Champion News

CHAMPION – February 25, 2007

Last week’s news:  CHAMPION – February 22, 2007 

        The good news in Champion once again has to do with grandchildren.  Those boys from Tennessee were back again making life on the Krider farm joyous.  Dakota and Dillon keep young Foster, visiting from Marshfield, well entertained and the three of them together is a sweet sight.  Foster is also an excellent entertainer and is currently practicing a duet with his Mom: “You Are My Sunshine.”  Some of the best news around has to do with the weather.  There has finally been a break from the deep cold.  Remembering that recent winters have been unusually mild doesn’t make the hard ones any easier to bear.  Buzzards were reported to be flying around the Skyline Ladies’ Auxiliary Shoot Out the other day, so that is  portentous of something, perhaps just the passage of time.  Warm days make the garden call out to Champions.  Linda, over in Norwood, says the cole crops are looking good and their second leaves are beginning to emerge.  Mailmen will be burdened with seed catalogues and the seasons keep rolling around.

        The sad news in the community is word of the passing of Murnice Hamilton.  She was a most consistently good humored person with an openness for friendship that is seldom seen.  Kind words, compassion and a sweet laugh were her hallmark.  Her gentle smile will be missed by all whose lives she touched.  She was a great repository of Love and Gratitude.

        Gunfire echoed throughout the hills and hollows of Champion as those Auxiliary women blew off steam.  Their chili supper will go off on Saturday.   It will be the event of the season.  People will be celebrating a change in the weather, a change in the season, and the chance to get together for some good visiting and good food.   The music will lift every spirit and everyone will benefit.  The Skyline Volunteer Fire Department will be the designated beneficiary, but the whole community will share in the uplifting.

        Monday was marked by The Return of the Buzzards,  then came Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and then it was the birthday of Farel Sikes, and Friday the birthday of Staci Krider. Yipee!  Farel is  making a good recovery from his injury and is doing what he has to do regain his strength and mobility.  There are many people struggling to overcome serious injuries sustained in the line of duty.  There are more than twenty thousand veterans of the current war in Iraq whose lives will never be the same.  No one who has served there will return as the same person who left.  Hopefully they will be met here with Understanding as well as the Love and Gratitude that is their due.

        The Missouri Song List will surely become longer as a result of the Skyline VFD Ladies Auxiliary Chili Supper.  Words to “My Missouri Home” are still being sought.

1. The Missouri Waltz
2. Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie
3. I’m Goin Back to Whur I come From
4. The Wesphalia Waltz
5. The West Plains Explosion
6. My Missouri Home
7. Kansas City, Here I Come
8. May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You

        New songs for the Missouri Song List, old stories from around Champion, family histories, new or old news, poetry, admonitions, complaints, speculations, exaltations—all are welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, at Henson’s store in the heart of Champion and at Champion News.

This week’s news:  CHAMPION – March 1, 2007 

        Well the Skyline Auxiliary chili supper is past again for another year.  The big build up was worth it and Auxiliary members are still busy on the phone congratulating each other on a splendid success.  Also on the phone this pas week was Louise Hutchison and Marion Conradi.  They share the view of a beautiful open field where a large bald eagle has been putting on a show for their benefit this last week.  Ms. Conradi looks out East and Louise looks to the North.  When the eagle is there, the first one to see it calls the other one.  Champion has some excellent entertainment. 

        An email has been received at Champion News from the Webner Household of Midland, TX.  He says, “Read your article in the Douglas Co. Herald and see you are looking for lyrics to MY MISSOURI HOME.”  He sent a link to http://missourifolkloresociety.truman.edu/eyecandy.html that proved to be most interesting.  There were pictures there of some of those Missouri quilt blocks:  “The Missouri Daisy,” “Old Missouri,” and “The Missouri Star:”  He also included an address on EBAY to buy a copy of the original sheet music from 1930.  When the sheet music arrives at ‘Champion Items’ a full disclosure of the lyrics will be made.  Thanks, Scott C. Webner of Midland, TX!

        An email has been intercepted from a famous pitcher turned ice cream aficionado.  He says:  “I guess I will be making a lot of peanut butter ice cream this year.  I sure do have some great neighbors in this here hamlet of Vanzant.  I bet I have over 60 containers of peanut butter they have given me recently (although some are only partially filled).  Even some of the people I don’t even care about have been extra generous, and they told me I didn’t even have to make any ice cream for them.  So, anytime any of you can come by and visit just call an hour ahead and I will have a batch ready.”  There must be more going on here than rock salt and friction can freeze.

        The daffodils are starting to bloom and some trees and shrubs are beginning bud.  Some people just can’t stay out of the dirt and are already hauling manure and turning clods.  It is an example of the kind of eagerness that some can watch for hours from the comfort of their porch swing with no kind of guilt.  The story of the “Little Red Hen” is one that might benefit a number of fine Champions.  The garden is a place to learn a lot of lessons not the least of which is patients.  A few warm days can cause some folks to ‘jump the gun.’  Last week the saying about a day in February when the dog looks for a shade was proven to be true.  Another one of those February sayings is “thunder in February, frost in May.”  While time marches on, it is important to enjoy today.  No use getting in a hurry.  Haste makes waste.  Send any sayings, platitudes or cautionary tales to Champion Items, Rt. 2. Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.

CHAMPION – February 19, 2007

        The good news in Champion once again has to do with grandchildren.  Those boys from Tennessee were back again making life on the Krider farm joyous.  Dakota and Dillon keep young Foster, visiting from Marshfield,  well entertained and the three of them together is a sweet sight.  Foster is also an excellent entertainer and is currently practicing a duet with his Mom: “You Are My Sunshine.”  Some of the best news around has to do with the weather.  There has finally been a break from the deep cold.  Remembering that recent winters have been unusually mild doesn’t make the hard ones any easier to bear.  Buzzards were reported to be flying around the Skyline Ladies’ Auxiliary Shoot Out the other day, so that is  portentous of something, perhaps just the passage of time.  Warm days make the garden call out to Champions.  Linda over at the Plant Place in Norwood says the cole crops are looking good and their second leaves are beginning to emerge.  Mailmen will be burdened with seed catalogues and the seasons keep rolling around. 

        The sad news in the community is word of the passing of Murnice Hamilton.  She was a most consistently good humored person with an openness for friendship that is seldom seen.  Kind words, compassion and a sweet laugh were her hallmark.  Her gentle smile will be missed by all whose lives she touched.  She was a great repository of Love and Gratitude.

        Gunfire echoed throughout the hills and hollows of Champion as those Auxiliary women blew off steam.  Their chili supper will go off on Saturday.   It will be the event of the season.  People will be celebrating a change in the weather, a change in the season, and the chance to get together for some good visiting and good food.  The music will lift every spirit and everyone will benefit.  The Skyline Volunteer Fire Department will be the designated beneficiary, but the whole community will share in the uplifting. 

        Monday was marked by The Return of the Buzzards, then comes Fat Tuesday, Ash Wednesday, and then it’s the birthday of Farel Sikes, and Friday the birthday of Staci Krider. Yipee!  Farel is making a good recovery from his injury and is doing what he has to do regain his strength and mobility.  There are many people struggling to overcome serious injuries sustained in the line of duty.  There are more than twenty thousand veterans of the current war in Iraq whose lives will never be the same.  No one who has served there will return as the same person who left.  Hopefully they will be met here with Understanding as well as the Love and Gratitude that is their due. 

        The Missouri Song List will surely become longer as a result of the Skyline VFD Ladies Auxiliary Chili Supper.  Words to “My Missouri Home” are still being sought.

1. The Missouri Waltz
2. Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie
3. I’m Goin Back to Whur I come From
4. The Wesphalia Waltz
5. The West Plains Explosion
6. My Missouri Home
7. Kansas City, Here I Come
8. May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You

        New songs for the Missouri Song List, old stories from around Champion, family histories, new or old news, poetry, admonitions, complaints, speculations, exaltations—all are welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, at Henson’s store in the heart of Champion and at Champion News.

CHAMPION – February 12, 2007

        The very good news in Champion this week is the beautiful weather!  Sunday was so lovely with such blue skies.  People felt good about being out and about.  Raymond and Esther Howard were visitors in Champion and Eva Powell enjoyed the company of three of her four children and their spouses.  Grandson Brian is always a welcome guest.  They all enjoyed lunch at the North and South and had some food and good conversation.  One thing that came out was that when it is all said and done Springfield is going to have produced what amounts to a brush pile covering forty acres three stories high.  Many Champions have not yet been up to the big town to look it over.  They should be ready for a shock. Mrs. Wrinkles said it looks pretty shaggy.  A number of folks from around Champion are lending their hand in the clean up.  Good neighbors are a gift.  Bad weather can happen anywhere. 

        Roses are red and violets are blue, Champion is Sweet and so are you! (Champions!)  The original poem may be “May All the Flowers” written in 1590 by Sir Edmund Spenser for his epic “The Faerie Queene.”

She bathed with roses red,
And violets blue
And all the sweetest flowers
That in the forest grew.

        As it was published in 1596, the epic presented the following virtues: Book I: Holiness, Book II: Temperance, Book III: Chastity , Book IV: Friendship, Book V: Justice , Book VI: Courtesy.  It sounds like a pretty wholesome read.  Perhaps a review of  “The Faerie Queen” will be appropriate for next Valentine’s Day.  Meanwhile Gratitude for Love is appropriate in Champion and everywhere.

        When Abraham Lincoln became President, the U.S. Population was 31,443,321.  There were thirty six stars on the flag when he left office.  Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

        As of February 13, 2007 Greenwich Mean Time,  at 3:16 a.m.  The U.S. population was 301,160,400 and the population of the World was estimated to be six billion, five hundred seventy-five million, nine hundred seventy-nine thousand, four hundred and eighty five people.  That’s 6,575,979,485.  Champion has a lot of neighbors.

        Looking for Missouri songs, Red Foley who touched the whole country with the Ozark Jubilee used to end the show with “May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You.”  It turns out that that is the work of  Meredith Wilson who wrote the songs for “The Music Man” and many other great songs.  He wrote it in 1951.  Wilson was from Iowa.  Champion has a solid connection with Iowa (Wilburn and Louise among others) and everyone has sung this song, from Perry Como, Roy Acuff, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, as well as Red Foley.  Until there is an oversight committee to say otherwise “May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You” will be included on the list of Missouri songs just because Champions have a lot of sweet connections out there in the big world including soldiers and sailors serving in harm’s way. During the week that ended February 10^th, twenty more Service People lost their lives in Iraq.  Here are the words to the song:

May the good Lord bless and keep you,
Whether near or far away.
May you find that long awaited,
Golden day today . . .
 
May your troubles all be small ones,
And your fortune ten times ten,
May the good lord bless and keep you,
‘Til we meet again . . .
 
May you walk with the sunlight shining,
And a blue bird in every tree.
May there be silver lining,
Back of every cloud you see . . .
 
Fill your dreams with sweet tomorrows,
Never mind what might have been.
May the good Lord bless and keep you,
‘Till we meet again . . .
May the good Lord bless and keep you,
“Till we meet again. . .

        Somebody always has something to say about maudlin sentimentality.  Too bad.  So here is the updated Missouri Song List.   Words for “My Missouri Home” are still being sought.

1. The Missouri Waltz
2. Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie
3. I’m Goin Back to Whur I come From
4. The Wesphalia Waltz
5. The West Plains Explosion
6. My Missouri Home
7. Kansas City, Here I Come
8. May The Good Lord Bless and Keep You

        Aw Shoot!  The Second Annual Invitational Shoot-Out of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department has had to be postponed again!  For one reason and another, i.e. weather, illness, schedule conflicts and requirements to go off and meet new grandchildren, the fracas will have to be put off.  Last year there were about twenty people and about a hundred guns in attendance.  It may happen that it will have to be held in two “heats” in order to get all the shooters in. (Most everybody would like some kind of heat for sure.)  Anyway, it gives the ladies more time to work on their costumes.  Some will have hats with feathers and some long skirts that look good with holsters strapped across them.  It’s a fashionable affair, though marksmanship has  not much to do with wardrobe.  They are shooting at alarm clocks and wrist watches among other things.  There is likely to be a pile of shot up stuff on display at the Skyline Chili Supper.  Those Auxiliary women are a wild bunch and they make good chili, ham and beans and chicken and noodles.  The Membership is responsible for all the beautiful pies.  It’s coming around pretty soon.  Excitement is building! 

        Farel Sikes is making a good recovery.  He’s got some good weather this week for recuperating.  On a dreary rainy day the gardens are getting just what they will need.  On the cold days it may be that the ticks and chiggers are loosing ground.  Persevering through a hard season in hopes of better days ahead, Champions plug along.  Some of them are more careful about having an ‘emergency’ blanket in their cars during times like these.  These little pieces of reflective plastic just cost a couple of dollars.  They are folded up small so they can easily be carried in a purse or a glove compartment.  A moment to be safe and well prepared is a moment well spent.  Send your admonitions for prudent and safe behavior to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, drop them off at Henson’s Store in downtown Champion, or e-mail them to Champion News. Valentine or other poetry, songs, statistics, observations and any other pertinences are welcome.  There were many eloquent elegies written about Molly Ivins.  Her most popular book is Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?

Champion – February 5, 2007

        There is an old saying in Champion that there will be a day in February when a dog will hunt the shade.  In Champion, as in other places, this past Friday was both Groundhog Day and February’s Full Moon, called the “Snow Moon” by some.  Some groundhogs saw their shadow and some did not. So anybody’s guess about the upcoming weather is sanctioned by a groundhog somewhere.  The Champion Woodchuck is a monster.  He stands up nearly as tall as the dinner table.  If he had been prowling around Friday night, C.W. could have seen his moon shadow and what weather that would portend is speculation certainly.  Speculators are a dime a dozen around Champion.  One of them thinks this whole Global Warming thing is a put up job by the Government because anyone can see that it is as cold a winter as has been had around here in a long time.  “It’s the frequency of violent weather in general that’s the result of the warming,” says one.  Somebody else said that man is not having any kind of effect on the weather because it is all in God’s hands.  Then somebody said that God gave man dominion over the earth and man is fouling it up.  Some say their point of view is backed up by scientific data.  Others say there is no point in reading all that stuff because a person can find paperwork to prove anything.  Cabin fever may be playing a part in this surly discourse.  Feel free to participate in the discourse at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717, at the Champion Store (write it down and give it to someone in the store who has recently had a birthday) or e-mail opinions to Champion News. The whole argument may be more compelling in late summer.

        In answer to a request, these are the words to “The West Plains Explosion.”  “ In a little town of West Plains In old Missouri state Twas in the month of April They saw the hand of fate.  The springtime flowers were blooming  The world was bright and gay  And no one dreamed the danger Would come to them that day.  Was there the young folks gathered One fatal Friday night  And to the dance they wandered With hearts so gay and light.  And there they spent the evening Without a thought of fear For nothing came to warn them That death was drawing near.  The dance was nearly over The evening nearly past When from the floor beneath them There came an awful blast.  The building all around them Came tumbling to the ground  And there they fought and struggled But the hot flames beat them down.  How quick the scene was shifted From one so gay and light How hard the brave men struggled To save their friends that night.  How sad the fears of loved ones Who came at break of dawn To see the great disaster Where forty lives had gone.  We can’t explain the reason These awful things must come But we should all be ready to say, ‘Thy will be done.’  And tho Our hearts are weary Our burdens hard to bare  We have one consolation We’ll meet them over there.”  That is a sad song.

        The  Missouri Song List currently is:

1. The Missouri Waltz
2. Meet Me in St. Louie, Louie
3. I’m Goin Back to Whur I Come From
4. The Westphalia Waltz
5. The West Plains Explosion
6. My Missouri Home
7. Kansas City, Here I Come

        The words to “My Missouri Home” have not yet been found.  “The Shotgun Boogie” looked like a pretty good candidate for the song list.  Red Foley used to play it, but it was written by Tennessee Earnie Ford and was his ‘hit.’  The subject matter looks like it’s straight out of Champion with its references to squirrel hunting, etc.

        Little Granddaughters, Zoey Louise and Alexandra Jean will have to look for someone else to teach them to lift up the underdog and to hate it when the wealthy make excuses for injustice.  Their great fellow Texan, Molly Ivins,  passed away this last week.  She was sixty two years old and had made every moment of her life count for something good.  It was her intention to keep the war in Iraq in the forefront of American thought.  With Love and Gratitude for her and for our precious soldiers over there, it is to be noted that eighty four of them lost their lives in January.

        UFOs have been reported between Willow Springs and Houston.  It is understood that there have been several sightings.  Champion has some interesting neighbors.  Linda over in Norwood at the Plant Place has some of her perennials in already and the Cole crops are about up.  When the moon sign is right in a few days she will plant the herbs.  It is nice to know that gardening season is coming up.  Plans need to be made.

        The much anticipated invitations are in the mail!  Auxiliary members will soon be donning their hats and six shooters.  Rifles will be slung over delicate shoulders and the order “Commence Fire!” will be heard.  The Second Annual Invitational Shoot Out sponsored for the Members of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department is in the works.  Last year crock pots, coffee pots, toasters, and a few other things were the targets of their rage: “BLAST IT IF IT WON’T WORK!” was their cry.

        This year……who knows?