March 15, 2007
CHAMPION – March 15, 2007
Time is getting away! The early change in the daylight savings time is a headache to some. Some don’t worry about it at all. The “Ides of March” is Thursday. Some say, “Beware!” Others don’t care. The Luck of the Irish will be spread around Champion over the week end. May it last the whole year through! It will be met with Love and Gratitude.
The delightful news out of Champion this week has been the weather. If it were like this all the time Champions could not find a spot to light for all the tourists. As it is, the ticks and chiggers, the hail storms, cyclones, tornadoes, floods, droughts, heat waves and blizzards kind of keep things balanced out. A local Hero and well known Mushroom Hunter was heard to say that in a week or two, if we get some warm nights, we can start looking (for mushrooms) with expectations of success. The dogwoods are swelling up to bud, and all is well. Champions Love the daffodils and the sweet Spring green.
This is the cover of the Sheet Music that arrived from the on-line web-site that specializes in collectables: MomThrewItAway.com. The official words to MY MISSOURI HOME are very much like those recalled last week by Darrell Haden. The official words are: “Dear old Missouri, I know, You mothered me long ago. You are my own, I should have known, That I’d be missing you so. My Missouri Home, My Missouri Home, Let me show you why I’m so blue; I just long to be with folks I long to see, who still belong to me and you. Old Missouri farms, Take me in your arms, Hold me so I never can roam, Open up your doorway, For I’m coming your way, My Missouri Home!” It is a waltz moderato and was written by Little Jack Little and published in 1930. A band made up of piano, alto and B-flat tenor saxophones, ukuleles, guitars, tenor banjos and Hawaiian steel guitars could all use this same piece of sheet music. Any musicians interested in viewing this excellent ‘collectable’ should contact Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717, or should e-mail to Champion News or leave word at Henson’s Store in Downtown Champion. Copies of the words and guitar tablature to MAY THE GOOD LORD BLESS AND KEEP YOU are also being made available as a Champion Souvenir. Ask at the store or contact the address above. “May your heart stay tuned music, that will cheer the hearts of men.” That’s a Champion motto!
A Champion Idea heard recently is: “Those wounded Veterans should be able to go to just any hospital anywhere and get good treatment. The hospital could bill the VA the way they do Medicare. There would still be plenty room for the ubiquitous corruption and ineptitude, but maybe a few more Veterans would actually get the help they have coming.” As of March 12, there have been 3194 US Service People who have lost their lives in the current conflict. The number of seriously wounded and otherwise damaged personnel may never be known.
“Sassefrass, that good old yaller tea! Sassefrass, it’s good for you and me. If it put pep in my Grandpap, it’ll put pep in you too! Sassefrass, that good old southern brew. Oh! They dig it in the hollers and they dig it in the hills. The drink it for the fever and they drink it for the chills.” That is all that has been reported of this song except a partial verse that says “And when they failed to get enough, they began to fight.” Once all its lyrics are rediscovered it will be added to The Missouri Song List. Meanwhile, it’s that time of the year when people are looking for the Spring Tonic. They say that sassafras is a good blood purifier and it can be brewed to taste pretty good. It is reminiscent of ‘root beer’ and probably the source of ‘sarsaparilla.’ Some say it should be strictly used as a ‘tonic’ and not to be a regular drink on account of its blood thinning and ‘purifying’ qualities and its possible effect on the liver and kidneys. Still, it is getting on to Spring and some may be ready for their tonic. The other day some folks were talking about gardening by the signs. Over in Norwood Linda’s almanac says that the 15th & 16th are barren days. The 17th good for planting root crops and the 18th for above-ground crops. The 19th & 20th are not good for planting, and that the 21st and 22nd will be good for planting above-ground crops. It’s a long time until the signs change and one fellow said he would just sit down and wait! The almanacs are free and full of good information. Flowers, herbs and home grown food can’t be beat. These same folks were talking about something called “Ugly Farming.” It has something to do with not tilling the soil. There is a song about it that ought to be informative if it can be found.
A pleasant conversation with Tony Evans, now of Ozark, MO, clears up some information that appeared here back in October. He says the store at ‘Evans’ was first built by Lee Evans and was located at about the place where the Dobbs family lives now which is about a quarter mile west of where the store last stood. No details of ‘how’ the store was moved were available, but Mr. Evans said that his sister, Joyce, was born in the store in 1932. His Grandfather Thomas Luther Evans had the stave-mill at Evans and had donated the land and material to build the church there. The church was built by a Mr. Lathum. Mr. Evans says that his Aunt Erma Evans, who was the wife of Curtis Evans, brother of Lee Evans, still lives in Ava and will have all kinds of family history to share. Champions look forward to learning more about their neighbors. It’s not that they are so nosey, they are just interested.
Points of interest, ‘bright ideas,’ songs, sayings, eagle sightings and signs are welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367 Norwood, MO 65717 or at Champion News.
