Champion News

 

The groundbreaking ceremony for the new fire station for the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department happened on December 12th. It has been a complicated process, but thanks to the CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) and the South Central Ozark Council of Governments (SCOCG), our dedicated first responders and fire fighters will have a place to hold board meetings and training events. The new facility will have running water and bathrooms and other amenities the volunteers have done without for many years. Gentry Construction will follow the blueprints of architect, Joe Haberline. Jessica Moran of SCOCG will administer the grant. She attended the ceremony along with Fire Chief Veldencamp and Chaplin Merridith from the Squires Fire Department, and Fire Chief David Roberts of the Good Hope Fire Department. District One Commissioner Travis Chaney and Sheriff Chris Degase came out to show their support. The Skyline VFD was represented by Fire Chief Doug Hutchison, officers and fire fighters, D.J. Mastrangelo, Charlie Johnson, Robert Hamilton, Donald Powell, and Bud Watkins. Other Skyline volunteers planned to attend, but missed the ceremony because they were busy responding to a semitruck wreck on Highway C. They were taking care of business. Applications are being accepted for volunteers for fire rescue and first responder. (417-349-9150) No experience is needed. Training will be provided. The Skyline area covers Brushy Knob, Skyline, Evans, Champion, Denlow, Sweden and Black Oak. Residents in the Skyline VFD district are grateful for the service and dedication of volunteers and to neighboring fire departments who provide mutual assistance. This new fire station will make it easier for hard working volunters to do their important work and perhaps it will entice some young folks and newcomers to join this vital organization. Recently the Wright County Crisis Center made a significant donation to the Skyline VFD. Community support makes it all happen.

 

Two weeks ahead of Christmas the excitement is building. School programs fill parent hearts with sweet satisfaction. Fantastic yard decorations in town and out on highways and, even on long dirt roads, light us up to the joy of the season. Big family gatherings with family traditions and solitary individuals, remembering old times and perhaps feeling blue about it, pass the same day. Telephone calls can ease that longing. Lonely hearts are urged not to wait for the call, but to make it. Meanwhile, much of humanity is suffering and the urge to help mixes with gratitude for our own wellbeing, making for a sweet and sad season. We say, “Happy New Year,” hoping for the best.

Spike Jones (December 14, 1911—May 1, 1965) was an American actor, comedian, and musician who was able to combine music and laughter to lift spirits. Judy Gale Ing (December 14, 1941—May 22, 2010) photographer, photographer at an important cancer research lab, artist, pilot, writer of historic fiction, was active in the Audubon Society, completing the bird count every year. She received a National Audubon newsletter award. She was a great friend and visited Champion with her children many times. Once she floated her Subaru down Clever Creek during a big spring rain. She is a much missed, dear friend, a Champion in many ways. Another great photographer, Shannon Alexander, lives up in Springfield where he does some beautiful work making people feel beautiful. He enjoys his birthday on December 14th. He is a Champion son-in-law, husband of a Skyline alumnus. He is probably friends with Amanda Masten, who has her birthday on the 16th. That is Judy’s son Jesse Ing’s birthday too. He is a big time movie maker out in L.A. The 20th is for the lovely Mary Goolsby. She enjoys a ride to the Vanzant Jam in a Studebaker. Mary is retired from an important role in the critical air evac system.

She shares her big day with the fine fiddler, Herbie Johnston, son of the much loved and missed J.R. Johnston. Herby plays all around the area, even Grandpa’s fiddle over at the Laura Ingall Wilder place in Mansfield. The next day, the 21st, the shortest day of the year, is for Jonas Paige, a sixth grade student at Skyline. He shares his big day with another fine fiddler, Jerry Wagner, who yodels while he is Waiting for a Train. Prekindergartner Braxton Loveless celebrates on the 22nd. Fourth grader Chase Cauthron and his dad have the same birthday on the 23rd. Their neighbor, Sharon Skies, celebrates that day too. She just lives a little way down the road from her great granddaughter, cowpoke Blaine Denlow. Talented flint knapper and bow maker, Butch Stone shares the day with Sharon, Chase, and David. Christmas Day is the birthday of the lovely Joanne Anderson. She is known as Grannie Grunt to her grandchildren. Happy Birthday to all of you and Merry Christmas two wonderful weeks from now.

Champions are excited about the groundbreaking for the new Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department fire house. It has been a long time coming, and, hopefully, the enhanced facility will encourage participation by a bunch of young folks and newcomers. Champion! Looking on the Bright Side!