Significant warm Wednesday weather had the Sometimes Porch Band jamming inside the Historic Emporium where the air conditioning cooled. School girls joined The General in a sweet rendition of “I Saw the Master This Morning when he came down to wake up the world.” Once a city girl, now a country girl, young Olyvia recently moved into the stone house up on lovely Valery Lane. Olyvia sang along sweetly on “Itzy Bitsy Spider” and “Twinkle Twinkle.” She will be in the first grade at Skyline this year and is looking forward to making friends.

Kaitlyn McConnell

Kaitlyn McConnell’s blue-ribbon winning pie at the Ozark Empire Fair was a raisin and black walnut pie. She said the recipe “comes from Champion, Missouri, that little hamlet in Douglas County about which I often share and is close to my heart. I found this recipe while looking through cookbooks on the porch of the community’s rural store. It was shared by Vergie Smith for that cookbook, which was published by the nearby Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department in the 1980s.” Her Champion friends are looking forward to the release of her own pie ‘cookbook and diary.’ We can tune in to KSMU at 7:30 am on August 13th to hear her “Notable MO-ments” where she tells stories about this part of the world. The program is on every second Wednesday morning of the month. We mark it on our calendars.

Head, Heart, Hands and Health are the 4 Hs that the club celebrates. Teri Woods Walden said, “Each year the Up ‘n At It 4-H Club has a rural picnic/festival fundraiser which has been held for the past 70 years, once a year. There are no towns anywhere close to this picnic, just lots of fields, cows, a few churches and cemeteries. For a small square in a field, it has contained much history for us. My great grandma was crowned picnic queen there. My mom twirled her baton on stage. My dad first asked my mom out on the south side edge of the light there.” It is a valued annual family affair for many local families going back generations every year on the last full weekend in July.

August 1st has us remembering Elitta January on her birthday. We miss her around the bridge table and in all the good works she was a part of. Champion grandson Seamus Heffern celebrates on the 2nd and Clark Shannon (Sparky) was 66 on August 3rd, 2018. Skyline student Genesis Castillo has a birthday on the 5th and Skyliner Jaxton Harley will share his birthday on the 6th with LaVonne Carter who will be celebrated that day in the Ava Place. Dora’s own Gina Hollingshad will also have her party on the 6th, but most likely the Vanzant bunch will sing to her on the 7th at the jam. Roger Wiseman will enjoy the 8th, and Lynette Cantrell will have the 9th for her big day. She jams with her mandolin and friends out on the Mountain Grove square on Monday evenings.

Tom shared some great tunes made by the 13 musicians at the McClurg jam. “Wolves a-Howlin” at a “Flock of Birds” and “That’s Earl” headed to “Home Sweet Home” on a “Flop Eared Mule.” Tom said the potluck is lovely this time of the year with all the fresh garden produce. Good food and good music go together in a good community. Thanks, Tom.

Someone on the Savannah Banana baseball team said, “You miss every shot you don’t take.” An old Scottish Proverb: “Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time dead.” In stressful times, or any time, it serves us well to think of all the things that make us happy, all the things that inspire gratitude. We find happiness in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

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