The second Saturday Skyline swap meet was the next to the last one, that is to say there will be another one, the last one, on the second Saturday of September, September 8th. This Saturday the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department had a prominent display of firefighting gear there and added some newcomers to the membership. Dues help cover the expense of operating this vital outfit. Those first responders do not just fight fires, they work car wrecks, floods, any kind of catastrophe as well as health emergencies among the membership. Hopes are that some young folks (a subjective term) among the newcomers to the area will join the diminishing ranks of the aging volunteers. We need you and thank you in advance.

Sunday found old Champions standing out in the heat watching the beautiful billowing clouds, moisture laden and dark in spots, swirling about, listening to the thunder rumbling from all directions, longing for a drop in the temperature and drops of rain. Gardens three miles away may well have been drenched. J.C. Owsley had an inch in his rain gauge up in Cross Timbers. Most likely folks in Ava, Sweden, Norwood, Mountain Grove and Vanzant got a few drops while we parch out here on the Bright Side. Alas. We are reminded that there is no amount of money, oil, or gold that is worth more than having bees, trees, and clean water. Master gardener, herbalist, and master chief Edie Richardson tells us that Lee’s Bees are doing well. It’s about time to harvest and his new hive is thriving. Lee is a luthier as well and has helped our Skyliners with their music making.

Monday at McClurg featured a dozen musicians and twice that many enjoying the music and the community. “Little Liza Jane,” “Rattlesnake,” and “Red Wing,” “ Snowshoes,” “Horse and Buggy-O” and “Treasures Untold” were just some of the great tunes coming out of that little building that help us keep our spirits up. Music is a gift of joy, sweetness, sadness, hope, defiance and tranquility. We especially like the tranquility. Peace is not when everyone agrees. It is when we can respect our disagreements and still play in the sandbox together or play music together. A prominent economist and historian said, “Some things are believed because they are demonstrably true, but many other thigs are believed simply because they have been asserted repeatedly and repetition has been accepted as a substitute for evidence.” Charlie Chaplin said, “You need power only when you want to do something harmful, otherwise love is enough to get everything done.” We love music and music makers. We will also love to see Bobby Emery out this way on his road grader. “Don’t that road look rough and rocky?”

The Back to School Bash at our Skyline R-2 School was a great way to start the week. The first day of school will be on the 19th. Teahna Krider Oglesby is a Skyline alumnus with a birthday on August 22nd. The 23rd is for her nephew Drayson Cline over in Tennessee and for Skyline second grade teacher Carolyn Willhite. Dakota Watts, another Champion grandson, parties on the 24th. Barbara Krider, up in Illinois, shares the 25th with Lauren Collins, a seventh grade Skyline student. The 26th is for Reta Krider, also up in Illinois, and for Seneca Parsons, father of Felix the Farmer. Mia Trujillo, a third grader at Skyline, celebrates on the 27th. The 29th is the big day for seventh grader Brantley Kilgore, second grader Chaseton Shelton and sixth grader Jason Smith as well as for Wes (Bill) Smith and Mini Jo Henson, who lives up in Springfield, but is a Champion at heart. We remember Laine Sutherland on the 30th. Education was important to her. She worked as a curator for several universities and had wonderful stories to tell about her Champion ancestors. Kalyssa Wiseman, Champion granddaughter, and Jenna Brixey, dairy farmer and Norwood High School’s FFA President, share August 31st for their birthdays. We celebrate you all and wish you happy days.

Champions expect a happy day on the 30th. That is the Saturday of the Labor Day Weekend when the old timers and newcomers come together to celebrate Champion. It started as The Champion School Reunion years ago and has recently become The Champion Reunion. It is a potluck luncheon held in the air-conditioned comfort of the Historic Emporium on the north side of the Square. Everyone is welcome in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

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