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CHAMPION—June 17, 2014

        A few dry sunny days kept Champions busy catching up with the laundry, using their environmentally friendly, carbon free solar clothes drying apparatus.  These days came after some significant rain that had the creeks up and roads impassable in some spots for a while.  Fox Creek poured over the bridge and drug a big log out on it and left it there.  The fine County Road Men from the Drury Shed came out that evening and looked the situation over.  The next day they came from the other direction and were able to get the log off the bridge so traffic could flow freely again.  What Champions!  It is easy to take those guys for granted.  They are out doing the hard dangerous work that allows everyone to go where they want to go and for the mail to run.

        When an old Champion opened her mailbox to put in the outgoing mail she found it full of ants.  There were a couple of spiders too.  She trudged back up the hill and returned with an insecticide spray and some newspaper to clean the thing out.  It probably happens that mailboxes across the wide spectrum of rural routes are infested with ants, spiders, wasps and who knows what all.  Thanks, Karen, and your alternates for your intrepid delivering service and for your willingness to open those mailboxes in spite of what surprises there may be hiding there.   Considerate postal patrons might keep an eye on the condition of their boxes and add ‘ants, spiders and wasps’ to that list of ‘neither hail, nor sleet, nor snow, nor dark of night shall stay these swift couriers from the completion of their appointed rounds.’

        Happy Father’s Day cards have been choking mailboxes this week.   Paternal bonds and the influence of fathers in society are much in the thoughts of Champions.  Those fortunate enough to have their fathers living still struggle to find words to express their love and appreciation.  It may be that the old guy is not particularly sentimental and figures that he was just doing what he was supposed to do, being protective, supportive, and nurturing.   The acknowledgment is not wasted.  Older folks think about their fathers long ago passed away and still remember the feeling that everything was OK when he held their hand.  “Daddy’s hands were soft and kind when I was cryin’.  Daddy’s hands, were hard as steel when I’d done wrong.  Daddy’s hands weren’t always gentle but I’ve come to understand there was always love in Daddy’s hands.”  That is a Holly Dunn song and most appropriate for the occasion.

        A letter to “Friends of Skyline School” has gone up on the bulletin board in the meeting room at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in downtown Champion.  In addition to reporting on its accomplishments, the Skyline R-2 School Foundation is setting a goal of raising $3,000.00 to buy three new drinking fountains for the school and to have them installed.  It is an important project to promote the health of the students.   Daniel Parkes Jr. will be a second grader at Skyline this fall.  His birthday is June 19th.  Linda Kaye Watts (nee Krider) celebrates her birthday on June 21st.  She went to Skyline a few years ago and now has grown-up sons of her own.  Sierra, who lives in Portland, Oregon, has Champion grandparents and also has a birthday on the summer solstice.  Sixth grader Alyssa Strong will have her birthday on the 23rd then an ancient tree hugger by name of Nicholas celebrates on the 25th.  Truthfully, he celebrates all the time…waking up.

        When Larry Casey won the First Ripe Tomato in Champion contest back in 2009, he was 73 years old.  He said that he had been gardening for 70 years already.  He had just returned from a trip to Houston, Texas where the Local Pipe Fitters Union, to which he had belonged for 50 years, had honored him for his achievements.  He said that he came back to find his garden overgrown with weeds and two big tomatoes hiding in them, just about ready to eat.  He was willing to share one with Champion friends as a requirement for winning the contest.   (It was delicious.  “The tomato had a nice firm heart and a rich tangy taste, sweet and juicy.  It was firm enough to cut nicely, but definitely perfectly ripe.  A little salt and the judges were transported to tomato heaven.”)   Casey became acquainted with this part of the country about thirty years ago when he came to visit some friends.  He had been working up in Alaska and when it was time to relocate he settled here.  He made friends, did a lot of welding, raised purple hulled peas and chickens.  He has had ongoing health issues and his family and friends are giving him a benefit supper at the Vanzant community building on Saturday, the 21st.  There will be a barbecue dinner, pie supper, an auction, some live music and a quilt raffle.  Festivities start a 4 o’clock and more information is available at (417) 683-9032, for anyone who would like to contribute items for the auction or help in any other way.  Champion for a Champion!  Larry plants by the signs.  Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood says that the 18th and 19th will be favorable for planting late root crops.  Those days will also be good for vine crops that can be planted now and for setting strawberry plants.  They are good days for transplanting.  The 22nd and 23rd will also be good days for those things.
        An email with pictures arrived in the Champion @ championnews.us mailbox to the effect that Jenna and Jacob Brixey, Cousins Maddax and Tyler Klingensmith, Kalyssa and Foster Wisemen and Teagan Krider showed at the Tri-County Fair June 13 and 14.  They all received blue ribbons and a trophy and are already the future farmers of Champion!

Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman initiate their cousin Drayson Cline into the joys of participating in the fair.

Jenna and Jacob Brixey, Cousins Maddax and Tyler Klingensmith were busy wrangling their calves at the Tri County Fair.

        The Skyline VFD Auxiliary met on Wednesday evening down at the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square.  It was a good meeting–the preliminary one that starts the planning for the annual Skyline Picnic.  This year, in lieu of a quilt, the Volunteer Fire Department will be selling tickets for a custom made cedar chest.  It was made by a prominent local artist and will soon be on display at the Emporium.  All the proceeds from the cedar chest and all the proceeds from the picnic go to buy firefighting equipment and other necessities.  Come down to the broad inviting banks of Old Fox Creek for your own necessities or to get a look at that cedar chest, or just to pass some pleasant time in one of the world’s truly lovely places—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—June 9, 2014

        Gentle rains punctuated with sunny spells have made for a lovely week.  The elegant outpost on the broad bristly banks of Old Fox Creek has been visited heavily by locals, neighbors and erstwhile residents turned sightseers and absentee landlords.  Champions busy at home will gladly leave the plow in the field to spend a few minutes in the throng when (if) they are alerted to the various impromptu gatherings.  It will be interesting to hear the debate/discussion around the table about the Right to Farm amendment.  It sounds like a good thing, but Tim Gibbons of the Missouri Rural Crisis Center says it is another step in the elimination of independent producers, not good for farms, or for the environment, or the market place and not good for the rural economy.  Douglas County has had its own pig farm scandals in years past and not interested in smelling another.  There are two sides to every story.  These days the winning side is generally corporate even though people do the voting.

        June Summer School is in full swing up at Skyline.  The greenhouse is taking shape.  The Parent Teacher Organization is sponsoring a co-ed softball fundraiser.  Entry forms are due by June 21^st and can be obtained at the school.  There will be six teams, each team will play three games and it will be held at the old Ava Fair Grounds on June 28^th.  Get your team together.  Contact Mary (417-543-0644) for more information.  The Skyline R II School Foundation (Rt. 72 Box 486, Norwood, MO 65717) is looking for support as well to replace aging drinking fountains.  It is estimated that it will cost about $3,000.00 to buy and install the three new drinking fountains.  Adeline Homer, who was a third grader this last year at Skyline, has her birthday on June 12^th as does classmate Isabelle Creed.  They will move on to the 4^th grade together with Wyatt Hicks.  His birthday is on the 13^th and he shares it with 8^th grader Glen Dylan Ford.  On the 15^th Zachary Coon will celebrate.  He will be in the third grade when school starts back up.  Foster Wiseman will have his birthday on the 16^th.  He lives up in Marshfield but is a frequent visitor to his Grandmother’s Champion farm.  June is also full of wedding anniversaries.  Old couples growing old together for better and for worse still, amazingly enough, enjoy each other’s company.  Fatherhood also gets it due in June.  Paternal bonds and the influence of fathers in society cannot be too much appreciated.  The young fathers who are actively participating in the raising of children are affirming or refuting the examples their own fathers set.  There is the feeling that they want to be just like their own dear old dads or that they want to be like the dads they wanted their dads to be.  Either way is fine and it is beautiful to see sons and daughters looking up to fine role models—Champion dads!

        Mistakes are made.  Linda’s Almanac for June as it appears on the www.championnews.us website is correct.  A corrected version will get down to Henson’s G & G before this is in ink.  The errors and omissions started about the middle of the month and covered about eight days.  It is all fixed now with apologies.  Other errors are made purposefully sometimes as a way to revisit a subject.  Of course it was not Willard Coonts who was knife fighting with Lee Ray at Ava High School back in the 60’s.  It was W.D. Coonts.  That is not to say that Willard did not engage in some risky behavior, just that this particular incident (revisited here) involved his son.  W.D. and Lee sat in the back of the classroom (probably English) and had a little game they played with their pocket knives.  It was not mumbly peg which is generally considered to be an outdoor game, but a surreptitious parry and prick gambit where each one conceals his open pocket knife in his hand with his thumb covering the point of the blade so that should the teacher turn around and catch something going on, it would just appear that one or the other of the ruffian teenagers was poking the other in the leg with his thumb.  It happened this way that one day Lee forgot his knife.  He got off to school without it.  As soon as W.D. realized the situation he became more aggressive so that Lee scooted his chair over to get out of reach.  This made it awkward for W.D. who lunged a little farther and accidently let the point of his knife blade slip out from the end of his thumb.  He poked a little hole in Lee’s new blue jeans and as it turned out a little hole in Lee as well.  It was not all that painful and soon enough the subject matter of the class captured their attention and the incident was past.  By the end of the class though, Lee had begun to feel a little something warm in his shoe and in his chair.  That little stick must have stuck a little vein because when he stood up to see all the blood, he thought he might need a transfusion.  It was a mess and it was everywhere.  Lee knew it was an accident but he was still mad, new blue jeans and all.  Out in the hall W.D. was just standing up from his locker when Lee cold-cocked him.  He did not really knock W.D. out, but he knocked him down and then as he helped him up they exchanged a couple of words that brought the whole episode to a peaceful conclusion.  Lee said that he thought W.D. was a little embarrassed for having been knocked down and when it was all said and done, they felt even.  Lee did not forget his pocket knife after that.

        Friday morning J.C. Owsley joined up with fifty or more of his friends in the Caney Kansas Saddle Club and took off on a three day ride through Kansas and Oklahoma on his big white mule, Dot.  Dot is just on loan for a while and will get a little rest after the exertion of carrying the big man through two states.  Perhaps he will bring Dot to Champion for Bud Hutchison’s Fall Trail Ride.  J. C. has another horse that he has raised which is becoming a pasture riding fence checking favorite for the cowboy.  The Fox Creek Rodeo could have used some cowboy acumen the other day.  Details of the wild excitement are purposefully sketchy to avoid the publicity.  Barbara, up in Peoria, probably knows all about it.  If her hay maker does not get rained out he will get some bales put by before he goes home, meanwhile he can spend some time soothing hurt feelings over having sailed right by the Johnston’s new home without a by your leave, a wave or a howdy.  “I’ve got a pig at home in the pen and corn to feed him on.  All I need is a pretty little gal to feed him when I’m gone.”  That is probably a tune that Dylan Watts can pick on his banjo and his family and friends hope he will bring it with him when he comes this way from Tennessee now that he has his driving permit—over here to Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—June 2, 2014

        “What is so rare as a day in June?  Then, if ever, come perfect days.”  James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) made keen observations about the value of natural beauty.  He was an American Romantic poet, critic, satirist, writer, diplomat and abolitionist who said “who speaks the truth stabs falsehood to the heart.”  He might well have said, “Too few people control too much money and power in this country, and they are using that control to rig the rules to protect and extend their privileges, snuffing out the light of egalitarianism.”  Something he really did say was, “Blessed are they who have nothing to say and cannot be persuaded to say it.”  The likes of Mr. Lowell would be a colorful addition to the sages on the wide veranda at the Historic Emporium down on the wild, woolly banks of Old Fox Creek—one of the Champions.  Lee Ray said that if his sister could cheat, he could certainly lie and he came in on Wednesday prepared to do just that, but Bob and Ethel Leach are astute as to his countenance and he knew he would not be able to pull it off.  He gave up on the lying and confessed to having been soundly beaten in Scrabble by his sister.  The score was 366 to 373.  He said that he would a sight rather have been beaten by a hundred.  He went on to talk about knife fighting with Willard Coonts when they were in high school and about what a great prevaricator his great Uncle Jim was.  Some in his family say he favors his great uncle.

        The Skyline R-2 School Foundation is doing some good work with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  Any child in the school district can receive a new, age-appropriate book in the mail every month from birth until the age of five years when it is time for kindergarten.  The young ones are being set up for success in school as they learn to love books and reading.  Currently the Foundation is sponsoring books for 28 children and 13 have graduated the program.  There are applications for the DPIL at the school and at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Champion.  The more the merrier!  In addition to this on-going venture, the Foundation is setting a goal of raising around $3,000.00 to replace the older drinking fountains at the school–a much needed and worthwhile project.  Fund raising ideas are being bandied about.  Until some exciting event is planned, donations will be happily accepted at The Skyline R-2 School Foundation, Rt. 72 Box 486, Norwood, MO 65717.

        Her Skyline/Champion friends are missing Esther Wrinkles who always had such enthusiasm for the school and for the Skyline VFD.  She remarked that it was a shame that the Skyline Picnic always followed the summer elections by a couple of weeks.  She would like to have been able to capitalize on the largesse of the various candidates as they are looking for votes.  The 1982 Skyline School Valedictorian, the incumbent a generous bidder in the silent auction at the Skyline Chili Supper, and an Ava attorney are all vying for the same spot on the bench.  Perhaps on their way to candidate forums here and there they can stop by with some competitive donating.  Perhaps all the candidates for public office could cast their eyes and hearts out to the East and give our lovely little school a helping hand.  Meanwhile, it is good to see the Skyline Greenhouse project taking shape.  Thanks to Willhites, Procks and Ryans, the framing is up and the whole thing looks like it is going to provide an excellent learning environment for country children who want to study how things grow.  Esther would like that.  Plants that she shared with friends keep her in Champion thoughts.  She was a big believer in planting by the signs and would appreciate Linda’s Almanac.  It says that June 7-11 will all be good days for planting crops that yield above the ground.  Find a copy of the Almanac up at The Plant Place in Norwood, on the bulletin board at Henson’s Downtown G & G, and on line at www.championnews.us.

        Paul Kennedy drives a school bus for Skyline.  His birthday is June 2nd and so he missed getting to hear the kids sing that song to him as they roll along through the beautiful countryside.  Avid Champion News reader, Mark Parsons, over in Western Douglas County also celebrates on June 2nd.  A tour through his garden is at the same time enlightening, encouraging and discouraging.  Keep in mind he has been at it for many years and he has good help and that judging one’s own efforts by his standard is a recipe for dissatisfaction.  It is better to just recognize an amazing, lovely garden when you see one and then go pull some weeds in your own patch.  Margie Cohen up in Pennsylvania has a birthday on June the 3rd.  There is a nice song that goes with that date written by Fats Waller and recorded somewhere around 1935.  It is as if it were written for the woman though the song predates her by at least twenty years.  Like her, it is full of zest, romance, and vigorous enjoyment of life.  Happy days all!

        A hard fast little ten minute downpour did not dampen the enthusiasm for the Denlow School Reunion.  The gathering had just repaired to the spacious pavilion after a satisfying luncheon (with two kinds of banana pudding!) and was getting ready for the auction when the sky opened up.  The musicians put away their instruments during the deluge but were quick to pull them out again when the rain let up.  Lavern Miller officiated again as the auctioneer and kept everyone in stitches as he orchestrated some creative backwards bidding while raising funds to perpetuate the reunion and the upkeep of the grounds.  Kenneth Anderson and Elisabeth Johnston were his helpers and the sale was a lot of fun if not ‘brisk.’  Laverne grew up over around Brixey and Rockbridge.  It was his good luck that he happened to meet the lovely Jesse Mae Williams of Denlow and they have made a fine team for quite a few years now.  He is a World War II veteran and then worked on the railroad for 36 years.  Jesse could probably tell some good stories.  The place was full of good stories and visiting among Johnstons, Andersons, Cooleys, Upshaws, Kriders, Brixeys, Follises, Hicks, Woods, Proctors and many other families with long history in the area.  There were new faces as well and everyone was made to feel welcome.  Since the lack of a ‘program’ was so successful this year, the General has agreed not to do it again next year.  It has been suggested that he might prepare some written remarks or some sing-along songs that would allow everyone to enjoy themselves as much as he does, perhaps a song popular in World War II.  “So won’t you please say ‘Hello’ to the folks that I know.  Tell them I won’t be long.  They’ll be happy to know that as you saw me go I was singing this song.  We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”  Any day is fine in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 23, 2014

        Circumstances kept some Champions out of pocket midday Wednesday, but there were good reports of a fine turnout for the visiting, storytelling, reminiscing session down on the banks of Old Fox Creek.  Many of the ‘regulars’ made it out and were joined by Dean and Daily Upshaw.  They were well received and with luck, will make it back again soon.  It was wonderful to hear that Ethel felt like keeping up the routine in spite of having had a rough week.  She is a real Champion and was in her regular spot and her friends will be hoping that the week to come is less eventful for her.

        They say that the Eskimos have a hundred words for snow.  This time of the year Champions need that many words for green.  It is luscious out there even though a little more rain would be welcome.  Laine Sutherland made some good garden progress on Wednesday.  She and Greta planted okra, watermelons, zucchini, cantaloupe and other things.  She already has corn in and will put in more.  It is nice to have help and to have someone setting such a good example of productivity. Most likely she has a good song in her head while she is working in her beautiful soil.  Linda’s Almanac from up at The Plant Place in Norwood indicates that during the week ahead the 26th and 27th will be good for root crops and good days for transplanting.  The very next good day will be the 31st.  It will be favorable for corn, okra, beans, peppers, eggplant and other above ground crops and will be a good time to plant flowers.  It will also be an excellent day to say, “Happy Birthday, Alexandra Jean!”  Eight is a good age for a Champion grandchild.  Send your favorite garden working song to Champion@championnews.us or to The Champion News, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  “Sowing in the morning, sowing seeds of kindness, sowing in the noontide and the dewy eve….” A person does not necessarily have to wait for the harvest to do the rejoicing.  It is an ongoing thing in Champion.

        Linda Collins sends a message to Elva Raglan saying that she would like it if Elva would come to the Thursday Bluegrass Jam at Vanzant.  Linda was there this last week and enjoyed herself.  She and Elva have been friends for a long time though they do not get together as often as they would like.  Bonnie and Doug Bean from Caulfield were there too.  They were there with their son Sargent Daniel Bean who is getting ready for his fourth deployment with the United States Army.  He has been to Iraq and to Afghanistan two times.  This time he is going to Africa, starting out in Djibouti in June.  This small country is on the southwest coast of the Red Sea where it joins with the Gulf of Aden.  It is east of Ethiopia and north of Somalia.  Daniel says he will be there for nine months and expects that he will travel around Africa quite a bit.  He has been enjoying his time at home and it is clear that his folks have enjoyed having him.  Thursday was his last trip to the jam until he gets home again around February.  He sang “32 Acres of Bottom Land” with his Dad and they recorded it so he will have it with hiim on his deployment.  Sargent Bean has Purple Hearts and the appreciation of his family and friends, his Champion neighbors, and a grateful Nation.

        The Comet 209P/Linear was discovered in 2004.  It has left some dusty debris that the Earth will have passed by on Saturday night late giving North American sky-gazers the best view on the planet.   Astronomers say that around 2 a.m. the debris will have created three or four hundred shooting starts per minute and maybe more.  By Tuesday the comet will have been about 5 million miles from Earth.  By the time this is in ink, it will be history and Champions will have learned when the next time the “Camelopardalids” Meteor Shower (named after the giraffe constellation) will be visible.  These tense forms are tricky.  It is a challenge to write a history of something that has yet to happen.  For example, the Denlow School Reunion could be anything!  There are always some exciting items in the auction and the potluck dinner is always extravagant and the music good.  The only real unknows have to do with who is able to attend this year and how certain people behave.

        Summer will find the country roads full of horses and wagons, four wheelers, walkers and visitors of all kinds to Champion.  It may be that J.C. Owsley will come down from Cross Timbers with that big white mule, Dot.  The name now makes sense.  There is a picture of J.C. and Dot on the internet and there is a nice brown dot on Dot’s big white neck just behind the long pointed left ear.  In the photo J.C. is sitting up tall and straight in the saddle the way he does and Dot’s left foreleg is up in a pose that puts one in mind of the Famous Lipizzaner Stallions.  The West Plains Wagon Club will be having events.  Clifton Luna will have a ride May 31-June 1.  It will include a fish fry and pot luck on Saturday Night.  June 6-8 Jerry and Diane Wilbanks will head up a ride around the Chapel Grove RV Park.  Contact Diane for more information at 683-9239.  Probably those Foxtrotters have some exciting summertime stuff going on as well.  Everyone knew that it would finally be summer and here it is.

        Thursday was the last day of school at Skyline.  Summer stretches out ahead of youngsters like it is going to be months and months of wonderful, warm, free time to do as they please.  They will have chores and projects, trips to the creek and company coming, but it is also hoped that they will have hours to watch the clouds, to daydream and make plans and discoveries.  The ‘carefree’ time that old folks remember as some of their best time is now visited on the youth.  There is ample seating on the spacious veranda of the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square.  Sit back and gaze out at Nature’s grandeur.  Remember way back when but enjoy the real here and now of Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—MAY 19, 2014

        Champions are pleased to see the smiling faces of the Skyline R-2 School Honor Graduates in the paper.  Valedictorian Skyla Boyd and Salutatorian William Crawford are moving on now to a new and exciting learning environment.  Their Champion friends wish them well and wish all the Skyline students a wonderful summer and another great school year to come.  The Skyline staff posts on the internet, “It’s not too late to sign up for a month of fun and learning in June.  There will be art, music, basketball, reading, science activities, math, trips to the pool, along with free breakfast and lunch.  If you can’t find the signup sheet around the house, just call and ask for a summer school form. 683-4874.”  Skyline second grader Heidi Strong has her birthday on May 22nd.  One of Esther’s favorite daughter-in-laws, Teresa Wrinkles, makes merry that day as well.  Kindergarten student Joseph Kennedy parties on May 29th.  Celebrate! Celebrate Rachel Cohen and Jackie Green in opposite ends of the country, both dynamic, exciting productive citizens.  The world is a lucky place to have you both in it—Champions.

        Memorial Day is said to have many separate beginnings.  Every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the Civil War dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead.  When the official proclamation came down in 1868, General Logan said that Memorial Day is not about division.  “It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.”  The years pass by so quickly.  150 years is not so long in the big picture.  A person born in 1913 has a 100th birthday this year.  Exer Hector was born May 18, 1913, and died January 25, 1975.  Bluebonnets are blooming over her now out on a hillside in Palava, Texas in sight of the Double Mountains and of fields she used to plow.  Her children miss her still.  Recent or distant, loss is loss.  So it is across the Nation and around the world as people venerate those whose sacrifices paved the way for them in a day of remembrance.

        Wednesday in Champion is as lovely as any other day.  “What is in a name?  A rose (or a Wednesday) by any other name…” etc.  This past one found the mid-day confab at the Historic Emporium well attended either because of the weather or in spite of it.  A nice cold spitting rain and a lashing wind added but little to the subject matter of the day which ranged from pranks and hunting stories (the viability of antique ammunition) to gardening and wild life observation.  Lee Ray said he saw an eagle dive bomb a hawk and take a fish away from it.  Ethel Leach said those baby goats are up on Highway ZZ not 76.  In addition to the Prominent Citizen, Ethel’s Bob was there, and Mr. Stone, who had chores and left early, but not as early as Chad and Glen.  Don Bishop and Wes Lambert were there to greet Alvie Dooms and others came and went.  Elmer Banks came and described a marvelous nap that he had on the steps coming down from his deck.  It was the most peaceful and restful nap he can remember and as he awoke to the inquiries of family as to his status he had only pleasant things to report.  The next day he had a call from the nurse that monitors his pacemaker who said, “Mr. Banks, you had quite a shock yesterday.”  It was a surprise to him.  He is a gregarious and curious fellow.  He is of Scots descent and a fan of the bagpipe, and asked if the recent traveler to Scotland had seen men in kilts.  “Indeed!  There were some strikingly handsome kilted Highland gentlemen to be seen, especially on Sundays.”  Elmer said he was thinking about getting a kilt, but friends actively discourage him.

        Thursdays are delightful over in Vanzant.  The potluck jam session is a weekly pleasure when friends gather around to celebrate community, good food and good music.  They are a generous bunch not just with the grins and the groceries, but they will let anyone play.  Skilled, accomplished musicians open their circle to the novice and old timers encourage beginners.  The “Eight of January” was followed by “Where the Roses Never Fade” and “Five Pounds of Possum,” which Sherry Bennett delivers as if on a silver platter.  There was a poignant ballad about 32 acres of bottom land, “bought and paid for by my own hand–worth a fortune to a working man.”  One wants to hear the song again.  It seems that the 32 acres were in the path of a four lane highway.  Sad songs are some of the sweetest ones.  “Why did I leave the plow in the field and look for a job in the town?”

        “The 28th annual Denlow School reunion is Saturday, 24 May 2014, at the Denlow Church and cemetery.  Former students, friends, feuding relatives, and everyone is welcome to attend.  Pot luck lunch at 12:00, an auction to follow, then music in the afternoon (bring your instruments and join in).  Around 5:00, Ed Williams will fry fish and chicken, assisted by his beautiful daughter… (a recent graduate of Seymour HS).  I would like to see some of those Iowa, Kentucky, and Arkansas people there, along with a lot of the local hillbillies.”  This press release comes from The General, himself, who by popular request will forgo a ‘program’ this year in favor of hanging around in the cemetery visiting with friends.  There is to be no hanging in the traditional sense, just some harmless loitering.

        “The End Came in Spring” is a play written by Mike Upshaw.  His aunt Fae Krider joined her sister-in-law, Vivian Floyd, for a trip up to the Stained Glass Theater for a production last week.  Her Facebook response to Mike was that it was very good and she enjoyed it very much.  Shellie Gossett Folts said, “Completely different and a fun little walk down memory lane for me (high school graduation May, 1986).  It was nice to see a cast of some new college-age faces on stage.  I particularly appreciated the understated way you handled the central message of the show and really liked the ending.  I thought it was a bold way to end it.”  Now Champions are much intrigued but not at all surprised at such talent finding its way through an Upshaw.

        Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood says the 22nd and 23rd will be favorable for planting late root crops.  Also these days are good for vine crops and for setting strawberry plants and for transplanting.  The 24th and 25th are both poor planting days.  They are fine for killing plant pests, cultivating or spraying.  The 26th and 27th are good for planting root crops, also for transplanting.  For the 28th and 30th the almanac says that any seed planted during that time will tend to rot in the ground.  The 31st is most favorable for planting corn, cotton, okra, beans, peppers, eggplants and other above-ground crops.  Plant seed beds and flower gardens that day too.  It is best not to wait for Lem and Ned to come along to do the hard work.  Get a look at Linda’s Almanac on the bulletin board at Henson’s Downtown G&G where loitering is encouraged.  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—May 12, 2014

        Mothers’ Day swept through Champion and the internet with all the grace of the dear ladies themselves.  The nurturing, kindness, guidance, support, insight, wisdom, humor, compassion, admonition and pure love that go along with their distinctive personas were acknowledged, applauded, and celebrated.  Favorite photos of Mothers and precious memories going all the way back were the order of a Champion kind of day.  The weather was perfect as well.

        Champions excited for the pictures of Bud Hutchison’s Trail ride will have to wait until Wilma gets her film developed and takes the pictures into the newspaper office.  Someone said that the riders were going to make a six hour ride this time and they had just left a little while earlier and so local photographers were called away to home chores and did not get to see their triumphant return.  Wilma is a great reporter, though, and her Champion friends are willing to wait.  There are, no doubt, many adventures ahead this summer for the intrepid Fox Trotting tail riders.

        Meanwhile, back at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square, the regular Wednesday bunch, spread out among the tables in the conversation lounge, had stories to tell.  A certain Mr. Stone was talking about goats and indicated that he could see no good reason to ever have such as that on a place.  Ethel Leach mentioned that some neighbors up on 76 Highway have miniature goats and that they are as cute as they can be.  The babies are just about ‘this’ big and they can run right through the fence.  She says they seem to stay out of the road, though, and scamper back through when a car comes along.  Stone said that when Paul Ullman was a boy he had four goats that had huge horns.  (He stretched his arms out to indicate how big the horns were.  They were big.)  A beau came to call on one of Paul’s sisters and while he was visiting the goats got up under his car and got stuck.  It took two hours to get them out.  They would jack the car up and the goats would try to stand up and they would get their horns caught up the frame of the car.  It was a mess.  He went on to say which sister it was who received the caller and who she later went on to marry.  Mr. Ray came in about that time with a dower expression because his sister had soundly trounced him again in their regular scrabble game.  He claims that she cheats and when he caught her she blamed it on her vision.”  “Does she have cataracts?” asked Ms. Leach.  “No, she drives a Buick,” he responded.  He went on to say that he reckons women are smarter because they have more time to study.  It went on like that including some protracted dog feeding ritual that is clearly headed toward becoming a legend of its own, though a person will not read about it here.  Jim the Wonder Dog came up in conversation.  He was an English Setter who was alleged to have a variety of remarkable abilities which included picking the winner of the Kentucky Derby six years in a row.  Jim died in 1937, and is buried in Marshall, Missouri, up east of Kansas City in Jim the Wonder Dog Memorial Park.  By this time Cowboy Jack had joined the idlers and they moved out to the veranda.  Chores at home called.  Wednesdays are wonderful in Champion.

        The Vanzant Community had a great yard sale on Saturday.  The Community building is proving to be just that and Champion neighbors are looking forward to a good potluck bluegrass jam there on Thursday.  The auction at the Drury store was well attended and neighbors are optimistic that something good will become of the place.

        Miss Elizabeth Heffern will have her birthday on May 15^th.  She is a Champion granddaughter. Champion grandmother, Linda Cooley, also has her birthday on Thursday.  On Friday Karen Griswold will be celebrated by her children and grandchildren and that day is special for a Champion mother who remembers her first born son with his bright blue eyes and his bright red hair.  Forty four years later he is still a joy!  It was a joy to get back to the bridge table on Friday.  There were adventures on the way that have worked out well and bird watchers in the group were able to get an early start on their birding activities Saturday.  How many species?  This is an amazing time of the year for birthdays, bridge and bird watching.

Recent travels brought one across the 1.6 mile Forth Bridge built between 1883 and 1890. It is a cantilever railway bridge that has daily traffic of 190 to 200 trains. It was the first major structure in Britain to be constructed of steel. Its contemporary, the Eiffel Tower, was built of wrought iron. From North Queensferry in Fife a person can look all the way across the inlet of the North Sea (the Firth) joining the Forth River to see the very inn, The Queensferry Inn, there in South Queensferry, Inchgarvie where the treacherous betrayal occurred that was so masterfully described in Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.

        Linda’s Almanac from up at The Plant Place in Norwood says that the 17^th and 18^th will be good days for planting root crops.  Then again on the 22^nd and 23^rd plant root crops and do transplanting.  Those ‘barren’ days in between are good ones for weeding, working up garden plots, mulching, housecleaning, cooking, laundry, or for reminiscing and reading.  Recent travels brought one across the 1.6 mile Forth Bridge built between 1883 and 1890.  It is a cantilever railway bridge that has daily traffic of 190 to 200 trains.  It was the first major structure in Britain to be constructed of steel.  Its contemporary, the Eiffel Tower, was built of wrought iron.  From North Queensferry in Fife a person can look all the way across the inlet of the North Sea (the Firth) joining the Forth River to see the very inn, The Queensferry Inn, there in South Queensferry, Inchgarvie where the treacherous betrayal occurred that was so masterfully described in Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.  A good book on the front porch resting up between garden chores is just what the doctor ordered.  For other ailments he recommends music.  “I had a home out in Texas.  Out where the bluebonnets grew.  I had the kindest old Mother.  How happy we were just we two.  Til one day the angels called her—that debt we all have to pay.  She called me close to her bedside, these last few words to say.”  What do you think she said?

        Bring the best advice your Mother ever gave you, your observations,  stories and good listening skills down to the broad inviting banks of Old Fox Creek and sit a spell in one of the world’s truly beautiful places—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

EDINBURGH—May 5, 2014

        There are things about the beautiful old city that will linger in the heart of a rambler who will soon rest again in the tranquility of home.  In the last few days, the last few hours as the time for parting approaches a rising swell of emotion is almost too near the surface.  The plan is to stave it off and stay merry until the transatlantic flight has left the ground and then to let it go quietly in the privacy afforded by strangers.  The charm of the place is in its physical beauty and its deep history, but the real joy, apart from the precious family tie, has been the great number of kind, good people whose paths have crossed with those of Champions.

        Giovanni Caiaiti is a young Roman in his late twenties who was in “The Athens of the North” for the first time.  He took a turn in the open session at The Royal Oak and sang “Irene Goodnight” in a medley of familiar songs that fit well together.  (He graciously extended his sympathies to America for having lost one of its treasures in the person of the late Pete Seeger.)  It turns out that young Romans started coming to Scotland in the year AD 71.  They named the place Caledonia and it was beyond the frontier of the empire.  They departed in 213 leaving various aqueducts, Hadrian’s Wall and the gift of literacy.  Scotland had been inhabited for thousands of years before the Romans arrived but its first written history seems to have come as a result of the association.  (There are yet some marvelous Italian Restaurants in the city.)  Chances are pretty good that when Giovanni’s predecessors were touring Caledonia they were met by the predecessors of Mr. Stefano Aitkenhead.  Aitkenhead is a Scots language surname of medieval Scottish origin.  Its oldest public record dates it back to 1372.  Anyway, “Stef” is a great fan of Texas music and goes often to spend time there in Bandera, Texas.  “Celtexmusic” is his moniker.  He looks the part of a well-heeled country/western musician in his fine Stetson hat, but when he opens his mouth, he is all Scots and charming.

        Champion grandchildren, Seamus, Elizabeth, and Zac have a great Aunt Linda who lives in Waldo.  She has her birthday on the 6^th of May and most likely has had some nice cards and messages sent her way.  Gracie Nava is a kindergarten student at Skyline with a birthday on the 7^th.  Skyline bookkeeper, Dixie Pierson, celebrates the next day on the 8^th and preschooler Conner Jonas will have his party on the 12^th of May.  Jay and Alex Williams have their birthdays on the 7^th and the 12^th and they have Champion grandparents.

        Lannie Hinote keeps her facebook friends and neighbors up to date with much of what is going on at Skyline.  On May 2^nd she posted, “Congratulations to the Skyline Archery Team today at taking 2nd Place.  We had 27 archers competing.  Morgan Whitacre placed 1st in Middle School Female Division; Madison Shearer placed 2nd in Elementary Female Division;  Shaelyn Sarginson placed 3rd in the Elementary Female Division and Isaam Creed placed 2nd in the Elementary Male Division.  I am so proud of all 27 archers.”  She was also appreciative of Rachael Brown, Debra Shearer, Morgan Whitacre, Skyla Boyd and Waylin Moon for running the archery range.  She said they made the tournament a success.  Lannie also posted a great picture of herself holding up a good size fish (probably five pounds!)  She was out in Warsaw.  Some nice Ozark creek was the scene of some “perpetual series of occasions for hope” (John Buchanan) when Dean Brixey and Richard Johnston dangled their hooks in the water.  Elizabeth says they did not catch anything, but that they had a great day out together anyway.  It is easy to have a great day in a beautiful place.  Linda’s Almanac from up at The Plant Place in Norwood says the 6^th to the 10^th will be barren days.  The 11^th,  12^th and 13^th will be an excellent time for planting tomatoes, beans, peppers, corn, cotton and other above-ground crops.  The 14^th will be god for carrots, beets, onions, turnips and other root crops.  All the good planting days are good for transplanting.  The garden is out there waiting for watering and weeding.  The sun is shining and food is growing.  Champion!

Bobby’s statue is not very imposing as it sits on the street in front of Greyfriar’s Kirk, though it gets many visitors every day. A replica of the statue together with Bobby’s collar and license can be found at the Museum of Edinburgh down on the Royal Mile.

       One of the best known stories in recent Scots history has to do with a little Skye terrier named Bobby.  He was a shaggy little dog that belonged to John Gray.  Mr. Gray worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a night watchman.  When he died he was buried in Grayfriar’s Kirkyard in the Old Town of Edinburgh.  Bobby then became known locally, spending the rest of his life sitting on his master’s grave.  In 1867, Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Sir William Chambers, who was also a director of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, paid for Bobby’s license and gave the dog a collar, now in the Museum of Edinburgh.  Bobby is said to have sat by the grave for 14 years.  He was fed by a kindly inn keeper.  He died in 1872 and was buried just inside the gate not far from John Gray’s grave.  Some say this is a ‘shaggy dog’ story that was concocted as a Victorian publicity stunt.  A bronze statue of Bobby is outside the church yard gate and passersby often stop to rub Bobby’s nose for good luck.  This is a fairly recent ‘tradition’ probably associated with touching the philosopher Hume’s toe up on the Royal Mile.  Last year the City Council of Edinburgh had the statue restored and repainted since Bobby’s nose was showing up shiny brass from under the black paint.  Soon after the restoration was complete some vandal came in the middle of the night with and abrasive of some sort and took the paint off the nose.  People are anxious to maintain traditions no matter how new they may be.

        Toby was Ed Henson’s dog.  It is widely recalled that George Tom Proctor would go down to the store most days and while visiting there would enjoy a box of chocolate milk.  Toby would sit down beside George Tom and wait to get to finish the milk from the bottom of the carton.  Bring your own set of recollections down to the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square on the broad banks of Old Fox Creek.  New traditions are being invented every day.  Dorothy, herself, in the” Wizard of Oz” was talking to her little dog, Toto, when she said; “There’s no place like home!”  The sights and sounds of faraway lands are truly grand, but home is Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

EDINBURGH—April 28, 2014

EDINBURGH—A seagull enjoys a perch on the observation deck at the National Museum in downtown Edinburgh, Scotland. He is looking out over chimney pots, church steeples, new construction cranes and the Pentland Hills in the distance.

        The seasons lag a little behind in Champion’s Sister-City, Edinburgh.  The countless cherry trees are just coming into their pink and white near perfection out on The Meadows.  It is reported that the dogwoods and redbuds are glorious out on CR 234 and 243, on Cold Springs and Fox Creek Roads.  Most likely the little blue and purple wildflowers are lining the roads there now with mushroom and turkey surprises around every turn.  So it is in Scotia’s fair city.  Around every turn is a new wonder, a delight, a mystery or a startling piece of history.  New friends say that it is blistering hot in the south of Spain now while a warm raincoat is still the order of the day on the wide, wild and wooly banks of the Fourth River.  Severe weather reports for the Ozarks reach across the broad Atlantic and hopes are that the hail and wind will leave a few blossoms for returning Champions to enjoy.  The best hopes are for the safety of all the friends, family members and their dear ones in the area.  While power outages are making things difficult in parts of Douglas County, some not too far away are having a much harder time of it and Champions everywhere wish them well.

        As soon as early civilizations developed calendars that made an organized reckoning of birthdates possible, birthday celebrations took hold and traditions evolved.  Everyone has his own idea about just what is the perfect birthday.  Dovie Dooms had lots of good wishes directed her way on Sunday.  Ida Mae and Bob down in the Valley share their birthday on May Day with Silvana Sherrill who is a first grade student at Skyline.  Mrs. Ryan is a teacher at Skyline and Beth Caudill drives a school bus.  They have their birthdays on May Day as well.  Skyline librarian, Mrs. Sleep, and 5th grade student Madison Shearer have the second of May for their celebration.  Lee Mastin up in Springfield will roundly be celebrated that day (or one convenient) by her birthday bunch, Carol, Sue, and Jan.  Next Sunday will be Star Wars Day as people around the world say, “May the fourth be with you!”

        May Day is a familiar celebration in the United States though it is not as popular as it is in other parts of the world where it has been used to organize and recognize labor (Workers of the World Unite!) and political groups as well.  The ancient Druids of the British Isles divided the year into halves marked by May 1^st–Beltane, and November 1st–Samhain.  The May Day custom in the old days was the setting of new fire.  It was one of those ancient New Year rites performed throughout the world.  The fire itself was thought to lend life to the burgeoning springtime sun.  Cattle were driven through the fire to purify them.  Men, with their sweethearts, passed through the smoke for good luck.  Up on Calton Hill, surrounded by the great city, on Wednesday night the fire will be extinguished ceremoniously and rekindled.  Blue painted people will be drumming and singing and carrying their torches.  Up on Arthur’s Seat sweethearts celebrate in the usual ways.  The dew of May Day is thought to have powers of rejuvenation and ladies wash their faces in it to maintain their youth.  The May Day dew up on Mount Champion certainly could do no harm.  At the very least some faces could get a layer of grime removed.  There seems to be no holiday for washing the back of the neck.

        Linda’s Almanac from up at The Plant Place in Norwood says that the 3^rd through the 5^th will be favorable for planting beans, corn, cotton, okra, peppers, eggplant and other above-ground crops.  The 6^th to the 10^th will be barren days during which time any number of chores can be finished up around the place.  The 8^th, 9^th, and 10^th are all good days to prune to discourage growth.  That means weeding and lawn mowing too.  There is never a shortage of work to do around the farm.  If a person lays off for a while and does not get much done he can be sure that it will be waiting for him.  People who are waiting for someone to come along to help out better just plod along and accomplish what they can.  Help is probably not on the way.  Lem and Ned may have their own gardens to make.  Meanwhile, over at Skyline the first graders are enjoying watching their turkey eggs hatch.  Young farmers are learning about nature.  Champion!

        One of the nice things about Tuesdays is that Laine Sutherland’s videos of the McClurg Jam show up on the internet.  It is sweet to see familiar faces and to hear Ragtime Annie and all those other great tunes.  Music is a marvelous glue holding peoples, their culture and traditions together and it is one of the best ways to share those things with others.  Alvie Dooms is legendary now in Auld Reeke, Edina, the Athens of the North, for having put the family fiddle back into play.  Generations to come will enjoy its bright clear tone.  It will stand alone and will join in harmony with other instruments to thrill, delight, comfort and soothe, as music is a great healer.  The Flowers of Edinburg, The Westphalia Waltz and many dozens of other tunes will be given their lovely due.  Thank you, Mr. Dooms.

        No place on Earth is significantly older than any other place.  No place is significantly nearer or farther from the center of the Earth than any other, or significantly closer to the sun.  Every place has history that goes all the way back.  Some places do, however, seem to have more of it written down and remembered.  The reason for remembering is to avoid making the same mistakes again and again.  A new acquaintance remarked the other day that no amount of guilt can solve the past and no amount of anxiety can change the future.  He said in an r rolling brogue, “A lot of bad things are going to happen to you.  First off, you’re ‘gain to dee.’  So, that said, there’s not much to worry about…No matter what else happens, you have only two options:  you can either handle things well and be happy, or you can handle them poorly and be miserable.”  He sounds like he would fit in pretty well out on the Veranda of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square.  A person would be able to tell right off that he is from the great elsewhere on account of his accent and his clothes, but Fearghas would feel at home and enjoy the hospitality and the novelty of being in another of the world’s truly beautiful places—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

EDINBURGH—April 21, 2014

        Seeing the sights in Champion could take just a few minutes, all day, or a life-time depending upon the way a body goes about it.  Robert Louis Stevenson said that the journey is better than the arrival.  The journey is full of optimism and these days Champion is all about optimism.

        First there were mushrooms, now there are hummingbirds, and now some people are topping off the refrigerant in their air conditioners.  Linda says potato planting is still good on the 24th and 25th.  Add the glorious flowering trees and shrubs to this list and the ‘spring-deniers’ are sure to be enlightened.  Get Linda’s Almanac at The Plant Place in Norwood, look at it on the bulletin board at Henson’s Downtown G&G or look at the top of the page at www.championnews.us.  Get out and enjoy spring like the birders do.  A bunch of them including Mary Beth and Clark Shannon, Janet and Sandy Chapin, Paul Clark, Carol Tharp, Shelby Squirrel, Rick Brischetto and a number of others took a birding trip to Welch Springs, Devil’s Well (sinkhole), the Current River State Park and Round Spring.  Reports are that they saw 58 bird species, including a bald eagle, a red shouldered hawk on nest, a black vulture on nest in a pocket on the cliff wall, and a lone coot on the lake at the state park.  It sounds like a wonderful adventure and certainly the pictures on the internet were of some smiling people doing what they enjoy–Champions.

        News out of Denlow indicates that Wayne Anderson was quite the hero during the Denlow Cemetery spring-cleaning last week.  Working on the theory that the absence of anything bad is indeed the same as something good, he maneuvered his mowing machine with deft accuracy and made short work of the task at hand, knocking over no walls or monuments, and going through no fences or down any steep grades to the highway.  Bravo!  (Thank you, General, for the report.)  Wayne has kinfolks in Scotland whom he has yet to meet.  One could very well be Nicola Anderson.  She is the only woman gardener on the Princes Street Garden staff.  After taking her degree twenty-seven years ago, she worked her way up into various high profile gardens in sports stadiums and for some while with the Glasgow municipality.  She has been in the Royal Gardens here in Edinburgh for six years now.  At the Gardener’s Cottage she took time from applying bone meal to the roses to open a gardening book to identify for passers by the “Fritillaria—frillary.”  It is an Alpine bulb with a striking configuration.  It is to be divided every four years and must be kept in certain conditions when it is out of the ground owing to its unpleasant odor.  Nicola comes from an academic family.  Her mother is a pediatrician and her father a world renowned professor of languages.  He speaks fifteen languages, some ancient, and writes comparative texts.  He lives in Rome.  Her sisters are both in Edinburgh—one a professor of English at The University and the other, a noted psychologist.  Nicola says that of the bunch she is the happy one–working outside and seeing things grow.  She is planning a trip to the States in a couple of years looking to go to New England and New Orleans.  Champion would be a good stopover in between where she could become acquainted with some other charming Andersons.

        The quaint Gardener’s Cottage looks very much like the cottage that Taegan Krider received as an early birthday present.  She will probably plant some flowers around it.  Taegan is in prekindergarten at Skyline.  Other students enjoying their birthday soon will be Haley Wilson, a fifth grader, celebrating on the 23rd.  Kindergartener Shelby Wilson has hers on the 24th.  Eli Johnson is also in pre-kindergarten and his birthday is on the 28th.  Isaam Creed is in the fourth grade and has the 29th for his birthday.  Taegan shares her birthday with Ryan Sandberg a seventh grader on the 30th.  Chante Michaud visits Champion occasionally on a Sunday.  She is about ten now and has her birthday on the 27th.  To back up a little bit, Ms. Myrtle Harris had her 85th birthday on April 17th.  She has a much younger sister named Kathy, and they are both big fans of the bluegrass and can be found most Thursday evenings over at Vanzant.  A new friend has promised to sing a song for her there one day.  It is novelty song from the 1950’s that says, “I took my gal to the picture show.  She promised me a kiss when we got home.  To take her in my arms I just couldn’t wait, but when we got home her pappy was awake.  ‘Is that your, Myrtle?’ ‘Yes, Papa.’  ‘Is that you, Myrtle?’  ‘Well just a minute!’  ‘Is that you, Myrtle?  Is that you, Myrtle?  I guess you better send that scalawag home!  I guess you better send that scalawag home!’”  The song goes on with other verses but the outcome is the same—the scalawag has to go home.  All the live music in the big city reminds a wanderer of her country home.

        J.C. Owsley has a big white mule on loan from some good friend.  He claims that in his younger cowboy days common sense took a back seat to excitement.  ‘Dot’ is a large mule—large enough to make J.C. look like an ordinary size person.  It’s only when you are inside a building with him that you realize that he must be going on seven foot tall.  Anyway, with good luck he will trailer Dot down to Champion from Cross Timbers for one of the trail rides or wagon train outings.  Diane Wilbanks has shared the Schedule of Rides of the West Plains Wagon Club.  She said that there would be a plowing event down in Arkansas during April and then April 28th-May 3rd Jim and Judy Cantrell of Mansfield will host a ride.  For more information about it call 417—924-3702.  Bud Hutchison’s Spring trail ride is set for May 7th.  They will take out of Champion and go somewhere and then come back.  For more information call Bud at 683-4864.

        Good fortune sometimes puts people together with friends in high places.  These friends actually had tickets to the high places which happened to be for the Public Astronomy Evening at the Royal Observatory.  It is atop Blackford Hill in the south east part of the city where it has been since 1896.  Three miles away, its previous location on Calton Hill is now called The City Observatory.  It was established there in 1785 by The University of Edinburgh and moved when the city lights and smog became an impediment.  The air has been cleaned up since homes are no longer heated with coal, and though the light pollution is an issue, the work goes on.  A tall, handsome young Dutchman, an astronomer, gave a lecture and Power Point demonstration of the night skies identifying the constellations that can be seen in the Northern hemisphere.  A lovely young Glaswegian (from Glasgow), an astrophysicist, spoke of the nature of heavenly bodies and their composition.  She had small chunks of meteorites to examine.  They are the oldest things around, she said.  The tour included a close up look at the 30” telescope that was put in place in 1926, together with the ingenious workings of the great copper domes that rotate and open.  This part of the tour was conducted by a gentleman named Randall Scot who led the group up the 90 steps to the dome where he explained how starlight is reflected in the 30” mirror, then how it is reduced, concentrated, and spectrographed to make it visible.  It is eye opening to consider the technology of the day when he first entered the field of astronomy and that of today.  He has kept up with it and is every bit as excited about it as when he first began.  On May 24th he will celebrate fifty years of employment at The Royal Observatory.  Those 90 steps daily have kept the gentleman spry.  Star gazing has kept him smiling.

        Come to down to the bottom of several hills, where country lanes meet and the pavement ends (or begins) on the wide, wild and wooly banks of Old Fox Creek.  Sit out on the spacious veranda and enjoy one of the world’s truly beautiful places—Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

EDINBURGH—April 14, 2014

        Travelers coming into Champion from distant places are met with hospitality and veiled curiosity.  One does not wish to be nosy or rude but it is interesting to know what brings a wanderer through the village.  It is a tribute to a beautiful place and good people that someone from the great outside can be so easily enticed to stay a while.  “Out goers and in comers made, make every land.”  These words appear on a tapestry which was taken from a design by Alasdair Gray.  The tapestry is a square about seven feet to the side.  It features thistles (the National flower) at every corner and in the center with arrows going in and out signifying lands and nations.  It is actually a ‘gun tufted’ rug tufted at Dovecot Studios by a gentleman named Jonathan Cleaver.  The studio is housed in the building that was the first heated indoor swimming pool in Edinburgh back in the time of Queen Victoria.  The pool has been covered over by a gleaming floor where the massive wooden looms stand.  The Weaving Floor Viewing Balcony is open to the public to view the weaving studio below.  Go to www.dovecotstudios.com for an amazing virtual tour.  It is easy to ‘google up’ Alasdair Gray as well.  The world seems to be quite at one’s fingertips now days.  It is sure that old Champion out goers will be happy incomers once more just as the Upshaws came home again to roost after their great family visit to Dalton, Arkansas.

        The General said, “I went on a trip today to Dalton, Arkansas (first time farther than eight miles from home in many moons).  A hand written sign taped to a window at the only business in town, ‘FREE to a good home, speckled roosters.  Do Not Eat.’  I lost interest in the bargain after reading the last three words.”  Highlights of the clan adventure were The Grand Canyon and the Rice-Upshaw Homestead.  The Rice-Upshaw House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 as an excellent example of an early nineteenth century log dwelling.  It was built in 1826 and is now the oldest standing building remaining in Arkansas, and a rare surviving example of a building from Arkansas’s territorial period.  Reuben Rice came to Arkansas from Hawkins County , Tennessee, in 1812.  His granddaughter Lydia married Andrew Jackson Upshaw and continued to live in the home which had become known as “Old Monarch.”  The house, owned by Rice and Upshaw family members for almost 180 years, was donated to the Black River Technical College.  The home has been restored and is open for tours by appointment.  This trip was clearly well planed and the Upshaws all looked like they were having a wonderful time.  Some of that might just be that they really enjoy each other’s company.

        Dylan Watts would have had a good time on that family jaunt.  He is over in Tennessee where they all came from to start with and when he is not motocross mud jumping motorcycles he is picking the banjo in with a bunch of guitar playing cousins.  He just had his birthday on the 12 of April and it is a fairly sure bet that he had a good time.  Bob Berry celebrates his birthday on the 14^th of April.  Champions miss him and Mary Goolsby of in their new situation.  It would sure be nice to see them pulling into Champion in the beautiful old Studebaker again.  Maybe summer travels will find them coming ‘home’ again.  Champions would like that.  Bob shares his day with Skyline first grader Coby Wallace and with 7^th grader Morgan Whitacre.  Prekindergarten student Wyatt Lakey has his birthday on April 15^th so people will always be able to remember that something special is going on that day.  Dusty Mike might be out on the road on his special birthday, the 15^th.  Drayson will be glad to see his old Papa when he makes it home.  Vivian Krider Floyd will be enjoying her birthday that day too.  Cards and phone calls and cyber messages from family and friends will let her know that she is much loved.  Then the inimitable George G. Jones over in Stockton can stroll by the mirror and figure he is still looking pretty good all things considered.  Olivia Trig Mastin will have her birthday on the 16^th.  She lives up in Springfield near her grandmother and is therefore a lucky young lady.  Toby Marceaux is in the 8^th grade at Skyline.  His birthday is on the 17^th so he might get to do a little partying in school.  Next week a whole new group of preschoolers can get their start at Skyline.  Helen says that preschool screenings will be held during the week of April 21-25.  She says to make an appointment with the office and bring birth certificates, shot records, social security number and proof of residency.  It is a real asset to the community to have this wonderful little school getting the future voters, doctors, farmers, musicians and adventurers off to a good start.  Champions all!

        Linda says that people are not quite ready to get their gardens in since there is another hard freeze on the way and the possibility of more before the weather gets really settled for Spring.  She has been selling lots of hostas and peonies and perennials of that nature.  Her cole crops and other vegetables and flowers are coming along nicely.  Her Almanac says that the 16^th and 17^th will be good days for planting beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, peanuts and other root crops.  Also good for cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, kale, celery, and other leafy vegetables.  They will be good days for starting seedbeds and for transplanting.  Get a copy of the Almanac there at The Plant Place in Norwood or consult it on the bulletin board at Henson’s Downtown G & G or on the website at www.championnews.us.

        Over in Edinburgh Champions have been busy enjoying the National Gallery where there are real Rembrants, Van Goughs and Reubens.  They have seen some of the many treasures of the National Museum and have climbed almost to the top of the extinct volcano that is Arthur’s Seat in the middle of town.  They have seen great tapestries in the making and bird sanctuaries and narrow mysterious streets winding up and down steep hills.  And music!  Bluegrass is as sweet in Edinburgh as it is in Vanzant or McClurg.  A monthly gathering at the Revarie finds friends meeting who have been playing together for thirty years.  Gordon is a guitar virtuoso, also a fine fiddler and autoharp enthusiast.  Bill plays banjo but his main instrument is the dobro.  Graham plays a fiddle, a guitar, or a mandolin all of which he made from a single salvaged slab of American black walnut when an old bank building was being refurbished.  Ian is a banjo expert.  He is playful and generous and brilliant.  How lovely it would be to get him and Wayne Anderson together!  The young bass player never misses this jam session and on this particular Friday the group was enhanced by a young Englishman carrying the Gibson mandolin he inherited from his great grandfather and a little Romanian guitar with its face scarred from his rowdy and passionate playing.  Add then a lovely young Canadian lady with her cello.  When it was her turn to kick off a tune she went for “Ode to Joy” which all the fellows joined in with great enthusiasm and somewhere along the line let it morph into “Yankee Doodle” then back again with all the lovely smiles and camaraderie that musicians are known for.  The world over they seem to be looking at the bottom of the clouds when they are searching for a melody or a lyric.  What ever may be the object of your search, if it is pleasant and convivial it is likely to be found in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!