June 27, 2016
CHAMPION—June 27, 2016
 The Bee Tree, Valentine’s Day 2015  The Bee Tree, June 27th 2016 |
Sunday afternoon an old Champion, headed to the Village, approached the slab over Clever Creek and observed that there was a couple standing in the creek. The woman was giving the man a haircut standing there in the cold water. Their car was parked on the edge of the road and there was plenty of room to get around them, but about that time a full grown skunk came running down the road toward the creek. The couple did not see the skunk and the Champion was so excited that she kept adjusting her side mirror rather than opening her window. By the time she had her window down in order to alert the couple to the presence of the skunk, the critter had headed off into the brush on the south east side of the creek. It unusual to see a skunk out in the daylight and, while it is advisable to avoid a skunk any time you can, particularly do so if it is behaving in any odd way such as staggering or being aggressive. Skunks are susceptible to rabies. Alert the Conservation Department, the sheriff or the Douglas County Health department if you see a skunk that you think might be rabid.
Nanette Hirsch is the Douglas County Health Department nurse who comes to Champion on the last Tuesday of each month to do blood pressure checks and other health screening. She is also at the Skyline School on the first Tuesday of each month from 8:30 to 10:30. That will be Tuesday, July 5th for local residents who wish to take advantage of this real service to the community. Lives have been saved.
The Behemoth Bee Tree over on the South Side of the Square is beginning to look like it will survive. This is its second summer after the February, 2015 pruning that rendered it a 35 foot tall stump. The bee inhabitants seem to be thriving and hopes are that the little green brush pile at the top of the stump will flourish. It will be some time before it provides the shade again for the Champion School Reunion. “Champion School Memories” was published by a Prominent Champion back in 1985. From the chapter on school history, “The school tax levy during the 1890s was usually around forty cents per one hundred dollar valuation. The total assessed valuation of taxable property in the district in 1892 was $9,124.00. The total taxes on one hundred sixty acres would be about two dollars.” The Champion School was consolidated with other area schools back in the mid-1950s into the Skyline R2 School. An effort to raise the current tax levy by $0.48 will be on the ballot in the August 2nd election. That will bring the total levy per hundred dollar valuation up to $3.43 which is the magic number that will make our wonderful rural school eligible for matching funds from the State of Missouri, while still being the lowest tax levy in the State. Enrollment has decreased in recent years, but the cost of operating the school has not reduced. “School days, school days, good old golden rule days! Reading and writing and rithmetic taught to the tune of the hickory stick.” Those nostalgic sentiments could well be translated into support. SOS! Save Our School! Skyline bus driver, Paul Kennedy has a birthday on July 7th. Seventh grader Patrick Vincent will celebrate on the 3rd. Then the whole Nation will celebrate on the 4th. There will be bar-b-que, fireworks, watermelons and creeks full of people having a good time. Huzza! America!
Champion gardens are looking good, particularly after a good rain. That is when, according to some, the weeds just want to jump up into your hands. Champion the Wonder Horse was a Tennessee walking horse and the on-screen companion of singing cowboy, Gene Autry, in 79 films between 1935 and 1952. The horse lived to be 47 years old. One of the Wednesday sages brought a replica of his famous pistol bridal for community inspection. It is a shiny silver thing and sparked recollections of the singing cowboy. “I’m back in the saddle again, out where a friend is a friend!” That was his theme song. Dave, sometimes referred to as Jim or Bob, over at the Thursday Vanzant jam was struggling for words to that song the other night. Perhaps he will have it worked up for the next jam. He likes Gene Autry better than Roy Rogers, and endeavors to adhere to Autry’s “Cowboy Code” which said, “He must not take unfair advantage of an enemy. He must never go back on his word. He must always tell the truth. He must be gentle with children, the elderly and animals. He must not possess racially or religiously intolerant ideas. He must help people in distress. He must be a good worker. He must respect women, parents and his nation’s laws. He must neither drink nor smoke. He must be a patriot.” The Cowboy Code could be applied to current times, particularly relating to politics and world conditions, with good effect—a Champion code.
The swift passage of time is on the minds of some Champions reminding them that the year is half gone and soon it will be Christmas again. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is one of those Christmas movies that have scenes that are poignant any time of the year. Some of the life lessons that can be gleaned from this nostalgic 1946 film are: Your life has purpose. Keeping up with the Joneses is for saps. Bad guys do not always get punished. Do not hire someone just because he is family. Appreciate how blessed you already are. Marry the right person. Deliver a good toast: “Bread, that this house may never know hunger. Salt, that life may always have flavor. And wine, that joy and prosperity may reign forever.” Recently a scene from the movie was played out in real life. George Bailey shook hands with Mr. Potter and then recoiled, wiping his hand off on his coat in revulsion as if to erase the event. Anyone can have a momentary lapse in judgement. “There are people in every time and every land who want to stop history in its tracks. They fear the future, mistrust the present and invoke the security of a comfortable past, which in fact, never existed,” said Robert Kennedy. These old movies seem to reinforce that image. Champions prove that the past can be venerated, fictional or not, even as they strive toward making the present better for themselves and for future generations. Come down to the wide, wild, wooly banks of Auld Fox Creek for a vision of the Behemoth Bee Tree and for a progressive breath of fresh air in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
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