Champion News

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The ten who mounted up for Bud Hutchison’s Memorial Trail Ride in Champion on May 14th were expecting a warm, sunny 85-degree ride. Instead, they enjoyed a cool, cloudy day with no mishaps, no bad dogs or bears and ending with ice cream, Bob Wheeler’s treat. Pictured here in no particular order are trail boss Andrew Harden, Bob Wheeler, Dana Harden and Jeannie Kapraun, of Ava, Karen Brown and Juniper Wiltse of Norwood, Terre Redan from Ozark, Jennifer Wolf of Pontiac, Deb Grace-Sims from Edgar Springs, and Don Hamby from Dora. Several of them had ridden with Bud over the years, the others enjoyed their stories and made their own memories in Champion.

Some of the chats around the meeting room table in the Historic Emporium on Wednesday concerned the price of horseflesh and the preponderance of ticks. It seems that some palominos and bays are selling for more than a person could spend on a good used car. Then the talk shifted to the price of cars and trucks back in the 1960s and 70s. They were not at all prohibitively expensive and they were beautiful, maybe not as beautiful as some of those from the 50’s, but very nice. The Prominent Champion allowed as how he was flourishing during the Nixon administration. (1969-1974). The price of pigs was up and there was plenty of good paying work to be had. Someone said, “What we wouldn’t give to have Nixon back again!” It may be lamentable that the transgressions of the Nixonians came to light. The new bunch does not seem to care if their transgressions come to light since they are doing them in broad daylight and apparently there are no longer any consequences. Back to more pleasant subjects: the preponderance of ticks. Tick season in the Ozarks is approaching its peak with Lone Star ticks being particularly prevalent. Be careful.

The late Champion Bonnie Brixey Mullens was born on May 9, 1934, in Coldspring. She always enjoyed the Denlow School Reunion. She and many others will be remembered there on the 24th. This will be the 39th year for the gathering. The first year had an attendance of 300. In recent years the crowd has been much smaller with fewer alumni remaining from the Denlow and Fairview Schools. Still, those few, some of their descendants, family members and friends gather to remember the ‘good old days,’ to reconnect with each other and to carry forward the notion of community.

Mothers’ Day had all the preciousness required to acknowledge that each of us has a Mother. No one gets here without one. Give the old lady some credit and appreciation all year long. Some of the best Motherly advice ever given a child: “Act like you have good sense.”

Mothers’ Day on the 11th was also the birthday of Skyline first grader Wesley Boyd. We remember Candi Bartch on May 14th, a nurse and an aspiring fiddle player. Some of her favorite tunes were “Old Indiana” and “This World is Not My Home.” On the 16th we celebrate a young Champion, Hazel Wiltse. She will be four years old. She lives in downtown champion and frequently enjoys playing in Clever Creek. That is also the birthday of newcomer Karen Griswold and old-timer Alvie Dooms. Musician and noted luthier, Alvie has been being seen at the McClurg jam in some of Tom Peters’ videos on Facebook. This week Tom shared “Arkansas Two-Step,” “Doc Brown’s Dream,” “Fever River,” and “Brown County Breakdown.” There was a nice video of Randy Brummet on the banjo and one of the theme song from The Ozark Jubilee. Music is good medicine.

Gardening is good medicine too. Some old Champions with waning stamina long for a couple of rusty ankled old boys to come ambling up the road looking for work. There is plenty to be had. The best gardening days according to the almanacs are marked on the calendars, but weather and fortitude often determine when things get done.

Look for reports on Bud Hutchison’s Memorial Trail Ride next week. The riders will be crossing Clever Creek on Wednesday. Some local trail rides go through dense woods along river bottoms and up steep, rocky hills. This one is ‘just a road ride.’ The only perils may be yard dogs but much of the joy will be in connecting to the past along the old roads full of memories. Some of these riders rode with Bud. Others have just heard the old stories and are making their own memories along the old roads that end on the wide, wild, wooly banks of Old Fox Creek with ice cream in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

Skyline School Bus #4 students enjoy a Champion treat.

Wednesday a trio of the Champion Cowboy’s double cousins came ambling into the square looking for him but settling for the Prominent Champion who they mistook for his older brother. Corrine and Nadine from Hartville and Seymour, driven by Pam, daughter and niece, from Mountain Grove engaged in recollecting those glory schooldays when their East Dogwood baseball team soundly trounced the Champions right there in the sand lot now affectionately called the ‘square.’ They tarried a while, then went on about their outing.

Meanwhile, the Porch Pickers picked away practicing preferred pieces. More pleasant weather may well entice some real musicians to join in. Joann Lawrence has suggested that she may soon and will have a fiddle with her in the event some itinerant fiddler may appear. At the McClurg Jam there was “Peace in the Valley” as the “Lost Indian” and “Old Melinda” enjoyed the “Shannon Waltz” then had some “Squirrel Heads and Gravy” singing the “Milk Cow Blues.” We have Tom to thank for sharing another Monday evening with the rest of us.

Mayday! The first day of May featured our Skyline R2 School’s awards program in the afternoon and the kindergarten and eight grade graduation ceremony in the evening. Staff members are to be commended for creating such a special time for students and their loved ones. The last day of school had all the students on Angela McKay’s Skyline Bus #4 posing for a group picture (with ice cream) on the steps of The Champion Store—a great start to a great summer. Skyline’s summer school will be well underway before this gets to ink.

The last week of school was staff appreciation week. The Facebook post said, “Our teachers/special education coordinator/aides work hard every day to not only educate their students, but to make each one feel valued. Our superintendent always makes time to balance administrative duties with listening to students and staff. Our counselor is an important resource for our students. Our librarian is generous with her time that she gives to our students. Our office staff keeps things running smoothly. Our cook staff provides tasty meals for everyone, including the student favorite, biscuits and gravy. Our maintenance/custodial staff are always working to keep our school safe and clean. Our bus drivers have the tremendous task of safely getting our students to and from school. We truly have a fantastic group of people at our school!”

May the fourth be with you! The Star Wars’ reference for good luck precedes the Cinco de Mayo celebration of the Mexican victory over the French in the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Around that time important battles were being fought around these parts, among them Wilson’s Creek in 1861, and the Battle of Clark’s Mill 1862. These days the general atmosphere around the country seems sort of contentious again, but Champions hope for sanity and civility and humor. They say not to judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes. Then they say not to worry about him, because he’s a mile away and you’re wearing his shoes.

The General informs us that “The 39th annual Denlow school reunion combined with the umpteenth bi-annual/annual Fairview school reunion will be on 24 May 2025 at the Denlow church and cemetery. Ed Williams will prepare his specialties (including fresh/recent road kills). Attendees are requested to bring a side dish or dessert. Coffee, water, and soft drinks will be provided. There will be an auction if any family heirlooms, treasures, or pet rocks, useful/unuseful items are donated for this event. I would like for all former students and/or their descendants to attend.”

Good things coming up sooner include the Second Saturday Skyline Swap Meet on Saturday the 10th. By order of Woodrow Wilson in 1909, the second Sunday in May became a holiday in honor of “that tender, gentle army, the mothers of America.” Wednesday the 14th will have equestrians from near and far enjoying ice cream on the wide veranda as part of the fun of Bud Hutchison’s Memorial Trail Ride out of and then back into Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

Vietnam Veteran Sargent Gary Lee Proctor passed away back in January. On the occasion of his 75th birthday, Saturday April 26th, he was given full Military Honors in his family resting place, the Denlow Cemetery. The American Legion Honor Guard provided the 21-gun salute and the bugle Taps, and two young Airmen from Whiteman Airforce Base conducted a beautiful and solemn flag ceremony. As an Avionics Branch test equipment monitor for the CIA Ravens in Thailand, Gary was described by his superiors as “an extremely talented young technician showing extraordinary technical abilities contributing directly to the extremely high reliability of the operation.” Back here he was just known as a great electronics and television technician and a good friend who loved to hunt and fish.

Skyline fourth grader Holden Johnson will have his birthday on May 1st just before the last days of school. Dovie Dooms and Brenda Lee Mastin have both been out of school for a while, but they share a birthday on May 2nd. Springfield Champion Linda Heffern celebrates on May 6th. Kenneth Anderson comes to the Vanzant Jam and will have that birthday song sung to him there on May 8th. That is also the big day for Susan Klepac, a generous supporter of The Champion News and for Shirley Crouch and second grader Dahlia Winter. Happy Birthday all you charming May flowers.

Helen Batten reminds us of the Second Saturday Skyline Swap Meet coming up on May 10th. From 8 a.m. to noon at the corner of 76 and C in the Brushy Knob Church parking lot you can find chickens, rabbits, goats, garden plants, crafts, whirly gigs, baked goods and bird houses. She says she will have some walnut kernels, and some folks will set up yard sale tables. This is the second year for this spring and summer event. Thanks, Helen, for getting it going again.

This week we thank Tom Peters for sharing the McClurg Jam, “Waiting for a Train,” “Boys Around the World,” “The Beaus of Oak Hill,” “Oh Danny Boy,” “Rocky Road to Jordan” and others. The first Wednesday Porch Jam of the new year has happened out on the Wide Veranda. It is about time. The Square was busy with MO Dot crews in their big trucks and fancy equipment stopping in for lunch. They have been working on WW Highway.

Kaitlyn McConnell drove through the construction to sit a spell on the porch. She had been to Ava interviewing an octogenarian and thought about other old folks out on the Bright Side. Somehow, she had missed the whole episode of Fred the Firefighter and his “baaaaaaad” attitude toward firefighting as was reported on a number of local television stations and even some as far away as Joplin. Fred was the handsome goat who accompanied the Skyline VFW Fire Chief for hours as he and many others struggled to control the biggest fire Douglas County had ever seen. An epic poem by a local Champion who also executed a dramatic reading thereof detailed the hours of hard work and dedication by firefighters and Fred alike. Kaitlyn was surprised that she was already well acquainted with Skyline’s Fire Chief and more so to learn that the recipe for the raisin walnut pie she brought to share was one Vergie Smith, the Fire Chief’s aunt, had shared in an old Skyline VFD Cookbook. The recipe will be included in the Ozark Pie Project cookbook that Kaitlyn is putting together. This pie was called “Champion Raisin Pie” and was thought to have acquired its name from the popular brand of raisins. It turns out that three brothers started growing raisins. They got good at it and decided to put them in little boxes and pouches and share them with the world. Fifty years later the second and third generation family members still continue to grow what the three brothers started there on their small farm in California. Ernest, Krikor and Kenny served as owners, operators, managers and laborers. With help from family, friends, and their loyal ranch dog Ruby, they were able to grow that small farm into something much bigger–like Champions—Looking on the Bright Side!