Champion News

We celebrate our first responders and all those who work to keep u safe and to help in the aftermath of tragedies.  Watching the radar on Friday night had Champions holding their breath, at the same time grateful for safety and anxious for those in danger.  With floods and fires, sandstorms and tornadoes and people in the path, we hope to comfort and console and help where we can.
Skyline R2 School student birthdays are 4th grader Lillith Jeffery on March 16th, 7th grader Wyatt Carrol on the 20th, 3rd grader Aliyiea Trujillo on the 27th, and 6th grader Tucker Johnson on the 30th.  The birthdays of three more special people all occur on Marach 23rd.  Those folks are Donald Powell (who can repair your washing machine or almost any appliance and who has a lovely singing voice), Elva Upshaw (who does good work in Ozarks Healthcare and happens to be The General’s fair daughter) and Judie Pennington (who has black bears visiting her every year and who suggests that the real luxuries in life are time, health, a quiet mind, slow mornings, ability to travel, rest without guilt, a good night’s sleep, calm and “boring” days, meaningful conversations, home-cooked meals, people you love and people who love you back.)  Happy birthdays and happy every day to all of you!
This week Skyliners enjoy Spring Break.  Spring arrives on Thursday.  Gardeners are already ready.  March 13the marked the day of the first tick of the year crawling on and Old Champion who was happy to get his potatoes in the ground on St. Patrick’s Day. Tom Peters shared the “Irish Washer Woman” as a tribute to St. Patrick.  Old folks who cannot make it to the McClurg Jam on Mondays very much appreciate being able to join the fun, even if it is just online.  Thanks also go to the good cattle farmers who are willing to share that good stuff the cows made last year for the fertility of the soil.  Music and the tiller, shovel and rake are some of the tools that help us grow our own food and help us keep grounded in turbulent times.
Julie and Tom Heyer, Champion friends from Webster Groves up in St. Louis, were on their way to their country place in Thornfield Thursday and stopped by to have lunch and visit in Champion.  Julie brought a beautiful pecan pie to donate to the fundraiser for the Vanzant Community Building.  It is made with pecans from Alabama.  It is frozen to be thawed for the benefit on the 22d.  It comes in a good pan that you can bake your own pies in and with a neat cover that will let you take your pie to your friend’s house or to your mother’s house.  Bake a pie or come and be a high bidder on one of the amazing home-made pies at the auction.  Doors open a 5 p.  The auction starts at 6 pm.  The fun goes on and on for a good cause.
A note from Julie on Saturday said, “Friday night’s wild weather–the southern horizon was lit up four hours with lightning, yet we heard very little thunder.  The sky overhead was clear.  We watched Orion on its journey.  Then the full mood came up.  Wow!  We stopped at Rockbridge for a fish sandwich on Saturday and heard the news that Bakersfield got hit hard.  We saw a lot of damage in Rolla along 63 going north to 44 on our way home.”  We hope the next time Tom and Julie come to visit things will be less ‘eventful.’
Eventful events concern some citizens.  If you are concerned, reach Senator Hawley at 202-224-6154 and Senator Schmitt at 202-224-5721.  Our district 8 Congressman Smith is at 573-335-0101.  There are any number of Public Servants obligated to serve our best interest.  They work for Us and are charged to do good by us.  Dolly Parton said, “If I ever was good, I was as good as I ever was.”  Spoken like a Champion–Looking on the Bright Side!

          We are reminded that the Red Flag warning is not an invitation to burn. An explosion of daffodils along country lanes at old home places and places where people have not lived in generations brightens any day tripper’s day. Exploring some of Douglas County’s four hundred miles of dirt road is a sweet springtime pastime. The question begs: should one pick up the litter coming out of the window the truck up ahead and follow the truck to return it? Probably not. We want to say, “Trash litters.” And we expect to hear, “Who you callin’ trash?” Then there is the bright blue beer can that has been on the side of the road since last summer that a Champion drives by on every outing. It has become a landmark and has maintained its bright blueness through the election day flood and two snowstorms.
          Ten archers from Norwood will be going to the State Level Archery Competition in Branson during March 19-22. Their sponsor and coach is Jana Barnes-Brixey. Jacob Brixey scored 291 in 3D for first place in the Marionville tournament and is one of those going to State. Chase Cauthron, a Skyline 5th grade student, has qualified for state level for both the Elementary and 3D divisions. For the Middle School level: 6th grader Raiylnn Dixon has qualified for both the bullseye and 3D divisions at the state level and 7th grader, Paige Jonas, has qualified for the bullseye state level division. Melissa Willhite oversees the program at Skyline. She says the 24-25 Archery Team consists of two levels” Elementary and Middle school. “Our Elementary individual level students are 5th Graders: Evan Homer, Chase Cauthron, Lauren Collins, Paxton Elgie, RyAnne Harvey, Brantley Kilgore, Jaxton Harley, and Aubrey Lewis. Our Middle School individual level students are 6th Graders: Railyn Dixon, Ely Young, Serenity Merryman, Tucker Johnson. 7th Graders: Paige Jonas, Morgan Johnson, Kennedy Hinote, 8th Graders: Jordan Ellingsworth, Isabella Peters. Archery, like music, teaches the life lesson that focus and practice move a body forward toward whatever goal one has in mind.
           Ilene Woods and Elaine West Woodward made a rugged four-mile hike at the Bryant Creek State Park on Friday. It was sunny and 70 degrees. That same day, Calvin Chambers and fourteen other riders rode 10,9 miles on the NTR at the North Fork River Ranch. These beautiful days have even sedentary senior citizens strolling about in the evenings after supper. The time change is not a problem for old folks who do not have to rush off to work on Monday morning. This Monday afternoon Kathy Love’s letter to the editor in the Heral with questions for our congressman was a treat to read. Kathy is part of the Voters for Positive Action out of Rolla. She asks good questions. Champions appreciate Thomas Peters for sharing the McClurg Jam online as it happens. This Monday evening, we heard a rendition of “Monkey in a Dog Cart,” which was requested by Festus. Other tunes were “Tat’s Earl,” “Oyster Girl,” and “Down Home Waltz,” where we saw Ruby Adams and Stephen Assenmacher cutting the rug with gusto. Tom is writing a biography of Red Foley who wrote may good songs including “Too Old to Cut the Mustard.” Tom’s visits to Champion are always welcome.
             The pie supper to support the Vanzant Community Building is coming up on March 22nd. The doors will ope at 5 m for pulled pork and other good things and the auction will begin at 6p;m. Pie supper auctions have proven to be our communities’ favorite way to support our communities. The long history of goodness that has come out of that building is one that needs to carry on. We need a place to vote, to congregate, to celebrate, to come together to help each other, to make music and have fun. Vanzant–sister city to Champion–Looking on the Bright Side!

             The first daffodil booms began opening on the last day of February making Champions happy at the prospect of spring. Sunny days out in the garden lift spirits better than anything inside on screens possibly can. Honest hard work with our hands in the soil and good music in our heads is good medicine to stave off anxiousness, sadness, and worry about things over which we have no control. The Blum’s Farmers and Planters Almanac says that good days for starting seed beds will be the 7th, 8th, 17th, and 18th. That might be a good time to start some tomatoes and certainly a good time to plant pepper seeds. Deward’s granddaughter plans to grow a lot of peppers this year, but the Prominent Champion tells her not to bother because he will have a superabundance of them.
             It was an encouraging sight Wednesday afternoon up on Highway 76, just west of the old Coffman place, when an eagle in all its majesty soared away from the dead armadillo on the side of the road. Two of our favorite things are our beautiful bald eagles and dead armadillos. When we see an eagle, we often think of Marian Conradi who loved them, often including their pictures in her correspondence. Armadillos first moved into the United States in the 1850s from Mexico and finally made it into Missouri about forty years ago where they have been wreaking havoc on hay fields and yards. The Missouri Department of Conservation says it is okay to shoot them on your own property if they are causing damage.
             Skyline fifth grade student, Lotus Winter, had her birthday on March 1st. Fifth grader Ryanne Harvey and mandolin maven Dennis Shumate both celebrate on the 3rd of March. The birthday song was sung at the Vanzant Jam on Thursday in honor of Dennis and Ruth Collins who had her birthday back on February 24th. The 4th is for eighth grader Grace Rystad. Linda Heatherington and Krenna Long both around Norwood share their birthdays on the 5th with eighth grader Gabriel Castillo. Sue Murphy also plays the mandolin and sings with a strong clear voice. Her birthday is March 8th. In a chance encounter with her recently, she said she hopes to be back at the jam one of these days. Kay Dennis will party on the 9th. She enjoys a frequent swim over in Seymour. C.J. Castillo is a second grader with a birthday on March 11th. We remember Champion Geoff Metroplos and Cathy Odneal on March 12th. The were both farmers, hard-working people with lots of skills, both guitar players.  Geoff was a master at whatever he laid his hand to. Cathie was undaunted by mechanical tractor problems and worked them out herself. We remember L.R. Johnston on the 13th and miss him and his tenor banjo at the Vanzant Jam. He was a Champion who loved the old songs and passed that love along to more than one aspiring musician. Trinity Castillo, a sixth-grade student at Skyline has her birthday on the 13th. We celebrated our friends and families on their birthdays and remember dear ones who have passed on.
            Dawn Henson down in Houston, Texas says she thinks their winter is over. It was close to 80 degrees when she was writing. She and Hovey were sad to hear of the passing of Beverly Barnhart and of Gary Proctor and had hoped their condolences had been received. She also said that they were entertaining the idea of trying to make it to Mountain Grove in July for the reunion. She did not know if it would be possible. A favorite Champion musician, far across the wide ocean to the east, says to do what you can do now so you can do what you can do later on, or more eloquent words to that effect. We shall endeavor not to rule out possibilities while we continue to proceed with caution, consciousness, determination and empathy as Champions–Looking on the Bright Side!