Champion News

CHAMPION—September 20, 2010

        Champions are in the charming situation of living in a place that other people admire.  One of the Champions at the recent School Reunion was heard to say, “I spent twenty years trying to get out of Champion and the next forty trying to get back.”  It seems that Champion is what a lot of people think of as idyllic…charmingly simple in its pastoral scenes.  First time visitors to Champion are captivated.  To them nothing seems ‘different’ because they have no history with the place.  Still, they find it lovely.  It was interesting to see how the wagon train felt about the Champion changes.  Mostly it was just done with smiles and sweet old stories about Ed Henson in the Old Store.  Good inspection of the construction site by many netted approval in that it is entirely sturdy and built with much local lumber, milled with an appreciation for how well the last building made of local materials held up in that spot.  The porch will tie it all together and it looks formidable!

        Champions’ own Harley and Barbara will be in town for a spell…always too short a spell and always welcome.  Before they leave, the porch will be on the Replica of the Historic Emporium and patrons will be looking to vacate the now comfortable Loafing Shed for the more prominent spot on the porch.  “All the word’s a stage!”  Moreover, as the official Reviewing Stand, all Champion Parades will perforce be routed down the Broad Expanse of Lonnie Krider Way from West to East or from East to West.  Either way spectators from the porch will have a perfect view!  Champion.

        Ethel McCallie did not make it over to Champion during her stay in the area.  The Haden Family Reunion in Ava was her destination and it must have held her interest so well that she could not break away.  Champions hope she had a good time and that she will get back this way soon.  Champion’s friend, Darrell Haden, has been much in Champion thoughts lately, with best wishes and fond remembrances.  The approach of Fall brings the Headless Cobbler to mind.

        A Champion friend from Vera Cruz made that trip over to Branson on the 11th to the White River Valley Electric Co-Op gathering and found it to have been a good experience.  She had questions concerning solar power and ways to determine high usage times so that she could arrange certain of her activities during times that are not peak usage hours.  Champion kinds of cooperation are always coming to light!

        Autumn begins on Wednesday, though there may still be some nice summertime weather.  Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood says that root crops can be planted on the 27th and 28th.  It might be time to start thinking about putting in some spring bulbs.  There might still be time for some beets and turnips!  Everybody will be looking for Lem and Ned to come clean up the garden when it is finished.  Some old Champions say that this is going to be the year when they don’t just let the garden go for the winter.  Those old people will need some help.  Sometimes talking about gardening is as much fun as doing it.  Now that Linda and Charlene have such a comfortable and warm space it looks like some card games and extrapolated visiting will take place in that bright place with all the lights and windows.  Arlene Cooley is still talking about Charlene’s painted bird house that was her door prize at the Champion School Reunion.

        An e-mail came from Pete Proctor with a link to the story of the POW/MIA Color Ceremony and Missing Man Table.  “The sun was shining bright as the Comrades, Sisters and guests gathered on the Mountain Grove Public Square before 9:00 a.m. on Friday, September 17, 2010 for the POW/MIA Awareness Day Color Ceremony.  There were twelve Comrades of Mountain Grove VFW Post 3770, six Sisters of the Ladies Auxiliary and fifteen guests attending the event.”  There are pictures and much more information at POW/MIA Color Ceremony.  Look for a new Link to the VFW Post 3770 website in the Links Category at www.championnews.us.  Look for any opportunity to express Love and Gratitude to those serving Our Nation in and out of uniform.  They are Champions and they have it coming.

        Champion Elmer Banks had a birthday on Wednesday, the 15th.  He was just so happy to have made it another year he forgot to tell his age!  He really enjoyed the wagon train and meeting some newcomers to the area.  There are a number of people with birthdays coming up.  Louise Hutchison celebrates on the 21st of September as does Miss Zoey Louise and Penelope Zappler, both of Austin, TX.  Champion Rebecca Heston (winning bidder on the July Mascot Monkey of the Month for the benefit of the Skyline VFD Fire Truck fund) will celebrate on the 29th.  Skyline Auxiliary President, Betty Dye, will celebrate on the 7th.  Taegan Rae Krider’s old man will have a birthday on the 14th of October.  He had a good time at the wagon train particularly teasing Jackie Coonts about what a ferociously ugly horse he has.  His point was that Jackie seems to think it is a beautiful horse.  He puts a lot of time in the saddle, so he should know.  Donna Moskaly up on C highway will have a birthday on the 20th and many will remember Ana Henson’s birthday on the 21st.  Ana’s sister-in-law, Ms. Maxine Grote, was in Champion for the School Reunion.  Then Harley Krider will have his birthday on the 26th and will once again be older than his contemporaries.  He is such a sport!  “Quite a golfer,” they say.  One Champion will leave home on the day Harley arrives and will stay away from her favorite place in the world until he is gone again.  It is not at all intentional—just a coincidence and so all the teasing that could have resulted from having heard Hovey and that crowd talk about Champion boyhood days will have gone for naught.  Champions always feel like there is plenty of time for that kind of fun.

        “You can’t jump across a chasm in two leaps.”  That is a Champion Thought.  Think up such a thing as that and send it to Champion Items and Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or to Champion News.  Sing the second and third verses to the Happy Birthday Song out in the Loafing Shed to anyone who will sit still for it.  When the porch gets into regular use by the public, there may be some rules of decorum to observe.  For now, however, it is Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!