Champion News

She did not want a funeral. She wanted a party. She got one. The enormous turn-out for Trish Davis was a testament to the many lives she touched. Friends will be planting forget-me-nots for her.

A wise man from the east (Vanzant) made the wise decision to enter Champion from the west on Wednesday in lieu of fording Old Fox Creek churning high and wide. Our “Ozarks Alive!” friend, Kaitlyn McConnell, came in from that direction too. Happily, her wide circuit brings her to the Bright Side now and then. She has put 31,000 miles on her car, just a year and a half old. She says her little car is not like a horse that can get used to a rough road, so she tries to take it easy, but she gets around.

Brenda & Gloriabell got into it in the Mt. Grove Post Office on Tuesday. “Just what proof do you have that I read your newspaper?” Friends can shout at each other, frowning and grinning at the same time. “Oh, yea?” It seems to have started over the obituary of a widow woman, though details were vague. Gloriabell folded her paper with a flourish, tucked it under her arm and strode out in a huff. An innocent bystander, just trying to mail a package, let amusement drown alarm and shouted, “You’ll read about this in The Champion News!” We can appreciate a little fun at the post office or anywhere. We poked fun at Big John, John the Generator, our Rt. 72 carrier, as he pulled into Champion in his big new mail truck. It is a beauty, even under all that mud. He says he can go about anywhere.

Wanda’s little dog, Janie, turns out to be a man-magnet. She is a tiny black and white critter with a long soft coat and a winning personality. She never leaves Wanda’s side. On a recent day she caught the attention of three different men. Wanda’s lovely smile indicated that she did not seem to mind. She sits by her sister-in-law at the Vanzant jam with little Janie in between them. On the other end of that same bench sat a couple of guys from Wisconsin, neither of them named John Johnson. Applause welcomed Jerry Wagner, a seldom seen but welcome sight. He allowed that he was doing well but said his sister Sally was not. She is currently in a nursing home in Seymour. Her many friends from all around the country wish her a speedy recovery from what ails her. Jerry asked us to “pardon me if I’m sentimental.” It was sweet to see Doug and Bonnie Bean and to hear Doug sing “I’d rather be here than wherever I am.”

Tim Tamburrino said, “Started out a normal morning, then we decided to take a short drive. Of the things seen were many early redbud trees, then right in the middle of the road was a Bald Eagle, enjoying his catch.” He went on to say that upon arriving home they saw the International Space Station moving from NNW to SSE into the shadow of the Earth. They were able to confirm with tracking their observation. Redbuds are showing themselves up on WW Highway too. Soon enough we will have dogwoods. A hummingbird feeder is going out in Champion this week.

Daniel Roth of Elixir Farm hand-drew a new logo for Jean’s Healthway. It features a honeybee and echinacea, representing some of the many things relating to a health food store—agriculture, functional medicine, local economies, community, planet health, natural birth, food as medicine, etc. The store has been a boon to Ava and the whole area since 1979, and we are glad to have it still being such a bright spot on the square.

April is a beautiful month for birthdays. Champion grandson Dillon Watts has a birthday on April 12th. He has a lovely wife and baby son and plays the banjo and sings. Studebaker Bob Berry celebrates on the 14th. Mary will be sure he has a nice day. The 15th is for Dustin Cline, Champion son in law, living in Tennessee now with Staci and their two sons. Staci’s aunt Vivian Floyd, who grew up in Champion, shares the day with Dustin. That is Income Tax Day and the big day for Wyatt Lakey who is an eight grade student at Skyline. Saturday, April 15th some friends will have a one o’clock lunch at Rockbridge to remember Gary Jones on his birthday. For many reasons, they think of him as a Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

 

Warm sunny days help us dry out from last week’s torrent. They help us lift our spirits as we lift our garden tools out of the shed again. Battered daffodils still show their lovely faces to the sun, even as they are replaced by the yellow polka dots of dandelions in our lawns. Sun in our faces help dry the tears as we empathize with the storm victims out west and in the deep south, earthquake and war victims, victims of poverty and neglect the world over, and as we mourn our own hard losses. It is true that the longer we live the more people we know who are no longer living. Each loss is weight. We say to each other, “Keep your heart light,” knowing that is not easy to do. We may linger over the long list of loved ones and dear ones who have left us with memories of themselves and the part they shared in our lives. Lucky are we to have our lives still going on and to have them filled with dear ones still. “As the life of a flower, as a breath or a sigh, so the years that we live as a dream hasten by.” Laura Newell (1854-1916) wrote that old hymn and many others and was described as a very modest and unpretentious lady, who went about her daily work as cheerfully as her poems advise others to do.

Cheerfully, we acknowledge the birthday of Skyline 8th grader Jhonn Phillip Rhodes on April 1st. April 4th is for Skyline first grader, Frederick Smith. The 5th is for Madelyn’s mom, born in 1984, and the 6th is for Beverly Coffman Emory, “born to be wild!” Just ask her. Bud Hutchison was born April 8, 1935. He was a farmer and trail ride boss whose trail rides are still going on, though he went on in 2018. We miss him but still have smiles and many good stories associated with him. Skyline School’s superintendent, Donnie Luna, and special education teacher, Mrs. Mayberry, will both have their birthdays on Easter Sunday this year. Happy birthday to all of you in a beautiful time of the year to celebrate.

Back in 2002, the Herald printed weekly installments of “The Black Kettle Ride” by Cinita Brown, which had been published in 1997. Lorene Johnston cut them out of the paper and pasted them in her notebook. It took 26 pages. The story is about Tom Brown and his two newborn twin daughters as they join other pioneer families traveling by wagon train from Indiana to Missouri in 1844. The book is still available from various sources online, but the yellowing newspaper print adds something. Pasted next on the last page we find a “Thank You” from Logan and Cinita Brown for all the kind attention they received in honor of their Golden Wedding Anniversary. Lorene’s handwritten note said they were marred in 1952. Her papers are proving to be a gold mine. The Grand Old Opera, the Wagon Wheel Bluegrass Park and the Pioneer Descendants Gathering are all featured among them. Our own piles of paper accumulated over decades are calling on us to sift, separate, save and disperse. We should have done that last winter. It is spring now.

We keep some good songs in our heads as we go on about our daily work getting the garden ready. School is resuming after a break and there will be music there. Students, teachers, and staff are all working hard and learning. Merchants and farmers are doing what comes next in their busy days and we all do the best we can to stay optimistic as Champions—Looking on the Bright Side!

 

On the last night of winter a family up in Vanzant lost their home to a fire.  The Eastern Douglas County VFD, along with the Skyline VFD and the Cabool Fire Department responded to the call. The homeowners and their pets barely made it out with the clothes on their back, according to the EDC.  We will look for more information and for ways to be of help to our neighbors.

Wilbur the groundhog hails the arrival of Calendar Spring, strolling leisurely about the grounds. Apparently Atmospheric Spring arrives later in Champion.  It is cool yet.  The 28th and 29th will be good days to start seed beds, plant flowers and other above ground crops for those who plant by the signs.  Spring Cleaning advocates say cleaning can be done any time.  A pleasant employee of the Town and Country Grocery in Mt. Grove, dealing with a basket of random unsaleable things said, “I hate clutter.”  She went on to say that her house is always ‘company ready,’ a concept to ponder. Spring beckons old Champion housekeepers outside away from the clutter and the dirt and out into the soil and sunshine.

Our Champion daughter, sunning and studying in Argentina, shared a video of a trio she encountered at a local jam—a guitar playing singer, a rub board percussionist and a spoon virtuoso making some fast, exciting, melodic music.  The spoons were heirlooms passed down from his beloved grandmother.  Argentinians share their love of spoon music with Greeks, Turks, Brits, French, Canadian and Russian folk musicians, as well as with South Carolinians and Champions.  Musical spoons kept in the Historic Emporium entice a favorite retired mail carrier to join in a Wednesday jam.  ‘Soldiers’ Joy’ cannot be played too fast for her.  A fast picking banjo player said he had made a trip to Champion recently.  He had not been there for years and had good memories of Ed Henson, his smiles, and jokes.  The General says the Wednesday jam (starting around 11:00) could use a banjo.  Bring what you play and play along with Mr. Day when he brings his mountain dulcimer.

Another Champion daughter shared a video of herself back in February snow/ice sledding headfirst, whizzing down the long steep stretch of pavement that ends in Champion.  Her dad said she must have been going sixty miles an hour—too fast.  She said, “Was it exciting? Yes.  Would I do it again? No.”  She might add a chapter to “The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Handbook,” through which she browsed while her talented Mom played the spoons.  She read about how to stop a car with no brakes and perhaps how to deal with a tarantula.

While no one seemed willing to spend the $.63 on a postage stamp, the champion@championnews.us mailbox received both criticism and suggestions in response to the invitation for those things last week.  A regular reader suggests that we include Johnny Cash’s “What is Truth” in our music selections in the website edition (www.championnews.us).  The criticism: “not enough local history appears in these articles.”  The remedy for that comes from one of the seven big binders of newspaper clippings, obituaries and notes compiled by the late Lorene Johnston.  A random selection concerns the retirement from the post office after 41 years of Cletis Upshaw.  “When Upshaw started his work on July 12, 1958, the route involved 42 miles and 150 box holders.  Today the route covers 106 miles with over 270 box holders.  Even with the mileage going up, flat tires have gone down.”  Better tires and better roads were cited as reasons for the improvement.  During his tenure, Cletis saw an almost complete turnover in customers on his route with few of the originals remaining.  The article was written in in 1999, so the route may be longer now with even more boxes and even fewer of his original customers.  We lost Cletis in 2008.  The Champion article Lorene clipped said, “A person could set his clock by Cletis and could always count on him for good humor.  He was a genuine historian and a genial, good natured person.  Champions are grateful to have had him in their lives and are glad that he knew the community held him in high esteem.”

Friends visiting Champion on Saturday came south on Cold Springs Road from 76 and reported the road to be in excellent shape. The cliffs, twists and turns, hills and low spots, deep woods and unexpected splashes of daffodils mark it as memorable. Those charming and handsome gentlemen from the Drury Shed make it passable.  Whether via a beautiful country lane or the pavement, one could hardly find a more lovely destination than Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

Time, according to the clock, has little impact on old, retired Champions and farmers.  We just go about our business regardless of the big hand and the little hand.  School teachers, students, and other people with jobs may or may not like the change.  Linda will be pleased since the clock in her car will be correct again for a while.

“I am glad that I paid so little attention to good advice; had I abided by it, I might have been saved from some of my most valuable mistakes.”  Edna St. Vincent Millay, the great American poet, shared that valuable concept.  Esther Wrinkles wrote for The Douglas County Herald for over fifty years.  She advised that sometimes it is good to make a mistake in an article, as one is given the chance to revisit the subject.  Ever willing to be corrected, it happens that all those young people called ‘second cousins’ last week, are actually ‘first cousins once removed.’  Apologies to all the Watts, Krider, Oglesby, Cline, Upshaw, Wiseman, Johnston families and others for the misnomer as they welcome Waylon Iker Watts to the beautiful briar patch of his family tree.

The lovely Elva Upshaw was welcomed into the world on March 23rd.  On that day welcomed also were Don Bishop, who has an extraordinary wood pile stacked carefully at the top of a steep hill; Donald Powell, the Maytag man; and mushroom maven, Judie Pennington.  All arrived in different years, different places, to different families, but all were welcomed.  Nurse Raquel will be celebrated at Skyline School on March 24th.  Champion Troy Powell was born March 26, 1926, and passed away on his birthday in 2001.  He loved the old gospel music and had a beautiful smile.  The 27th is for Skyline fourth and fifth grade teacher, Mrs. Downs, and for first grader Aliyiea Trujillo.  Fourth grader Brailynn Cumby claims the 28th and seventh grader Braxton Mayberry has the 29th for his big day.  Fourth grader Tucker Johnson and third grade teacher Mrs. Melissa Willhite share the 30th.  Our great little rural school gives us plenty of reasons to celebrate as excellent teachers and staff help our country kids become excellent, educated, solid citizens.

Three doghouse double basses, two banjos, two fiddles, two mandolins and beaucoup guitars made for a jumping jam at Vanzant Thursday.  Music is good for us.  It is particularly pleasant to see the help and encouragement that accomplished musicians share with the beginners—carrying the tradition forward.

A rare trip to town finds friends in unexpected places.  There was a banjo player in the grocery store.  Apparently, they eat too.  Charming Barbara Anderson paused in her shopping to visit a moment.  Charlie Lambert was checking out at the register when he was spotted and entreated to find a way to the jam sometime.  Way off in the big town of Springfield, Beverly and Alvin Barnhart had a few minutes to visit before their medical appointments.  Alvin had recovered from a face plant off his porch that had left him with two black eyes.  Beverly was grateful to have met a cardiologist when it was important to meet one.  She was in good spirits despite battling numerous health issues.  Champions are grateful to be able to access good health care, grateful to have friends and to meet them in unexpected places.

Constructive criticism helps us be better.  Feel free to point out mistakes, share a story or a song, or poke fun at The Champion News, Rt. 72 Box 367 Norwood, MO 65717 or at champion@championnews.us.  For a little optimism, come down to the wide, wild, wooly banks of Old Fox Creek to Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

 

A distant Champion reading last week’s article corrected the report that Lonnie Krider had said, “There’ll come a day in February when a dog looks for the shade.” The reader said he heard, “the dog ‘hunts’ for the shade.” The difference is small, but perhaps meaningful to some. Somebody small, around six pounds, arrived over in Tennessee on January 18th, and is very meaningful to the Krider/Watts family as well as to the Cline, Wiseman, Oglesby, Upshaw families and various others. He is Waylon Iker Watts and, because of him, Fae Krider is a great grandmother and Marty Watts is now a grandpa! Waylon’s second cousins, Foster and Kalyssa, brought their instruments, mandolin and fiddle, and met up with Dillon, now a father, and his banjo and, with Dakota’s wife on the guitar, made a bluegrass birthday for great aunt Staci Krider Cline. One of Waylon’s other second cousins, Drason Cline, is most interested in learning guitar and is ready to have lessons. He and his brother Carson are both good singers according to their grandmother.

Alvie Dooms will be pleased to read that music is proliferating so thoroughly through that big Champion/Tennessee family. Alvie spent some time last week wrestling with an old fiddle that had not been out of its case in more than a dozen years. He reset the sound post, pulled pegs, replaced the rusty e string, tuned it up, rosined up a good bow expecting to hear ‘Soldiers’ Joy’ when he came back from a trip down the hall. (It will take a longer trip than that.) He has a wealth of stories to tell and a pleasant couple of hours soaking up local music history with him and Dovey was well spent. Kaitlyn McConnell has spent some good time with them in recent years, and Dovey laughed about Kaitlyn’s current trip to France and said she expects her to be in China one of these days.

Through some silly mix up, The Champion News failed to acknowledge the birthday of Debora Barker. It was on the 3rd of March and was roundly celebrated by her family, her many friends, and colleagues. She recently said, “We backwoods rednecks have taken another step into the tech world…as I post this very status update on my cell phone in my own home—a feat new to me and my country life! Not sure I want to be completely connected 24/7, but will enjoy it when I need it. LOL” It is a new world to be so connected and at the same time isolated. Seems like we don’t get ‘together’ like we used to do, whether it is a hangover from the pandemic, old age, or just creeping technology. However, making the most of what we have is one of these Champion traits. Through technology we learned that Butch and Joyce Linder had a wedding anniversary on March 3rd. While we do not know how long it has been, it has probably been a good long while. They are still smiling. Dennis Shumate was smiling too, looking at “Happy Birthday” spelled out in strawberries on his cake.

Micah Foulke lives in Portland, Oregon has a birthday on March 9th and a cousin—our own Felix the Farmer! Skyline Kindergartener, “CJ” Castillo enjoys the 11th for his birthday and his fourth grade sibling, Trinity Castillo enjoys the 13th. The 12th is the day to remember two very interesting Champions. Geoff Metroplos and J.R. Johnston. Geoff was a multi skilled, creative handy man deluxe. If high branches were interfering with your satellite, he was the guy to call to climb up there wielding his chain saw to clear the way. That was his old fiddle that Alvie was wrestling with. He was a good guitar player and a carpenter who could tell you it was out of plumb by an eighth of an inch. J.R. Johnston attended The Champion School. He enjoyed fishing, traveling, and was an avid bluegrass musician and fan. He played the banjo and was one of those generous musicians who encourage beginners at the McClurg and Vanzant Jams. He loved the old songs and Janet, his wife of 67 years. He said they had met on a blind date and went bowling. Someone remarked that every time they saw Janet she was smiling. He said, “She’s always been like that.” J.R. had an interesting life and left lots of friends and family with many sweet memories. Kaitlyn McConnell interviewed him back in 2018 for Ozarks Alive. The 15th—the Ides of March—is the 50th anniversary of the birth of a Champion Skyline alumnus now fiddling around in Scotland. He likes the old songs too, particularly ones that smack of optimism like “Accentuate the Positive,” and “When You’re Smiling.” Elizabeth Mastrangelo Brown was 23 years old on March 16, 2013. The 16th is also the big day for Skyline second grader, Lillith Jeffery. The 17th is St. Patrick’s Day, the day planned for the Skyline Spring Fling Dance. Fun is afoot.

Gardeners are already busy planning and preparing as spring is imminent. Edie Richardson was a Champion landowner for a short while before she found her paradise up between Macomb and Hartville. There, she and Lee are operating an organic farm and inspiring neophytes with their work through the Wright County Extension Council and the Wright County Master Gardeners. Then, there are Lee’s bees to learn about. They have a good neighbor in Champion mail carrier, Karen Ross, who carries the mail on another route now. Karen will probably still be sharing tomato plants on her route. The wild vicissitudes of March weather, in like a lamb, etc., is not about to thwart the efforts and energies of determined Champions! Looking on the Bright Side!

 

William Wordsworth may have “wandered lonely as a cloud” up Cold Springs Road behind the road grader that spread the daffodils along the fence row last fall. “Tossing their heads in sprightly dance,” they are lovely. It would be lovely if that big road implement would wander up past Miss B.D.’s Wolf Pen place and work on that mud hole/spring branch that just keeps getting more wallowed out. It is 1.3 miles south of 76 Highway and sure to muddy up your undercarriage and jar your teeth. Old Champions must go the long way around to enjoy the many other hosts of golden daffodils, “fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” Monday morning’s breeze was a gale.

World-wide wanderer, Kaitlyn McConnell, wandered into the Vanzant Jam the other night. She was just passing by and could not resist revisiting the spot where she learned about reincarnation. She signed some copies of her recent “Passport to the Ozarks Volume 2” and promised another stop in Champion after her trip to the French Rivera. Lorelai brought Molly to the jam, her 10 week old puppy, all cuddly, brown, and curly. Lorelai’s grandfather strummed a beautiful “Blessed Assurance” on his dulcimer in the key of G, which meant he used a capo, which meant that the device had to be examined for its uniqueness by various musicians in the circle. Said one, “I never saw anything like that in my life!” Sherry Bennett did not bring her eight Yorkie puppies to the jam, but she posted some adorable pictures of them online, looking for forever homes. They are registered cuties with papers and fuzzy little faces that will steal your heart. There are lots of sweet songs about dogs–“Old Shep,” “Old Rattler.” Doug Bean sings one about “Pearl.” It turns out there are lots of songs about possums too. Sherry has a whole CD full of them which she thinks she might put in her car just for the fun of it. The prominent Champion has a favorite one done by the Bar D Wranglers. Now that his tablet is no longer ‘kazaouzed,’ he was able to share the tune a number of times with Wednesday jammers. It might/might not catch on.

Heather Berg along with Skyline Archery coaches, Jana Barnes-Brixey and Melissa Willhite, remark that the improvement in the team over the season has been awesome. Watching them all grow has been fun. Seven qualified for the state competition this year. Conner Jonas, Jacob Brixey, and Elizabeth Hinote in both bullseye and 3D, and Alex Bradley, Joseph Hastings, Aidan Acree and Paige Jonas in 3D. Congratulations to all you hardworking archers. Concentration, discipline, and persistence pay off.

Johnny Cash

Skyline third grade students, Lotus Winter and Ryanne Harvey, have their birthdays on March 1st and 3rd. Skyline’s art teacher, Miss Drake, and baloney lover and backyard mandolin musician (who frets a lot) Dennis Shumate, also enjoy March 3rd for their birthdays. The 5th is for sixth grader Gabriel Castillo and Linda Heatherington, Champion bridge player, gardener, and KC Chief’s fan. Sue Murphy sings “Just Because” and “In the Gravel Yard” and many other great songs. Her birthday is on the 8th of March. Happy birthday to all of you Champions and friends of Champions. February 26th would have been the 91st birthday of Johnny Cash. He has been gone for 20 years now and is still missed.

It is a fact that the longer we live, the more people we know who have died. As our contemporaries and old timers slip away from us, we are awash in sadness, memory, and gratitude for the part they played in our lives. We are reminded to stay in touch with family and friends, to appreciate them while we still have each other. Many in the world are missing loved ones as wars and terrible natural disasters have millions displaced and homeless. While we have only gratitude for our own safety and well-being, our thoughts and best hopes go out to the very many in the world not so fortunate. Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

 

Champions are happy to read the White River Electric Cooperative statement: “We look forward to building a world-class fiber network that will transform our rural communities just as our founders did with electric 83 years ago.” The funds from the federal America Rescue Plan Act of 2021 are trickling down through our state agencies and one of these days we can enjoy all the benefits of White River Connect. It may represent the kind of improvement we experienced when telephone party lines were finally phased out. While we appreciate good changes, we also very much like the steady, solid comfort of our resilient rural community full of its interesting history as told by people who lived through it and heard about it.

Here is that day in February when Lonnie Krider would say the dog looks for shade. Gardens call to us on such a day, though we, here in zone six, know that it is too early to plant much, but time to start getting ready. Perhaps a twelve foot fence will keep the deer out this year. That good material produced by cows and horses is being shared and spread liberally over garden patches to let it grow. Soil chemistry is an intricate field.

There is time for many good things to happen before Spring’s official arrival March 20th. Donna Mullens Gainer had her birthday on the 16th of February. She lives out southeast of Wichita where we hear the ground is so flat you could never lose track of your dog. We do not know if Donna has a dog. She has friends and kinfolks in Denlow and Champion. Anyone looking for a cute doggie might get in touch with Sherry Bennett. She has some little Yorkies that will steal your heart. They are registered and have those special papers. When Sherry is not dancing, she is singing and making all our hearts light.

Musical communication from Tim Tamburino of the Southwest Bluegrass Directory: “We were wondering about a couple of things. How has the guitar acquisition gone for the Skyline School? And (possibly) I might have a source for mandolins IF there is anyone that could teach the same.” And a response from Cheyenne McIntosh: “I think we are good right now on guitars. I have a couple I’m going to try and get fixed before long and it covers almost all my students. A couple bring their own in, so that helps. HOBA (Heart of the Ozarks Bluegrass Association) is trying to start up a program where they will allow local schools to borrow instruments, working to bring bluegrass into all the local schools. It will also allow any individual student to borrow an instrument if they need one. They are looking for any instruments they can.” So, if you have an unplayed mandolin, fiddle, guitar, bass, or banjo under your bed, find any HOBA member (they are all around) and pass it along.

It’s like the old boy says, “Everybody’s got to be somewhere.” Trish Davis had her birthday on the 17th. She surely shares Old Blue Eyes with her granddaughters. Linda Clark celebrated that day too and the next day with Gene on their wedding anniversary. She had very nice things to say about the gentleman. More celebrations that day were for a charming young Fox Creek neighbor and Champion Pete Proctor. He went to Fairview School, and serves now with a number of other local Veterans in the American Legion Honor Guard. His Mother went to school in Champion, the sweet Ruby Proctor. Her birthday was the 19th. Ruby and Esther Wrinkles were great friends. They were baptized in Fox Creek on the same day way back when. Joanna Bell shares her big day on the 21st with Skyline 8th grader John R. Seale. Staci Krider Cline attended Skyline, then taught there and now shares her birthday on the 23rd with Skyline kindergarten student Sadie Hurt. The 24th will be for Arnie A. Green-Thumb. He would tell you that will be a good day to plant above ground crops. That is also a good day for Ruth Fish Collins to use her beautiful velvety voice to sing that song to herself! Her many friends and family members will sing along, even in different places together. Saturday, the 25th is the Chili Supper Benefit for Charlie Byerly to be held at the Vanzant Community Building. There will be a live auction with many great items, including a genuine Champion Monkey Business monkey (#70 in the series.) Prekindergarten student Zachary Harvey will have his birthday on the 28th, but Frankie Procter will not have his on the 29th, because we will not have 29 days in the month this year. He will have to wait for next year. It will be on a Thursday. Last Thursday Vanzantians sang that birthday song to Jim Ivy. He is a flint knapper, a grower of great gourds, and an interesting individual. The almanac indicates that the 28th will be a good day to start seedbeds. At the end of February we will be fifty-nine days into the new year—off to a good start in Champion! —Looking on the Bright Side