A Champion Wednesday had Paul and Sherry McIntosh celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on the Bright Side. They were in the company of a bright-eyed grandson who knows “Itsy, Bitsy Spider” but was not ready to sing it. Maybe his grandmother, who is a talented singer from a family of singers, can persuade him. She is one of four sisters whose past harmonies together are legendary. June is a good month for anniversaries. Cowgirl Blaine of the Wolf Pen Hollow Cow Farm helped her folks celebrate their 12th year wedding anniversary on the 28th. They celebrated with funny music like when Earnest T. Bass serenaded Charlene Darling.

Kaitlyn McConnell was on her way to read to kids at the Ava Library Wednesday and stopped in to visit her Champion friends. She gets all over the Ozarks so she probably knows what makes Bentonville, Arkansas such an attractive place that it could possibly lure a lifelong Champion away. Kaitlyn gets over to McClurg pretty often, lured by the music and the community it creates. Thirty-six musicians and aficionados came Monday. They were grateful not to have suffered any damage from the weekend storms. It was good to see Gordon McCann there playing along on “Fort Smith.” Alvie Dooms was seen in the crowd enjoying Emily Garoutte-Boldman playing lead fiddle on “Peacock Rag.” Another lively tune was “I Don’t Love Nobody,” but clearly Tom’s video shows everyone there was loving being there. Thanks, Tom.

Sarah Harden has her birthday on July 1st and Erica Sudderth has hers on July 2nd. They are important parts of our Skyline School staff. Virginia Canada with Denlow connections is from Moline, Illinois. Her birthday is on the 5th. The 6th of July is a big day for Janet Burns down in Arkansas, for Robert Brown who was 79 in 2019, for Champion grandson Kruz Kutz, for Hunter Hall who is now ready for the 9th grade, and for the Dali Lama. It is also the day we remember Walter Darrel Haden born July 6, 1931. He left us with some good stories about this part of the world and “All the Late News from the Courthouse.” Skyline student Landon Simon will party on July 9th. And Sonny Reed and Lily Trujillo will both celebrate on July 10th. Find happiness on your birthdays enjoying the love of your friends and families.

Black-eyed Susans, butterfly milkweed, Queen Anne’s Lace and other vibrant roadside attractions make any local excursion worth it provided the torrential rainfall will allow. We remember to turn the lights on any time the windshield wipers are on. During those few days between deluges haymakers were busy getting it done. On Wednesday in the air-conditioned meeting room local farmers engaged in much grumbling about broken equipment—waiting and waiting for repairs, waiting for parts. An ignoramus who does not know a tedder from a teeter totter asked why they do not have all that equipment worked on in the wintertime. Everything was running like a sewing machine by the end of the season when they put the equipment away. Those hundreds of bales strewn out over the fields is a beautiful sight all over the country. Farmers feed the nation. Thanks.

As we are gearing up to celebrate Independence Day, we learn that the only Nations in history to capture the American flag in battle were the Lakota, Dakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in the Battle of Little Bighorn, June 25-26, 1876. History is rich with good lessons for the future.

Other random information gleaned this week includes the word “swims” upside-down is still “swims” and July 2nd at noon marks the exact halfway point of the year–182 days on either side. We have every expectation that the second half of the year will be better in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

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