September 10, 2007
CHAMPION – September 10, 2007
The good news in Champion this week is that things are finally settling down over the hubbub the reunion. Stragglers are showing up a week late to hear tales of all the good times they missed. While they were missing the Champion’s Reunion Good Times they were busy living their own good times, however, and they look no worse for the wear. Even Champions can’t be everywhere at once! Many are planning for next year already. Mrs. Ruby Proctor remarked that she had very much enjoyed the whole affair and that she was pleased to see Barbara Pippin (…..) there for the first time and enjoying herself so much. Ms. Proctor said that she had planned to bring her Bible with her to the reunion. It is one that she bought out in Oregon (probably in the 1940’s) that survived the tornado that about blew her away on Christmas Eve 1982. She said that the back was torn off of the Bible but not a page was missing or torn, that it was found laying open and not one of the clippings that she had kept in it was missing. It was one of the very few things that survived that awful storm. Of course, Ruby and her son Gary survived and that was just a an extraordinary piece of luck! Anyway, she forgot to bring the Bible with her this time, but there will be a number interested in seeing it Next Year.
Champion’s friend Ethel McCallie stopped in to Champion on Labor Day. She was in the neighborhood, having attended the Haden-Kay-Sellers reunion in Ava. She said that the music at their reunion was just wonderful. (It should be with all those Hadens!) She was touring around the country side with her young cousin and his wife who live just over between Seymour and Ava. They had recently returned from a trip to Guatemala to visit their daughter. It was a very enlightening trip and they had good pictures to share. Ms. McCallie lives fifty miles north of Tulsa and says that while they have had some nice rain up there they have not experienced the flooding that some parts of Oklahoma have seen. She says her house is on a hill. She had her 90th birthday on August 11th and had hoped to run into Mrs. Esther Wrinkles while she was in the neighborhood, since she had read about her celebration back in June. Darrell Haden sent a note saying how much he had enjoyed his sojourn to Champion. He also said how happy he was to have received the news of Woody Van Eaton. He said, “I hope Mrs. Stoner in Springfield knows I appreciate my friend’s address. I haven’t seen him since 1953. We served in the U.S. Army at Ft. Leonard Wood. He used to give me a ride to the Mansfield-Ava exit on some week ends.” Old Friendships…friendships from long ago and lasting friendships forged long ago are some of the very best part of life. Some Champions are getting older and they seem to be keenly aware of the importance of the special people in their circles.
New Friendships are being forged all the time. Granddaughter day brought young people together from far flung places. Little Kalyssa and Jenna will know each other as they grow up and may become friends. Ruby Proctor and Esther Wrinkles have been friends for more than sixty years! Raul Moreno, Jr., Champion’s young US Soldier Friend in Afghanistan, is forging new friendships as he is in that hard and dangerous place. It is hoped that he and his Brother and Sister Soldiers will spend long hours off in the future reminiscing about their time there and finding the good in the circumstances that brought them together. It is to be hoped that the Love and Gratitude expressed to them by the Whole Nation will have played a part in helping them move on to happy, safe, productive lives. Wounded over there so far in Afghanistan and Iraq are well over twenty seven THOUSAND U.S. Soldiers. “Isn’t that 2,700?” No. The number has three zeros making it twenty seven thousand. That is just a current ‘reported’ figure. Sad lessons from wars past are reminders that each of those numbers represents someone’s precious person and there are many more precious persons wounded than are ever acknowledge. Champions are full of Love and Gratitude.
Good Champion news is that Kalyssa Wiseman is home from the hospital with her family. She is almost two weeks old now and big brother Foster really likes her. There are already some very sweet photos circulating of the two of them and of them with Mom and Dad, Tanna and Roger. Jenna Kaitland Brixey is home too! She came home to the farm on Sunday and seems to have things under control there. Janna and James have already found that a trip to town is a new experience with a baby. They say that Grandpa Dean is taking to his new role pretty well.
The Pioneer Descendents Gathering is just around the corner! It will be held on the 6th and 7th of October and if it is anything like last year’s event it will be fantastic! The gathering is promoted by many of the descendents of Tom Brown and John Burden. There will be a host of exhibits and demonstrations of old time crafts and skills and admittance is free. There will be some advertising in the next few weeks that will describe the expected fun of this much anticipated shindig. The sesquicentennial is also just around the corner! (Champion is reported to have four corners since the ‘square’ is so frequently mentioned, although their precise location is a matter of conjecture.) It has been a treat to see the Herald’s photos of the Centennial Fashions. Imagination and Modesty played a fine part in the design and execution of those lovely clothes. Someone remarked that with the ease of doing laundry these days it would seem that people would be interested in wearing ‘more clothes.’ This week’s Music Appreciation: “A-round the corner. Be-neat the berry tree / A-long the foot path Be-hind the bush / Looking for Emily!/ I told my Emily to go away / But now I’m sad she didn’t stay. / And tomorrow night if she / Comes a-looking round for me / I’ll be sittin’ ‘neat the bitter berry tree! A-round the corner. Be-neat the berry tree / A-long the foot path Be-hind the bush / Looking for Emily.” The First Champion who sings that song down at the Pioneer Descendents Gathering will get a free souvenir photograph to commemorate the occasion!
Charlene is home from Virginia for a while! She’s got Olivia with her and there is all manner of Grandmother and Granddaughter fun going on. Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place says that the 13th to the 17th of the month will be excellent for planting any crops that yield above ground.
“Just think of the ink!” someone remarked about the length of two weeks worth of Champion items stacked up on one page in the September 6th issue of the Herald. This particular batch of Champion Items saw its first ink back on August 31st, 2006. The column had been dormant for a while and previously had been written by Esther Wrinkles. After she had moved over to Vanzant she kept it going as Vanzant/Champion for a while, but Champions were just laying low news wise and it’s hard to get the straight skinny on things from a distance, so Champion went unsung for a little while. With the exception of about two years Esther has written about Champion and Vanzant for the Herald since she was twenty years old. That’s close to seventy years! It has been suggested that the current columnist might try to be more sparing with the ink. Perhaps it will last longer. One year down and sixty seven to go! Things are getting pretty exciting around the Herald anyway with Ms. Fish’es impending nuptials! Look for things to be wonderful and out of the ordinary.
Wonderful, extraordinary things, lovely songs, the straight skinny of any hubbubs, shindigs, gatherings, reunions, sojourns and nuptials are welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367 Norwood, MO 65717. Examples of Champion Friendships are eagerly requested e-mailed to Champion News. Editorial comments concerning length or content can be directed to someone who cares at the Herald. Fashion Commentary or charming old Champion stories may be shared in person at Henson’s Store on the north side of the Square where Stragglers are Always Welcome Home. Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
