Genealogy, a hot topic in Champion, had The General and The Prominent Champion at odds. They are kin several times ‘removed,’ but both were still there on Wednesday. Idaho sojourners, Darcy (Upshaw) and Ron Cecil, bunking temporarily at The Chateau in downtown Vanzant, figure significantly into the family. They are in town to visit family and to attend the Denlow School Reunion. Big rains and power outages altered the gathering but by no means cancelled it. The pavilion, turned kitchen and dining hall, saw thirty-five alumni, descendants, family and friends enjoying good food, each other, and sweet memories. They came from all around Missouri, from Oklahoma, Tennessee, Kansas and Idaho with reports of folks back home and remembrances of these beautiful hills and hollows in the days of their youth. Logistics interfered with an auction, but not with the laughter. Surely the weather will be better next year for the big 40th Denlow-Fairview School Reunion to be held in the same sweet spot.

Worldly possessions can pose a burden on heirs uninterested in the old folks’ stuff. We may spend the first half of our lives accumulating things and the last little portion trying to get rid of them. People who have lost everything in house fires lament most the loss of family photos. Names and dates written on the back keep them from being mysteries to heirs if they survive to be passed along. Darcy Cecil works for a big auction outfit in Boise, Idaho. She has stories. Among many other things, an Upshaw anvil will go on the block over in Mt. Grove on Saturday the 14th, part of the Vernon and Elgin Upshaw estate.

Somewhere on the White River Electric Co-Op line, a tree fell across the line and the creek was so high thereabouts the linemen were unable to get to it until the water receded. The power was just out from eight in the morning until five or so in the evening. During that time with no lights, telephones, television, or internet, while filling the oil lamps in anticipation of a long dark night, thoughts came of the many across the world without these luxuries because they have been disrupted by natural catastrophes or war or lack of development. A small inconvenience that many live with continually sparks a little compassion.

The month is called May because it may rain, it may be 70 degrees or 30 degrees, it may snow, there may be hail and tornadoes. By the time this is in ink, perhaps the rain will have stopped, and neighbors will compare tallies as things may begin to dry up. It is said that one can recover from dehydration, but not from drowning. Water is a powerful force. Highways 95 and 76 were strewn with debris following Friday’s big hailstorm that cut a narrow path through the area. Downtown Champion was spared, but farmers and gardeners north and east were pummeled. A dairy farmer said his hay field looked like a brush hog had been over it. Gardeners up on Cold Springs Road had potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and beans broken and beaten down. It is early in the season so there will be time to replant some things. The almanacs indicate that the 28th and 29th will be good for planting crops that have their yield above ground. The thought that everything will recover and will be ok again is one that gardeners and concerned citizens cling to when it seems that reason itself has tripped over a turnip and perished.

Tom was pleased to report 36 at the McClurg Jam Monday, with 10 percent of them in his own blood line. Some of the uplifting, toe tapping tunes included “Kennedy Rag” and “Last Train Home.” Alvie Dooms was seen in the audience enjoying Jimmy Rogers’ “Hobo’s Lament,” sung by Dawn Larson. Music is such a gift, like medicine. It inspires, encourages, uplifts, comforts and consoles in all its many forms.

Help! We are in a palindrome! That is when the date reads the same backwards and forwards as in 5-25-25. We had to look that word up. Other interesting things to look up are “Hanlon’s Razor” (Hanlon’s razor, also known as Hanlon’s principle, is a rule of thumb that encourages people to consider the most likely explanations for actions, favoring incompetence, ignorance, or mistakes over malice. It essentially states: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”), and the term “Cockwomble” (according to the Urban Dictionary, ‘Cockwomble’ is derogatory British slang for a person, usually male, who is prone to making outrageously stupid statements and/or inappropriate behavior while having a very high opinion of their own wisdom and importance). Looking up the history of Memorial Day and its beginning as Decoration Day we find the 1868 quote of Union Army Maj. Gen. John A. Logan: “Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of free and undivided republic.” We remember in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

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