co-authored with Louis Two Ravens Irwin “Two Ravens:  The Life and Teachings of a Spiritual Warrior.”  Many Native American readers accept this as an accurate portrayal of life for a Native American over the past several decades.  He and Wilburn Hutchison have shared a birthday all of Bob’s life.  Connie Lansdown reported a funny phone conversation with Wilburn the other day after the sad news of the passing of actress Donna Douglas.  Connie and her mother were both named after Ellie Mae Clampett.  “’Elle May,’ I say to Dad, ‘she was 81, Dad, and still cute as a button!’  He says, ‘Me too.  I’m 81 and cuter than a button too.’  Then goes on to elaborate and says, ‘Sis, where you think you get your good looks from?  That’s right, your handsome Dad.’ I so love my funny and humorous Daddy!”  His Champion friends do too.

        An old Champion woman says, “I liked Ike because he was a Texan…because the first television I saw was the 1952 Republican convention.  (I got to watch a lot of the McCarthy hearings too.) And because he was a soldier who had the nerve and the willingness to warn against the ‘industrial-military complex.’  Now Senator Sanders of Vermont suggest that military spending and national priorities ought to be the subject of national discussion.  He quotes President Eisenhower, ‘The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this:  a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.  It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population.  It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals.  It is some 50 miles of concrete highway.’  Of course this need for concrete highway is why a person cannot go to Norwood and get on a train to go anywhere in the country.  Public transportation sucks in America.”  There are plenty of people around who can say what all is wrong with America.  While Pollyanna blithely keeps her focus close at hand and just sees the good and pleasant, Ms. Ayn Thrope can rail endlessly about what all needs fixing.  She is currently outraged about the Wounded Warrior Project.  In her letter she says that she loves the Veterans and thinks the Wounded Warrior Project is a beautiful thing, but that it is criminal that it has to exist.  “Is there no contract that provides for the care of those who have served?”  She wonders why a young person would consider joining the military when they are so poorly treated once their sacrifice of limb, cognition, and/or spirit has been made.  “That any Veteran is homeless or neglected is a crime when private companies in the war machine are making billions, and Veteran benefits are considered ‘entitlements.’”  It is a Champion balance to stay informed and optimistic.

        A prominent psychologist asks, “When you were growing up, who loved you?”  The question is posed to cause a person to reflect.  Chances are that one person stands out in anyone’s memory, or it could be that a lucky person in a big family can say, “Everyone!”  Reflection is a good way to start a new year.  By this time many resolutions have already been abandoned and the best a person can do is to learn the good lessons from the past and apply them to the future.  Julian Barnes writes in “The Sense of an Ending” that what you end up remembering is not always the same as what you have witnessed.  Come reflect around the big wood stove and get your story straight in the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square.  Sing your favorite Elvis song there (“A Little Less Conversation, and a Little More Action, Please!”) or check out the latest ‘Linda’s Almanac’ on the bulletin board.  It is also available at www.championnews.us and informs that the birthstone for January is the garnet and the flower is the white carnation, in case anyone is buying gifts for January ladies.  There was a good turn-out for Douglas County Health Department nurse Angela Souder on Tuesday.  She is not the gas-pumping nurse of paragraph two, but the one who is helping Champions take better care of their health.  Any morning of the week will find a lively discourse going on the wide, wild and wooly banks of Old Fox Creek, being made more wooly by those fellows from Southern Construction as they clear out the electric right of way.  Harley was here for a few days and livened up the chatter.  He is home chatting with Barbara now and their friends and neighbors here look forward to seeing them again soon.  Elvis says, “That’s alright! Any way you want to do” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 29, 2014

        December 25th found people standing still, wrapped in their coats and shawls, eyes closed and faces turned up to the sun, their lips sagging into smiles of relief.  The long grayness had passed, if temporarily, and hope bloomed again.  Champion!

        Among the many kind greetings Wesley and Karen (Suzie) Freeman, hillbillies down in McKinney, Texas, say they are still kicking (“Don’t know how high”), “Read your items every week in the paper.  Hope you and people down Champion Way have a very Happy Christmas and New Year!”  Bonna Mullens sends her good wishes for the season and the New Year along with her welcome support to TCN-on–line (www.championnews.us).  Champion friends and family look forward to seeing her and Pete in Denlow on Memorial Day.  It will be here soon.  Pat Metroplos has been off in Seattle enjoying her birthday which was on the 22nd of December.  She will be home soon with adventures to share.  Birthday greetings include salutations to Teeter Creek Herbs’ own rocking grandma, Jan Liebert, on the first day of the year.  That day also was for Jacob Wellington Masters, a long gone rascal of a moon shine drinking, brush arbor preaching grandfather over in McDonald County.  Jacob Coon’s dad has his birthday on the first.  Jacob is a 6th grader at Skyline now and has his birthday on the third.  Music man, Leland Isley, will be in the company of the fair Amanda for his birthday that day.  He is a lucky man and he knows it.  Then comes the 4th of January, the first Sunday of the New Year, with big time celebrations in store for the lovely Sami McCleary.  This dynamo of a Champion girlfriend will probably start her partying on New Year’s Eve and carry it on through the following week.  She makes smiles happen.  Congratulations on the anniversary of another trip around the sun, whether or not it is out.

        Champion Richard Heffern has generously shared some timely observations with The Champion News.  “We spent last week in the Missouri Ozarks, in our little house in Mad Dog Hollow.  It’s, of course, the darkest time of year, and it was very, very dark as soon as the sun, which had perched all day in among the oaks and pines very low in the southern sky, set in a modest blaze of wanly-lit grey cloud.  Then… the dark swallowed up the world.  We’re 20 miles from the nearest small town, seventy from the nearest city, and for most of the night there was no moon.  Clouds obscured the stars, and it was cold.  Stoking up the wood stove was the least we could do to ward off this solstice-time assault by darkness.  Later, lying in bed, I placed my hand in front of my eyes and realized I couldn’t see it.  And I thought this was the experience of most of humanity for hundreds of thousands of years—just up until the last few generations.  For so long, we huddled around fires and chimneys and told stories into the long, long nights.  Feeling this kind of darkness down in your bones and deep in your psyche, one realizes how much, at this time of year, we need….well, each other, stories of light, hope that the sun will indeed return and not continue its descent toward the horizon permanently.  No wonder this time of year is time for closeness with family and friends, for celebration—Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas, Yule.  Season’s greetings!“

        Herr Dr. Schmeckle writes in part, “I worry about the stress that Xmas puts on poor families – and yes, I know, the spirit of Xmas moves through the poor as well as the wealthy.  It doesn’t stop me from thinking about the adults who put themselves into debt because consumer consumption has taken the place of holiday’s spiritual core.  I worry about those, young and old, who wake up with the feeling that they are missing out – missing out on gifts, missing out on family or, most commonly I suspect, missing out on happiness.  Mental health is fragile at best; around the holidays it takes one hell of a pummeling.  I want peace and love in the world.  I want you to accept me as I am, just as I will accept you.  I want everyone to work together for the benefit of the greater good – you know- healthcare, education, housing etc.  These are concrete manifestations of things that religions (Christian, Jewish, Muslim, whatever) strive for at their very core.”  Well said, Doc!  A note in the paper from 125 years ago says, “A man’s debts always overtake him.  He can never out run them or hide from them.  Debt has sharper eyes than justice.”  This is comforting thought for some who feel a debt is owed them.

        The Friday morning before Christmas Cowboy Jack and Mrs. Cowboy were thinking about going to town, but decided against it.  A little while later they became aware that their flu was on fire.  Skyline Volunteer Fire Fighters were summoned and extinguished the fire by depriving it of oxygen.  They were quick to the scene with the requisite equipment and skill and so the Cowboy and his Mrs. still have a nice roof over their heads and a Happy New Year ahead thanks to the Skyline VFD!

        A note from Tim Scrivner of the Skyline R2 School Foundation says, “At the last School board meeting Jeanne Curtis handed me a donation of a $100 bill from someone and also a check from the School for $237 from a fund raiser the parents/students had done.  We’ve also learned that the remains of a Wellness grant we received last year has been approved to buy drinking fountains!  I don’t have the details yet, but I understand that the fountains will be the latest and greatest. Our funds (now totaling over $1500) can be used to pay for installation, etc.”  This is great news.  Clean water=healthy children!

        Ms. Ayn Thrope suggests reading for next year to start with “Savage Anxieties,” by Robert A. Williams Jr., a professor specializing in American Indian law.  She says it is an eye-opening harrowing read made current as Congress passed a measure in December to give sacred American Indian lands in Arizona to a foreign company—2,400 acres of the Tonto National Forest destined to be the largest copper mine in the world.  She quotes Williams as saying, “These are folks that have been fighting the federal government over their land rights and cultural rights for a long time, and here you have this little, small tribe of Apaches, one of the poorest tribes, trying to stop this.”  Thrope speaks about logging in an area of Brazil where there were forty indigenous tribes and now only six of them are left after a period of just ten years.  She says, turning attention back home, “And while we are at it, Merry Christmas to Louis Peltier rotting in jail, framed by the FBI.”  Ax grinding might be Ms. Ayn Thorpe’s forte—a real country girl.

        Dakota and Dillon Watts used to be called ‘those Tennessee boys,’ but are now are being referred to as those nice young men from Tennessee.  They were in town over the week end together with eight of their Champion cousins, four aunts and four uncles, their Grandmother Krider, and various great aunts and uncles.  It was a momentous kind of memorable occasion where many photographs were taken, many hugs shared around.  That is the Champion Way!  Happy New Year from The Bright Side!

CHAMPION–December 22, 2014

The busy Saturday before Christmas found the Strong family stopping in at The Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Down Town Champion. Billy and Leigh Strong are the parents of eleven year old Alyssa, a sixth grade student at Skyline, eight year old Heidi who is in the third grade, and Billy who is six and a kindergarten student. Heidi and Billy reported that they had done some good Christmas shopping at school with Tiger Bucks that they had earned for good behavior. Billy was particularly excited about a gift he has for his Dad. The days ahead promised to be busy ones for them as there was baking to do and popcorn yet to string. They planned to enjoy Christmas Eve with one grandmother, Christmas day at home, and the following Sunday with their other grandmother. Their parents were almost as excited as the children knowing the surprises in store. Merry Christmas to the Champion Strong family!

        In the way that home is the most beloved of all human concepts, so Christmas is held up by much of the world as the best day of the year.  It is the much longed for day when expectations are sure to be met, when families are gathered and memories are made to go along with the photographs that are taken for proof.  It is the reference point for family milestones:  “It was that year when thus and such happened…, you remember…our last Christmas with Mother.” There is a lot of room in the Champion heart for sentimentality and nostalgia with plenty to spare for being mindful of the moment as it happens.  The smells and tastes, the racket and music, the laughter, hugs and tears add weight to the reverence of the acknowledgement of the special day.  “God bless us, every one” on the Bright Side!  This year the DC Herald has made arrangements with a talented local potter, Louise Walker of the Crystal Lake neighborhood, to provide gifts to all the community correspondents.  Like the communities themselves, each piece is unique, beautiful and useful.  Thank you from Champion!

        Christmas is a perfect time for fence mending and forgiveness.  Sometimes those fences are mended not because the injured party has become forgiving, but, as often as not, because he is weary of carrying the burdens of grievances and remembering his injury.  The grudge is surely the heaviest of all loads.  Time can be a factor in forgiveness.  Blows can be softened or hardened in memory.  Some may be motivated to forgiveness by a magnanimous righteousness that comes with perceived vindication.  “See?  I was not wrong.”  It may be that a person eventually has to say, “I was wrong,” and adjust his countenance and tone accordingly.  The human being is an inscrutable creature.  However it comes to be, the warm embrace of renewed filial feeling is a preciousness….a gift for forgiver and forgiven alike.  If some postpone that reconciliation beyond the grave or eschew it altogether, it may just indicate that they are at peace with themselves living a conscious life.

        Skyline archer, Morgan Whitacre had a perfect score at the recent tournament in Crane.  Congratulations, Morgan!  Pope Francis had his birthday on December 10th.  He gave 400 well-made sleeping bags to homeless people in Rome.  What a guy.  Second grader Destiny Surface shares her birthday with Mary Goolsby.  Mary and her sweetie, Bob Berry, have moved away from the area, but they are much and pleasantly remembered by the many friends they left behind.  Logan Brown is a 7th grade student at Skyline who shares his birthday with Skyline VFD Auxiliary’s Chris Dailey on the Winter Solstice.  Days are already getting longer by the 23rd when the dynamic and beautiful Sharon Sikes celebrates her birthday.  Willard Hall is in the 7th grade.  His birthday is on Christmas Day.  He has probably figured out how to deal with that.  The 27th is the birthday of Corinne Zappler, a most loved and appreciated Champion great niece.  Logan Hull is in the second grade at Skyline.  His birthday is on the 29th.  He can stretch the giving season out for a few more days.  Eli Oglesby is a Champion grandson who celebrates on the 30th and will be 10 years old.  His little sister, Emerson Rose, and all his Champion cousins will be singing that song to him.  The year ends with the birthday of Denlow and Vanzant’s most transformational personality, sage, philanthropist, world traveler, ambassador of Ozark culture to a confused and hungry world…The General Himself!  Around the globe people will be raising a glass.  Salutations! Cheers!  Slange i va!  Happy New Year!

        Ms. Ayn Thrope includes a dire warning in with her Christmas card.  (Notice that she is spelling her name Ayn now like Ayn Rand.)  She addresses those she calls ‘sedentary sofa loafers’ and suggests that they get up and get involved in the ‘orenda.’  She explains that that is the mystical force present in all people that empowers them to affect the world or to effect change in their own lives.  “Oli Garkey’s robber barons will have a pig farm on top of your spring before you know it as a result of ‘The Right to Farm.’  What nonsense!   Now ‘The Right to Work’ is another shameful thing.  It is a corporate scam to control the worker by keeping wages low, work places less safe and keeping benefits and insurance out of reach.  Surely someone will introduce the ‘Right to Stay Uninformed.’”  To her credit, she does think that by paying attention and being willing to engage in some productive dialogue a general raising of consciousness will be an improvement.  She thinks Winter Soldier Hearings might be appropriate about now.  Other seasons’ greetings in the champion@championnews.us mail box are full of optimism for the year ahead and reminders of all the reasons for the celebrations.  Merry Christmas back at all you lovely well–wishers!

        The last Tuesday of the month will be the 30th and Angela Souder with the Douglas County Health Department will be at Henson’s Grocery and Gas from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. checking blood pressures and doing body mass index readings.  She brings the lung age machine with her and this time she will be doing blood sugar tests as well.  It is a free service and a valuable one.

        Christmas in the kitchen has one old Champion offering advice and instruction to young cooks who are about to put their hands in the dough.  “Blow your nose.  Wash your face and comb your hair.  Secure your sleeves and wash your hands and dry them.  Then you can knead the pizza or bread dough, cut out the cookies, or ice the cake.”  Julia Child suggested that a cook should never do anything in the kitchen by himself that he would not do with people watching.  That way you will never embarrass yourself and the people you are feeding will have no reason to not enjoy their food.  That means if you taste the soup for seasoning, do not put your face over the pot and please use a clean spoon every time.  Some great cooking has been going on in the neighborhood and the many holiday recipes circulating on the internet are causing a few old Champions to be gaining cyber weight.  The Cowboy, the barber, Chad’s dad, the farmer, various Smiths and Stones, Bob and Ethel, strays from Almartha, Elmer and the gang are joining prominent Champions and prominent girlfriends around the stove and cookie jar for seasonal stories and fun.  The Christmas tree in the meeting room is festive and cheerful.  “Tis the season to be jolly” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 15, 2014

        Sunday was semi-sunny and two hours of vitamin D straight from the source has lifted the spirit of one old Champion who feels cheated when the moon is out and she cannot see it for the clouds.  Knowing that the sun is gleaming and beaming on the other side of the hazes does not warm or comfort her.  The Geminid Meteor Shower peaked behind a dense fog with embers from the ‘rock comet’ streaking through the heavens fit to awe if they could have been seen.  (The three mile long chunk of rock called ‘3200 Phaethon’ was only discovered in 1983, so its comet tail has been unappreciated before.)  Maybe next year the skies will be clear.  For now, it looks as if Champions will trade the gloom for the cold.  Champions will not complain.  Winter will officially arrive next Sunday on the Brrrrrright Side!

        Skyline’s teacher Lannie Hinote says, “Big congratulations to the Skyline Archery Team for placing 3rd in the Middle School division at the Crane Archery Tournament.  To Cheyenne Baker for placing 3rd in elementary, Morgan Whitacre placed 6th in middle school female division and Gavin Sartor placed 6th in middle school male division, Levi Hicks placed 7th in elementary and Dylan Ford placed 10th.  Crane is one of our most challenging tournaments.“  The skills these young people are developing in this fine archery program are skills that they will be able to cultivate for their lifetimes.  They will be able to provide meat for their tables or compete in the Olympics.  Girls and boys can compete and not really run the risk of blowing out their knees—an all-around good sport.  Skyline students celebrating birthdays this month include second grader Destiny Surface whose birthday is on the 20th, and Logan Brown, seventh grader, on the 21st.  Yea! Birthdays!

        Shannon Alexander and Spike Jones share the 14th of December as their birthday.  They were born in different years but they have a lot in common.  Multitalented, zany, creative, productive (good looking) men with great smiles and big hearts are treasures in a hum-drum world.  Spike Jones and the City Slickers brought a light hearted approach to ‘serious’ music and gave America some hearty laughs back in the 40s and 50s when they were much needed.  Shannon just makes a person smile.  Then he takes a picture.  He takes lots of pictures from which emerge the portraits that are destined to be the real family heirlooms.  It takes a special eye to see the way he does.  K and Zack look at him kind of funny sometimes.  Judy Gale Ing was another jewel in the world that came to light on December 14th.  It was said of her, “Judy lived like all should live, free spirited and wild at heart.”  “Judy was everything that I perceive as being right with life.  She was more than a sister to me.  She was a life mentor and I think of her often,” said Daniel Ing, a sentiment echoed by her bereft Champion Comadre.  Jesse and Sarah Ing journeyed up to Champion from Texas with their mother on many occasions.  They jumped off the big rock at the Mill Pond, and splashed in the Bryant and Hunter Creek.  They scampered up and down the hills ferociously with their friends doing all the wild, country kid things, being rowdy and getting muddy and eating watermelon with the juice making stripes down their dirty bellies.  Judy and Sarah are off dazzling the heavens together and Jesse is having his birthday on December 16th.  He’s a big time Hollywood guy now, but he and his mother and sister occupy a big chunk of some Champion hearts.  Amanda Masten has the 16th as her birthday as well.  She has had an exciting life that started out over by Ava.  She jumped off that big rock at the Mill Pond as she was growing up and now watches her own children jump off of it.  Well, Olivia jumps off of it when she is not catching the biggest crawdads you ever saw, and Leo will be big enough to jump off of it in a year or so.  Rita Silverberg is having her birthday on the 17th.  She is reaching the same ripe age as a number of substantial ladies in this area.  Many were the happy hours she shared with friends here while their children were young.  Now her Joby Dorr is off in the wilds of the Pacific North West living an adventurous life, and Rita is in Tucson, Arizona making it a more lovely place.  Ben Cohen will have the charming Ilene sing that birthday song to him on the 22nd.  Together they do a Spike Jones like acapella bagpipe rendition of ….one cannot remember the song for the hilarity of it.  They are teachers and students and excellent examples of a perfect fit.  Happy birthday to you Champions–every one!

        Among the emails in the champion@championnews.us mail box is another from Ms. Anne Thrope.  She says, “OK, you’re enjoying ‘low’ gas prices now, but think about it.  Do take advantage of two dollar gas, but don’t figure that you’re getting a bargain.  You’re going to pay for it sooner or later at whatever price they stick you with and there won’t be anything you can do about it.  You can fairly well figure it is just a manipulative, nasty ploy by Oli Garkey and his oil producing companies to assert:  # 1.  That on account of ‘fracking’ we’ve got just way lots of oil.  #2.  Gas prices being down, no use investing in any of that funky alternative energy like ‘solar’ and ‘wind.  #3.  Don’t bother buying a car designed to get good gas mileage.  #4.  Figure that oil is good, hence Keystone is good (or will be when they jack the prices back up).  #5.  Some say Saudi Arabia is doing this to drive small American producers out of business, but they (Saudi Arabia, British Petroleum, Shell, hell, all of them) are in cahoots.  For a while it looked like the lower cost of oil was a manipulation to punish Vladimir Putin for his intrusion into Ukraine and a way to punish ISIS for their million-dollar-a-day oil habit, stealing out of wells in war torn areas to finance their heinous nastiness.  Shoot!  If we can have two dollar gas to punish Putin & ISIS, how come we can’t have two dollar gas to benefit hard working Americans?  I’m just saying that things are rarely what they seem, so enjoy it while you can and don’t be surprised when it changes in ways we cannot imagine now.”  Other emails in the box say things like, “Thanks for all the good news from Champion!  You folks sure have a lot going on.  You make everyone want to be a Champion.” 

        Imagine, if you can, The General, in his alter ego, holding hands with Dorothy and skipping down the Yellow Brick Road with the gang headed off to Oz, or ‘himself’ standing at the helm of Aladdin’s magic carpet, wind in his face.  That kind of thing is what he has been up to this week according to Ms. Coolforests.  His whole existence has become like a dream.  ‘Euneirophrenia’ is a noun that represents the peace of mind that comes from having pleasant dreams.  Though it takes some time to figure out the pronunciation (you-knee-row-frenia), it will be a handy word to use in a sentence around the old wood stove at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium.  Come and join the holiday fun over on the North Side of the Square on the wooly, wide and wild banks of Old Fox Creek.  Sing, “I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know.  Where the tree tops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow.”  Then you can say, “We sure do have a lot of nice euneirophrenia in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!”

CHAMPION—December 8, 2014

        The population of Champion was increased on Tuesday, December 2^nd, with the birth of Luxe McKenzie Krider.  Her big sister Taegan, her parents, grandparents and all her cousins, aunts and uncles are delighted with a new addition to the family.  Champion is improved.  To paraphrase, “Welcome to our world.  We’re so glad you come on in.”

        The General, in his alter ego as Robert Hood, has made the cover of Time Magazine.  Acclaimed journalist and restaurateur, R. Quiet Timber, has documented lavishly for the internet, the heretofore unknown exploits of this dynamic individual who played back up behind Hank Williams, rode the Apollo 13 rocket to the moon, chatted up the Dali Lama and the Pope, hobnobbed with Queen Elizabeth II and FDR, applied diplomacy to Vladimir Putin and Kim Jon Un, taught George Clooney how to ride a bicycle, advised the Supreme Court, and currently unofficially officiates at the Thursday night Bluegrass Pot Luck and Jam Session under the bright lights of Old Vanzant.  Get out your fiddle and rosin up your bow!  The fun starts at 6:00 with supper and then music!

Workers from Southern Construction have been clearing the electric right-of-way for the White River Electric Co-op in Downtown Champion.

        Once again, Aaron L. Hawkins and the nice folks at Hawkins Home and Lawn are donating a new washer and dryer to a home in need during the giving season.  They are a generous outfit and have always been kind and supportive to the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department and other worthwhile organizations all around the area.  Marjorie Carter over there at the Downtown Pawn is a regular reader of The Champion News and also a regular supporter of the Skyline VFD.  Located midway between Ava and Mountain Grove, the VFD and the Skyline R2 School get good support from both directions.  It is a luxury to live in a part of the world where the community supports local merchants and the merchants support the community.  The White River Electric Co-operative is also part of that good reciprocal alliance.  Those fellows from Southern Construction have been busy cleaning up the right-of-ways (rights-of-way) for the White River electric lines with a bunch of big heavy equipment and a lot of hard working men.  This is a good time of the year to do this kind of work.  The leaves are down for the most part and the county brush hog has already been down the road chewing things up (in a good way) so that the initial mutilations of the landscape are not as unnerving as they might otherwise be.  Champions are alert to the possibility of a little blinking of the power while the dangerous work goes on.  There are quite a few folks around who remember when the first electric lines came to this part of the country way back when.  It might be interesting to see how well some young folks could navigate off the grid.  It would take some adjustment.  Brother Dave Gardner said, “If it weren’t for Thomas Edison, we’d all be sitting around watching television by candlelight.”

        A wise, wild and wonderful woman who does not celebrate birthdays and shall remain nameless has her birthday on December 10^th.  Her friend and The Champion News salute her for her positive resilience, her persistence, her creativity and her steadfastness, tenacity and grit.  Eva Coyote (Kai) Parsons celebrates her special day on the 11^th.  She lives out in Portland, Oregon with Sierra and Bailey, whose grandparents are homesteaders over on the west side of Ava.  There are a slew of lawyers, barristers, counselors, advocates, defenders, prosecutors and magistrates who share birthdays on the 10^th or the 11^th…notable folks on opposite and similar sides…all very what you call ‘civil.’  Things are getting pretty exciting for the young folks at Skyline R2 School as they endeavor to add their names to the seasonal “nice” list.  Devin Burdette and Tevin Burdette are in the first and second grades there and their birthdays are on 12-12.   The next day is written on the calendar 12-13-14.  It is the birthday of Richard Green.  As a youth, he served an extended stretch of time in Viet Nam in what was known as The Brown River Navy.  An article from the September, 1969, issue of “Stars and Stripes” says, “Nearly any day will find the three-year veteran of Navy service somewhere along the 25 miles of the meandering Vam Co Dong, 25 miles west of Saigon, which his division covers with visual recon missions, blocking stations, troop lifts and the like.  It is a job that has taken Green through more than 25 fire fights.  A job he says is often “boring as hell except for brief stretches when it is more exciting than anyone cares for.”  The anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor has Veterans much in the thoughts of Champions.  Men and women serving in uniform in dangerous places around the world and those who have served have Love and Gratitude due them from a Grateful Nation.

        Our favorite Dr. Schmeckle, while trading affectionate jibes with, Mr. Chide, happened to let loose of a piece of interesting information about the only time in history when the continental United States suffered an aerial bombardment in wartime.  It happened on September 9, 1942, on Mount Emily, near Brookings, Oregon, when a Japanese floatplane, piloted by Nobuo Fujita, launched from a submarine, was loaded with incendiary bombs and sent to start massive fires in the dense forests of the Pacific Northwest.  The attack caused only minor damage.  Dr. Schmeckle says they did not account for the annual rainfall in their target area.  Fujita came back to Brookings in 1962, and presented the town with his family’s 400-year-old samurai sword in friendship.  Seventy-three years later Pearl Harbor is still a tender spot for both sides.  Dr. Schmeckle lived in Japan for a number of years and can attest to the sincerity of the Fujita apology.  Thanks for the insight, Doc.

        The Skyline Archery Team competed in a tournament in Rogersville on Saturday against some big schools from Arkansas and Missouri.  Lannie Hinote says, “Congratulations to Cheyenne for placing 3^rd, Dylan for placing 4^th, and Morgan for placing 5^th, and Levi for placing 8^th, and super proud of the entire team for placing 4^th over-all against some really tough competition.”  Champions all!

        Instead of enjoying the sweet story of “It’s a Wonderful Life” on T.V. Saturday night of how Clarence got his wings, and how George Bailey gets a second chance to live and learns that Bedford Falls was much the better place for his having lived there, Ms. Anne Thrope writes in to The Champion News to say, “Potter did not give back the $8,000.00!  It is emblematic of everything that is messed up in the country today.  The government has been loaning money to the big national banks at less than one percent interest with the intention that the banks will lend money to people who will spend it in order to stimulate the economy.  Instead, the banks have been buying treasury notes from the government that pay more than one percent and pocketing the difference while executives are enjoying bigger bonuses than ever.  It is as crooked as it gets, there is no oversight, and that is why the economy is being so slow to recover.  It’s just crazy.”  This lady may have been raised a pessimisterian, but she makes her point.

        Wednesday found the same rowdy crowd around the old wood stove in the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square.  Philosophy, history, local genealogy, jokes, recipes, tall tales and pertinent observations were bandied about.  Come down to the woolier than ever banks of Old Fox Creek and do some bandying of your own.  Share your thoughts about anything in person or at champion@championnews.us.  If you have a voice like Jim Reeves, you can sing “Welcome to my world.  Won’t you come on in?  Miracles, I guess, still happen now and then”…in Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 1, 2014

        Champions have pushed themselves back from the table, draped their arms across their protruding bread baskets and smiled contented smiles that speak to more than the deliciousness of the food so lovingly prepared in all its bounty.  Family and friends shared their appreciation of each other with their histories, triumphs and failures, daydreams, plans, misconceptions, surprise revelations, games, laughter and music.  Those missing from the table, recently and long-gone, were honored with remembrance and those things that call for gratitude were called up again and again.  Follow that with a few days in a row of beautiful weather perfect for a walk in the woods or some chores in preparation for colder days ahead and that is a Champion Thanksgiving.

        The internet has been full to bursting with fine filial feeling for family and friends and photos to prove it.  Everyone is smiling and that takes the edge off the anxiety of the news of an ever more tumultuous and contentious outside world fraught with danger and uncertainty.  More and more Champions find themselves grateful for their relative isolation.  Hard work helps.  Harley is home for a few days doing some work on the place, replacing a water line.  It is good to see him around the Square.  His singing voice has changed from tenor/alto to a very competent bass, but he is still singing.  He hopes he will climb back up the scale in tone and volume and his friends always hope he gets just what he wants.  This waterline he is working on is on the place where Clifford and Esther Wrinkles lived for many years.  Larry Wrinkles grew up right there across the road from Henson’s Grocery and Gas.  He and Harley and Don (Punk) Hicks were a dynamic acapella trio.  Arthur Porter, their teacher, took them all over this part of the country to sing.  The blending of their voices was said to have been inspired.  They could bring tears with their harmonies.  Harley is home fixing the water line, Punk is presumably wandering around out West somewhere, and Larry is struggling with ill health and currently in Mercy Hospital in Springfield.  He has the prayers and good thoughts of all his Champion friends, hoping for a good and speedy recovery.

        J.C. Owsley writes that this year’s contribution to The Champion News “is given in memory of my professor, academic advisor, and friend Dr. Ralph C. Dobbs, who had deep ties to Fox Creek.”  Cathie Alsup Reilly contributes for Cletis Upshaw.  Owsley, Dobbs, Reilly, Upshaw, Wrinkles, Hicks, Porter, Krider, Hutchison, Johnston, Brixey, Coonts, Smith, Southerland and more, plus a whole passel of newcomers (grandparents not born here) contribute to the charming make up of “The Bright Side.”  Other neighborhoods have their supporters.  The General of Vanzant just posted a picture of the Denlow School Graduates of 1947-1948.  There are some fine looking folks there.  The General is not pictured.

        Special people have birthdays.  The generous and charming Bobette Spivey has hers on December 5^th and Ed Bell, multitalented rock and roll cowboy, on the 6^th.   Skyline School’s smiling bus maintenance man, Paul Boyd, enjoys the 7^th.  The fun loving, multifaceted Chris Tharp celebrates on December 8^th.  Richard Johnston, grandfather of Madelyn and Shelby Ward, will observe his birthday on December 9^th, as will Skyline nurse/clerk, Mrs. Karen.  Together with Mrs. Karen, the Douglas County Health Department continues the blood pressure screening there at the school on the first Tuesday of each month.  It sets a good example for the children to see people taking an active part in maintaining their own good health.  Angela Souder, the DCHD nurse who visits Champion at the Restoration of the Historic Emporium on the last Tuesday of each month, was credited for probably having saved the life of an old Champion recently. “You need to see your doctor as soon as possible,” she said.  It was a good call.  In addition to blood pressure checks, body mass index readings, and lung age analysis, she plans to make a blood sugar test available every three months.  It is a significant service to the community and Angela reports that the number of people taking advantage of the opportunity is steadily increasing.  Champion!

        Champions are looking for that ad in the paper from Shelter Insurance that will mark the arrival of the planting guide that is so specialized for this area.  Plans are to incorporate it into Linda’s regular monthly almanac on the www.championnews.us website, which is currently a combination of Blum’s Farmer’s and Planter’s Almanac and Ramon’s Brownie Calendar.  Perhaps next year it will be called Linda and Rick’s Almanac, since Rick DeGraffenreid with the Shelter folks, will help to make it happen.  Click on the link at the top of the page that says “Linda’s Almanac” and find that “This is the month to rest up for busier times ahead and to make plans for the year’s operations.  Draw out a plan for your garden, order catalogues and select varieties.  Get your equipment in shape.  As days permit, clean up your garden area.  Spread manure and phosphate aids such as bone meal, wood ashes and fish wastes on garden areas, even on top of the snow.  Start onion seeds indoors late this month.  Keep bird feeders filled with seeds, bread crumbs and related foods.  For something bright, try forcing into bloom cuttings from flowering wood plants such as forsythia, flowering quince and crabapple.  Bring inside and place in water.”  Not everyone is wise to the virtue of planting by the signs.  Decrying the practice as “pure hokum,” a recent Champion guest, Professor Hiram P. Schmeckle, was impressed by the clean country air and fascinated by the nocturnal activities of the creatures inhabiting the creek near where he was staying, but otherwise a skeptic.  He is a city slicker, moreover a most stylistically promiscuous ambassador of all city slickery, and while he is an excellent cook, he is a relative neophyte when it comes to country living.  Dr. Schmeckle and Mr. Chide (Snide) spent many hours wrangling husbandry (animal, plant and female), history, philosophy, and about anything that did not include music.  On that they agree and found much good and pleasant to share.

        The broad and bonnie banks of Old Fox Creek are the setting for one of the world’s truly beautiful places.  The Recreation of the historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square, the little church nestled under the ancient walnut trees, the meeting of country lanes at the foot of lovely wooded hills all combine to define tranquility.  Bring your own definition and share it around the old wood stove that has warmed the spot for generations.  If there is a song that makes you feel warm when you are cold, please share it at champion@championnews.us or TCN, Rt. 72, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  “I really can’t stay.”  “Baby, it’s cold outside.”  “I’ve got to go away.” “Baby, it’s cold outside” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—November 23, 2014

        Friends and family flooding into and out of Champion are readying for the feasts and celebrations of the season.  Hopes are for everyone to be safe on the road.  It is a dangerous place at best, with people thinking about the smells of pot luck dishes flooding the car, who they will see when they get there, things left undone at home and myriad other things.  Subtle color changes and damp pavement winding through dense woodlands and open fields with turkeys and bald eagles perched high and ready, the very definition of equipoise, and the possibility of deer appearing out of nowhere at any time, make giving attention to the road an exciting and challenging prospect.  Mix that concept with conversation and/or music and a driver needs to pay attention.  Arriving safely is plenty of reason to be thankful—turkey or not.

        Linda’s granddaughter is Danniel.  She just had her 20^th birthday back on November 7^th.  It is amazing that the years have gone by so quickly.  Linda has kept her sweet friendly smile and has maintained a good close relationship with the lovely Danniel.  Deward’s Daughter, the fair Marian, has just had her 85^th birthday.  TCN has Marian to thank for “Looking on the Bright Side!”  She said that her dad had that good kind of attitude and passed it on.  She said he would talk about Champion as ‘the village.’  The Village of Champion wishes Marian a great day.  She is probably being overrun by cousins, daughters and the like.  When Champions see eagles, they think of Marian, because she is a real fan of the National bird.  South Champion Sue is reported to have been ‘Sue t’ bly’ celebrated on her day, the 23^rd.  Brava!  Skyline fourth grader, Jhonn Rhodes, and first grader, Lane Watkins, share November 30^th as their birthday.  They are fortunate to each have several years ahead of them at this fine institution.  Danniel is studying to be a teacher, Sue taught math, and Marian taught fourth grade for many years.  The Skyline R2 School is one of those precious little rural schools that define the heart of this community.  What a gift it will be to them in the future to be able to say, “There were eleven people in my fifth grade class.”  The good stuff is going on for them right now.  By the way, if you are headed down to the ‘Bright Side,’ feel free to drop your change or some extra bucks into that fruit jar that has the little note on it about The Skyline R2 School Foundation working toward getting some modern water fountains into the school.  Champion!

        It turns out that not everyone in Champion is connected to the internet.  Some unconnected people wonder sometimes just what they might be missing.  As a service to them, TCN (The Champion News) offers a transcript of some of the Facebook activity of last Friday evening.  Robert Upshaw posted:  “I’m proud of myself today.  Some wind bag was trying to get me to believe a farfetched tale of which I don’t think there was a whole lot of truth.  So I just asked him, ‘Do I have stupid written of my forehead?’  That pretty well shut him up.  All he said after that was, ‘Ha! Ha!  That wouldn’t be necessary,’ as he walked away.”  By 9:39 Linda Clark, Loretta Upshaw, Elva Upshaw Brott and 21 others had ‘liked’ this.  Tracee Davis said, “LOL.” (Laughing Out Loud).  Kristi Towe said, “Lol!” (Laughing out loud).   Sami McCleary said, “Lol now Robert did you visit Champion today?”  Brenda Coffman Massey said, “lolol.”  Rusty Ingram said, “Way to go Robert Upshaw.”  Lynnette Cantrell just laughed, “hahahahhaha.”  Cathie Alsup Reilly said, “lol.”  Brent Nunn said, “You got the best of that guy.  It got me thinkin, though, if anybody really has that on their forehead, and I looked in a mirror, just in case.  I’m probably OK, although I can’t read anything backwards.”  Connie Klund said, “Ya got him didn’t ya…”  Debbie Stone said, “Robert, you’re such a quick thinker!  Haha.”  Sylvia Williams McClellan said, “You weren’t talking to yourself were you?”  Robert Upshaw then said, “I used to ask myself questions, but the answers were so complicated I couldn’t understand them.”  Sylvia Williams McClellan said, “I figure that’s how I get the best answers.”  Brent Nun said, “Been known to argue with myself, and lose.”   River Stillwood said, “You really told him, Mr. Brilliant!”  Jewell Hall Elliot said, “Go Robert!!!” then “Oh, I forgot Go Robert Earl!!”  Tom Culler said, “…you must have been talking with someone who ‘works’ in Washing D.C., Bob!”  (A sad emoticon appears next.  It is just a combination of punctuation as in “:(”.)  And Virginia Canada said, “Ha! Ha!”   All this transpired over the course of two or three hours but references to it will probably go on for a day or two.  Scrolling on down, a person can see somebody scratching the belly of a tiny pig and then there might be a little video of The McClurg Jam.  In the middle of many of other things the next day was this:  “I’m thanking River Stillwood at the Vanzant Country Store in advance.  She is going to make a little plague for my forehead which will read, “STUPID DON’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE.”  She thinks, for my best interests, I should wear it 24/7.  Again, Thanks, River.”  To end this extraordinarily long paragraph, do you folks without computers think you are missing much?

        Ms. Anne Thrope writes in as if TCN is her personal soap box.  “You Liberals think you’ve won this Keystone XL thing, but you are in for a fight.  They’ll not give up on this.  The Koch brothers have mountains of money you cannot imagine that they will throw at this thing until people are so tired of it that they will forget to care.  Nobody will spend a dollar or a minute to remind people about the Mayflower oil spill in Arkansas.  Didn’t hear about it?  Surprise, surprise!  Everybody was so warped out of shape over Benghazi and the House of Representatives has just issued its report that says it was a non-deal.  Come on people!  Are we foxes or coyotes?”  She did have some nice things to say about those old hippies Neil Young and Willie Nelson out there in Nebraska giving concerts and support to the farmers and Native Americans.  Perhaps she will explain the foxes and coyotes in her next rant.  Feel free to join the discussion at champion@championnews.us or in person around the big wood stove.

        On Wednesday a visitor to Champion met up with Dave Partell, who responded to, “How you doing?” with, “I’m too blessed to be stressed.”  That seems fine.  As the morning passed more regular Wednesday folks arrived…Ethel and Bob Leach were looking good and seemed to be comfortable with the weather and the things that change with their regular chores as a consequence.  The first week end of regular deer season resulted in the harvesting of 1,000 deer in Douglas County.  There are reports of some exotic game in the area as well.  Stay tuned for more information about this.  The population of the area is about to be boosted as Peanut Teagan-Super-Girl is about to be a big sister.  It is very exciting to be a resident of the Village, at the bottom of several hills, at the end of the pavement, on the wide, wild banks of Old Fox Creek.  Sing your favorite song of thanksgiving out on the spacious veranda of the Historic Emporium.  “Saddle me up a big white goose, tie me on her and turn her loose! Oh! Me! Oh My!  Love that country pie!”  Every day is full of Thanks giving in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—November 17, 2014

        Sunday‘s dusting of snow was just enough to decorate each leaf in a way that made its shape more defined and the stresses of the cold on their colors precipitously invisible under the perfect garnish and it all looks clean and cool and perfect—like spring, but white.  Sycamores, white in colonnades along the creeks, are a conduit between snowy earth and sky.  An early entry to winter has Champion busy with preparations and plans for a snug few months ahead.  “What’s all this nonsense about global warming when we are so cold?”  The Old Champion replies, “Global warming is not climate warming.  It causes climate change, which will make it warmer or colder, wetter or dryer, depending on your location.  We’ve been colder than Alaska this week.  What climate change brings with it is extreme conditions.”  Champions are ready for whatever comes.

        “The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.”  So said Madeleine L’Engle.  She was born in November of 1918, and lived until 2007.  She wrote poetry, plays, short stories and novels, including “A Wrinkle in Time.”  She has a number of quotes about birthdays.  Jill Sterling’s birthday was November 13^th.  She was just in the neighborhood from Tulsa. Representing the Inconvenient Minors, she sat in on the regular Fortnight Bridge game on Saturday down at Vera Cruz.  Susan Needham (Southern Champion grandmother of Seamus, Zack, and Elizabeth and astute political observer) has her birthday on November 23^rd; Waylin Moon (Skyline 8^th grader) has his party the 24^th; Skyline second grader, Faith Crawford, shares her birthday with super-teacher, Lannie Hinote, on the 26th.  W.A. Marsters (born Richard Masters in 1831) was an English adventurer who settled on Palmerston Island in the Cook Islands in 1863.  He died in 1899 at the age of 67.  He had three wives, 23 children and 134 grandchildren.  W.A. Masters, farmer, born in Frog Level, Oklahoma in 1914, had his birthday on the 27^th.  He was the survivor of twins, father of three, a one man band.  Alyssa Thornhill is a Kindergarten student with a birthday on November 28^th, Ally Smith, third grader and kindergarten student, Billy Strong, share the 29th.  All the ages we have been are worth celebrating.

        Nine year old Champion, Foster Wiseman, tells the story of his first deer hunt when he harvested an eight point buck:

        History, they say, is written by the winners.  The modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is traced back to a poorly documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts, but did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660’s.  A fall harvest festival goes back beyond the English Reformation in the 1530’s.  Who knows how long the Green Corn Festival had been celebrated among the Wampanoag and other Native peoples?  The first official “Day of Thanksgiving” was proclaimed in 1637, by Governor Winthrop.  He did so to celebrate the safe return of men from the Massachusetts Bay Colony who had gone to Mystic, Connecticut to participate in the massacre of over 700 Pequot women, children and men.  The United American Indians of New England observe a National Day of Mourning in Plymouth at noon on Thanksgiving Day.  Every year Native people from throughout the Americas gather to stand out in the cold in peaceful dissent of the pilgrim mythology which says that the pilgrims arrived, the Native people fed them and welcomed them, the Indians promptly faded into the background, and everyone lived happily ever after.  Now Nebraska farmers of European descent are standing alongside the Rosebud Sioux Tribe against the Keystone Pipeline as it threatens the precious Oglala Aquifer.  Everyone is grateful for the harvest—food family and friends—but history marches on.  Champions will enjoy their turkey and dressing, their family and friends, but will not pretend that any of us know the truth about how we got here.  Will you have canned cranberry sauce, or fresh?  “Hooray for the fun!  Is the pudding done?  Hooray for the pumpkin pie!”

        Cinita Brown from way across town has written in with a story about Cletis Upshaw.  While visiting with him in his home in Norwood in the late 1990’s she was pleased to find photographs on his wall of most of the early, east end Douglas County men who made history.  She inquired about a familiar looking one and Cletis answered, “Girl, that is old Robert Hicks, the first representative of Douglas County.”  Later she and Kenny Brown went back and scanned Cletis’s photo collection which she says she will be happy to share.  TCN (The Champion News) is currently working on a page for the website dedicated to Cletis and will be pleased with Ms. Brown’s good input.  Share your Cletis stories and pictures at champion@championnews.us or by snail-mail at TCN, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.

        The gentlemen from the east end Douglas County road shed have been busy down in Old Fox Creek.  They have a bucket loader down by the bridge and have been working the creek bed with the purpose of having water flow under the bridge and not over it.  Accomplishing routine and deferred maintenance is a way to keep things moving smoothly.  Angela Souder and Melissa Lang of the Douglas County Health Department will be back in Champion from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 on Tuesday the 25^th.  They have probably already saved at least one Champion life with their blood pressure checking device.  Last month there were prominent citizens, and prominent girlfriends, cowboys, old timers, new-comers, some regular loafers and drop-ins who took advantage of the amenity.  Come down to the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the north side of the Square any day and enjoy real community.  Country music star, Lynn Anderson’s song “Top of the World” says, “Such a feelin’s coming over me/ There is wonder in most everything I see/ Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes/  And I won’t be surprised if it’s a dream” … or Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—November 10, 2014

        It is hard to go anyplace in Champion for needing to stop every whip stitch to snap a photo or to gawk at a new view or to study something along the road closely.  A loose cow or horse in the road or a truck and trailer broken down blocking the way, maybe a neighbor out of gas and needing a ride—there is no end to what can get in the way sometimes.  Some missed Skyline’s Auxiliary meeting on Wednesday, but heard that it had been a most productive session nonetheless.  Sometimes obstacles and complications are just a way to extend the enjoyment of the journey the Champion way.

        Let the Champion Cavalcade of Birthdays commence!  Bob Leach (a Wednesday philosopher married to the fair Ethel) November 4^th; Chuck Barns—Charles Burton Barns—(Linda’s Dad) November 11, 1916; Sherman Hall (Skyline 7^th grader) the 12^th; Madeline Vivod (Prekindergarten at Skyline) the 13^th; Robert Louis Stevenson (19^th Century Scottish author born in Edinburgh ) November 13, 1850; Rich Heffern (who pierced the Iron Curtin at the Berlin Wall in 1973) the 15^th; Raven Hull (Skyline third grader) the 16^th; Caleb Barker (Skyline Prekindergarten student) the 17^th; Julie-January-Ring (Sweet Seven Springs Sister) the 19^th together with Elva Ragland (music lover and alumnus of the Champion School).  Oprah says “The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”  Champions say, “Happy Days!”

        Veterans and all those who serve the Nation are much in the thoughts of the world in these days leading up to the observance of November 11, 1918, as the end of “the war to end all wars.”  Sadly, it did not work, by the 1930’s the world was in an uproar again.  Some say there has never been a time in the world when there was no conflict anywhere.  Throughout history, violence has been observed in every human society.  Some say the best way to honor a Veteran is to not make any more.  World leaders and power hungry zealots are not likely to buy into that way of thinking.  For those who sacrificed themselves to the noble causes, the dedication of the Garden of Remembrance goes, “They shall not grow old/ As we that are left grow old/ Age shall not weary them/ Nor the years condemn/ At the going down of the sun…/ And in the morning/ We will remember them.”  The census report in 2013 revealed that there are 19.6 million military veterans in the United States, 3.6 million of them have service connected disabilities and 14.7 million of them voted in the 2012 election.  That is seventy percent.  Veterans make good citizens.  They are family, friends and neighbors who have earned the respect and gratitude of the Nation.  Shake their hands and thank them for their service.  They are Champions.

        Election officials say that Champion and the two other townships that vote with it were able to muster a total of 253 votes on November 4^th.

        A West-End Friend shared an interesting article from the Christian County Headliner News about the Ava/Barker Saw.  One of the gents from the Older Iron Club out of Cabool takes one of these amazing machines down to the Pioneer Gathering every year and demonstrates its power and relative flexibility.  It was the precursor of the chain saw and quite an innovation for the time.  Reading the history of the saw is like a ‘who’s who’ of Vanzant and Ava with names like the inventor, Albert P. Smith and his son, Ivil, William Isam Barker, Doc Sallee, Elmo Hartley, Paul Barker, Noble A. Barker and his son Noble G. Barker.  The first saw came off the line in 1947, and over the course of time the business changed names and ownership and eventually became the property of Homelite in the mid 1950’s.  A few of the original saws are still working, and many are in parts in junk yards, like the West-End Friend’s own.  The article says there were approximately 1,000 Ava Saws and more than 2,000 Barker Saws manufactured and sold.  Probably some were sold in Ava Lumber.  Many remember Kris Kottmeier, who passed away recently, as being that handsome, smiling guy in the family lumber business.   Among his belongings was a pristine brochure for the Ava/Barker Saw which his sister, Susie, shared with his friend.  Mementos, souvenirs, keepsakes are all reminders of friendships, kinships and the swift passage of time.

Young Cletis Upshaw

        Apparently Loretta Upshaw and her dad, the General, took a flight of fancy and wound up in an airplane with some guy (Ray Davidson) who was flying the plane.  Loretta posted some great pictures.  They were flying over Vera Cruz and Robert Upshaw said, “This meadow is where the county seat of Douglas County was at before, during, and after the Civil War.  A battle took place here in November 1862.  There is a small cemetery less than 40 yards from the right point of the meadow.  Cathie Alsup Reilly has ancestors buried there.  Present day Vera Cruse is about three miles downstream (to the left) on Bryant Creek.”  Then Cathie Alsup Reilly said on line, “Cletis was so very happy the day we made it to the grave sites.  He had never been there before and didn’t know about the graves.  I had made plans for Cinita and Logan Brown to lead us there once I discovered the location.  The Eagle Scouts back in the 60’s had built a rock wall around the area of the graves in order to try to preserve it.  Cletis never got to go back and actually had a rough time walking to the area that day even though it wasn’t far from where we had to leave the truck.  A nice young man had him sit on the back of his 4 wheel drive and drove him right to the site.  Cletis talked about the visit many times after that, and the month before he passed he asked a special request of me concerning the site.  Robert Upshaw helped me carry that request out in May of the next year.  Jeremiah Coats is buried there along with other family members.  Jeremiah was mine and Cletis’ great grandfather. “Cathie said that Cletis was a walking encyclopedia of the area, but this part of the family history was new to him.  Champions miss Cletis.  He was a Veteran and a real native son.  Cathie has shared some pictures of him in his youth and later years that will be posted on The Champion News website at www.championnews.us.  Anyone with a story to tell about Cletis is encouraged to email it to champion@championnews.us or mail to TCN, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.

        Ms. Ann Thrope writes again and says that through her “perspectacles” she sees that when we aggrandize patriotism and celebrate militarism we are not honoring the dead of war, we are enticing the living to join them.  Pretty much everything she has to say is negative.  She could stand to spend some time with her cousin, Phil N. Thrope, and maybe some of his generosity of spirit will rub off on her.  A person can hear all kinds of things, but it turns out that some folks live so far back in the sticks that they do not get AM radio.  There is something called the Cracker Barrel somewhere out on the airwaves, and a guy named Brushy Knob John, is making fun of a prominent Champion, calling him “Rumpletaterskin” figuring he is spinning potatoes into gold.  Add your malarkey to the mix around the wood stove at the Historic emporium.  It is fixing to get cold.  Darrel Haden wrote, “Winter:  a hardening of the year’s arteries, when blue cold is blown out of snowbanked skies.  But winter is also a warm time of holidays, friends, and firesides.”  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—November 3, 2014

        Even with plenty of warning, abrupt changes are surprising.  Wood smoke perfumes the hollows and all that brilliant, glorious color is muted to mostly brown now with only a little gold hanging on.  Just last week a Champion wrote, “The breeze has picked up and from flash to twinkling the air is filled with yellow leaves looking like a mass migration of something magic.”  The cold descended on Halloween making it somehow more spooky.  Linda Clark reported a while back that she was alone one night reading “The Headless Cobbler of Smallett Cave” on the www.championnews.us website, when an unexpected noise erupted somewhere in the house gave her a start and a faster pulse.  She laughed about it and also laughed about slipping on some slick leaves, taking a tumble off a bluff and going on a roll down the hill.  She says she is ok but sore from head to toe.  Best wishes from your Champion friends.

        A great friend of The Champion News, Walter Darrell Haden, will be buried in the Spring Creek Cemetery on Election Day.  He cut a dashing figure around Ava in his younger days and moved on to a PhD from Vanderbilt University and a 37 year career as an English professor at the University of Tennessee.  “The Headless Cobbler” and “All the Late News from the Courthouse” are a couple of his pieces that are familiar to people in this neck of the woods.  He wrote “When Winters Were Long, The Tales Taller” for the White River Valley Historical Quarterly (Volume 4, number 8—Summer 1972) which is available on line and probably in the local library.  He was active in country music and folklore associations and was considered the academic last-word concerning the history of traditional music.  He wrote the definitive biography of Vernon Dalhart, a fascinating individual who was the first country music recording artist to attain a following for himself and commercial country music.  Portions of the biography appear in “Long Steel Rails:  The Railroad in American Folksong,” an anthology by Norm and David Cohen.  He came from a family seeped in old time music.  Charlie Haden, who passed away this year came from the same roots and began his career playing on the radio with the Haden Family Band.  He later migrated into jazz where he found great success and in later years came back again to bluegrass.  In a note that came with a gift of a CD called “Beyond the Missouri Sky” on which Charlie collaborated with guitarist Pat Metheny, Darrell wrote, “Charlie’s grandfather, Homer Fielden Haden and my grandfather, Walter Dewitt Haden (1876-1961), grew up together in Smallett.  Their fathers were father and son while their mothers were sisters.”  They sound like Champions.  Darrell and his wife, Betty, visited Champion in 2007, while the original store still stood.  He was a regular correspondent from the time this version of “Champion Items” first appeared and his encouragement has been priceless.  Condolences go to his family as we miss one of their brightest stars.

        A number of stalwart Champions showed up on the last Tuesday of the month to take advantage of The Douglas County Health Department program to provide free blood pressure readings and other health screenings to local residents.  Angela Souder was back again and this time had her “lung age” machine with her.  A 75 year old Champion who smoked for 30 years and quit smoking 20 years ago, who took a turn fighting fires for the conservation department and who still heats with wood was pleased to learn that his lungs are only five years older than the rest of his body.  Angela had help this time provided by a third year nursing student, Melissa Lang of Seymour who is learning the ropes of being a rural health care provider.  Melissa is familiar with the area and will be welcome back any time.

        Foster Wiseman was out early on Saturday morning with his dad on the opening day of the youth deer hunting season.  They arrived before daylight and found their blind.  (Foster says all the trees look alike in the dark.)  By ten o’clock he had his 8 point buck.  The details are exciting and Foster has agreed to write them himself for publication here.  Look for it soon.

        Birthdays are a big deal and there are many to celebrate in the week ahead.  Elijah and Arjuna Flenner (now in their 40’s) celebrated on the first of November;  Kellie Perryman, Skyline 3^rd grader, on the 3^rd together with counselor Mrs. Beeler;  another 3rd grader, Hailey Hall, on the 4^th; Emerson Rose Ogelsby (Champion granddaughter) on the 5th; Sharon Upshaw (Mrs. General) on the 6^th;  Kathy Barns (Linda’s sister) on the 6^th; Skyline first grade student, Mason Solomon, on the 7^th; Bob Heffern (Grandfather Weltanschauung) of Champion South on the 8^th; and Skyline second grade student, J.D. Borders, celebrates on November 9^th.  May beauty and happiness surround you on your birthdays and always!

        The Eastern Douglas County Volunteer Fire Department will have their annual chili supper and benefit auction at the Vanzant Community Building on Saturday, November 8^th, with dinner starting at 5:30 and the auction at 6:30.  See you there!  Jeff Goss writes from Billings, MO with a report of the Christian Agricultural Stewardship Conference that was held there at the Vanzant Community Building on October 3^rd.  He says that attendance was small but the program was most informative.  Vernon Kinsinger’s talk on the fascinating science of epigenetics revealed that environment and nutrition can affect the expression of genes for up to four generations.  He says that means a person’s nearsightedness might be partly due to his grandmother having received an overdose of some trace elements from canning jar lids.  It also means that living a healthy lifestyle will benefit yourself, your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  Marian Schrippe of the Ozark County Homegrown Food Project says that the Ozark Farmers’ Co-op hopes to get some university grant funding to build a tomato grading plant in Mountain Grove or possibly Vanzant.  Then they will just need to find enough growers willing to raise tomatoes, which Goss contends should not be too much of a problem with Booger County’s tomato history.  Jeff has a precise and legible handwriting—a joy to read.

        A note from Ms. Ann Trope is an emotional scrawl, hard to make out.  Politics has her in a tizzy and she seems aggravated with the whole human race.  In her tirade she asks, “How…how can intelligent people not see that they have the power to affect the quality of their own lives?  Vote! Vote!”  Her passion produces holes in the paper with her exclamation points—her penmanship expresses megahertz of volume.  She is most fearful that the future of democracy in America already is in the hands of Ollie Garkey, “who, believe me!” she says, “is not promoting a progressive agenda!  If a little rain shower keeps you from the polls, you will get just what you deserve!  Wake up!”  No return address makes Ann a mystery and by the time this is in ink the midterms will have passed and a small number of people will have made the decisions that affect everyone.  Come gather round the same wood stove that has been warming Champions for generations.  Spin your yarns and exchange your views.  Try to remember the words to “All the Late News from the Courthouse” and the stories behind the song.  While you are at it, spend a moment to marvel at the beauty and tranquility of a little spot on the banks of a creek, where country roads meet at the bottom of several hills at the end or beginning of the pavement—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!