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CHAMPION—December 24, 2012

          Sometimes a person’s birthday can get lost in Christmas.  Some with late December birthdays celebrate their special day at another time of the year.  The lucky ones celebrate their special day every time they wake up.  Some special December birthdays include Skyline School students, Logan Fisher–December 18^th, Destiny Surface—December 20^th, Logan Brown– December 21^st, and Makayla Souder–December 22, Dillon Bennett—December 23^rd.  Willard Hall—December 25^th and Praxton Lunn—December 29^th.  Mary Goolsby has her birthday on the 20^th of the month and Sharon Sikes on the 23^rd.  VaNa MaZi violist, Corinne Hall celebrates on the 27^th and Eli Ogelsby on the 30^th.  The best way one can imagine finishing off a year is with a birthday party for The General.  His birthday is on the 31^st. 

          The serious winter weather that hit the area on Thursday carried debris around in yards; drove frozen little bits of precipitation into the faces of shoppers and farmers; and blew a big tree across Highway 95 on the south side of Mountain Grove.  The tree fell just at a spot where a dirt road comes into 95 on an angle and southbound drivers were able to make a diversion on to the little road.  Drivers headed north had to maneuver down a steep grassy bank which proved difficult for some.  Champions on their way home were diverted onto the unfamiliar lane and considered turning around and attempting the climb up onto the black top with the aid of their seldom used four wheel drive when along came The General and his lovely wife and consensus among the Champions was that she doubtlessly knew the way home and it was determined that they would follow along.  The General led the way without even knowing it.  Say what you will about him.  He is a Champion!

          The weather was too rough for the Thursday Night Light Watchers to see much this week, but a number were out looking anyway.  Some of the lights seen on other Thursdays were reported to have been red.  Another witness said only that she had seen the flashing like lightening.   Another eyewitness said that the lights he saw had no color, but were just lights and that there were several of them in a row, not like head lights, and that they moved around in an unpredictable manner.  Watchers in the area are not confining their vigilance to Thursday nights but are constantly on the lookout. 

          Five year old Mason Ross is feeling better.  He has had a cold that may have been strep throat, but nevertheless is feeling better and his grandmother Karen Ross, Champion’s much appreciated mail carrier, is pleased to be able to report as much.  Other good news lets Champions know that their friend Esther Wrinkles is making some good progress.  She gets a steady stream of visitors up at the Autumn Oaks which keeps her spirits up and she puts a lot of hard work into her therapy.  It is slow going and Esther stays steady at it like a real Champion!

          Email comes to Champion at getgoin.net about the picture in the paper of the ninth grade students at Denlow on 12-12-12.  “I may have the name of one person, possibly two, and the first name of another.  I have a picture (with names) of the Denlow basketball team dated 12-12-and maybe its 1912 or 1914 (I would guess 1912). I will see that you get a copy of the photo.  Comparing this picture and the picture in the paper the student in the top right is Howard Spurrier (99.99% sure), top left is Lester Lemmon (50/50) lower left is Bobby ? (very low %). When I see Inez Barker again I will ask about Lester Lemmon, as he would be her uncle.”  The picture is included in the post for December 17, 2012 in the website www.championnews.us where anyone can look it over and identify the young folks.   Life was quite different for those young people in many ways, but in the important ways it was probably pretty much the same.  They were optimistic and looking forward to a bright future.

A regular reader posted this picture to the Champion News as a way to help identify people in the 12-12-12 picture. He said, “Here is the world championship Denlow Wildcat Basketball Team of 1912. L to R: George McMurtry, Harrison Mathis, Howard Spurrier, Lester Lemon, Louis Givans, Nova Nash, and Bobby(?)” The picture received positive reviews on social media from Rhonda Tate McNamer, Cherri Lynch, Andrea Upshaw Adams, Benny Thomas, Frances Whanger, LaSchell Upshaw Bearden, Sherry Bennett, Elva Upshaw and Linda Clark.

 
          “If the sun should be turned into darkness and the stars from their orbits be hurled, how would it fare with you, dear brother, if today were the end of the world?”  The question was being asked frequently last week and the perceived uncertainty gave some pause for thought.   A philosophy group on the way to a bridge game on Saturday evening agreed that Gratitude is the appropriate response to waking up and finding that the world is still spinning around.  Aunt Eavvie said, “Tomorrow is just a promise.”  Friends and families are gathering in clumps to celebrate holidays, and the joy of being with their loved ones.  Champion!  Express some joy and genuine Gratitude at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO  65717 or in person out on the porch of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.   Sing your favorite end of the world song there or any song that evokes sweet nostalgia, or appreciation for home.  That uncertainty about tomorrow tweaks appreciation of today in the nicest way.   “Happy New Year” every day in Champion– Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 17, 2012

                As in other places, it turns out that some Champions are better house-keepers than others and that extends all the way to their computer hard drive.  A cyber folder somewhere holds the ‘original’ picture sent by Laine Sutherland of the students at Denlow, but it became lost among the cyber dust of zeros and ones.  Laine was kind enough to send the photo again and Champions are excited that someone may recognize an ancestor and share the stories of those lovely young people standing on the steps of the Denlow School on 12-12-1912.

                The Winter Concert at Skyline School was another delightful success.  The children all performed admirably and once again Charlie Brown was reassured about the nature of Christmas.  The children always give a good performance and are a pleasure to watch, but the audience is the real treasure.  Parents, grandparents, teachers and friends all lean forward with encouragement for their young one to do well, and their hearts are all swollen and full of love and tenderness for their fledgling.  The applause floods the hall and the whole place is awash with joy and expectation.  That is the way it was Thursday night and then Friday came the sad news from another school.  A prominent psychologist said, “We find a place for what we lose” and that after such terrible loss the acute stage of mourning will subside, but the survivor will remain inconsolable and will never find a substitute.  No matter what may fill the gap, even if it be filled completely, it nevertheless remains something else.  Champions hope for those suffering great loss now that one day the pain will be replaced with sweet recollections of their dear one in that place they find for what they have lost. 

                Dr. Blevins speaks about the ‘impermanency of our creations’ as he laments the passing of the old store at Champion.  To his credit, however, he has swiftly embraced the Recreation of the Historic Emporium as it sits in the very footstep of its predecessor.  He has naught but good things to say about the construction of the building: its appearance—as it resembles the old building in all the nostalgic good ways with the added feature of sturdiness; location—“nestled in a grove of trees on a creek bank beneath a hill at the end of a black top road”; inventory—extensive and aimed squarely at the needs of the community; customers—loyal and reliant on the store for many of their daily needs as well as the need for a community home-base; and the proprietor—about whom Dr. Blevins has much good to say, but who has modesty as her hallmark.  All in all, the quarterly review, Southern Cultures, is admirably enhanced by its inclusion of The Bright Side.  Perhaps the folks at KZ88.1 could get with Dr. Blevins to include some of his writing about the Ozarks in their programming.  They did an excellent job with Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol” the other night.  The food was good, the crowd was friendly and sociable and the performance was splendid.  The recording will be played at various times during the Christmas Marathon on the radio from Sunday through Tuesday.  A look at the www.kz88.org website will reveal the times.  The performance was a fund raiser for the radio station that encourages local performers.  That is real community.

                Certain handsome sons-in-law would, and do, roll their eyes at the report of things they do not see.  It is such a habit of some to disparage the ideas, observations, and opinions of their wives and Mothers that it takes corroboration of a hearty brother-in-law farmer, a firefighter, and a Maytag man to give credence to the description of an occurrence they all witnessed.  For some it takes seeing to believe.  What was it?  It is being called “Thursday Night Lights” and is not altogether new in Champion.  Going way back to the 1970’s, Champions have been observing unidentified lights in the skies at night.  This is not like the dirigible that Wilburn Hutchinson and Fleming Geer saw up at Skyline that time when they were boys because they could plain as day see that it was, in fact, a dirigible.  These lights behave in strange and unpredictable ways.  Thursday, the 6^th of December, about seven in the evening a West-Champion saw something and called his neighbor who saw it too.  He ultimately dismissed it as his own electric fence charging itself.  His neighbor conceded that could be an explanation, but was not convinced and the next morning her son confirmed her doubts when he said that he also had seen the phenomena at about that same time the previous evening.  Thursday the 13^th proved to be an eventful night as well.  At about 10:30, observers from north-east Champion watched lights which seemed to skim quickly over the tree line, just barely above the trees, over the trees from the north, veering out east toward the south.  Then, suddenly the lights would appear in a different quadrant altogether with a greater brightness or intensity and seem to park still for a while then be gone.  No more reliable source for this information could be had and handsome sons-in-law must confess credibility.  It is causing such a stir in some quarters of Champion that the Thursday Night Light Watch has been instituted.  Travelers are warned in advance to take extreme precaution when driving Central Douglas County country roads on Thursday nights as “Watchers” will be out walking in the roads with their mouths open and their necks arched backwards looking up to see whatever can be seen.  Many are deciding to walk in the road since their yards are so steep and rocky and so soft from the mole hills and holes that night walking is perilous.  Life is exciting in Champion.

                Esther Wrinkles is getting some good Christmas cheer up at the Autumn Oaks as friends and family stop in to visit and wish her well.  Cowboy Jack has been out in the world expanding his broad, wholesome, charitable view of mankind, but he is back home now and his Champion friends are glad.  “Don’t let the stars get in your eyes!  Don’t let the moon break your heart.  Love blooms at night.  At daylight it dies.  Just keep your heart for me for someday I’ll return and you’ll know you’re the only one I’ll ever love!”  Sing your favorite sky gazing song out on the porch at Henson’s Down Town G & G.   Record it and mail it to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 and be careful if you’re singing it out in the road Thursday night.  If you recognize any of those Denlow students sing out to Champion at getgoin.net.  “Too many stars—too many moons can change your mind.  If I’m gone too long, don’t forget where you belong. When the stars come out remember”…..Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 10, 2012

          Thursday evening was an interesting one in Champion.  Unexplained lights hovering over West Champion blinked intermittently, disappeared and then reappeared.  It was impossible to determine the exact elevation of the lights and they were accompanied by some lightning and an eerie stillness. The phenomenon was first seen by Charlie’s Dad who called Tanna’s Mom who stepped out on the porch to look at it.  It was about seven o’clock.  Later she talked to Peanut’s Pop who said he had seen it too.  So it is official and corroborated by three reliable sources.  UFOs frequent Champion!  By Sunday the excitement had ebbed a little and the old line about tactical maneuvers of stealth bombers was being bandied about with an overtone of skepticism that would dissuade some from their belief in their own eyesight.  These are people who have seen bears!  They know the Bright Side when they are looking at it!

          Talking about brightness brings Ms. Clare Shannon to mind.  She is the daughter of Mary Beth and Clark Shannon and grew up over east of Vanzant.    On Friday she will graduate Summa Cum Laude from MSU in Springfield.  Clare is one of the many home schooled kids in the area and her graduating college with “highest honor” for her grade point average is a statement to the dedication of parents who put forth the effort to give her a good start.  Her Dad says it was all her own doing.  Clare says to the many friends and family who have responded to the good news, “Thank you for all the congratulations and well wishes!  You have all been part of my journey and helped me along the way.  Thanks for being there!”  Brooks Blevins of MSU has a nice piece called “The Country Store—In Search of Mercantiles  and Memories in the Ozarks.”  It is included in the magazine, Southern Cultures, Winter 2012, published by the University of North Carolina Press for the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Therein is a splendid view of Henson’s Downtown G & G.  The proprietor of the famous Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Historic Champion says that the piece is quite flattering and fairly accurate.  It promises to be a good read.

          Suzie Freeman addresses her envelope to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  She is from McKinney, Texas writes a beautiful letter that says she and Wesley are still kicking and are still hillbillies in Texas.  Suzie has had a rough year with her health but says that she is still standing on two feet because she had the Good Lord walking beside her.  She has excellent penmanship and is one of the few correspondents to the Champion mailbox who uses a genuine fountain pen.  Her cute hand-drawn cartoon shows a turkey complaining that he is fat, flightless and delicious.  Your Champion friends say, “Merry Christmas!” back at you, Suzie.

          During the past year a number of photos have come to the Champion at getgoin.net mailbox.  One of them was of about a half a dozen young folks on the steps of the Denlow School.  They looked to be teenagers—17, 18,19—years old, well dressed and kind of serious.  They may have been serious because in 1912, it was a serious matter to have a photograph taken.  The photo had the inscription, “Denlow 12-12-12” written across the bottom of it.  Somewhere in a cyber-folder is this great picture that was slated to be published this week just for the fun of it.  The plan was to see who might recognize a grandparent or other ancestor among the group and to tell as much of their stories as could be discerned.  One day the picture will emerge from its hiding place and all of that will occur.  For now some Champions and others are just celebrating the date 12-12-12 with open house parties and the acknowledgement that the date will most likely be the last of its kind in this lifetime.  Naturally, that is true of every date, but something about the repetitive numbers makes this one seem special.    Some special people have birthdays on the 14^th.  Shannon Alexander, photographer extraordinaire, handsome father of Ethan and Zack, shares his day with Judy T. Ing.  She was also a great photographer and graphic artist.  She ran the art department at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Research Lab for many years.  She and Shannon have Spike Jones as a birthday buddy.  People much older than Shannon know old Spike as the musician who introduced the slide whistle, the gargle, and the bicycle horn to classical music.  Amanda Mastin celebrates her day on the 16^th, good friend of Shannon’s wife and  the mother of Olivia and Leo, charming young people who are growing up quickly.  Grown up, Jesse Ing, Judy’s son, is a big time Hollywood producer out in California these days.  His birthday is on the 18^th of December.  Mary Goolsby has a birthday on the 20^th.  She is a lovely woman, who has been a dear friend to the Skyline VFD and to all the dear friends of her sweetheart, Bob Berry, formerly of Gentryville.    They are a lovely pair of Champions wherever they live!

          Bob has been a frequent visitor of Esther Wrinkles during her sojourn at the Autumn Oakes in Mountain Grove.  She was surprised happily the other day by a visit from Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman who were in town with their Mother that day.  Esther is making good progress with her therapy, but for an active person like herself, it seems much too slow.  Her many friends wish her well and encourage her to be as patient with herself as she has been with them over the years.  Friends like Esther are a real gift.

          Old Uncle Grover Norquest may be surprised to see how many rat heads are in his Coke bottles these days.  That is to say, how many who signed his pledge are now rethinking it.  It is an amazing thing that words can lift people, encourage them, build them up and make them better, stronger and more successful.  Words can also denigrate, undermine and tear down.  While some may think that Pollyanna herself was a communist, and that relentless optimism is naive and childish, there are others here to say that at moments when things are most perilous, a positive word can make the difference.  So to the troops who fought and who fight, Champions extend their Gratitude.  To elected officials, officers of the government, supporters of the Constitution and the wonderful Bill of Rights, Champions will be pleased to see that their mutual Love for the Country will win out over partisan rancor.  God Bless America!

          “God bless us every one,” says Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.  The staff of the Public Radio Station KZ88.1 FM will present a dramatic reading of the play on Saturday, December 15^th at the Cabool Church of the Brethren.  Refreshments will be served at 6 pm and the performance will be at seven.  The auditorium in the basement of the church will hold quite a large crowd and it will prove to be most interesting to see how live radio works.  For any who will not be able to attend, the program will be recorded and broadcast again before Christmas.  Champions who do not enjoy driving at night much these days are planning to go en masse for safety sake as well as for the fun of it.  “Where there is a will there is a way,” they say.  For more information about this special holiday performance look to www.championnews.us for a link to My KZ88 Radio Home.    This is a wonderfully busy time of the year. The Skyline School’s Winter Concert will be Thursday evening at 7 p.m.  YEP is providing a dinner earlier in the evening designed to help support the school and it is slated to be another excellent event. 

          Cowboy Jack said that Ava got a lot more of the rain than came down over in Coonts Holler.  It was a lot colder over there in Ava on Monday morning too, as their deep mud puddles were full and frozen over.  They also say, “Whenever skies are gray, don’t worry or fret a smile will bring the sunshine and you’ll never get wet.   So, let a smile be your umbrella on a rainy, rainy, day.”   That is just the way it is in beautiful downtown Champion—Looking on the      Bright Side!

CHAMPION—December 3, 2012

          A famous actress and intellect says that her father taught her that life’s important events occur in three stages…the anticipation, the participation and the recollection.  The participation part took up so much of the Thanksgiving holiday, that only now are some Champions getting around to the recollection and reporting phases of the experience.    A fellow named Richard Alpert wrote about being “here now” which seems to suggest that people who are thinking about things other than what they are doing may struggle with happiness.  Champions, where ever they were, were completely engaged in their various Thanksgiving customs and had no difficulty in acknowledging the virtue of living in that very moment—from the tree hugging crowd of East Evans, to Vivian’s elegant spread and Kaye’s traditional family gathering, to Esther’s bunch at her house and then up to see her at the Autumn Oaks, from Texas to Tennessee to downtown Champion, the merrymakers enjoyed the good food and the great joy of dear friends and family.  Gratitude is a year round, daily practice in Champion. 

           Madelyn Ward has a little sister named Shelby who will be three years old next Valentine’s Day and who says that their Granddad is funny.  His birthday is on the ninth of December (1955) but he is just a kid at heart.  His Mother is Lorene and she has a sister named Shirley who has some very nice things to say about the Champion News.  She allows as how she does not enjoy the paper nearly so much on the very rare occasion when readers are not reminded of the joys of living on the Bright Side.  Skyline School fourth grader, Katelyn More, will enjoy her birthday on the seventh and shares the day with Paul Boyd.  It turns out that Katelyn is just exactly old enough to be a fourth grader and Paul is, well, some would say, “old enough to know better.”  He really keeps things working well over at the school and everyone appreciates his good humor and willingness to help his friends and neighbors.   Chris Tharp’s birthday is the next day and he is like that too—a good neighbor.  A lovely friend who uses Pandora as a pseudonym over in East Champion has a birthday on the 10^th of December, but celebrates on a random day during the year so as to avoid the Christmas rush.  Eva Coyote was born on December 11^th over West of Champion a ways and lives way out West now.  She is going by the name of Kai these days, but her Mama and Papa know who she is.  Champion friend, Bobette Spivey will celebrate discretely on the fifth and Ed Bell will beat the drums for his own birthday on the sixth.  Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive is named for a favorite Champion who celebrated his birthday on the sixth as well.  He was born the year of the Pearl Harbor attack, so many will know how old he would be.  If a person gets to live a hundred years or just a few, it is sure that the lives that he touches are forever changed.   Certainly, the longer a person lives the more people he will know who have passed away from life.  The love for those dear ones who have pass on does not go away and everyone holds in his heart an album of loves, precious family, and dear friends who are no longer present, but whose memory is always close.  When sorrow is fresh, it is hard not to think of them as lost, but someday a smile will cross the face of the one doing the remembering just as the remembered one would want.  So it is in Champion and often the precious memories are brought by a song.   

          Champion Esther Wrinkles is making some good progress in her recovery once again over at the Autumn Oaks.  She is in room 203 again and working hard to get her strength back.  Visitors stop in frequently and that really lifts her spirits.  Champion News readers off in Texas and other places who have never met Esther say they feel like they know her and send their best wishes to her. 

          The nightly news that comes on the Public TV stations about 6:30 week-day evenings makes it a point to show pictures of the U.S. Service people who have lost their lives in current conflicts.  As their deaths are made official and pictures become available they are given a moment of silent recognition.  A viewer can see a group of eight or ten most any evening.  For the most part they are young people, but occasionally there will be some guy 48 or so.  Whether or not the conflicts that claim their lives are ones that everyone understands and supports, Champions all respect the sacrifices of the service personnel and their families.  They have Love and Gratitude due them. 

          The graph that depicts the temperature forecast for the month at www.accuweather.com  gives a picture of a mild spell followed by a cooler spell starting about the 20^th of the month.  That seems entirely reasonable and folks who are experimenting with high tunnel farming will be getting their money’s worth out of their investment of time and energy as they continue to harvest  greens of all kinds.  Swiss chard and kale are still thriving even without the advantage of the protection from the wind and cold and the benefits of very fresh home grown vegetables cannot be too much stressed.  Now is the time for Lim and Ned to be pulling turnips on the sly.  They (the turnips) will be crisp and bright and will keep well in the ground until a hard freeze.  Even then, with some mulch, they will be good food through the winter months, “…if there is nothing else to eat,” says one who is not a big turnip fan.  He has not yet experienced the pleasures of a good mess of mashed potatoes with just a couple of tender turnips thrown in for excitement.   Served with some of that wonderful venison out of the freezer, cooked long and slow and smothered in onion gravy, he would only know there was something unusually good about it.   He would like some of the kind of help that Lim and Ned are known for though—some manure hauling, sprout grubbing and fence mending.  This is the kind of weather and the time of the year when all manner of tidying up could be done around the farm.  The cold will be here soon enough and the novels and poetry waiting to be read will eventually get their due.  For now, in the sunshine, Champions are busy.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood says that the 9^th through the 11^th will be good days for transplanting and for planting root crops, if Lim and Ned have not bought up all the turnip seeds in the county.  There may not be any turnip seeds available at Henson’s Downtown G & G this time of the year, but certainly one can find bird seed there.  Cowboy Jack has probably planted all his turnips already and while there are many who say Jack is for the birds, they mean it in a nice way.  Pretty much whatever a person might need (turnip seed notwithstanding) can be found at the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion, the very jewel of Central Douglas County!

          Champions home from recent far travels are settling in again to their tranquil routine.  Relishing a sunny day out in the yard with only nature’s music to be heard, they are reminded of why they live here.  Still, the pull of distant dear ones says, “Let’s say goodbye with a smile dear.  Just for a while we must part.  Don’t let this parting upset you.  I’ll not forget you, Sweetheart.”   Share your favorite sweet-parting song via the much-loved U.S. Postal Service at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or at Champion at getgoin.net.  Ramble around the website at www.championnews.us for a good picture of the beloved place.  “Keep smiling through, just like you always do, ‘till the blue skies chase those dark clouds far away.  We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when, but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day!”  Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—November 19, 2012

           Good news travels fast in Champion.  Some of the good news is that Champions are coming home to roost for Thanksgiving and there will once again be a great grateful crowd over at Vivian Floyd’s house for Thanksgiving dinner.  It is a long standing tradition that the family gathers there for this particular holiday and she is always glad to have her brothers and all her sisters in law and all the nieces, nephews, and their children for a house full of fun.  Champions agree there is much good reason to be Thankful.

           Esther Wrinkles will soon be back in Autumn Oaks in Mountain Grove after a week’s stay at Mercy Hospital in Springfield.  She had a stroke last Monday morning.  Her family says that she has made some real improvement and should be getting back closer to her old stomping grounds soon.  She has had some good visitors including young Cloey Harris, age 7 years, who sits between Esther and her Grandmother at church on Sundays.  Cloey held Esther’s hand for a long time, joining her many other friends wishing her well and a speedy recovery.  Her mail still gets to her at Rt. 1 Box 845, Vanzant, MO 65768.  She had hoped to be at her house for Thanksgiving this year, but things do not always work out just as person might hope.  Wherever she is, she has good wishes surrounding her.   What a Champion!

          Edith Mae Percifield was 100 years old last February.  She passed away this week.  In a conversation that was reported in The Champion News back on February 6^th (Go to www.championnews.us to read the whole conversation.), she said that she remembered the first time she went to town.  She was four or five years old and she rode horseback with her mother into Ava.  It was not much of a town, just a few houses and store buildings.  A pleasant hour with her revealed that she was a bright, hardworking person with a good attitude and a great love for her home and for her family.  Many people will miss her.  Others are grateful just to have crossed paths with her even briefly.  When asked if she had any regrets over things she had not done or anything she wished she had not done, she said, “What would be the point of that?” That is a Champion kind of thought.  If a person gets to live a hundred years or just a few, it is sure that the lives that person touches are forever changed.  The love for the dear one passed does not go away and everyone holds in his heart an album of loves, precious family, and dear friends who are passed out of this life but whose memory is always close.   When grief is fresh, it is hard not to think of them as lost, but someday a smile will cross the face of the one doing the remembering just as the remembered one would want.  So it is in Champion.

          Deer hunting is occupying the thoughts and conversations of many a Champion these days.  One said that the deer do not seem to be worried about the sound of gunfire.  They are accustomed to hearing it in the country side regularly and appear not to recognize it as a threat to their very lives.  Many deer are being harvested and the hope is that they will have had a chance to fatten up a little or at least to have gotten a little real nutrition in them after the rains started back in September and the plant life began to recover somewhat.    There certainly are some big acorns out in the woods.   A nice dish of deer heart and red peppers graced the table of some Champions having a pot luck dinner on Friday.  It was very tasty and quite fresh as the deer had been walking around earlier that morning. 

          The Skyline VFD Auxiliary had its meeting in the meeting room at Henson’s Store on Tuesday, November 13^th.  Members signed a card to send to Esther to let her know that she is much missed and regularly thought of by her Auxiliary friends.  President Betty Dye had the Chili Supper quilt for examination and it is a real beauty.  It will be on display at the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion on the 8^th of January.  That is the date of the next Auxiliary meeting when the serious planning for the March 2^nd Chili Supper will get going in a big way.  Preliminary planning is already well underway.    Word is spreading and it seems that the membership is already setting aside those special items for the silent auction.  It is a great little community that supports its fire department so well.  Actually the ‘little community’ is about 125 square miles big.  Skyline VFD can use a lot of support!

          The other day some of the Skyline R2 Foundation board members met up in Ava to have their picture taken receiving a big check from the Douglas County Community Foundation.   The check was physically quite large and represented a $2,000.00 grant to support the Skyline R-2 School Foundation in their affiliation with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.  Additionally, it was learned that the Douglas County Foundation has teamed with the Ava Public Library to provide the DPIL program to every child in Douglas County.  From birth to age 5 years, the DPIL sends a book each month in the child’s name.  These are age appropriate books chosen to promote a love of reading early in the lives of children.   Contact the library or Skyline School for additional information.  Applications are also available at Hensons Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion. 

          Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Great Britain since King George was not all that happy to let the Colonies go.  These days the relationship between the two countries is much better.  Gratitude is one of those Champion notions that this whole Nation embraces.   In the difficult time that so many are facing because of the recent storm, Sandy, and in the wake of so much rancor and dissatisfaction with the economy and politics one is reminded, “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”  Send a list of your many blessings, or your favorite Thanksgiving song to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to Champion at getgoin.net.  Most school children know the song about Over the River and Through the Woods.  Around these parts, they’re going to Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—November 12, 2012

          Friday afternoon an old Champion finally decided to get her canna lily bulbs dug up for the season and set about to do that.   Many of the garden edibles had made a fairly poor showing, but the cannas were planted late and close to the sprinkler and performed beautifully.  The two overflowing wheelbarrows of bulbs drying out for winter storage are not food, but can be traded for food and so the space they occupied with such elegance was not wasted.  The work was pleasant and engrossing on such a warm and sunny day, so wonderfully quiet in the valley with no little cars whizzing by and no big city busses rumbling past.   After a while she began to hear quiet voices and stood up to see what might be the source.  Bud Hutchison and five mounted companions were riding south toward Champion.  They were going at a relaxed pace and were bunched up close enough together to allow for easy conversation.   Their exchanges and banter may have covered any number of subjects and were indistinguishable to the gardener, but to see convivial friends traveling so easily together in such a tranquil setting spoke directly to the heart of the Champion, so glad to be home.

          The many Veterans’ Day celebrations and parades around the Nation were well motivated and well produced, bringing the annual awareness of the general population to the year round service of their countrymen.    Both the Veterans’ Hospital and the main Veteran’s Administration Office in Manhattan were swamped by the hurricane that blew thru New York City.   One hundred patients had already been moved to other Veterans’ hospitals when the storm hit.  The damage will take a long time to repair and the three million dollar MRI machine will have to be replaced.   Veterans in the area and around the country have stepped up to help their comrades in this difficult situation.  It is the way they have bravely stood up on behalf of all the Nation’s citizens every time they have been asked  since the country was founded.   They have some Love and Gratitude due them and some help.  They are Champions.

          Esther Wrinkles says that her Christmas cactuses are just beginning to bloom.  She has a nice collection, including some old ones that she has had for years and some smaller ones that she has acquired fairly recently.  As her older plants are all pink, she was hoping that one of the new ones would turn out to be red, but it is looking like it will be a dark pink.  Some of her friends will get over to the Plant Place in Norwood soon to see if Linda has a nice blooming red one for her.   Flowers and music seem to boost a person’s spirit and it is very clear that so much of healing has to do with attitude.  It has been four months since her injury and her recovery seems slow to her who is so accustomed to being very active.  Esther keeps a good attitude though and Thanksgiving will soon be here and all the excitement of friends and family will have her lifted up and fortified more so.   Friends and family—the best reasons to be Thankful!

          This time of the year the population swells in these hills.  The visitors are all dressed in orange and drive very slowly.  They bring lots of revenue to the area and take lots of deer away with them.  The local processing plants are already overwhelmed.   Some hunters are so good at it that they can harvest much more game than they can possibly eat.  The really nice ones are pleased to share with their friends and their friends will have more winter food security which makes them naturally more pleasant people.  Sharing the Harvest is a great program that allows hunters to donate their kill to the local Food Bank, which does good work in feeding people who find themselves in need.  In most cases the processor will donate the labor as well.  The hunting stories make good listening:  “It was just at daylight and it came walking right to me.”  “It was heavier than it looked and it took a lot of dragging to get it out.”  “It made kind of a growling sound.  I never really got a look at it, but I was glad I had my pocket knife with me in case it turned out to be a bear.  Probably it was just the neighbor’s truck.  It kind of growls when he starts it every morning and there are two ridges and a draw between us and the way sound travels, it could have been a truck.”  It could have been a bear.   Sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you. 

          Young people seem to like their own birthday very much.  Old people do too, but for different reasons.   Champion, Rich Heffern, of Kansas City celebrates a birthday on the 15^th and Elva Ragland on the 19^th.  She just lives down the road and around the corner and down a hill and up one or two from Champion.   Elva shares her birthday with Gaven Keith, an eighth grader at Skyline.  Clifford Crain, a second grader will be eight on the 23^rd and shares that day with the dotty grandmother of Seamus, Elizabeth, Zack and Ethan.  Eighth grader, Breanna Carroll, will be fourteen on the 24^th and Waylin Moon will be twelve that day.  He is a sixth grader.   Faith Crawford will have her 6^th birthday on the 26^th and Jhonn Rhodes will be eight on the 30^th.  He is a second grader this year.   Before long, these youngsters will be driving and voting and running the country.  It is good they are getting such a nice start in life in a quality rural school.  As the old folks look back on their dear school days with nostalgia and pride, they see that today’s youngsters at Skyline are in the middle of those formative years.  The Skyline R-2 School Foundation has been set up to boost the school along in important ways.  Everyone is welcome to participate:  Skyline School Foundation, Rt. 2 Box 486, Norwood, MO 65717. 

            The meeting room at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North side of the Square in Downtown Champion (Henson’s Downtown G&G) is the site of the meetings of the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary, the most recent being November 13^th.   Auxiliary President Betty Dye reports that the Chili Supper Quilt, an original queen size beauty of pieced rectangles and squares is on display with tickets available for the drawing at the Chili Supper in early March.  There is plenty of time to support the wonderful little fire department that is such an essential part of the community.

          Recent travels make Champions aware of the beauty of their place in the world.  As the trees drop their leaves, little cabins and home places come out of hiding to reveal a more densely populated area than might have been supposed in the more lush seasons.  New friends just across the Firth from the Kingdom of Fife say that Champion looks just like home to them too.  To the new friends Champions sing, “We’ll meet again.  Don’t know where.  Don’t know when.  But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day!”  Perhaps in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

             EDINBURGH:  Good neighbors in Britain are most interested in the American political system and are as confused about the Electoral college as are many voters back home.  Every four years, sometime around the time of the inauguration, the controversy over the process gets laid aside once again to consider other critical issues. Hopefully, Sandy and the political storms will have abated to the extent that the Nation can get back to the business of being good neighbors.   The devastation of the big storm evokes concern and compassion from new friends.  This last summer as much damage was done to crops in Scotland’s rich farm land by too much rain as was done in the Midwest of the United States by the drought.  Weather everywhere is being unusual.  Champions out in the big world hear that things are just glorious back home and are pleased and excited to be headed that way! 

               The General reports to Cathie Alsup Riley over in Tennessee.  “Hello Cathie. Sharon and I went to Vera Cruz yesterday (Sat). On Friday and Saturday Civil War reenactors were there (with Cannons and small arms) and had mock battles celebrating the skirmish that took place 150 years ago (7 Nov 1862). Carole Coats Barnhart and her brother Wayne, with wife, kids, and grandkids were also there. Carole and I know you would have enjoyed being there, and now that it’s over, I am thinking you probably didn’t know about it. I will send pictures as soon as one of my kids come by (I’m going to have to learn how to do that).”  Bennie Thomas said that he would like to have gone to the event but that he did not know about either.   A note on the internet says, “Once the bustling county seat of Douglas County, MO, the town of Vera Cruz is now simply a beautiful valley in the Ozark hills.  The landowners did not know until years later that their property once housed hundreds and included a courthouse, blacksmith shop, sawmills, gristmill and more, there being no evidence of these structures today.  Nor did they know that a Civil War battle was held at the site on November 7^th 1862.”  Skyline School kids knew about it and attended the sesquicentennial event and probably had some fun saying, “sesquicentennial.”  It will be exciting to hear just what they have to say about the experience. 

                Skyline School kids have a nice motto:  Soft paws–not claws!  Their credo is to be respectful, responsible, safe and caring.  First graders, William Litchfield and Hailey Hall have just had their 7^th birthdays–William on the third and Hailey on the fourth.  A new student to the school, Lea Anderson, celebrated her birthday on the fifth.  She is a fifth grader and a nice addition to the student body.  She shares her day with Karisa Volner who will be thirteen, a seventh grader, and with Miss Emerson Rose Ogleby, a Champion grandchild.  The General’s lovely spouse, Sharon, will have celebrated on the 6^th, and her many friends admire her resilience and her sweet smile.  Mason Solomon will be five years old on the 7^th, and Justin Borders will be six.  Richard Heffern’s younger brother has his big day on the 8^th and will for a few days be as old as his brother.  Lukas Brown, eighth grader, will be 14 on the tenth.  Amelia Olson will always have a special birthday since she was born on November 11^th, celebrated as Veteran’s Day.  Maria Penn and Sherman Hall will both be eleven on the 12^th of the month.  They are fifth graders at Skyline.  

                      In 1605, Guy Fawkes was among a group of conspirators who felt that the government was going the wrong way particularly as it related to religion.  Their solution was to blow up Parliament, in spite of the knowledge that some innocent people would be killed.   The plot was spoiled by one who sent a note to a friend suggesting that he not attend that day.  Suspicions were aroused and a search of the cellar under the building found Fawkes with 36 barrels of old gunpowder.  There is speculation that the stuff was so old that it would not have exploded anyway, and it was just happenstance that Fawkes was alone with the evidence when it was discovered.   Bonfires were lit that night, November 5^th, 1605, to signify the safety of the King.  That was King James the 1^st.  Since then, November 5^th has become known as Bonfire Night.  The event is commemorated every year with fireworks and the burning of effigies of Guy Fawkes on a bonfire.  Some of the English have been known to wonder, in a tongue in cheek kind of way, whether they are celebrating Fawkes’ execution or honoring his attempt to do away with the government.  Today, the Queen only attends Parliament once a year and, in advance of her arrival, there is conducted a systematic search of the cellars under the Parliament building. 

                     A beautiful sunny Sunday in Edinburgh was finished off with a few minutes of freezing fog that had photographers out on the Meadows snapping pictures of the eerie site.  The sight-seeing is as interesting here as it is in beautiful downtown Champion.  The Highlands are quite high.  The mountains were largely deforested to support the industrial revolution and people were forced off the land in many cases to make room for sheep.   The Kingdom of Fife has some spots in it that could easily be somewhere along Highway C in the beautiful Ozark Mountains where many of Scotts and English descent are enjoying life now.   It is a small world in that people are very much the same.  The songs are as sweet sung with a little brogue and eyes twinkle similarly with new found affections as friendships are forged.  The American actor and dramatist, John Howard Payne, wrote the words and Englishman, Sir Henry Bishop wrote the melody in 1823, “Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home.”  Champion!   Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—October 29, 2012

               It would seem that many of the people in the Ozarks are related to people in Scotland.  They immigrated to America in the 1700s and settled in the beautiful Appalachian Mountains which eventually became the states of Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina where they carried on their time honored craft of whiskey making.  When the newly formed government needed money to pay for its very expensive War of Independence against old King George, it was decided to tax the whiskey made by these skilled craftsmen.  The tax was too high to be tolerable and so they upped and moved west again settling in the lovely Ozark Hills.  Of course, not every Scotsman’s descendant makes whiskey or even drinks it, though a few weeks ago somewhere up around Rogersville, a lady of sixty some odd years, had her lovely still confiscated by the revenuers together with 26 of her sparkling clear gallon jugs of pure distilled spirits. (Some call it honey-dew vine water.)  It is considered quite legal to produce four gallons per year for home consumption.  Perhaps the lady has a big family.   Tea totalers or not, many Scotts would be right at home in Champion with their native love of music and of a tranquil countryside, and blessed with the wonderful gift of gab.  

               Reports are that the Skyline School Carnival was a big success.  Wes and Pat Smith’s grandchildren Zoey and Zack said that there was a good haunted house–very scary.  The General Himself was holding court there trying to get the facts straight around his laughter as the husband of one of his many nieces was telling him a bow hunting story about his favorite sister-in-law’s husband.  His favorite sister-in-law’s husband was deer hunting and was able to get a deer without using and losing too many arrows.  When he started to skin the deer it had a rancid odor, so the carcass was discarded.  It was thought the deer may have been pulverized in recent weeks by a vehicle of some sort.  The General is speculating (and guffawing) that the deer may have been dead prior to being shot with the arrow(s).   Since the General has dozens of nieces, this is a story that could have been told about any number of young men lucky enough to have married into the family.  An interesting survey of this stalwart troop of young men might include the question, “Did you meet the General before or after you asked her to marry?”       

                 Good news from the Skyline School Foundation is that the Douglas County Community Foundation is providing a grant of $2000.00 to the Skyline School Foundation to continue the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program.  This is an excellent program for children from birth to five years of age who live in the Skyline School District.  Each month the mail will bring a brand new, age appropriate book addressed to the child and designed to cultivate a love of reading—the great key to success in school and much of the rest of life.  Champion!

                     A pleasant fellow named Graham, a man of about sixty years of age, was walking down Marchmont Road one day and, passing a bank building from within which he heard a great deal of hammering and sawing, and being a wood worker himself, stuck his head in the door.  What he saw was a pair of workmen removing the counter over which the bank’s business had long been conducted.  There was a renovation going on and a great huge slab of polished ancient American black walnut was being wrenched loose destined for the construction dumpster.  He convinced the fellows to hold up for ten minutes to take a coffee break (tea) while he rushed home for his tools.  In the end, for his willingness to help remove it, he was rewarded with the piece.  From this piece, which he reckons to be 75 to 100 years old, he has manufactured a fiddle, a mandolin, and a guitar.  It is a pity he can only play one instrument at a time.  His new friends hope one day to hear them all together in the Old Bank Bench Band.  Graham is an excellent musician as well as instrument maker.  Nothing would please him more than to sit out on the porch at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium in scenic Downtown Champion and play a tune on his black walnut fiddle in the very presence of some of the trees’ relatives.

                        Ones allegiance to a particular baseball team develops over time and according to no particular set of logical rules.  The Detroit Tigers has always been one Champions favorite team because of Norm Cash.   Known as “Punk” by his family, he was a farm boy from West Texas.  He grew up in Justiceburg, Texas, a Champion sized community, out between Snyder and Post.  His folks were Bandy and Mildred Cash and they were cotton farmers and family friends.  He played for the Tigers from 1960 to 1974, during which time he excelled in his sport and was a great source of pride for a high school girl who liked to tell her friends about playing the piano at Punk’s house and how they kept the windows painted shut to keep the dust out of the house even after the dust bowl years and how it did not seem to work.  Esther Wrinkles is also a Tiger’s fan and it will be interesting to hear the story of why it is her team.  She was up late Sunday night watching the game and was disappointed that her Tiger’s did not win.  She is reported to be making slow but steady progress in her recovery, however, and her Champion friends send her greetings and best wishes from far away.

                 Satellite images from space show the enormous storm headed to the East Coast of the United States.  Hopefully, the National Guard will be able to be out assisting those who need it.  All the emergency services people, police and firemen, will be out on the job looking after people.   Champions do not take them for granted. 

                       Friends gathered in Edinburgh on Sunday evening to celebrate an American Thanksgiving early.  Among them were two Old Champions, their fiddler son;  Graham the instrument maker and fiddler; and Morag (Moe) a lovely read haired fiddling lass from Portobello, Scotland;  Jhan a very tall and pleasant Dutch accordion player;  Jesus, an amazing guitarist from southern Spain; Miss Lake Montgomery, a siger/song-writer from Paris, Texas who has been living in Europe for about ten years; Thomas, an harmonica virtuoso from Poland, who hardly speaks any English, but can play unbelievably well;  and another Graham, a Scotsman, who plays guitar and harmonica and sings; and Grahams wife Ingrid, from England.  Ingrid is a talented painter and is very busy being mother to six-year-old Fae and 2 year old Lea.  Many traditional American Thanksgiving dishes and variations of traditional dishes completed the menu and satisfied guests settled in, at last, to an unforgettable evening of music.  Champions have many reasons to be appreciative!  Make your own list of Things for Which to Be Grateful and feel free to recite them out loud as you stand on the broad and elegant steps on the North Side on the Square and survey the many charms of one of the world’s loveliest places—Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—October 22, 2012

               Traveling Champions are pleased to see how excitingly different the world is elsewhere and are delighted to see how very similar it is to home.    An evening in an establishment called The Reverie over on Newington Street in Edinburgh was very reminiscent of any one of a number of places around Champion.  Rambling Heart, a trio of dobro, guitar and fiddle was joined by a banjo, another fiddle and a big, big dog-house bass.  The first song was the Wreck of the Old 97 and so one immediately had the feeling that it was to be an unforgettable evening.  Blackberry Blossom, White Freight Liner, All the Good Times Are Passed and Gone, were followed by Red Haired Boy and Soldiers Joy.  Of course, The Flowers of Edinburg came out and then The Old Home Place which ask, “Why did I leave the plow in the field to look for a job in the town?”  The list of familiar songs goes on and on.  Favorites standing out were Faded Love and I Traced Her Little Footprints in the Snow.  Wayne Anderson would have felt right at home and Champions can smile sweetly at the thought of Lonnie Krider’s wonderful high-lonesome voice in the mix.  Some of the best things about music are how it is draws dissimilar people together and helps to hold precious memories of dear ones close.  Champion! 

The bad weather that was predicted for Wednesday the 17^th caused a light turn out for Bud Hutchison’s Fall Trail ride.   It is reported that the forecast was wrong and the bad weather did not materialize.  Those few intrepid riders who were willing to brave the elements were rewarded with an outstanding excursion.   It is good to see the General plodding about on face-book liking a link sent by D.J. Shumate concerning Del Reeves song, The Only Girl I can’t Forget.  (Backyard Bluegrass would be superstars over here.)  For future reference, ‘Himself’ will be telling a joke about a snowman picking his nose in a vegetable market.  His friends are thinking that since he is seeing so clearly now, perhaps it will be as Robert Burns said, “O would some power the gift to give us to see ourselves as others see us!” Certainly the internet is providing some magnificent views of the luscious fall foliage around Champion and Bugger County in general.  Breauna Krider has posted some outstanding photos on her website www.the-dairy-maid.com. 

               Pete Proctor, Archie Dailey and their VFW friends would appreciate the many monuments in the city dedicated to soldiers.  One such on the Old North Bridge says, “In memory of officers, non-commissioned officers and men who whilst serving the King’s own Scottish borders (The Edinburgh Regiment) gave their lives for their country during the following campaigns:  Afghanistan 1878-1880, Egypt 1888-1889, Chin Lushai 1889-1890, Chitral 1895, Thrah 1897-1898, South Africa 1900-1902.”  Some say the Scotts were just London’s cannon fodder.  There is currently a vote on the local ballot for Scottish independence.   It will be interesting to see how it goes, independence being such a Champion notion.  There is also quite a magnificent statue of the First Duke of Wellington, who noted that many cavalry soldiers sustained crippling wounds by having been shot in the knee—a very vulnerable and exposed part of the body when one is mounted on a horse.  The Duke caused the typical boot to be modified with a protection for the knee which may well have contributed considerably to the great victory over Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo.  Later on in 1852, a well-known boot maker, Hiram Hutchison, met Charles Goodyear and the modern Wellington began to evolve.   In World War I production of the wonderful dry boot was boosted with the requirement for footwear suitable for the conditions in Europe’s flooded trenches.   Today, pink lady Wellingtons are available with polka dots and fuzzy linings.  Taegan (Peanut) has a lovely pair of pink and purple ‘barn-boots’ thanks to the First Duke of Wellington and some guy named Hutchinson who could well be an ancestor.  Champion!

               It was a lovely sunny day when two old tourists walked about in the Prince’s Garden just below Edinburgh Castle.  The weather is cooler here, on Monday about 45 degrees, but there has yet to be a killing frost.  Roses are blooming still and little front gardens are full of beautiful plants from exotic places.  The gardens below the castle were once a moat and the big volcanic mountain upon which the castle stands has been a stronghold for three thousand years.   In those far off days it was known as the stronghold of Eidyn.  Then came the invading Angles from Germany, around AD 638, and ever since then the rock has been known by its English name– Edinburgh.   Now the city has about half a million people—just about the size of Kansas City, which also has some lovely gardens.   It looks like the growing season will be continuing throughout much of November for Champions and so Linda over at The Plant Place in Norwood will have all the Cole crops and other things that gardeners need to keep food on the table and their little cottage gardens beautiful. 

               Champions wandering far from home, even some just down to Arkansas, can find themselves quickly out of touch.  Any news that one would like to have known can travel back and forth across the Pond via Champion at getgoin.net.  It  has been a joy to share with new friends  the amazing beauty of a charming spot at the end of the pavement and the bottom of several colorful hills, where country lanes converge on the wide and wild banks of Old Fox Creek.  Old friends from St. Louis who use to make it down to the country often, but have not in a while, were strolling about the Square the other day.  They enjoyed the lovely view from the wide veranda on the Recreation of the Historic Emporium where they found themselves relaxed and happy.   It will always be a warm spot in the hearts of those at home and of the many who are far flung and yearning to return to their dear Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—October 15, 2012

               News has traveled all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to the effect that Saturday night brought another good inch of rain to Champion and that the weather is wonderful.   Sunday was the birthday of Peanut’s dad and his Tennessee sister and her tall sons were in for a week’s visit.  They joined together with Foster and Kalyssa and their folks and others to wish the Fox Creek Farmer a joyful birthday celebration.  Other birthdays had all the Old Tree-Huggers out at Woodpecker’s Paradise Hall for the benefit of Miller’s son, Davey.  Now that is a gathering one would rather not have missed!  Alas!

               Bud Hutchison’s Fall Trail Ride is an event of some significance to Champions.  It has been so for many years.   Riders rendezvous at Champion on Wednesday morning and form up in their ranks to explore the countryside.  Since most of these participants have been on this ride many times already, someone suggested that it is more like a patrol of the area rather than an exploration.  They take out of Champion at ten in the morning and cut a wide loop about the area.  To know just exactly where they go, one would have to go with them.  If you cannot go, just be hanging around the Emporium on the North side of the Square in Downtown Champion early in the afternoon when they come moseying back in and surely someone of them will tell you just where they went and who may have been thrown off in the water or bucked off into the brush.  The best hope is that it will have been exciting excursion but uneventful as far injury is concerned.  

“Rusticity’ Ungainly Form” is another of those interesting short works by Robert Burns.  In eight rimed lines he manages to say that it is easy even for an enlightened individual to misjudge a poor country person by his looks.  Now that his vision has improved so considerably, the venerated General might be more willing to spare poor Sensibility his “ungentle, harsh rebuke,” and may also be a little more grateful when he looks in the mirror.  Look back into the archives at www.championnews.us to find a picture of “Junior and The General” to illustrate the point.     

On a stroll about the city in the late evening an old Champion couple happened into a little restaurant called My Big Fat Greek Kitchen just for a small bite to eat.  The waitress was a Greek girl who had only arrived in the city three days earlier.  Her English was beautiful and she said that her friends note that her accent is very American.  She loves the United States and hope to go there one day.  Just now, however, she was already missing her home and her family.  She plans to stay in Edinburgh for only one year, but she says that people often come to the city and get caught.  She is looking for a second job so that she can earn more money and get home sooner.  She is young and attractive and away from her home for the first time.  She said that she just hopes that she does not fall in love because she might never get home.   Her new friends hope that when she does fall in love it will be with someone who will love her enough to take her home and perhaps to America and to Champion where she can see the Bright Side.

               Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood shows the 16^th & 17^th  to be good days for planting above-ground crops and leafy vegetables. The 18^th through the 20^th are considered to be barren days—good for clearing and plowing, but not planting.  The 21^st and 22^nd are good for above the ground crops again according to the conditions of weather and circumstances that may allow for protected fall planting.  The 18^th to the 20^th and the 23^rd to the 25^th will all be good days to prune to discourage growth.   Weather in Auld Reekie (Edinburgh) is currently much as it is in Champion with no hard frost in the city yet.  There are many roses, bleeding hearts, passion flowers, hydrangeas and many unfamiliar blooming things.   Travelers will take pictures of the flowers and get Linda to identify them when they get home.  There is being an unseasonable amount of sunshine, but the overall temperatures are a little chill.  The city is called Auld Reekie (reek) because it used to be a very smoky city due to the smoke from the chimneys as people heated with coal.  It might also be connected with the fact that in the old, old days people just emptied their chamber pots out the windows!  There is a song about that called “The Flowers of Edinburgh” and it is a marvelously beautiful fiddle tune.  The hardware stores are full of gardening tools and snow shovels.  They say that one can experience all four seasons in a day.  

A nice chat with Esther has her about the same, still making progress toward her recovery, but still experiencing some discomfort in her back.  She said that Leon and Peggy Harris had come over for supper on Friday night and they had had a good visit.  She was surprised to get a call from the other side of the big pond and says she will be interested in looking at the pictures.  Meanwhile, new friends are enjoying pictures of another wonderfully beautiful place in the world—Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!