Champion News

CHAMPION—June 9, 2008

        When the excitement reaches a fevered pitch in Champion, Champions just let out a little sigh and think about those blissful quiet days when nothing much happens at all.  Those kinds of days will be rolling around again soon enough and in the meantime enjoying the here and now is one of the very definitions of a Champion.  It is the mark of an exceptional person who knows when things are good and acknowledges it at the very moment.  It is kind of sad to think, “we were so happy back then and didn’t know it.”  Sometimes people can even get so caught up in taking pictures that they let the real beauty of the moment slide by.  If a person forgets to take his camera to the creek, then he doesn’t have to worry about dropping it in the water, or losing it, and he just has to rely on his memory to replay the joys of the day the way people always have.

        Imagine the General wearing a kilt and leading a bridal procession through Champion while playing an accordion.  That is reported to be his current plan!  He is so excited about the upcoming wedding of his niece that he is about to drive family and friends to distraction!  The hope is that his antics will not prove so extreme that the attention is taken from the lovely bride.  She is the very portrait of calm repose.  No roguery however avuncular will rumple her placid poise.  The bridegroom, however, is apt to be adversely influenced by her Illinois uncle who attributes his own long-term marital successes to having worn white sox to his wedding.  He indicates that just wearing them is not enough.  They must figure significantly in the wedding pictures.  Some of the groom’s kin may show up armed for a little pre-nuptial coyote hunting and, as is the case with any large gathering, the unknowns are rife with possibility.  It will be a day to remember, one full of promise and optimism colored overall with the love and good wishes of family and friends.

        Linda’s granddaughter, Danielle, from Kansas City has been over in Norwood tending the store for her Grandmother.  While Linda has been busy working with the plants and helping people find things, Danielle and her distant cousin have been minding the shop, waiting on customers and keeping things orderly.  It is a rare situation that is not improved significantly by the presence of a granddaughter or great niece.  This week Linda’s almanac says that the 13^th to the 15^th will be favorable for planting peas, beans, tomatoes and other fall crops bearing aboveground.  Sow grains and forage crops.  Plant flowers.  The 16^th and 17^th will be extra good for planting fall lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, collards and other leafy vegetables.  All above ground crops planted now will do well.  Plant seedbeds also.  It is nice to have such a long period of time when conditions are just right for a favorite activity.  If the weather will cooperate, Champions will have to tell everybody how good the gardening has been.  It is a luxury to be able to wait for the weather to be good to do what one wants to do.  Farmers have things that have to be done no matter what the weather.  Then there are so many things in agriculture that are weather dependent like cutting hay.  There are so many berries on the black berry bushes that people are holding their breath in hopes of getting just the right rain.  This may be the blackberry crop of the century in Champion.  Young visitors were too early for a lot of the berries that will be ripening in these parts, but they harvested a variety of other things including some yearling ticks.  Sophia and Penelope are back in Texas now with just a little itching to remind them of the good times on the farm.

        Some have only blooms, while some have real tomatoes.  The rules for the First Ripe Tomato in Champion Contest are simple:  The tomato must have been grown in Champion; must be shared with judges (anyone present at Henson’s Store) and ideally will have its picture taken with the winning gardener for publication.  There is no second place prize.  The winner will receive acclaim, admiration, a blue antique fruit jar, $5.00 worth of tickets to win the coveted Rose Star Quilt hand pieced by Esther Wrinkles which will be given away at the Skyline Picnic on the 9^th of August, and two dozen canning jar flats—a dozen each regular and wide mouth.  The decision of the judges will be final and the tomato will be eaten on the spot.  Any contestant unwilling to share his tomato will be disqualified.

        After five years in Iraq, the U.S. military has suffered over 33,000 casualties, more that 29,000 wounded and 4,000 dead, and it remains engulfed by three converging currents that constitute the Iraq War—the underlying military conflict, the battle for political control, and grinding civil strife.  The Pentagon has diagnosed roughly 40,000 troops with post traumatic stress disorder since 2003.  Love and Gratitude for their service is the requisite start for healing.

        One time a Champion was standing beside a famous person who said something that some found quite objectionable.  It turned out that the Champion then had to convince people that knowing the famous person who said the objectionable thing did not mean that he also subscribed to the thought.  Then people said that the Champion was distancing himself from his associate and indicated that there was something wrong with that.  It is a good thing that Champions know how to think for themselves.  A pleasant letter came from Tennessee Champion friend, Darrell Haden, who was talking about Vernon Dalhart.  He was very influential in getting country music up and going in the mid-1920’s.  Prof. Haden said, “Probably one of the chief reasons Dalhart is not so well known as (Jimmy) Rodgers and the Carters is the fact that Texan Dalhart trained first to sing grand opera, which he did from 1910 until about 1916.”  This is the guy who made the “Wreck of the Old ‘97” popular.  It is a great thing that as people progress through life, they grow and change and learn to appreciate new things.  How dreary it would be to be stuck with only the thoughts and attitudes one held in the bloom of his formative youth!

        It is unknown if there are more endorphins released in a person who sings grand opera than a person who sings “Sadie’s Got Her New Dress On,” which is one of Young Foster’s favorite songs.  It is known that those endorphins help the immune system fight off disease and depression.  Champions are encouraged to sing at every opportunity (where song is appropriate, General Upshaw!)

        Acknowledge good things at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  E-mail secrets for marital success to Champion News.  Release some endorphins on the porch at Henson’s Store in downtown Champion where the beautiful brides are always looking on the bright side!

         Dalene Schober of Mountain Grove, MO recently received the saddle that she won as a result of being the High Point Winner in the 2007 Missouri First Division Standings of the Better Barrel Races Association.  It was awarded to her at the 2007 BBR World Finals held at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds on April 23^rd to the 27^th this year.

        Dalene Mallernee Schober began riding horses at age six was riding in competitions by the time she was eight.  Over the years, she has won trophies, saddles, and cash prizes.  Her Mother, Sharon Mallernee Sikes, says that Dalene has won enough ribbons to make a quilt, which she plans to make for her one of these days.  Right now, however, her Mother is busy with her own farm and staying available to fill in for Dalene when she goes to the various barrel racing events around the country.  Dalene and her husband, Jim Schober, have an operation south of Mountain Grove where they start young horses into riding and train barrel horses. Jim is a team roper and is partner in producing the Rope the Ozarks team roping series. Dalene refers to her Mother as her Number One Barn Hand and says that her mother is always willing to feed horses, rake hay or do whatever needs doing.  She is quick to give her Mother the credit for her successes.  She also expresses her gratitude to God for her ability and the resources she has had available to her.  Having great clients and good horses to ride has been a gift.

        Dalene grew up on Cold Springs Road in central Douglas County, one of three daughters of Dale and Sharon Mallernee.  Her sisters are Teresa Blakey of Goodhope, and Lora Mallernee who lives a few miles down the road from their Mother.  Dalene received her degree in Elementary and Middle School Education from Evangel University last May and while she enjoys teaching, she’s content at this time to continue her horse training business.  Find more information at www.schoberbarrelhorses.com.

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CHAMPION—June 1, 2008

        Good neighbors are to Champion what strawberries are to shortcake—just some of the very best part!  Wes and Pat Smith came over and plowed Louise and Wilburn Hutchison’s garden for them and a few days later Sharon and Farel Sikes came over and plowed it again.  Meanwhile Joe Moskaly came and cut the weeds out of the fencerow and people are calling and stopping by just to see what they can do.  What a pleasure to live in such a berg!  Wilburn is feeling better and Louise is perking along with her regular pleasant and graceful proficiency.

        Champions are sprucing up, fluffing up, shinning up and generally spiffing up for company.  With the price of scrap metal going through the ceiling these days one noticed that a lot of old horse drawn history is being hauled off, but also that it is still nice to see things getting kind of cleaned up a little bit.  Some people don’t ever have to clean up for company because they live clean and orderly lives.  Young Dusty Mike’s Mom wouldn’t leave a dirty dish in the sink over night for anything!  Other Champions are not so fastidious.  They say that it is not hypocritical or putting on of airs to present guest with a cleaner circumstance than they would regularly enjoy themselves, but that it is a polite gesture that reflects respect for honored guests.  In any event, there are big and fancy doings afoot and Champion will delight in a hosting people from near and far who will come for joyful, sweet and romantic nuptial reasons.  Other people like Sophia and Penelope will come all the way from Texas just to play in the dirt and have fun with the Old Folks–also sweet.

        A bad tooth can have a profound effect on a person’s overall health.  The BBC says that five billion people worldwide suffer from tooth decay.  Sometimes a person will endure a toothache as a way to acquire understanding of another’s pain or as a way to keep perspective in the presence of a difficult houseguest.  When at last the persistent discomfort is gone, the relief can be glorious.  Medicines can be pretty tricky though, as an old Champion woman discovered recently.  A person needs to read all that paperwork that comes with those prescriptions and pay heed.  Those pharmaceutical companies aren’t just writing that stuff to use ink.  A swig of the over-the-counter cough medicine on top of a painkiller can put a person to sleep for a couple of days.  In the big world outside they call that “overdose,” or “OD.”  It may be that the old girl was just looking for a little rest.  It was a perilous enough situation to give her serious pause.  Old friend Foxfire Jack Ryan recommended the book, Worst Pills Best Pills, The Older Adults Guide to Avoiding Drug Induced Death or Illness.  Public Citizen Health Research Group published it in1988.  Uncle Al, The Lonesome Plowboy, liked to tell the story about how Eleanor Roosevelt was accosted by a rude drunk who told her that she was ugly.  “Sir, you are drunk!” said Ms. R., to which the fellow replied, “Yes Mam, but I’ll be over it in the morning!”  This anecdote has also been attributed to Winston Churchill (not concerning Mrs. Roosevelt, however) and is only used here as an example of being able to get over things or not.  Getting over a toothache often requires a dentist and all are grateful that they are no longer in the barbering trade and ‘bouncing’ teeth as a sideline.

        Another posthumous Medal of Honor has been awarded.  This time to a 19-year-old young man who threw himself on a grenade to save his four fellow soldiers.  He was doing what his Nation has asked of him and he did it willingly with pride.  He has Love and Gratitude coming to him and all his bereft survivors.  The death toll in Iraq now of just U.S. Service Personnel is 4086.

        Esther Wrinkles has already put up enough gooseberries from her last year’s birthday gooseberry bushes to make a pie!  Lucky with be the guest who gets to share that treat!  Louise says that the wild gooseberries on her place are really going to bear well.  Faye hasn’t found too many yet.  Maybe they will get together.  Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood says that transplanting will be very good from the 3^rd through the 9^th and that the 6^th and 7^th will be excellent days to plant crops that bear their yield above the ground.  Gardens are really looking good around Champion, though it has been too wet to work the ground much in some spots.  The First Ripe Tomato in Champion Contest may have some hot contention this year.

        “That’s alright, Dad.  Everybody makes a mistake sometimes.”  So said Foster to his Dad when he apologized for having used a harsh word in a tense traffic situation the other day.  The sentiment has broad application when it comes to getting a tractor stuck in a mud hole or not having a jack in a truck with a flat tire.  Champions are generally a forgiving lot, but they have very good memories.  “All water under the bridge,” one Champion descendant calls the old days.  She sent pictures of long time residents of the area known as “Riley Holler.”  As new people move into the community and work to make a place their own, they are just like the people who did the same thing before them.  Everyone works to put his stamp on the land, but the land endures while people come and go.  There is much to be learned from the past.  A person might do well to turn the TV off every now and again and go hunt up an old timer.

        Barbara Krider and her lovely granddaughters, Elizabeth and Alexandria, will be sashaying into the neighborhood early next week to help the young Champion couple celebrate their connubial commitment.  When Bert, the cab driver, and Ernie, the cop, harmonized in the rain when George Bailey married Mary Hatch, their song was I Love You Truly.  Whatever the song, hearts will be light.  Singing releases those endorphins that help the immune system fight disease and depression.

        Describe some fun with Old Folks at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  Applicable antidotes can be e-mailed to Champion News.  Release some endorphins on the porch at Henson’s Store with some songs like By the Light of the Silvery Moon, Get Me To The Church On Time, or Oh Promise Me.  New beginnings, romance and optimism are all the Vogue as Champions are always looking on the bright side!

CHAMPION—May 26, 2008

        The Memorial Day Celebrations in Champion were just right.  Though the holiday that used to be called ‘Decoration Day’ was originated to decorate the graves of the Civil War dead, it has become an occasion for people to gather for the best of all possible reasons:  Love and Gratitude.  Families and friends joined for the pleasure of each other’s company and to commemorate the lives of special ones who have passed on.  Champions also remember those currently serving The Nation in all the dangerous places in the world.  They have families at home waiting for their safe return.  One family was all together for the first time in 27 years.  Three of the children live in Illinois, one lives over near Vanzant and the fifth in Texas.  The circumstance of their Mother’s birthday drew them together and there was much joy in Muddville.

        The reunion celebration at Denow was going pretty well, they say, until someone started playing a sad song.  “Hear that lonesome whippoorwill.  He sounds too blue to fly…”  Well, the waterworks really broke loose.  The General, unable to contain himself, sobbed uncontrollably and would not be comforted.  It liked to have spoiled the whole affair.  But for the delicious food and the auction, and the drawings, and the music and the fellowship it could have been disastrous.  The meeting was well attended, though the attendance was not recorded this year.  An issue with the engraver also has put the dedication of the Civil War Memorial on hold for the time being.  Those things will be resolved, however, and in future years descendants of those soldiers will be able to read their names and get that feeling of continuity that makes people proud of their heritage.

        Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood indicates that the last few days of May will be ‘barren’ days, but starting on June 1^st planting will be good.  The first and second will still be good for root crops and then the third will be excellent for above the ground crops again.  A long time Champion, granddaughter of I.T. and Hattie Henson, says, “We get a year like this about once in every twenty years.”  With the cost of food and fuel on the rise, some Champions are foregoing most of the ornamental beauties this season in order to cultivate the edible delights.  Beet greens and spinach are very pretty, as are pea blossoms and blooming tomato plants.  It is all perspective.  After the nice rains the weeds almost jump out of the ground.  They just need a little encouragement.

        A little city girl visiting with Grandparents in Champion had a chance for her first ride in the back of a pick-up truck.  It was exciting.  She and her little sister swam at the Mill Pond until their lips turned blue and their teeth chattered.  Her name is Zoey Louise and she met Louise Hutchison with whom she shares a birthday.  She had her picture taken among Louise’s beautiful roses and met Mr. Hutchison who was sitting on the front porch.  His friends and neighbors are glad to know he is feeling better.  Zoey Louise had some Cheetos and purple grape juice down at Henson’s Store and sat down for a nice visit with Mrs. Henson.  Then a friend named Geof gave her some delicious strawberries at the house of the Daughter of Grace.  She was a big help in her Grandmother’s garden and she learned how to pick spinach and leaf lettuce without pulling up the whole plant and how to wash the leaves by dipping them out of a bowl of cold water.  She found two caterpillars on leaves that she later ate herself and decided that she is a real leaf eater now.  She asked, “Grannie, are you going to miss me and be so terribly, terribly sad when I am gone?”  Her grandmother replied that she would indeed miss her, but that she would not spend any time at all being sad.

        There was a photo shoot at Beverly’s Beauty Shop next door to Plumber’s Junction on Tuesday morning, May 20^th, to get some exposure for the beautiful Rose Star Quilt.  It’s a queen sized quilt, hand pieced one winter by Esther Wrinkles and beautifully machine quilted by Ms. Faye Chaney, who has since passed away.  Tickets are being sold in South Carolina, Texas, Tennessee and Kansas.  Support for the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department is really strong in Champion and the surrounding areas because this Volunteer Fire Department is great.  The men train regularly and are certified for all kinds of hazardous duties.  They are competent and selfless in their service to the community.  They are part of what makes the Champion and Skyline communities especially lovely places to live.

        An E-mail came from “a misplaced Ozark County Hillbilly” who lives in Nashville Tennessee these days.  He says, “Hello way up in Champion!…I read your Items every week and a week or two back you said you went to school at Silver Shade School.  That would make you a Tetrick, Bell, Berry or Hall.  I was wondering if you would give your name and who your parents were.  You can ask Eva Powell who I am.  Thanks & hope to hear from you, Bill Pool.”  Ms. Powell said, “He’s my Mama’s baby sister’s boy.  She was my Aunt Esther Pool.”  She seemed very pleased to have heard from him.  The article to which Mr. Pool refers came from the April 30^th column when Champion’s other Tennesee friend, Darrell Haden, wrote a note giving Douglas Holt permission to make a tape of “All the Late News from the Courthouse,” for an interested Champion.  Mr. Holt had e-mailed that he just happened to have the record of Professor Haden’s song that he would share with permission.  Darrell writes, “I remember when Douglas Holt was a young man growing up on Springcreek.  I knew and appreciated him, his father and grandfather.  Doug is a cousin of Douglas County’s most famous old fiddler, Bob Holt.  Bob and I went to grade school together at Silver Shade in the late 1930’s.”  So it was Darrell Haden and Doug Holt who went to school over at Silver Shade.  It must have been a great school, because those guys seem to have turned out pretty well.

        Sharing music is a Champion thing to do.  Singing helps the immune system to fight off disease and depression.  Report favorite uplifting, light hearted sunny side songs to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  List good reasons not to be sad at Champion News.  Have some Cheetos and purple grape juice at Henson’s Store on the North Side of the Square in the midst of the garden spot of Douglas County where Champions are always looking on the bright side!

CHAMPION—May 18, 2008

        All of Champion is delighted to see Wilburn Hutchison recuperating on his own front porch.  He could not find a more pleasant spot to do his mending.  Louise keeps the hummingbird feeders filled and so there is constant natural excitement going on.  He can at any time cast his gaze out across the hills and fields that have been in his family for generations.  His grandfather, Sam Hutchison, homesteaded the place and it was said that they were all raised and weaned there.  The luxuriant growth resulting from the very wet spring is lush indeed.  The hope is that Wilburn will just enjoy the temporal beauty and not fret about work that needs doing.  That work will always need doing and there will still be plenty of it to do when he is back up to snuff.

        Finally the soil has begun to warm up in Champion.  The danger of a hard frost is surely past and gardens are going in all over the place.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood says that the 22^nd and 23^rd will be poor days to plant, but late beets, potatoes, onions, carrots and other root crops could go in on the 24^th and 25^th.  There are lots of potatoes up already and looking good.  Certainly this year looks favorable for the production of weeds of all sorts.  One old Champion woman likes to mulch her garden with newspapers.  She will weed out a little place and then cover it up with wet newspapers and then put the weeds pack on top of the newspapers to keep the wind from blowing them away when they dry out.  It’s a funny process and she claims to get most of her reading done out in the garden.  She just uses the black and white newspaper not wanting to put those colored chemicals into her soil.  Newspapers this time of the year are full of graduation pictures, valedictorians and engagement pictures of optimistic young couples.  It is exciting to see young folks embarking on their new lives full of hope and promise.  That their pictures will wind up mulching some old lady’s squash is of no consequence to them.  That Denlow School class picture of 1949-1950 is certainly a jewel.  No wonder the place used to be called “Upshaw!”  That one will get clipped and saved by many, no doubt.

        The picture taking of the Rose Pink Star Quilt did not come off as planned on Thursday last.  “Twern’t a fit night out fer man ner beast!”  The new plan is to meet up at Beverly’s Beauty Shop there at Plumbers Junction on Tuesday morning, May 20^th, for the photo shoot.  The Internet is a-buzz with the quilt already.  “What size is it?”  It’s a Queen sized quilt, hand pieced one winter by Esther Wrinkles and beautifully machine quilted by Ms. Faye Chaney, who has since passed away.  A photo is available on the Internet at Champion News.  Tickets are being sold in South Carolina, Texas and Kansas.  Support for the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department is really strong in the Champion area, but a chance to win one of Esther’s quilts is ‘coveted!’

        A chance to win the First Ripe Tomato in Champion Contest is dependant on getting started early.  Last year the rivalry was intense.  Louise claimed to have had the first ripe one, but didn’t want to share with the judging committee and besides she already had an antique blue fruit jar just like the one that was being given away as the grand prize.  It will be remembered that local artist, Donna Moskaly, took the prize, though the tomato she shared and with which she was photographed for the paper, was not her first one of the season.  Truthfully, Carol Cleveland, the daughter of Grace, had the first ripe tomato in Champion in 2007.  Since her tomatoes were on plants that she had carried over from the previous year, however, it was decided by the CTCRC (Champion Tomato Contest Rules Committee) that Ms. Cleveland would be ineligible for the prize but would certainly have the pleasure of eating ripe tomatoes when the rest of the contestants were just dreaming of them.  This year in addition to an antique blue fruit jar, the winner of the contest will receive $5.00 worth of quilt tickets (6 tickets) for the coveted Rose Pink Star Quilt as well as a box each of wide mouth flats and regulars.  It is generally agreed that official Contestants need to mill around Henson’s Store somewhat in advance in order to drop hints of their expected success.  Sizing up the competition is one of the tenants of a good contest.

        Dillon and Dakota Watts will be back on the Krider farm for a few days helping out while Granddad is away on a quick trip.  School is out in Tennessee, as well, and those fellows rarely miss a chance to get back to Champion.  They are always a big help and keep the place lively with their antics and fine singing voices.  Other Champion grandchildren will be visiting for a few days.  Zoey Louise and Alexandra Jean will be spending a few days with their Grandparents.  They are up from Austin, Texas.  This will be Alex’s first time on the farm.  She is a real outside girl, though, so everyone is expecting to have a wonderful time.  They will be in Champion just in time to help out with the garden.  Zoey is a big fan of blueberries.  The Eckerts over at Dora say that their blueberries will be ready the end of the first or second week in June.  So Zoey may just have to enjoy strawberries from over at the Simpson Family Farm at Mtn. Grove instead this year.  “When this you see, think of me..”  Wonderful Foxfire Champion, Jack Ryan, said something similar to that one day toward the very end of his life.  He was on a plum tree digging expedition with someone who had grown very fond of him.  Now the plum trees they dug that day are loaded with fruit and the memories of an exceptional individual come back sweetly.  He and Gladys were married young and had an interesting life together, full of good cheer and thoughtfulness.  They were appreciators of the old days and the old ways.  The community is better off for having had them if it is somewhat lonesome for them now.

        Lonesomeness is a real theme for sad songs.  “Don’t forget me Little Darlin, when I’m growin’ old and gray!  Just a little talk before I’m going far away.  I’ll be waiting on the hillside for the day that you call, on the Sunny Side of the Mountain where the rippling waters fall.”  Now that’s lonesome, but it’s hopeful too.  For all the US Service Men and Women serving their Country in the dangerous places of the world, Champions, with Love and Gratitude, are hoping they have someone waiting on the sunny side of their mountains and that they make it home safely soon.  As for the singing, it is a proven fact that music aids digestion and singing releases those endorphins that fight disease and depression.  Of course there are some whose voices can be a little depressing to the ear of a musician.  They know who they are, but that doesn’t seem to stop their wailing.  Copies of the first song in the New Champion Song Book, “Keep on the Sunny Side,” are still available at Henson’s Store on the North side of the Square in Champion.  While the motif of the collection is light hearted, uplifting, optimistic music, if one finds some sort of cheer in a sad song he can fill his own songbook with those.

        Report interesting mulch to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  Brag about exceptional grandchildren there or at Champion News.  Size up the competition or release some endorphins at Henson’s Store on the Sunnyside of the Street in Delightful Downtown Champion where they are always Looking on the Bright Side!

Champion—May 12, 2008

        Mother’s Day in Champion found the place overrun with sons and daughters with their wives and husbands, and with grandchildren and great grandchildren.  They took the opportunity to celebrate the sweetness of life and the preciousness of Mother.  Sappy sentimental cards, flowers and gifts were presented and emotion filled smiles and hugs were exchanged.  It was a beautiful day.  Troy and Theo Petty were first time visitors in Champion.  They came to see their great grandmother, Ms. Eva Powell.  Ms. Esther Wrinkles also reported having had a beautiful day.  She received lots of cards and phone calls.  She went to church in Houston on Sunday with Larry and Theresa and then out for a nice lunch.  The ladies came home with big red roses and another pleasant memory.

        Champions all send their best wishes for a speedy recovery to Wilburn Hutchison who is experiencing some cardiac issues up at St. John’s in Springfield.  He was born right up the road from the Champion square and has a wealth of stories to tell about the place.  He and Louise have represented the best of Champion’s spirit for a long time and everyone is looking forward to having him home again.

        Pamplona, Spain has the Running of the Bulls every year.  Champion has the Champion Spring Trail Ride.  It came off again ‘without a hitch.’  Bud Hutchison has played a major role in its success for many years and it has been going on for a long, long time.  It was reported that there were about forty riders this year, that they took their regular route and had a good time.  Foster Wiseman was just a little surprised at how tall Jackie’s horse was when his Aunt Staci put him up there.  He is a Champion who likes to participate in everything.  Sometimes names aren’t mentioned in reporting community events for fear of leaving one out, but a resolve not to be fearful rules today and so most names will be left out!  Other riders were Danny Dry, Joe Heath, Travis Thompson and Tip Proctor who came all the way from Oregon to participate in this trail ride.  Tip Proctor is the reason any names were mentioned at all.  He is a real cowboy they say.  He grew up over in East Champion and has continued living a Champion kind of life out on the open range and on his spread in the Oregon territory.  He has been visiting for a spell they say and hanging out with that Wild Bunch over at the Junction:  Cletis and the General.  General Upshaw is the one who last year addressed his friends at the Denlow School reunion as “you thieves and thugs, scoundrels, bootleggers and bushwhackers.”  That Reunion is about to come up again and it will be interesting to hear what he has to say, if the gag order has been rescinded.  The reunion will be held on Saturday, May 24th.  There will be a program at 10:30 in the morning and lunch at 12:30.  They have decided to unveil the Civil War Soldiers Memorial plaque just after lunch.  It will contain the names of all the Civil War Soldiers who are known to be buried there and some history of the battles and skirmishes that occurred in the Denlow area.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

        A couple of old Champions have been watching old movies as a way to escape the constant barrage of bad news of modern life.  “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” is a story about a young man who was appointed by his state’s governor to take the place of a deceased senator for the duration of his term.  The movie was made back in the forties or early fifties and depicted the greed and corruption of federal government officials in fairly clear if simple terms.  The disillusionment of this young patriot and his ultimate vindication is a heartwarming tale.  Five decades later, the situation in Washington has only compounded, but out in the sticks, out in places like Champion people remember the extraordinary history of their Nation and maintain those ideals and values that made the country great.  Among those things is Love and Gratitude to all the US Service Men and Women who serve in dangerous places around the world at the behest of their government.

        It has been reported in a number of places including the Douglas County Herald (May 13, 2007) that “singing causes the brain to release endorphins that help the immune system to fight off disease, infection and depression.”  Thursday night music is popular at the Ava Family Theatre.  Bob Moody and the Easy Goin’ Band will be playing there this week.  Thursday nights are also a great night for music at Plummer’s Junction located at the intersection of 76 Highway and 95 Highway, which is a hang out for many Champions.  It is an open mike jam session and it is always a good time.  Everyone is welcome.  By six thirty or so things really start jumping with the efforts of many talented local musicians.

        Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place in Norwood says that the 12^th to the 16^th would be a good time for killing plant pests, cultivating or taking a short vacation.  The 17^th and 18^th will be an excellent time for planting corn, beans peppers and other above ground crops.  It will be a good time for sowing hay, fodder crops and grains and for planting flowers.  The 19^th through the 21^st will be good for root crops again.  Everyone will be glad to have some ‘settled weather’ for gardening.  E-mail has arrived from Betty Thomas from over at Yates.  She says, “Our garden is planted finally but parts are under water.  We set out 166 tomato plants too.”  She goes on to say, “I have read about the 8 pointed star quilt that Esther Wrinkles made and I would like to see a picture of it if possible.”  A picture of the beauty was straight way e-mailed to Betty and Esther has agreed to come up to the Thursday Night music at Plummer’s Junction to have her picture taken with the quilt for publication in the paper for the benefit of people without access to the internet.  (Some newspapers won’t publish a picture that doesn’t have people in it.)  She generally attends the Thursday musicals anyway, so this is an opportunity for everybody to get to see the quilt in person.  It will be one of the main attractions of the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department Picnic in August.

        Severe weather, here and abroad, earth quakes and wars and illness all go to make these days seem very tumultuous and unsettling.  Day by day, Champions count their blessings and extend themselves to help their less fortunate neighbors.  Reports of beautiful days and examples of good neighbor behavior can be sent to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  E-mail those things or some good garden reports to Champion News.  Release some endorphins in song on the porch at Henson’s Store on the Square in beautiful downtown Champion, where hearts are light and everyone is looking on the bright side!

CHAMPION—April 28, 2008

        Champion merry-makers expecting the May-pole to be hoisted up in the Square for a riotous celebration of the arrival of Spring instead are reminded that May Day is International Workers Day.  The celebration had its origins when the American Federation of Labor adopted the historic resolution that “eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s labor from and after May 1st, 1886”.  It was the beginning of a long and difficult struggle for the Labor Movement and Champions more than a hundred years later acknowledge being the beneficiaries of those efforts.  Country people know that a ‘man must work from sun to sun, but a woman’s work is never done.’  There have been some controversial struggles in that arena as well, but Champions generally try to stay out of other people’s business.  As Ms. Powell says, “That’s their possum.  Let them wool it.”

        In Champion a little touch of frost is just what some things need to make them sweet.  Spinach doesn’t mind, nor turnips, nor broccoli.  People with dirty hands need to ‘hold their horses’ just a little longer when it comes to planting tender things.  It is difficult, but local wisdom says that it can frost clear up until the tenth of May!  Champions have their fingers crossed that the fruit trees survive this year.  Linda’s Almanac over at the Plant Place in Norwood says that the first and second of May will be good for those late underground crops and for vine crops and setting strawberry plants.  The third and fourth will be ‘barren days,’ but then the fifth and sixth will be good for those above ground crops again.  Truck loads of manure are going from here to there and tillers are churning the soil.  “Pullin’ weeds and pickin’ stones We are made of dreams and bones Need a place to call my own ‘Cause the time is close at hand.”  That is a ‘ditty’ discovered in researching ‘apple blossom time.’  Most of the rest of the results of the search had to do with the Andrews Sisters’ song, “I’ll Be Seeing You in Apple Blossom Time.”  It is very romantic and kind of maudlin in its sentimentality.  Champions don’t mind ‘sentimental,’ but they are not much for ‘maudlin.’

        “Has J.L. come yet?” one old Champion calls out to the other.  The high point of the day for a lot of Champions is when the mail comes.  ‘J.L’ is the nickname for an unpredictable mailman.  He is always welcome (mostly) whenever he shows up.  He recently brought a note from Champion’s Tennessee friend, Darrell Haden, giving Douglas Holt permission to make a tape of “All the Late News from the Courthouse,” for an interested Champion.  Mr. Holt had e-mailed that he just happened to have the record of Professor Haden’s song that he would share with permission.  Darrell writes, “I remember when Douglas Holt was a young man growing up on Springcreek.  I knew and appreciated him, his father and grandfather.  Doug is a cousin of Douglas County’s most famous old fiddler, Bob Holt.  Bob and I went to grade school together at Silver Shade in the late 1930’s.”  Sharing music is a Champion activity.

        A message from the hyper-vigilant, critical, Champion grammarian points out an error in the use of the possessive in the sentence apologizing for the error in subject and verb agreement the previous week.  While an oversight committee is a lovely thing, fear of making an error is one of the great stumbling blocks to creativity and productivity.  Champions forge on unafraid!

        An e-mail from Kenneth Henson arrived saying that “Hovey does not remember the dirty in-side-out t-shirt story, but does remember growing up dirty and ragged!  Glad that Ruby is feeling well, tell her hi.  Growing up she was known as ‘Ole Rub.’”

        One of the request for the first song in The New Champion Songbook came from a lady in Mountain Grove who has the same last name as the street on which she lives.  Across the back of the envelope she wrote, “Remember our Service Men, Women and Freedom.”  Staff Sergeant Ronald C Blystone, 34, of Springfield, MO was killed in Iraq last week.  He was the father of three children and was on his fourth tour of service in Iraq.  Champions extend their Love and Gratitude to him and his family, joining with the rest of the Nation in doing so.

        A Wannabe Champion who hopes to gain the status by marrying a native is a good yarn spinner.  He was heard recently talking about a distant cousin of his.  This cousin several times ‘removed’ (that is to say that he is the cousin of his granddad or some such) and lives off over in Tennessee.  Jeff is the cousin’s name and he is reported to be a serious yarn spinner himself.  “When he closes one eye and starts to shaking his finger at you, you know you are going to be there for a spell.”  This fellow is very talented and has had a great exciting life full of many truck wrecks and near misses.  He is afraid of wild pigs but will go into a cave after a bear with a pistol!  The distant cousin of a man like that will be welcome in Champion!

        An old Champion music lover has just had her eyes opened!  She had long heard about a song called “When The Work’s All Done This Fall,” and thought that it would be about the futility of life and that one might be putting off important parts of living today for a time in the future that would never come, because country people know that the work is never all done.  She had never heard the song and still has not, but the words fell into her lap the other day and it turns out that it is a cowboy song. “A group of jolly cowboys discussing plans as ease…”  One of them said that he had broken his mother’s heart when he left home and though it had been many years since he had seen her, after the round up is over and before his money is all gone he’s going straight home to see his mother.  Now that is sentimental!  Old Champion mothers always love it when their children come home!

        Champion’s great friend and neighbor, Esther Wrinkles, spent the winter piecing a quilt by hand that she has offered to the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department for the August Picnic.  It is an extraordinary piece in rose, pink and burgundy in a traditional eight pointed star pattern.  (Many Champions just sat around the fire all winter and have nothing to show for their time except for a few extra pounds.)  Bonnie Mullins from over in Kansas e-mailed for a picture of the quilt and said, “ I am….cousin to most of Denlow and Champion people and I’ve been around the Champion Square many times, although some of my memories of Champion might make all my cousins renounce me.”  Perhaps some of those intriguing memories can be coaxed out of her!

        Zach Alexander’s grandmother, who is a real Champion, emailed what some advice about dealing with the burdens of life.  One of the things she suggested was, “Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”

        Send May Pole pictures or requests for pictures of the Rose Pink Star Quilt or copies of “Keep on the Sunnyside,” to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  E-mail intriguing memories, good advice or examples of local sentimentality (nothing maudlin please) to Champion News.  Wool a possum (quietly) on the porch at Henson’s Store in downtown Champion on the north side of the square and get a copy of the first song in the New Champion Songbook.  The proprietor only has three copies left, but can get more.  All the time, more Champions are Looking on the Bright Side!