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CHAMPION—November 10, 2014

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

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

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

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

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

Young Cletis Upshaw

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

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