Champion News

Tuesday evening’s rain had Champions reporting a half to two and a half inches on Wednesday, though one of those rain gauges may have been watered along with some nearby foliage.  Still, they were happy for every drop and grateful for the prospect of cooler temperatures.  Other talk around the table had to do with catastrophic farm accidents over the years with balers and brush-hogs.  Take care, dear farmers.  We need you.

Birthdays to celebrate on September 1st include those of Betty Thomas, who lived down on the Edge of the World at Yates.  She and her husband Dale hosted the Pioneer Descendants’ Gathering there on their farm on Bryant Creek for many years.  Larry Wrinkles, son of Esther and Clifford Wrinkles, grew up in Champion was part of an acclaimed gospel trio back in his school days in Champion.  Wilma Hutchison married Bud Hutchison in 1959.  She made sure all the riders had their horses lined up properly for their photograph at all of Bud’s Champion Trail Rides.  September 2nd is for Skyline third grader Luke Hall and the day we remember smiling banjo player Wayne Anderson.  He was part of a group that entertained at the Skyline Picnic back in 2007.  Find a video of that performance in the Music category at www.championnews.us.  Serenity Merryman is a seventh grader at Skyline sharing a birthday with Champion granddaughter Phoebe Ward.  Skyline prekindergarten student Brickton Housley celebrates on the 4th.  That was the birthday of Vernon Upshaw and is the birthday of his nephew Dailey and of Vanzant’s Patricia Harrison.  Skyline fourth grader Brayden D. Ellingsworth will party on September 5th.  Your Champion friends wish you all beautiful, happy birthdays.

Our friend Tom Peters said that on Friday evening there was another nice jam session at Beaver Creek Campground in Brownbranch, just down the hill from McClurg.  Monday had forty folks including twelve musicians at McClurg, which is designated as one of the twenty-five most secluded towns in southwest Missouri.  We look forward to securing a copy of his book “Ozark Jubilee Encyclopedia.”  We are also excited that our friend Kaitlyn McConnell’s pie recipe book may have gone to print.  We will need several copies in Champion.  We look forward to what she  has to say about her recent visit to Washington D.C. where there was a big Ozarks musical moment going on with the duo called Creek Rocks.  Music is good for us.  Plato viewed music as a “moral law” that could instill virtues and attune the soul to goodness.  It certainly enriches our lives.

President Grover Cleveland signed the law in 1894 that made Labor Day a federal holiday, recognizing American workers’ contributions to the Nation’s prosperity and well-being.  We have labor unions to thank for fair wages, good hours, and safe working conditions, among many other beneficial things like overtime, sick time, and holiday pay.   The holiday gives friends and kinfolks the chance to visit and they are most dearly welcome but are cautioned to be cautious with their city cars on our country roads.  Go slow and save your suspension system, your axels, tires, tail pipes and check books.  The pavement is beautiful.  Take that option if you can on the Saturday of the holiday weekend to enjoy the early noontime pot-luck luncheon Reunion of Champions—Looking on the Bright Side!