CHAMPION—May 23, 2016

        What a great week in Champion!  Bud Hutchison’s trail ride was an unqualified success.  It was reported that Bud gave a short but brisk bronc-riding exhibition and managed to stay on top the whole time.  Otherwise, it was a pleasant and uneventful amble around the Shannon Ranch and back again.  Nine riders left the square mid-morning and came back together hours later to enjoy ice cream on the Veranda.  The consensus of opinion was that it was a great ride.  They missed the first of what will hopefully be a monthly musical interlude out on the wide veranda at the Historic Emporium.  The General led the band actually singing, “Around her neck she wore a yellow ribbon” and “Behind the door her pappy kept a shotgun…” apparently for the same fellow.  Candi and Jeff Bartsch added actual musical talent that made it a pleasant interval.  The fiddle player and her harmonica playing husband live on the outskirts of Vanzant and made their first trip to Champion that day.  They then were part of the Thursday night jam in their neighborhood.  Some infrequent but much appreciated musicians filled in for some notably absent ones last week.  Ruth Fish Collins’ version of “Beulah Land” is typically the last song of the evening and her friends have been missing her.  She is reported to be on the mend and will hopefully be back sharing her lovely velvety voice again soon.  Nancy and Don Mohrman were in town from Bridgeport, Nebraska ready to attend Nancy’s 55th high school reunion over in Dora.  They like to visit Jerry and Della Dennis when they come this way and they always like to make it to the jam when they are in the neighborhood.  “I just played enough wrong notes for a whole new piece,” some famous musician once said.  That has nothing to do with how much fun is had.

        Pete and Phyllis Proctor came out to the Wednesday gathering.  It’s always a treat to see them.  Pete came with gifts and good fellowship for his Veteran friends in Champion.  He will be presenting a program at the Denlow/Fairview School Reunion that will be held on May 28th at Denlow.  There will be a pot luck lunch at noon and later a fun fund raising auction at 2:00 out in the pavilion.  It is to be noted that The General has decreed that participation in the hula hoop contest is not mandatory.  Proceeds from the auction fund next year’s reunion.  It is always a great time and everyone is welcome.

        The musical evening at the Skyline School was not nearly so well attended as had been hoped.  The few who did attend were treated to some great performances.  The presentation was in support of music in public schools.  Many Missouri schools are suffering budget crunches and crises and Skyline is one of them.  The little $0.48 levy increase that will appear on the ballot in the August election is opportunity to really help our valuable little school.  This increase will bring the total school tax up to the minimum that is required in order to receive matching funding from the State.  This means that our school taxes are lower than most school districts right now and the little increase and all important resulting matching funds will make all the difference in the quality of school busses and any number of other important items that keep the little school going.  SOS!  Save our School!

        On the 4th of June, that is a Saturday, the Skyline VFD Auxiliary will hold a fish fry at the Skyline School.  It will take off at 4 in the afternoon and go until 8 in the evening–dine in or take out.  There will be fried catfish, baked beans, coleslaw, potatoes, and dessert.  The Auxiliary is happy to have some good cooking help in the fish frying department.  (Think about that great fish dinner you had at the Pioneer Descendant’s Gathering last year).  Find out more about it at 417-948-2440, 417-683-1816 or on Facebook at The Champion News….and ads in the Douglas County Herald and the News Journal next week.  Proceeds will go to the Skyline Volunteer Fire Department Maintenance and Building Fund.

        Bob Dylan will have his 75th birthday on Wednesday.  He will probably have a party with string beans and country pie.  Ed Henson’s birthday was May 27, 1903.  Champions still miss him.  He is featured with his dog Toby on a Champion Picture Postcard available at Henson’s Downtown G & G.  Brylee Clark’s birthday is May 28, 2010.  That makes her six years old.  Dale Thomas celebrates that day too, but nobody asks what year.  Kazie Perkins of KZ88 Community Radio celebrates on the 29th.  Her friend Harold Harnish celebrated on the 15th.  He had a surprise party thrown for him, but it is up in the air about whether it was a surprise.  Champion friends and neighbors wish him and all the birthday celebrators a happy day every day.  Harold’s radio program comes on Thursday morning and is called Roots and Branches.  He always has some great old tunes to play.  Joey Kennedy was in the 2nd grade at Skyline this year.  His birthday is on May 29th.  He will have the whole summer to think about how great it will be to be a third grader.  Alexandra Jean Moses will have her 10th birthday on May 31st.  She is a Champion granddaughter and Champion cookie maker.

        The full moon was a dazzling sight in a mostly clear sky on Saturday.  The Champion News Almanac says that Tuesday and Wednesday will be good planting days for root crops.  Saturday and Sunday will also be good days for planting below ground crops, for transplanting and for pruning to encourage growth.  There is always something to do out in the garden and wholesome fresh food is the reward.  Karen Ross, intrepid Rt. 72 mail carrier, is an avid gardener.  She has greens pouring out of her patch in abundance and she delivers a sweet smile with the mail.  Champion!

        A favorite quote this week comes from Audrey Hepburn.  She was a great screen actress, a fashion icon and she won the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 for her charitable work in some of the poorest communities of Africa, South America and Asia.  She died of cancer at the tender age of 63, just a month after receiving the award.  She said, “Nothing is more important than empathy for another human being’s suffering.  Not a career.  Not wealth.  Not intelligence.  Certainly not status.  We have to feel for one another if we’re going to survive with dignity.”  It brings to mind that no amount of rambling misinformation and bigoted fearmongering xenophobia will change the fact that this is a Nation of immigrants.  With 7.4 Billion people in the world and much of the world in extreme chaos as a result of oil wars, a little of that Christian ‘love thy neighbor’ stuff could be implemented with good effect.  Most of the terrorism that is our day to day experience in this country is perpetrated by fearful men who look just like the people you meet in Walmart every day.  Perspective is a precious commodity.  Another good quote comes from George Bernard Shaw, the great Irish playwright who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925.  He said, “Now that we have learned to fly in the air like birds and dive in the sea like fish, only one thing remains—to learn to live on earth like humans.”  It is a Champion notion—Looking on the Bright Side!

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