Champion News

Kirby Clark played the National Anthem on the fiddle as the American Legion post 30 Honor Guard presented the colors at the Up‘n At’t 4H picnic. We have to thank Pete (Lyman) Proctor, Doug Larabee, Phyllis Long, Billy Lee, and Francis Marler for their service and for their civic service providing this important ceremony. The wonderful music, fun and games and lots of good food make this a great affair. Seeing folks that you haven’t seen since this picnic last year is the icing on the cake.

We remember Elitta January on her birthday, August 1st. She passed away in 2011 but is often remembered for her kindness as a hospice nurse and remembered well by many friends and especially by her bridge friends who knew her to be a fierce and fun-loving competitor. Champion grandson, Seamus Heffern celebrates on August 2, and the 3rd is for sparky Clark Shannon and for a guy Gary Jones called “RD” who was said to have been 66 in 2018. We will be voting on August 4th. Be sure and thank the poll workers. They put in a long day. Genesis Castillo will be a fifth grader at Skyline this year. Her birthday is August 5th and the 6th is for seventh grader Jaxton Harley. Whetstone Band’s own Gina Hollingshad and Ron Shot of the award-winning Wright County Journal also celebrate on the 6th. Joy’s friend Michael Morris has a birthday on the 7th and Champion Roger Wiseman enjoys the 8th. Lynette Cantrell may strum her mandolin and sing on her birthday August 9th. Birthdays mark milestones and give us good reasons to acknowledge and celebrate family and friends. We are alert to the swift passage of time.

Good advice we remember from an Old Champion concerning the air conditioner in the truck or car. When you get where you are going, turn the ac off before you turn the key off. Every time. He said it was hard on a rig to start the engine up with the air-conditioned on or that it would reduce the life of the ac or something. He also said it is not good to have a lot of heavy stuff on the key ring. He said it was hard on the ignition. The heat is hard on everyone. We are grateful for air conditioning and for good advice. Feel free to address any good news or sound advice to The Champion News Rt. 72 Box 367 Norwood, MO 65717. Some good news is that Sarah and Andrew Harden are now somebody’s mother-in-law and father-in-law. Some good advice out of that family is “Turn something annoying into a blessing reminder.” Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

Among the birthdays we have neglected are those of Woody Guthrie and Sharry Lovan, both extraordinary musicians. Guthrie was born July 14, 1912, the year the Titanic sank and on the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in France in 1790. He is considered one of the most significant figures in American folk music. Sharry’s birthday is July 19th and in addition to being an extraordinary cook and fearless motorcycle rider, she is part of Stringed Union, the local band involved in good works all over this part of the world. Every year they come to our Skyline School to introduce students to the various instruments and to perpetuate the love of music. The 19th is also the birthday of Ethan Alexander and Champion Zee Heffern a couple of interesting young men. We use birthdays to celebrate and to be celebrated.

Years have passed without hearing from self-proclaimed Champion, Eulalia Jasmin. Older now, she writes to The Champion News and some of her observations are close to the ground. Turtles. She says she is saddened to know that barbaric turtle races are still going on in country fairs and picnics. The box turtle is the official state reptile of Missouri and can live as long as 50 years. The Conservation Department says many box turtles are captured by people and taken home to be kept as pets. “Such captive conditions are in direct conflict with the biological needs of these turtles; they may slowly starve to death or grow abnormal shells, claws, and jaws if not maintained and cared for correctly.” They should not be kept in captivity. Their shells are living; a porous tissue filled with blood vessels and nerve endings. “Don’t paint them,” Eulalia says because paint toxins seep directly into their bloodstream. Thousands of box turtles are killed annually while crossing roads and highways. If you want to assist a turtle, move it in the direction it was going. “And leave them alone,” she says. “Certainly, don’t soak them in coffee and send them out to race for your folly.” Eulalia is pretty wound up over this issue. She says our box turtles are to be admired by humans for their symbolic characteristics of slow, steady progress, longevity and resilience. As reptiles go, she says they are Champions. Her mail never has a return address on it, but she claims to be a Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

Just for the fun of it, here is another of her letters from July 23, 2020.

“What a wonderful time to be living!” extols Eulalia Jasmin in her recent letter to The Champion News at Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717. She says the current upheaval of the whole world gives us a chance to recalibrate, to reorganize, to rebuild in a better way. She is excited to be alive right now and hopes she will live long enough to see an improved world. Her return address is always a mystery. Use the search engine on the www.championnnews.us website to see her observations, advice and council over the years. Wherever she is, she says she considers Champion her home, though we do not know if she has ever been here. “A line from my friends is like balm to my soul,” said Thomas Jefferson to Nathaniel Macon in November of 1821. A handwritten letter is always welcome. The USPS is a necessary institution for grandparents marooned from the smartest, most talented, best looking children in the world. Businessman, Louis DeJoy, heads up the outfit now. Postal patrons hope he will use his 35 years of business experience in reverse, as his expertise heretofore has been in labor analytics—the art of eliminating as many jobs as possible. Those voting by mail because of COVID-19 did not have to have their absentee ballots notarized, but they had to arrive at the court house by the 23rd. (You can still vote absentee by going to the court house up until August 4th.) The system that has been trusted with our Social Security checks, our medications, and letters from grandchildren should be able to handle the National Election, if left unimpeded. Maybe Mr. DeJoy will join Ms. DeVos on one of her yachts and they can sail off into the sunset and have some kind of redemptive adventure before they incuriously reach the edge.

The 60th annual Vanzant Community Picnic has garnered rave reviews on all fronts. Nigh on to a thousand people spent a couple of evenings together exemplifying true community. That number includes a small army of firefighters and their families from the Eastern Douglas County Volunteer Fire Department and all the surrounding volunteer fire departments—Skyline, Squires, Brixey Rockbridge. They did all the hard work that let the rest of us have a good time. Roy Crouch could be seen everywhere riding loose herd on the whole wonderful event. He emphasizes the crucial role of the sponsors: ZZ Insurance, Farmers Ag, Vanzant Baptist Church, Wright County Land Services, Grove Portable Buildings, Jason Macpherson, Stockmens Bank, Feld Fire and others. The American Legion Post presented the colors both evenings. Along with all the games, bingo, cake walk and excellent picnic food, other attractions included The Butterfield Stagecoach, the Blood Mobile and the Quilt Show. The music line-up was superb, as usual, and the fireworks at the end of the evening rivaled any to be seen anywhere in this part of the country. A favorite venerable Old Champion often said, “When things are good, say so.” It was good. It is good to catch up with friends who only see each other at this event year after year.

John Webber has a grandson named Thomas who lives way out west somewhere. His grandpa’s birthday is on July 25th. Wade Day was at the picnic and his birthday is July 27th. Reba Bishop and Skyline fifth grader Joey White share a birthday on the 28th. The 29th is for Karen Ross, who cheerfully delivered our mail for years in Champion, and for Skyline School’s amazing music teacher Cheyenne MacIntosh. If you have an extra ukulele lying about, Cheyenne can put it to good use. Last year Warren Appling was a prekindergarten student at Skyline and Rayven Castillo was a first grader. They share a birthday on July 30th.

More concerning what is good: A gentleman (one who can play the accordion but doesn’t) happened to have an air compressor handy to assist a neighbor with a flat tire. A good neighbor is a treasure, and the wide veranda was full of them on Wednesday. They visited and shared news about family members far and near and about local fairs and livestock shows, about gardens and history. Friday brought another Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

Dear old friends and kind good neighbors joined the family members who had come on long journeys from the four directions. They came to Veracruz on the first of July to honor the Old Champion on his birthday. He liked a good party. The crowd gathered under the big shade trees, getting acquainted with each other and telling their stories about an Old Guy who taught them a variety of valuable things over the many years. They splashed in the cold creek and feasted on an amazing spread of picnic food. They talked and laughed sharing their memories and they knew for certain that he would have approved of being remembered in such a loving way on what would have been his 87th birthday.

The General tells us there will be no Vanzant Jam on July 9th, because the 60th annual Vanzant Community Picnic will start on Friday, July 10th. It will go on from 6:00 to 10:00 pm on Friday and Saturday with fireworks at 9:30 on Saturday night. There will be games for all ages, lots of great food and music, music, music. The Eastern Douglas County Volunteer Fire Department sponsors this annual event that draws all our little communities together. See you there.

A regular visitor to Champion over the years, Sophia Zappler of Austin, Texas will celebrate her birthday on July 13th. The 15th is the big day for Champion Blaine Denlow Woods (BD), a barrel racing cowgirl, a t-ball player and a good singer. She will be in the first grade at Skyline this year. Sarah Harden enjoyed her birthday on July 1st and her husband, Andrew the trail blazer, will have his on the 17th. The 18th is for Champion daughter Janet Hazzard over in Georgia and for Skyline third grader Eli Johnstone. Nathaniel Kolterman-Young, a fifth grader, celebrates on the 21st, and Doug Larabee, a Veteran who serves in the American Legion Honor Guard, will celebrate on the 22nd. One fellow said he enjoys his un-birthdays more because there are so many more of them. Another fellow said that courage is knowing it might hurt and doing it anyway. The same is true he says for stupidity and that is why life is so hard. “Life gets tedious, don’t it?” Maybe so, but we stay grateful and optimistic in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!