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CHAMPION—August 25, 2014

        Champions have been bringing the sheaves into the air conditioning this week, preserving the harvest in their comfortable kitchens during the heat of the day.  One remarks to another, “We have too much food.”  Not nearly everyone in the world can say that and so Champions do not complain about the work and freely share their bounty.

        President Grover Cleveland declared Labor Day a holiday in 1887.  The celebration of the American labor movement is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers.  The holiday was meant as a tribute to their contributions to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of the country.  Canada shares Labor Day celebrations with its southern neighbor while 80 or more countries world-wide celebrate May 1^st as International Worker’s Day.  An interesting posting on the internet says that if we want to live in a country that produces things, we need to buy things that are made here.  It stands to reason.  Whatever political motivations President Cleveland had for choosing September for the observance, and history says there were several, current observers will find bargains and reasons to celebrate….friends, family, music, corn on the cob, peach cobbler, watermelon.

        Celebrating starts on Saturday for those attending the Champion School Reunion.  The Walk of Ages is taking a new route this year.  Royce Henson and party will be leaving the Denlow Cemetery at ten in the morning with the plan of walking to Champion.  They will have to step right along if they plan to get there for lunch.  The General will be accompanying the group and will most likely mark cadence.   “Let’s go on and have some fun…walking on down to Champ-i-un…one, two…”  When they get there they will find a big crowd already in the midst of the fun.  Temperatures are forecast to be more mild, but even mid 80’s will be hard on the General who probably does not spend an hour a day on the elliptical machine and then an hour swimming as Royce does.  There will most likely be some support vehicles and cooling stations along the way as well as some new Burma Shave signs.  A favorite one of those from 1939:  “A peach looks good…With lots of fuzz…But man’s no peach…and never wuz… Burma Shave.”

        Anyone driving late at night in the area needs to be on the lookout for deer.  Fortnight Bridge players on their way back to the rendezvous point Saturday night slowed down to see an enormous deer standing by the road, not very interested in the passersby.  The Norwood player said that she sees deer every bridge night on her way home.  Conversations about deer had the Champion player (winner of the nickels) reporting seeing deer in the late afternoons out at the edge of the woods.  Often they become visible by the movement of their tails as the constant flicking of white catches the eye.  Those tails are busy flicking flies, gnats, ticks, fleas and any number of other pests that might plague a wild mammal.  It was speculated that such a handy thing as a tail would eliminate the need for bug spray and would, for a person working out in the garden, leave hands free for weeding, pruning and picking.  The Vera Cruz player (winner of the quarters) said that if people had tails they would never be able to hide their feelings.  A recent Nation Geographic article reveals that there is an ongoing study concerning the emotional context of the dog’s tail wag.  So far it has been determined that wagging to the right is the excitement of recognizing the dog’s master or another friendly dog.  Wags to the left also indicate excitement, but contingent with some anxiety.  Imagine the tails on the tattle tales and the tellers of tall tales down at the Historic Emporium.  No secret would be safe.

        Birthdays are not secrets.  People benefit by a little annual attention.  Drayson Cline had his first one on the 23^rd.  He is walking with purpose, running and busy.  His cousin, Dakota Watts, is a grown up now and has his birthday on the 24^th, as does a favorite nephew in Pennsylvania, Daniel Cohen.  Barbara Krider has her birthday on the 25^th.  Champion friends hope Harley feels like singing that song to his sweet wife.  Across town, Donald might sing to Rita Krider on the 26^th.   Seneca Parsons will have a beautiful birthday on the 27^th with is dear ones around their kitchen table.  The 29^th is a special day for third grader Rowdy Woods, who will be nine years old.  He shares the day with local Champion Bill Smith and with Mini Jo Henson who will be at the Champion School Reunion to meet Royce when he comes strolling down the hill.  August 30^th is the day of the reunion and it will be Laine Sutherland’s birthday too.  Maybe she will bring some of her lovely musician friends with her for the enjoyment of all.  It is rumored and hoped that The General’s guitar might be waiting for him when he comes stepping into the square.  Sunday will be the best day of the year for Kalyssa Wiseman and Jenna Brixey.  One is older than the other by an hour or two.  They will both be seven.

        These last hot days have turned the roads powdery dry so dust coats the wilted weeds and bedraggled grapevines drooping out of the withering trees that over spread country lanes.  Summer is winding down and leaving the countryside weary.  Just a little rain will restore enthusiasm.  Imagine that first breath of cool air that precedes a gentle shower.  Imagine that little feeling of relief and hope being inhaled everywhere so that societal and political tensions might be soothed a little.  Bring all that kind of courage and optimism with you down to the wild wooly banks of Old Fox Creek.  Deward Henson went down to “the village” every day but one for fifty years.  That was the day National Geographic showed up to feature the place in the book America’s Hidden Corners.  The picture in the book shows a good sized pile of firewood stacked up just where the good sized pile of firewood is stacked now.  Seasons change and so it is in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—August 18, 2014

        The first Monday after Labor Day was the first day of school for many back in the ‘old’ days.  These days school is already in full swing with all the contingent excitement and anticipation for a good year ahead.  A preschool teacher was quoted as having said, “I will not believe all the things your child tells me about you if you will not believe all the things he tells you about me.”  This happened a number of years ago and is not to say that the children are, or were, necessarily prevaricators, but rather that they have a distinctly different point of view about most things based on their lack of experience.  That is what school provides—information and experience.  Skyline School’s Communications Arts teacher, Carolyn Willhite, will celebrate her birthday on August 23^rd.  Third grader Rowdy Woods will have his special day on August 29^th.  Jenna Brixey will be in the first grade.  She and Kalyssa Wiseman share a birthday; they will both be seven years old.  Champions!

        The Champion School Reunion happens on the Saturday before Labor Day.  New old memories will come to the surface to be shared among the many.  Last year the event took place on the hottest day of the year.  (TCN—September 2, 2013) “That did not seem to make much of a difference to the fifty or so stalwart Champions, families and friends who enjoyed the afternoon under the ancient walnut trees in the old school yard.  Ruby Proctor pointed to the tree that was home base and told about the batter who let go of the bat after a hit.  It hurled right into her face and she said she still had the scar, but her sweet smile hides it well.  Some of the others who passed the day with Ruby were Elsie Curtis, Debbie Massey, Connie Brown, Robert Brown, Paul Brown, Lee Brown, Richard and Kaye Johnston, Karen Krider, Ray Hicks, Pete Proctor, Harold and Eva Phillips, Elva Ragland, Sheila Brown, Betty Henson, Fern Bishop, Kenneth and Barbara Anderson, Wayne and JoAnn Anderson, Russell and Dean Upshaw, Frank and Freda Proctor, Arlene Cooley, Tom Cooley, Laine Sutherland, Frances Sutherland, Billy Jo Lambert and his son, Don Krewson, Anita Krewson, Wayne Sutherland, Modeen Dooms, Mrs. LuAllen and two daughters, her son and his wife, Benton Hutchinson, Jackie Coonts, Dale and Betty Thomas, Leslee Krider, Bill Smith, Wilma Hutchison Pointer and her husband, Royce and Joe Henson and Vaughn Henson.  Royce and Vaughn completed the Walk of Ages again from Cold Springs to Champion.”  That was last year.  This year Champions will miss some of those dear ones.  To the many in the area who have Champion connections and history, this is a wonderful opportunity to reconnect and recollect.  The pot luck luncheon on the grounds is always a feast.  Everyone is welcome.  You never know who you will see on the Bright Side!

        It seems that the same people in any given community do all the hard work that makes it a real community.  On a warm Saturday afternoon a week after the Skyline Picnic, a certain prominent citizen and prominent girlfriend were observed up at the fire house continuing to work.  They were doing the final tidying up after the picnic and beginning the process for another sterling event next year.  Neighbors at KZ88 FM Real Community Radio in Cabool will be broadcasting four hours of the picnic music from Saturday night together with a short interview with the Skyline Fire Chief.  It will be broadcast from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. Saturday night, August 23^rd, and then again on Sunday, the 24^th,  from noon to four o’clock.  It will be like being there again!  Thanks KZ88!

        “We will kill a chicken and churn!”  That is the sentiment that goes with the open invitation to good neighbors and old friends.  A few miles across the county is still not a long trip, but as days fill up more quickly as the years have gone by, old friends who see each other rarely make it a celebration and special occasion when they can get together.  With technology and transportation improvements, closeness is less about geography now than it has ever been.  The neighborhood is big and good neighbors are a great gift.  They share the garden produce–awash with squash and unnumbered cucumbers.  They share the hard work, the troubles and triumphs.  For those who do not get The Champion News (TCN) through the Douglas County Herald, last week the paper ran an ad for a benefit to be held for Ronnie Thompson and it was the first that many had heard of his illness.  Ashley Pierson (417-686-0164) is the contact person for that event.  It is news to some that Harley Krider is also having some health issues.  All those suffering ill health and loss benefit from the ministrations of their good neighbors, friends and family.  Both these Champions are getting good health care and have a good prognosis for which their vigilant good neighbors, friends and family are grateful.  Compassion is a Champion notion.

        Not everyone has a good neighbor.  It is sad but true.  Complicated human relationships and seemingly unrelated events sometimes throw incompatible people right next to each other for better or worse for the duration.  How issues are resolved and circumstances tolerated can make the very exciting subtext of a crime novel or of a treatise on tolerance and forbearance.  “The sun comes up and the sun goes down and the hands on the clock go round and round.  Life gets tee-juss, don’t it?”  That is part of an old song that might fit the dreary life of someone who declines to be a good neighbor.  It takes two. 

        Neighbors over in Vanzant are continually kicking up their heels.  Those Thursday night bluegrass jams are still in full swing and let him who has a foot to pat come on over for a pot luck dinner about six and then enjoy an evening of great music.  “Saturday Night Under the Stars” over at the Vanzant Country Store is getting some good press on the internet and Champions on their way to Mt. Grove have seen some expansive attention going into what used to be the Junction.  By contrast Champion seems all the more laid back and easy going.  Plenty happens, however, and a lot of it out on the spacious veranda at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium overlooking the bucolic Square wrapped and boundried by the wild, wooly banks of Old Fox Creek.  The veranda is situated to catch the lovely summer breezes offered by nature and the verbose windiness of farmers, cowboys and charming itinerant vagrants and loiterers.  Check out TCN (The Champion News) at www.championnews.us to get a clear view of Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—August 11, 2014

        A cool week ahead with the potential for a little rain has Champions comfortable and optimistic, but not smug.  It is that kind of place where gratitude plays an active part in daily life.  The anniversary of the Fox Creek Flood of 2013 was observed quietly.  Some debris is still lodged in trees “higher than the Cowboy could reach if he were sitting on his high horse.”  If memory does not serve, a review of the archives at www.championnews.us reveals that the previous August was a dry, hot one and in 2011, every drop was being measured and appreciated.  Country folks, gardeners and farmers are particularly attentive to the weather as they go about their work in harmony with the atmosphere.  Champions all!

        The 28^th annual Skyline VFD Picnic lived up to its reputation as one of the sweetest events around.  Friday started out hot but as the sun went down the air became most comfortable and was filled with music and laughter and the sounds of happy reunions as old friends embraced and visited.  At five o’clock Saturday the faintest little drizzle toyed with the hosts and would have been threatening had they not all studied the radar intensely.  Some firemen used their radios to listen to The National Weather Bureau with its ominous impersonal voice crackling through the static saying, “thunder storms possible.”  People began arriving anyway and, as if by virtue and force of confidence, the clouds dispersed leaving just enough humidity around to remind revelers that they were still deep in the throes of summer.  Several hundred people from around the area and from distant parts settled in the natural amphitheater to enjoy the evening’s entertainment.  Bluegrass and gospel music is really one of the great calling cards for this extraordinary gathering.  The many local and area performers are most impressive not just in their talent but in their generous willingness to show it off.  Ray Bradley continues to amaze with his rendition of The Star Spangled Banner.  He hits those high notes solidly and makes us all feel good about the whole thing.  Others of the hundreds milled about enjoying the food and games.  The silent auction was brilliant as friends outbid each other for those Jewel Tea bowls, each hoping to give them to another of their mutual friends.  Tim Scrivner’s excellent bird feeder was snapped up by another fine wood worker who will probably steal the idea.  The author of the cedar lined red oak blanket chest can be satisfied that the raffle brought in a sizeable chunk of money to benefit the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department.  Can he top it next year?  Champion Jerry Garrison was the lucky ticket holder for that piece that is destined to become a family heirloom.  His friends and neighbors are almost as happy for him to have won it as they would have been for themselves.  Alas!  The hard work of all the volunteers before, during and after the picnic gives them a special spot in the community heart.  The merchants and organizations in the area that support the Skyline VFD can expect ‘mutual aid’ as the community pays back with patronage.  KZ88 Community Radio was on hand to record all the evening’s music as well as a short interview with the Skyline Fire Chief.  It will air sometime next week and those who were unable to attend will hear what they missed and those who were there will get to relive a lovely experience without the distractions, and, sadly, without the pie.  The Champion News Facebook page (‘like’ us please) will report the KZ88 broadcast schedule of the recording when it becomes available.

        It would be great to think that every part of the country is divided up into overlapping communities that rally for each other in their celebrations and in their need the way folks do around here.  It seems that people never feel so good as they do when they are helping someone else.  As people age they might wonder who is getting the comfort when the baby is being rocked.  All the festivals, fund raisers and benefits tie communities together in a great network of compassion.  Elmer was at the picnic both nights.  He is happy about the job the men from the county road crew did on V Highway.  Those fellows have a big job to do to keep the roads open and viable, tying all the communities together.  One of them could use a little help now.  Ashley Pierson (417-686-0164) can answer questions, take donations, and sign your volleyball team up for the tournament that will benefit a special one of those fellows as he deals with a serious health issue.  The volleyball tournament, chili supper and auction will kick off at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 6^th at the Skyline School—for Champion Ronnie Thompson.

        It was quiet on Sunday afternoon as the little church yard emptied out.  From up near the church, weaving through the trees along the creek bed came a red shouldered hawk, flying silently and low, crossing the drive to light in the big walnut tree behind the garage.  It rested there a moment and then sailed across the road into Harley’s pasture and back along the creek.  It is a huge bird.  The American kestrel is quite a small hawk.  Actually, it is called ‘North America’s littlest falcon.’  Ethel Leach sees them over in her North Champion neighborhood in the headwaters of Old Fox Creek.  They hunt for insects and other small prey in open territory, perching on wires or poles or hovering facing into the wind, flapping and adjusting their long tails to stay in place.  They are native year round residents of this part of the world.  Big hawks, little hawks, turkeys, deer and bear are neighbors to other year round critters like bob cats, ground hogs, raccoons, possums and now armadillos.  What a remarkable place!

        Gardens are pouring forth and it is still warm enough to enjoy going to the creek.  This must be the perfect time of the year.  An old neighbor, Ruth Hicks, who used to write the Champion items, would recite a poem by Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885).  (Maybe kin to Myron.)  “The golden-rod is yellow, the corn is turning brown, the trees in apple orchards with fruit are bending down.”  The name of the poem is September, but already it comes to mind in the golden shower of walnut leaves and as the sneeze-causing wild aster, goldenrod, comes into full bloom.  Presently the sumac will change colors and it will be time for the old Champions to gather.  Deward Henson’s old home place is now being occupied joyfully by his granddaughter, Jenny Coradi John and her brush hogging husband.  They had a good time at the picnic.  Her cousins will soon be pouring out of Springfield and other places to come to the Champion School Reunion on the Saturday before Labor Day.  Time marches on.

        March on down to the village, as Deward called it, and bring some of those squash to share.  Bring some poetry with you or some stories or a good song.  “Every day (tenor), every day (soprano), every day (alto), every day (bass) God’s sun is shining brightest beams across the sky.  On this way (tenor, soprano, alto, bass) we shall not falter, it’s the brighter side of life!”  In Champion—Thanks for the motto, Deward.  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—August 4, 2014

        A little rain would not hurt though Champions are hard put to complain about the weather.  Such cool nights and mornings are a gift.  Days in July and August when air conditioners are not required are blissful, lovely days that no one takes for granted.  When electricity arrived in the 1950’s, it brought some families a good oscillating fan and what a luxury that must have seemed on stifling summer days when women struggled for a breath of air off in the kitchen.  The kitchen is not so isolated as it used to be and even poor folks have window units these days.  Some remember 1953 as being the driest year on record.  (The state average precipitation was 25.35”.)  The hottest temperature ever recorded for Missouri was on July 14, 1954—118°^F in Warsaw and Union.  Champions do not complain.

        Elmer Banks called to say how happy he is that the road crews have put some much needed attention to Highway V.   The pot holes are filled and the whole stretch of it is a pleasure to drive over thanks to the efforts of the local road men.  Some of them work for the State and some for the County.  It is hard work that they do and it truly serves the community well.  Elmer says, “Thanks, fellers,” to which ever bunch it was.  Some locals were up for checking it out on Saturday night, but first there was a groundhog and then an armadillo and then the sprinkler needed to be unstuck…and first one thing and then another kept them away from ‘Vanzant Under The Stars’ again.  They will make it yet.  Meanwhile, it is easier for Elmer to get out and his friends sure like to see him coming.

        Water!  When pioneers came to this part of the world and edged out the indigenous peoples, they settled near the water.  Descendants of those old settlers are still making their lives in the area as over the years new immigrants have arrived and taken places rich with wonderful springs and good wells.  By the time this is in ink the results will be in from Tuesday’s election.  The laws that protect our water from upstream hog farming and thoughtless neighbors may no longer apply.  Perhaps they will still apply—perhaps the laws will be clearer and stronger.  Optimism is a worthwhile attitude.  Congratulations to the winners of the races.  Do your best to live up to your promises—serve and protect.

        A couple of years ago a Champion lady donated some old bowls to the silent auction at Skyline VFD Picnic fund raiser.  They went on the block having been written up as “four old bowls.”  They were about five inches in diameter and only a couple of inches deep—kind of yellow colored with a design in autumn leaf colors.  Someone said, “Don’t you know what they are?”  “Nope.”  It turns out that they were “Jewel Tea.”  That is a big deal in these parts.  As it turned out several people knew all about it and the bidding was exciting.  The bowls brought in somewhere between $40.00 and $50.00!  Big surprise!  Now it turns out that the lady has found more of those bowls in her unpacking, just in time for the Skyline Picnic.  She is not the only one looking through personal treasures to see what they can share in support of the fire department.  Myron Jackson of KZ88 Radio is planning to be at the Picnic and hopes to record some of the music for broadcast on the local FM station.  He says the Skyline Picnic is “a huge deal” in the area and he is right!  Firefighters and volunteers are busy getting the grounds ready and the members of the fire district are figuring out what kind of pies they will be baking for the event and how they will decorate their cakes for the cake walk.  Generous local merchants are donating the many door prizes that make this one of the best events around as the Skyline VFD shows the community how much their backing means.  The fun starts at 6:00 in the evening both Friday and Saturday nights.  On Saturday that incredible cedar lined red oak blanket chest will be awarded to the winner of the lucky ticket.  One old Champion is buying tickets for her daughter-in-law.  Imagine what a gift like that could mean to any relationship!

        Bryon Guthrie will be in the 8^th grade at Skyline this year.  His birthday was on August 3^rd and born in the year 2000, he will never have any trouble calculating his age.  Not so for Roger Wiseman with a birthday of August 8, 1968, or Phyllis Winn, August 12, 1947.  They have to cipher.  Jaycee Hall and Cryslynn Bradshaw will both be in kindergarten in the fall.  Jaycee’s birthday is on the 10^th and Cryslynn’s is the 12^th.  They will be five years old.  Friends remember Mary Graham, whose birthday was August 15^th.  She lived east of Champion a little way and had a great smile and laugh and a wonderful affection for her family, for music and dogs.  She always loved the Champion School Reunion and she will be missed there again this year.

        The Skyline Country Market was not what a person would call a raving success, but it was a good experience and some good information was gleaned.  About twenty families, individuals and organizations had booths set up under the trees in front of the school on Friday morning with a great variety of things to sell.  In spite of some fairly good publicity the turn out from the public and passers-by was minimal.  The vendors, however, did quite a bit of shopping with each other and the weather was so pleasant that it was not considered a loss.  The Skyline Community Teachers Association will put their heads together and revamp the event and the community will have another avenue open to support the great little school that is shaping the movers and shakers of the future.

        Linda’s Almanac is up on the bulletin board at Henson’s Downtown G & G over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion as well as on the website at www.championnews.us.  August is the Green Corn Moon and it will be full on the 10^th.  The 12^th will be a good day to plant above the ground crops and the 13 will be good for root crops again.  Both days are good for transplanting and for applying organic fertilizer.  Irrigate if you have to.  “Oh, Dan, can’t you see that big green tree where the water’s running free and it’s waiting there for you and me? Water!  Cool, clear water…”  In Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—July 28, 2014

        “’T’ for Texas.  ‘T’ for Tennessee.  (Repeat) ‘I’ for Iowa also for Illinois, the first is for brothers and the second for Champion boys.”  Other states, nations, and continents may have been represented in the myriad mix of visitors to Champion this week, but Texans, Tennesseans, Iowans and Illusions (Illinoisans) showed up in bunches and lingered.  Champion is what is known as a ‘vacation destination.’  Welcome and come again!

        Jaci Borders had a fifth birthday on July 27.  Kindergarten is her destination and her teacher, Crystal Sartor, celebrates on the 29^th.  Skyline graduate/valedictorian, Skyla Boyd, has her birthday on August second.  She will be a high school freshman this year.  Seamus Heffern lives in Springfield, but has Champion grandparents and also a birthday on the second.  He is going to be a musician, or a doctor, or a teacher, a chef, an artist, all of the above and/or whatever else he has in mind.  Youth is almost the definition of optimism.  Birthdays change in significance over the years.  They are far apart to start with and then get closer and close together.  Every day is significant for someone.  The first of August brings Elitta January into the thoughts of her many friends who miss her.  She passed away in 2011, but she stays vibrant in the hearts of those privileged to have been acquainted with her.

        Just at supper time in some Champion homes the phone rings.  An automated voice instructs, “Press ‘one’ if you are very likely to vote.”  Then the recording proceeds to ask how you feel about the proposed amendments 1, 4, and 7.  The effort on the part of advocates, pro and con, of each issue in both the mainstream and social media to inform, explain and persuade is enormous.  It would seem that there is something very important at stake.  When so much money is being spent, it stands to reason that someone expects to recoup their investment and make a profit.  The big question is, “Who?”  Political word trickery is an art.  A certain Mr. Lee said, “A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.”  If the wording of the issue on the ballot accurately reflects the question at hand, chances are fair that a person will be able to be confident that his vote is going where he wants it to go.  “Are you still beating your wife?”  This is a rhetorical trick of asking a question that cannot be answered without admitting a presupposition that may be false (or maybe not, in the case of some wife beaters).  Some voters figure from the get-go that the wording on the ballot is meant to mislead, so they just vote opposite to their immediate inclinations.  People do not readily change their minds about things even when they figure they have been given the same tactical military advice that Custer may have taken from his Sioux scouts.  Read it for yourself.  Democracy!  Champion!

        The Skyline Country Market will be held on the grounds of the Skyline School from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday the first of August.  The event is being sponsored by the Skyline Community Teachers Association.  It is expected that the community will be out in full force to support the happening and perhaps to encourage regular repeats of a market day.  Things are looking good in that neighborhood.  Visitors to the Country Market will have a chance to go inspect the school’s new green house and the outdoor classroom.  They can gaze over to the picnic grounds and see that preparations are well underway for the Skyline Picnic next week end.  Summertime is a busy time.

        A famous martial arts champion, dancer, actor, author and student of self-knowledge said, “Pretense is often an indispensable step in the attainment of genuineness.  It is a form into which genuine inclinations flow and solidify.”  This is really a message to a prominent Champion who is annually reminded that if a person acts like he is having a good time, pretty soon he will forget that he is acting and he will really be having a good time.  He may well be The Great Pretender, outdoing the Cowboy, the fleeing erstwhile barber, Almartha’s motorcycle maverick Scrabble king, and the trolling purveyor of environmental ineptitude all at once.  He is admonished in true hillbilly fashion, “If’in yev got to swoller a frog, don’t look at it.”  He will just be knuckling down and buckling down and getting things done and having fun.  The man wears many hats.  A person would think that one of them might not be red.

        When all those potatoes are finally dug, some Champions are figuring to plant some turnips.  Lem and Ned might be in the neighborhood this fall and be looking to help get the wood in or clean the chicken house.  Linda’s Almanac says that August 12^th and 13^th will be the first good days in August for root crops.  The first through the fourth will be good for above the ground crops.  Cucumbers might still make and fall greens could go in.  Fresh food from the garden is not available to everyone in the world.  Champion gardeners do not take it for granted and find joy in sharing the bounty.

        Once again, Laine Sutherland has shown a light on an artist whose music is inspired.  She shared a piece from the Southern Folklife Collection about Hazel Dickens:  It’s Hard to Tell the Singer from the Song.  “From the coalfields of West Virginia to the factories of Baltimore, Hazel Dickens has lived the songs she sings.  A pioneering woman in Bluegrass and hardcore country music, she has influenced generations of songwriters and musicians.”  She passed away in 2011.  One of her great songs sounds like it was written out on the spacious veranda overlooking the broad, wooly banks of Old Fox Creek.  “Hills of home—old familiar dirt roads wind through the piney glade where all the longing of childhood dreams were made, where we passed the mossy mounds where I could run and play, never a care to cross my mind all the livelong day.”  Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—July 21, 2014

        “Home” can almost be defined by that feeling that sweeps through a body returning there after a noteworthy absence.  A few hours, a few days, or longer in the great elsewhere, near or far, can bring a fresh perspective on the hat hanging place, where shoes are left by the door and the hair is let down.  To round the bend and see the house still standing when the iron might have been left plugged in and turned on is a joyful feeling.  Gratitude is Champion.

        The Douglas County Museum and Historical Society has posted on line a couple of pictures of the Champion School.  One is from 1947, a side view of the building.  The other is from November of 1920, showing the 33 first through the fifth grade students lined up in two neat rows with their hair combed and looking studious.  The names are all there and their faces match up to tell the stories we know as history.  This was bustling burg back then.  “Facebook” has its well-earned detractors, but it is a delight that this post was picked up by Sharon Tate Williamson who flung it around on the internet for Robert Upshaw and many others to ‘like’ and for THE CHAMPION NEWS to pick up.  Some kind of cyber-magic will soon enough have these great photographs posted at www.championnews.us in the School Reunions category.

        The Champion School Reunion is just around the corner!  The Summer Social Calendar is bulging.  The first Skyline Community Market Day is coming up August 1^st.  It is a morning event from 8 am to noon.  Since it is pre-election, the hopes are that viers for public office will show their faces and state their cases and spread some political largess around.  Some of them attended Skyline and might benefit from seeing the old place again.  The Market is being organized and sponsored by the Skyline Community Teachers Association with proceeds from booth rentals to go to the CTA Scholarship and the Youth Empowerment Program.  The Skyline R-2 School Foundation will have a booth selling interesting things (and taking donations) to raise the $3000.00 necessary to provide new drinking fountains for the school.  The following Friday and Saturday, the 8^th and 9^th, will be the high point of the summer at the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department Picnic.  The East Fairview District 46 School Reunion will be held on the 9^th at the Vanzant Community building.  There will still be time for those attending the East Fairview Reunion to make it down to the Skyline Picnic for the music and for the exciting drawings.  The hand-crafted red oak, cedar lined blanket chest (cedar chest) is drawing a great deal of attention over at Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the north side of the Square in Downtown Champion.  Bonnie Mullins has sent in money for her tickets.  She and Pete are doing all right up in Wichita.  She is glad their family reunion is there this year and hopes to get back this way one day soon.  Some special arrangements will have to be made to get that cedar chest to her if (when) she wins.  Good luck to all.

        A smart dog has only one skunk experience.  Rudy has recovered from several episodes of snake bite, but Friday evening’s face off with the King of Stink will surely have set him on a lifetime path of strict avoidance.  The Annual Table Rock Lake Bridge and Food Frenzy got off to a slow but memorable start as the Oklahoma team mascot met his olfactory match.  Rudy travels with the doo wop quartet, known on the bridge circuit as the Mister Sisters.  They are a curious mix comprised of a watch maker, a card reading Gypsy word slinger, a construction goon contralto, and Tim, who learned bridge as a wee lad at his Old Grannie’s knee.  They were formidable opponents for the Fortnight Bridge group.  When the shouting was over, each team left with a prize, new friends, and an enhanced knowledge of the game of games.  Norwood’s Linda, on the Fortnight team, came home with the grand prize.  (Champion missed it by a mere 2000 points!)  Rudy’s Jill took the nickels home. (There must have been a pound of them!)  Elegant, commodious accommodations, gourmet dining, stimulating companions in a tranquil setting made the two day get away seem like a tropical cruise.  Fortnighters and Mister Sisters alike are refreshed, renewed and ready for fun.  Whose deal is it?

        One of the treats of travel is the opportunity to see unrecognizable names on political signs in yards and on fences as counties and congressional districts change through the windshield.  Perspective is a tricky subject.  People rarely change their political views even when faced with the possibility of those views having been discounted, discontinued, or disregarded by the very namesakes of the philosophy.  Words are tricky and political word trickery is an art.  The proposed Amendment Number One might look better to some if it were called the International Industrialized Intensive Factory Pig Production and Monsanto Protection Act.  Some would argue that folks in Missouri already have The Right To Farm, and as it is, the Ozarks boast some of the cleanest and most bountiful fresh water in the Nation.  Now there is something worth protecting!

        Often by this time of the year summer looks ragged and brown, parched a little around the edges.  This year seems the exception to the rule and no one is complaining.  Come down to the broad inviting banks of Old Fox Creek with your garden riches to share.  Linda’s Almanac from up at The Plant Place in Norwood reveals that July 24^th and 25^th will both be most fruitful for root crops and transplanting.  The 26^th will be good for corn, okra, beans, and other above-ground crops.  All those days will be good for planting seedbeds and flower gardens.  It is acceptable to brag about your garden glory and not share it, but the proof of the pudding is one of the favorite of puddings.  Ethan Alexander and Zee Heffern probably had pudding (banana) on their birthdays on the 19^th.  Terry Prock had a birthday on the 20^th and Rosie Gunter on the 23^rd.  They both teach at Skyline.  Grace Crawford celebrates on the 24^th.  She will be in the 4^th grade there this fall.  Jaci Borders will be five years old on the 27^th and that puts her in kindergarten this year.  “Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!”  That is the name of the last book in the series of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  The Skyline R-2 School Foundation has sponsored this program with some great success–the love of reading being one of the favorite of loves.

        Share your favorite loves, your news, views and summertime adventures at champion @ championnews.us or mail them to The Champion News, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717.  Find out how to get tickets for that handsome cedar chest there as well.  Play favorites out on the spacious veranda at the Historic Emporium.  Hum some tune that makes you think of home (“in the good old summertime, in the good old summertime, la la la la la la with your hand in mine”)  It is acceptable to sing right out loud if you know the words and have a good voice.  Otherwise, just hum and smile.  You will be in one of the world’s truly beautiful places—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—July 14, 2014

        Every season has its charm in Champion.  Currently, farmers and gardeners are dealing with the unusual weather, trying to get their hay in and fight the blight on tomato plants from too much rain and not enough sun.  “Dry heat” is a fiction in these parts.  Around here ‘steamy’ goes with ‘hot’ like ‘dogs’ does—awkward language notwithstanding.  There is plenty of language, awkward and otherwise, in those intervals between hard work, as agrarians gather for a schmooze on the spacious veranda. 

        Vanzantians are most likely resting up from their wildly successful picnic on Friday and Saturday.  (The General is away from his phone.)  The weather could not have been better and attendance was excellent.  The big old yellow moon hanging in the sky added to the magic of the event, full of music, laughter, fun and games.  The food was good and the flood of familiar faces was just fine.  It is nice to see old friends and acquaintances, if just during this festival time of the year.  Many of the same bunch will be looking forward to the Skyline Picnic next month and the beat goes on.  Every week end will feature some area happening and a person could keep his social calendar full with little effort.  It was great to see Bob Berry and Mary Goolsby back in the neighborhood.  They are enjoying summertime and still take the Studebaker out for a spin from time to time.  Their Champion friends will be glad when they have re-relocated back to the area.

        Sometimes in the summer the countryside around Champion seems to pulsate with the resonating sounds of haying equipment.  Sound is curious in this part of the world as it moves mysteriously up hollows and around hills.  Sometimes, when the air currents are just right, or very still, people in near North Champion can hear the train rumbling through Norwood.  A house on the side of a hill can act almost as an ear magnifying the sound of distant machinery that turns quiet when a person steps outside to locate it.  In the early spring, a disembodied conversation from over the hill might be as clear as a bell and yet a child twenty yards away can be deaf as a post when admonished by parent or grand to, “Quit teasing that cat!” or “Come in and clean-up for supper!”  Children are as mysterious as sound.  One of the new tyrannies that old folks are experiencing is the conscious lowering of volume so that the interesting thing is being said just below the hearing range of the interested old person.  Who would ever have thought that a child could be too quiet?  It might be considered passive aggressive behavior much like the chronically shy person seems to get extra attention to be drawn out, to be begged to participate.  The ‘confidential’ tone in an aside, speaking to oneself, is a way to make cryptic remarks pertinent to the conversation that are somehow otherwise inappropriate, kind of a back door communication.  The voice in volume and tone, a terrific tool, can say more than words.  “Those with an ear to hear …” might find solace in music.

        Charlie Haden has passed away.  He was 76 years old.  He started his music career as Cowboy Charley, a yodeling toddler, with the Haden Family Band, often playing on The Ozark’s Jubilee.  His older brother taught him how to play the bass and as his voice was affected by a bout of polio in his youth he became more proficient with his instrument.  He became one of the most influential bassists in the history of jazz.  He played with all the jazz greats of his time and was recognized as a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master in 2012.  He received a lifetime achievement honor at last year’s Grammy Awards.  He said, “The beauty of it is that this music is from the earth of the country, the old hillbilly music, along with gospels and spirituals and jazz.”  Haden has cousins and other family over in Smollett, out in South Fulton, Tennessee (Hello, Darrell), and over in Nowata, Oklahoma (Hello, Ethel).  He has admirers all over the world.

        Myrtle Harris has an open book that says, “Welcome to my garden.  My flowers want to see you.”  The book is a concrete statue in one of her many flower beds and her garden is delightful.  Tall ‘tree-lilies’ and phlox in standard purple and unusual pinks, stand with day lilies in brilliant yellow and reds, dinner plate hibiscus, white with red centers and the huge deep red ones.  Begonias, geraniums dianthus, impatiens, marigolds and more are showcased against a deep bed of mulch.  Myrtle has an eye for color and design.  It is a joy to stroll around her garden.  She is full of plans about what will be transplanted where and how to keep some color going all season.  Visitors are amazed at the effort and energy that have gone into planning and maintaining this stunning garden/park with the many sculptures and unusual stones placed just so among the flowers.  Myrtle is a transplant herself from Connecticut, but has had the Ozarks as her home since the mid-1970’s.  She claims to have the best neighbors in the world.  The neighbors can say the same.

        A mistake is a good reason to revisit a subject.  That handmade cedar chest on display down at Henson’s Grocery and Gas is not white oak lined with cedar as has been reported here.  It is red oak lined with cedar.  What a prize this will be for some lucky winner at the Skyline VFD Picnic in August!  It will be one of those family heirlooms that may cause some jealousy some day when one inherits it and another does not.  Families will have to work those things out for themselves, but whoever is in possession of this exquisite chest will know that their precious items inside are protected from dust, light, insects, and prying eyes.  The eye will simply stop at the chest (as so often happens, even in polite society).  Meanwhile, plans are coming together nicely for the Skyline Picnic and a meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m., Wednesday, the 24^th, up at the Fire House/Picnic Grounds to get a start on all the things that need doing.  Everyone is welcome to attend and help out.  Bring your gloves and your enthusiasm.  There will be cold drinking water on site.

        Lazy summer afternoons find the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square a favorite spot to loiter for a spell while things cool off.  Lee Ray was heard to say something to the effect that he had “got his wish” having said a while back that he would a site rather have been beat by a hundred than by the close score of a recent scrabble game with his sister.  She has subsequently trounced him roundly and soundly and he claims to be ‘way down in the dumps and depressed’ about it, but hardly anyone believes it.  He has a twinkle in his eye that belies most seriousness.  In that respect he reminds a person of The General Himself.  They both bring to mind that Kris Kristofferson song, “he’s a walking contradiction, partly truth and partly fiction…”  Submit your lazy summer songs and poetry or find out how to get tickets for that cedar chest at Champion@championnews.us or by snail mail at The Champion News, Rt. 72, Box 367, Norwood, Mo 65717.  Bring your truth and your fiction down to the wide, wild, and wooly banks of Old Fox Creek, take all the right directions to Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—July 7, 2014

        Sunday evening’s sunset was splendid. Raindrops sparkled diamond-like on the grass–bright gifts of a sudden shower refracting the last light.  Late night time lightning rivaled Friday’s fireworks for spectacular display and Monday morning’s mist rose from the hay fields like rain-in-reverse to dampen the sky.  There are surely other places in the world that are beautiful, but this is Champion!

        Harley was able to get out of the hay field in time to make it home for the anniversary he shares with Barbara…49 this time on July the 3^rd.  Most likely there will be a party next year.  Their Champion friends and family hope to see them back here together long before then.  Anniversaries and birthdays slide and fly by quickly.  Janet Burns had a birthday on Sunday the 6^th.  She was seen among friends on the 4^th of July at the creek having a very good time.  She probably does not know Kyra Curtis who shares her birthday and is now 14 years old.  She will be in the 8^th grade at Skyline this fall.    Lyla Brown had her 6^th birthday on the 7^th.  She will be a first grader this fall.  Eighth grader Ceiara Carroll will be 14 on the 14^th.  Some people call that a ‘golden birthday’ when the numbers are the same.  Golden birthdays stop at age 31 for some reason.  This one will be especially special for Ceiara since it is 2014.  Happy birthday everyone—sing that song to each other.

        The Skyline VFD Auxiliary has a regular meeting on Wednesday the 9^th in the meeting room of Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion.  Everyone is welcome to attend.  The meeting starts at 6:30.  The handmade cedar chest is finally there and it is a beauty.  Actually it appears to be made of white oak and lined with cedar.  It has raised panels on the front and the lid has a brass piano hinge.  The lid stays up when it is opened with special ‘friction lid stays.’  It will be just right for someone to store keepsake quilts and family heirloom table cloths and the like.  Ticket sales are expected to be brisk.  The drawing will be held August 9^th at the Skyline VFD Picnic.

        The Vanzant Picnic is coming up this Friday and Saturday night.  There is sure to be a good crowd for this event.  The popular gathering place gets a lot of good community use apart from the regular Thursday night potluck bluegrass jam.  The General will have had a big hand in the planning of the picnic so it is sure to be exciting.  In past years fellow committee members have been able to temper his influence and enthusiasm with the common sense that makes it one of the highlights of the summer festival season in the area.  It will be well worth the trip down 95 highway south of 76 or north up from 14 to go east on W to get to the fun.  There is always good parking and golf cart shuttles for those who need them, lots of good food and music and games of all kinds.  There was talk of putting the General in a dunking booth, but since he was summarily transferred laterally from the Navy when they found out he could not swim, the committee thought better of it and just muttered among themselves that he is already ‘all wet.’

        The Skyline Community Teacher’s Association is sponsoring the Skyline Community Market which will be held Friday, August 1^st from 8 am to 12 pm.  Spaces are available for rent to showcase and sell your family friendly merchandise on the grounds at the Skyline School during the first community market day.  Registration forms are available on-line through the Skyline R-2 Facebook page, by e-mail from Helen Batten (hbatten@skylineschool.org) , at the school and at Henson’s Downtown G & G.  There is a nominal fee for the booth space which will benefit the CTA.  Forms and fees should be received by July 25^th.  This looks like the beginning of something wonderful—Champion!

        Linda’s Almanac from up at The Plant Place in Norwood informs that July’s is the Thunder Moon.  The month’s flower is the pink larkspur and the birthstone for July is the ruby.  The full moon will occur on the 12^th.   The 11^th will be a good day for planting crops that bear their yield above ground.  There is still time for some fast growing things like summer squash and cucumbers.  The 12^th will be a good day for planting root crops.  Radishes, beets, turnips will have time to make and potatoes as well, if a person is just looking for some nice new potatoes to cook up with the green beans.  The garden is a lovely place this time of year.  Ripe tomatoes are coming off the vines already, though some are saying that they are having a hard time with them rotting as they ripen.  That may have to do with the unusual amount of rain in the area.  Every year is different and there are plenty of old time gardeners around who might be able to answer some of the questions that worry the neophyte.  Sometimes the old folks know the answer and sometimes they will just make something up in order to enjoy the fleeting attention of the young people who seem so busy these days.  At least one household has suddenly become very quiet as the young ones have all gone back to the city.  It is time for a nap!

        Busy was the watch word down at the creek for the 4^th of July.  Children were in and out of the cold water catching enormous crawdads, investigating bugs and snakes and critters of all kinds between filling their plates with mounds of perfect summer-time food.  Old friends who rarely see each other had leisurely visits under the trees catching up with a year’s worth of happenings.  There were some who had attended the Old Tree Huggers Jamboree back on the Summer Solstice and had information to relate about mutual acquaintances seldom seen.  The prevailing sentiment was one of gratitude.  Everyone seems glad that they are doing as well as they are and happy for the joys and accomplishments of family and friends.  “There’s a time in each year that we always hold dear, good old summer time; with the birds and tree-es, and sweet scented breezes, good old summer time.  When your day’s work is over, then you are in clover and life is one beautiful rhyme.  No trouble annoying, each one is enjoying the good old summer time.”  In Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—June 30, 2013

        Thirty days has September, April, June and November…all the rest have thirty one, except February, etc.  The old poem does not allow for an occasional extra day in June.  That is what Champion got by the way of Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood.  Do not blame Linda.  One of her longtime friends has been putting the almanac together for her for a dozen or so years now as part of Linda’s birthday present (March 5^th).  This year the friend was distracted (planning a great adventure) and rushed to get the entire gardening year’s almanac together before her departure.  It is a process that requires some concentration.  Alas! June was not well represented in spite of being a glorious month for gardening.  Now it works out that by having 31 days in June, July gets to start on Paul Kennedy’s birthday.  He is a bus driver at Skyline school and a lucky man with a birthday on July the ‘tooth.’  One particular Old Champion accustomed to having his birthday on the first, missed it altogether.  Too bad.  It was a real milestone.  He will just have to wait until the fourth to party with his Old Tree Hugger friends at the National Birthday Celebration on the creek.  He will make an early start to get a good seat for the much anticipated Grand Old Flag Parade around the Champion Square and up and down Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive.  The General (who continues to make friends by not participating) is presumed to be in the throes of planning the Vanzant Community Picnic which might be held the following week end.  For various reasons Spotted Hog is not expected to have a float this year, but still Champions will be waiving their flags in different places together … everywhere singing, “Oh! Say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave…”

        There is no one alive today in the U.S.A. who has firsthand experience with the noxious British rule that led to the Declaration of Independence.  As the wonderful document is celebrated on July 4^th, the memory of the abuses heaped upon the colonies by George III and the annoying Red Coats would have disappeared altogether had it not been for history lessons that many slept through in high school and a few good songs.  King George was deeply in debt because of the way he had handled the French and Indian war starting back in 1754.  By the 1760’s taxes and tariffs were working a real hardship on the colonists as Britain sought to recoup its financial losses.  Then the Quartering Act was imposed on the colonists requiring them to house and feed the occupying soldiers and to put up with warrantless searches and confiscations.  The whole ‘taxation without representation’ issue played a significant part in the discontent of the colonists.  By July 1776, they had had enough, and their actions then allow modern Americans this magnificent freedom.   Practically every American can find some flaw with the government currently, but none would like to go back to being ruled by the British.  Today many Scots are similarly vexed by British rule.  Their current arrangement with Britain goes back to 1703, but on September 18^th this year.  Scotland will have a referendum and will vote YES or NO for independence.  Of course, it is not a simple issue and the ‘better together’ folks in Westminster would like to maintain control of the significant natural resources of their northern neighbors.  Many Scots are feeling that old pinch of taxation without representation as they sense they are being levied disproportionate to the benefits allotted them by the distant London government which views them with disdain.  Grievances are deep and long standing.  This year marks the 700^th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn where the Scots scored a celebrated victory over the invading English which secured Scotland’s status as an independent country until the early 18^th century.  It will be most interesting to see how it all plays out.  The history of those islands is ongoing, as is our own.

        Video of Darrell and Max Cooley and Wayne Anderson playing music at the Cooley Family Reunion Saturday was a gift on the internet.  Laine Sutherland has been a gift to the area as she is a prodigious supporter of local music, local folks and has a great perspective and generous world view.  Welcome home!  What a Champion!

        The 4^th through the 8^th will all be good days for gardening, especially for planting above the ground crops and leafy vegetables.  This comes from the recently edited and corrected version of Linda’s Almanac for July.  Find it on the bulletin board at Henson’s Downtown Grocery and Gas over on the North Side of the Square.  It can also be found on the counter up at The Plant Place and on line at www.championnews.us.  Summertime visitors will be helpful out in the garden.  There are weeds to pull and a few things like cucumbers and squash to pick along with wild raspberries and assorted ticks and chiggers.  The calamine lotion will flow freely.  No word has come as to the first ripe tomato in Champion yet, but there is likely to be a braggadocio around the round table in the Historic Emporium.  The Cowboy and others will have to know that seeing is believing.  If they plan to do much bragging they had better bring the proof with them.  The amiable shop keeper has a salt shaker.  No prize is being offered this year as it is figured that home grown ripe tomatoes should be enough for anyone.

        Summer is whizzing by.  Soon the Skyline Picnic days will be here.  The 8^th and 9^th of August are the dates set.  This year a prominent local craftsman is furnishing a handmade cedar chest as the grand prize for the fund raiser.  It was reported a while back that this marvelous work of art would be on display at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium, but it is yet to appear.  The eccentric artist will not be rushed, though it has been suggested that ticket sales might be more brisk if the prize could be seen.  “All in good time.”  That is a common phrase and one that suits the situation.  There is no need to be in any kind of a hurry.  Uncle Al used to say, “Take it eeeeeasy.”  Bring your summertime stories, music, poetry, and patriotism down to share out on the wide veranda overlooking the wild and wooly banks of Old Fox Creek.  Someone asked about the ‘wooly’ part of this description.  Some of it has to do with the debris of last August’s flood still stuck high in the trees.  The dense lush growth along the creek bank accounts for the rest of the ‘wooliness.’  Come form your own opinion and feel free to share.  You will be in one of the world’s truly beautiful places (a fact)… Champion!—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—June 23, 2014

        Addressing that age old musical question, “How in the world do the old folks know that it ain’t a gonna rain no more?”  It turns out that they do not know.  Had they known, they would have cut their hay last Monday and would have had it bailed and strung out in neat rows along the edge of the field before the showers started again on Friday.  As it happened, they waited for the predicted rain that did not come until they were peeved — A week wasted—Alas!  But it was not so for all as some gleefully abandoned their gardening/farming responsibilities to frolic with the seldom seen children and grandchildren visiting from afar.  There was blueberry picking, pie and jam making, sewing machine lessons, fire fly catching, pizza dough making, trips to the swimming hole, lots of music making, long walks and the much anticipated trip to the wonderful Champion Store.  The week went by in a blur leaving some old Champions exhausted and happy and looking forward to next summer.

        There was speculation that Larry Casey might not have been able to attend the benefit arranged for him by his family over at the Vanzant Community Building Saturday, but he made it and enjoyed getting to see everyone who came out to lend a hand.  The success of the event speaks to the kind of community that steps up to help when help is called for and so Larry’s medical care will be subsidized for a while and he and his family are grateful.

        Gratitude is being spread around on the internet.  Doni Coonts says that the hard work of Carolyn, Scott, and Justin Whillhite, John Homer, and Roy and Terri Ryan has made the Skyline greenhouse possible.  The project is almost completed so that students will be able to enjoy first hand experiences with growing plants.  Their progress will be followed with interest.  Meanwhile, Abby Homer is volunteering her creative talents with her paint brush to give the school’s hallway a new look.  It will be a surprise for returning students.  Skyline student Alyssa Strong was born June 23, 2003, so she is now eleven years old.  She will be in the 6^th grade at Skyline this year.  Lloyd Perryman Jr. is a prekindergarten fellow.  His birthday is June 30^th and he will be 4 years old.  Birthday celebrations are a good way to spend some summertime.  Esther Wrinkles Birthday was June 28^th.  Eva Powell’s is the 29^th and that is also the birthday of KZ88 Radio personality, Butch Kara.  Champion granddaughters, Faith Ann Lansdown and Sierra Parson share the 21^st as their birthday.  Faith Ann turned 12 years old and Sierra became an amazing 17.  It goes by so quickly.  Just ask those grandparents.

        The Summer Solstice—the longest day of the year—was a brilliant day for a family reunion.  The 40^th Back to the Land Reunion was held at the Hammond Mill Camp over near Dora.  Back in the 1970’s the Ozarks had an influx of “Urban Refugees.”  They were primarily young people, college graduates and drop-outs and hippies of all descriptions pouring out of the cities, looking for a wholesome life in the country to raise their families and to “live off the land.”  They bought farms and raw land and set about to garden organically, to build their own houses, to home-school the children who had been born at home with midwives.  They played a lot of rock and roll music, and had big parties and swap meets.  They ate brown rice and made yogurt.  They were idealists, transcendentalists, environmental activists, and young, often unskilled and generally naive.  Some did not succeed.  Building a house together can be hard on a relationship and more than one ‘blanket was split’ before the roof made it on the cabin.  Many lived in old school buses and tents and shacks they cobbled together.  Local folks shook their heads and made a lot of jokes at their expense, but many like the Champion Hensons, Hutchisons, Hicks, Brixeys, Kriders and Smiths and others also extended a helping hand and were willing to share their life experiences and know-how.  Many of their own children had moved off by that time, as jobs in the Ozarks were few and far between, so they were pleased to see some young people move into the area who seemed genuinely interested in the old ways of doing things.  Some of the immigrants had the hope of merging social and environmental consciousness with the solid skillsets of the people who had been living here for generations.  Forty years later, some of the new-comers who stayed on look just like the old timers to the newer newcomers.  They have contributed to the local culture.  Many are back in the city again and are dispersed from coast to coast, but they all feel that their time in the Ozarks enriched their lives.  Saturday saw about 140 of the Back to the Landers together again at the Old Tree Huggers Jamboree.  They did not all know each other back in the day, and there were new spouses, children and grandchildren in the mix at the big gathering.  Name tags helped keep the embarrassment down as features have aged and memories have slipped, but they all remembered the band, Hot Mulch, playing “Well, I’m moving to the country where everything is fine.  Gonna live in a dome and drink dandelion wine.  When the collapse comes I won’t get the blues.  I’ll have all the back issues of the Mother Earth News.”  The name of that original song is “Ozark Mountain Mother Earth News Freak.”

        Thursday and Friday will be good days for planting above ground crops according to Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood.  It is easy to get called away to the creek on these beautiful summer days when the afternoons heat up.  Early mornings and late afternoons are the best times to be out in the garden for older folks anyway.  The creek can reduce a person’s core temperature substantially.  Lee Ray says that at 75 miles per gallon (on his motorcycle) a person just cannot afford to stay home.  Add the savings of not having to run the air conditioner when he is not there and it can be figured that he is almost making money by making frequent trips to the wild wooly banks of Old Fox Creek.  He spends so much time on the wide inviting veranda at the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square that it is a wonder he did not see the low-down sneak-thief vandals that meticulously unbolted the city limits sign on the west side of town and made off with it.  This is not the first time it has happened and since the grass has grown up pretty tall around the sign post, there is every chance that the delinquent criminal trespassers got their britches full of chiggers.  The last time the crime was attributed to jealous marauders from up Spotted Hog way, a community of about the same size but without a sign of their own.  It could be anyone though from anywhere in the world.  After all, everyone wants to be a Champion!—Looking on the Bright Side!