The Year of the Tiger began auspiciously enough with our Skyline R2 School Tigers out of school for much of the week. According to Chinese scholars, the tiger embodies courage and bravery, so even in times of struggle, resilience and strength will prevail. As snowmen melt and school buses run again, our students will be glad to be back in the classroom sharing their wintertime adventures with their friends.

Douglas County Museum

Gloriously beautiful winter weather put the kibosh on the “Wreckreashun (sic) and Liars Club” meeting at the Junction for a few days, but it is doubtlessly back in session now with half a dozen stalwart historians and prevaricators outdoing one another. Meanwhile, Sharon Sanders, of the Douglas County Museum is introducing us to a new place in Douglas County each week. Already we have learned about Ann and Arden and this week she is investigating Arno. She is going through the alphabet featuring spots that were established enough to have a post office. While Champion may never have had a post office, we have had some splendid mail carriers in the past and still do today. Thank you, Homer Akers, Cletis Upshaw, Ben King, Bob Chadwell, Karen Ross and now John Webster and all the substitutes who have filled in over the years. Neither rain nor hail nor sleet nor snow nor dark of night has stayed our swift carriers from the completion of their appointed rounds. Champions every one!

Well, just how independent is a hog on ice? Recent weather prompted such questions. Bob Holt said people should know that he was more independent than that. YouTube is an internet feature that lets us connect with folks we wish we had had the chance to know and to revisit friends and loved ones. This week of staying inside provided an opportunity to watch eighteen minutes of Bob Holt playing fiddle with Hugh Strawn and JR Johnston on banjo, Gordon Peacock and Alvie Dooms on guitar, recorded on November 22, 1999, at the McClurg Jam. What a treasure! Holt said, “Music doesn’t have to be old to be good, but it has to be good to get old.” Speaking of old, as the world turns, The Cowboy has had another birthday. It was Monday at about 11:00. Tuesday, the eighth, is for Skyline fifth grade archer, Aidan Acree, and for the lovely Sarah Rucker down in Austin, Texas. She is an accomplished health care professional and mother of some spectacular Champion Grandchildren. Vanzant native, Clare Shannon Johnson, enjoys the thirteenth for her birthday and Valentines’ Day is for Shelby Ward, a great Champion niece.

Valentines’ Day is for everyone. Smell the roses, eat some chocolate and, like all Champions, Look on the Bright Side!

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