Champion News

CHAMPION—September 28, 2009

        Champion is the kind of place that sets the standard for the rest of the country.  The seasons tend to change conspicuously on the designated calendar date and this year is no exception.  Nature lovers and gardeners have patiently endured the change as a spectacularly mild and lovely summer has given way to glorious autumnal weather.  Being not a slothful lot and advantaging themselves of perseverance, Champions are yet bringing in sheaves.  Harvest baskets overflow and the bounty of corn, goose beans, grapes and peppers changes hands.  Sweet potatoes will be out of the ground soon and frost will be on Champion pumpkins.  The first whiff of wood smoke will soon be spiraling out of Champion chimneys.

        Ms. Eva Powell happened to be over in Fair Grove last weekend and said that she had seen Champion’s favorite trinket maker there.  Really, they were only called ‘trinkets’ because his neighbor, Louise, said that he calls them that.  Ms Powell said he had all kinds of beautiful hand made wooden items like lazy Susans and she just couldn’t remember what all, except the things were made of oak and walnut and cedar and all polished and pretty.  Champions will find him down at the Pioneer Descendant’s Gathering on the weekend spinning potatoes and feeding the masses.  He is a busy fellow, what one might call ‘diversified.’

        Betty and Dale Thomas were out at the Champion Reunion on the Labor Day week-end.  Betty said that this year they have built a big pavilion down on their place at Yates where they have the Pioneer Descendant’s Gathering.  She said the pavilion will hold three hundred people and that it is in front of the stage so that folks can sit closer to the music in the shade.  They will still have to bring their lawn chairs, but that it should be more comfortable this year.  Friends who seldom see each other will be having sweet reunions and enjoying the various demonstrations and that sense of community that is fostered at this wonderful annual event.  It looks like Harley and Barbara will miss it this year, as they will come straggling into town the following week.  Champions will be mighty glad to see them whenever they come.

        Norwood’s Farmers Day was a good success this year.  The parade stretched out for blocks and blocks and the street was lined with people vying for a view.  The town was packed with people and reports were that a lot of good fun was had.  Linda’s Almanac from over at The Plant Place says that October’s is the Hunter’s Moon and that above ground crops can be planted on the second and the third and root crops on the sixth and seventh.  The 6^th and 7^th and 10-12 will all be good days to prune to encourage growth.  The 13 and 14^th will be excellent days to harvest crops, so if those sweet potatoes can stay in the ground until then, it is thought that they will keep better through the winter.  Take a good look at Linda’s Almanac in the link section at www.championnews.us.

        The Fortnight Bridge group has had some interesting games lately.  Truthfully, they all are.  The game hosted by the Champion player on the fifth of the month was fraught with unbid slams.  The play was good, but the bidding proved weak in that the contracts were underbid.  Brushy Knob hosted on the 19^th and the Champion player started out well.  The bidding was good, the play was flawless, and then something happened.  Mistaking the thought for the deed, Champion neglected to draw the last trump and from then on floundered, but not enough to win the low money.  Had it not been for a luscious banana cream pie and good friends it could have been disastrous.  Vera Cruz was the winner of that game and Norwood pocketed the nickels.  More exciting bridge news came from the Fourth Thursday Bridge Club that meets in Mansfield monthly.  Not only was this a card game but it was a “card party” for one of the groups founding members, Betty Swain.  She is celebrating her 90^th birthday!  Four tables worth of players surprised her with a basket of beautiful birthday cards and congratulatory remarks to make her smile.  Betty had known there was to be a pizza party to celebrate the new tables the club has purchased, but the card party was one of the best birthday surprises she has ever had.  She said that she learned to play bridge in Duarte, California in about 1957.  She had a five-year-old child and one 8 years old when she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and San Joaquin Valley Fever.  She spent 8 months in the City of Hope in Duarte getting well enough to have lung surgery.  She said there was nothing to do during that time so she learned to play bridge.  It was the most difficult time in her life but she survived it with her health and with a life long love of bridge.  The Mansfield club has been playing for about ten years now and shows no sign of slowing down, nor does Betty.  She was off to Springfield Monday to enjoy tea with friends and is planning a trip out west to visit her son for ten days.  She will be back in time for the next game.

        Thursday evening found Champions with visiting cousins over at Plumber’s Junction in the exurbs of Champion-East, i.e., Vanzant.  Many of the regular musicians were on hand, entertaining an appreciative crowd.  Regulars include Sue Murphy on the mandolin, Norris Woods on banjo, Jerry (Somebody) Wagner–fiddler-yodeler, Robert Upshaw–guitar, Frank Mings–mandolin, Ruth Collins–guitar, Johnny and Beau Combs–guitars and Joanne Combs–vocals.  Other Thursdays find some of these and other musicians from around the area filling the place with a fine mix of old time country music, bluegrass and fun.  It generally kicks off around 6 or so in the evening and goes on till closing time—about nine or so.  These are a diverse and interesting bunch of folks.  Sue grew up in Thornfield and went to high school in Kingsville for four years with Murphy from Almartha.  He said they went on their senior trip and married that fall.  It is obvious that he is her biggest fan.  Johnny and Beau Combs are cousins and fairly new to the area.  Joanne, Beau’s wife, said that they will be playing October 10^th at a church wide fellowship out on a ranch somewhere in the area.  She said that it will be announced in the paper.  Eddie Berry of Blanche (Junior) was notably absent on Thursday, but the General was there signing autographs.  Someone else remarked that they do look an awful lot like grown up versions of Lem and Ned.

        Many Viet Nam era veterans had a hard time when they came home from their military service.  The Nation had been in conflict over whether or not the war should have been fought and the returning soldiers felt the strife.  Champions are always mindful of the U.S. Service Personnel who put themselves in harm’s way at the behest of their Nation.  When they come home they need to be met with Love and Gratitude and with support and understanding.  They are Champions.

        If Bill Anderson, Bruce Springsteen, Aerosmith, Dionne Warwick, Brenda Lee and Charlie Daniels, Firewater, The Seekers, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and the Kingston Trio all got together they could sing “This Little Light of Mine I’m gonna let it shine, ev’ry day…On Monday, give me the gift of love, on Tuesday peace came from above..”  It seems that there are a number of different versions but they are all similarly motivated.  Motivate over to Henson’s Store on the North Side of the Square in beautiful Downtown Champion.  Look up and down the broad expanse of Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive and let your little light shine.  You’ll be in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side.

        Champion is a bright spot in the world.  There is no denying it.  The West Plains Wagon Club got wet every day of their trip until Thursday.  On Thursday as they came to Champion, the sun came out.  Eleven wagons’ worth of teamsters and passengers and 21 horseback riders will be pleased to say that Champion was the Bright Spot of their week long ride from West Plains to Mansfield.  Clifton Luna has headed up this ride since the late 1980’s.  He is 84 and shows no signs of slowing down.  There were quite a few children on this trip.  The youngest was Breanna Webster, two years old, traveling with her Grandparents Nancy and Marvin Webster of Bloomfield, MO.  Granddad, Don Breauchy of Vanzant enjoyed the company of his 10-year-old grandson, Jeffrey Bingham.  Gary Carter’s grandsons, Trent and Trevor, were also out of school for a couple of days getting life experience and education in the saddle.  There were several new to this ride this year and sadly, some missing who have made it every year.  Don Crawford of Salem, Arkansas, passed away this year.  He had made this ride every time.  He also headed up a ‘no-shuttle’ ride in the spring and the fall every year.  That ride was generally about 100 miles and participants had to bring all their own food, feed, and gear for the trip as they had no support on the trail.  Several different folks remarked on his absence on Thursday.  A number of Champions were on hand to enjoy the spectacle of the wagon train.  Upshaws came from as far away as Mountain Grove and Vanzant, and Wisemans came from Marshfield.  Foster and Kalyssa enjoyed some time in the saddle though their feet are still a long way from the stirrups.  One of the muleskinners was heard to say how much they all appreciate having the spectators come out to see them when they come to Champion.  “It is a real highlight for us,” he said.

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CHAMPION–September 21, 2009

        Champion is a bright spot in the world.  There is no denying it.  The West Plains Wagon Club got wet every day of their trip until Thursday.  On Thursday as they came to Champion, the sun came out.  Eleven wagons’ worth of teamsters and passengers and 21 horseback riders will be pleased to say that Champion was the Bright Spot of their week long ride from West Plains to Mansfield.  Clifton Luna has headed up this ride since the late 1980’s.  He is 84 and shows no signs of slowing down.  There were quite a few children on this trip.  The youngest was Breanna Webster, two years old, traveling with her Grandparents Nancy and Marvin Webster of Bloomfield, MO.  Granddad, Don Breauchy of Vanzant enjoyed the company of his 10-year-old grandson, Jeffrey Bingham.  Gary Carter’s grandsons, Trent and Trevor, were also out of school for a couple of days getting life experience and education in the saddle.  There were several new to this ride this year and sadly, some missing who have made it every year.  Don Crawford of Salem, Arkansas, passed away this year.  He had made this ride every time.  He also headed up a ‘no-shuttle’ ride in the spring and the fall every year.  That ride was generally about 100 miles and participants had to bring all their own food, feed, and gear for the trip as they had no support on the trail.  Several different folks remarked on his absence on Thursday.  A number of Champions were on hand to enjoy the spectacle of the wagon train.  Upshaws came from as far away as Mountain Grove and Vanzant, and Wisemans came from Marshfield.  Foster and Kalyssa enjoyed some time in the saddle though their feet are still a long way from the stirrups.  One of the muleskinners was heard to say how much they all appreciate having the spectators come out to see them when they come to Champion.  “It is a real highlight for us,” he said.

        A real highlight falls on the last day of summer most years.  That is Louise Hutchison’s birthday.  She shares it with Zoey Louise of Austin, TX.  One of them is six years old and the other is 74.  Champions wish them both a wonderful birthday and another great year.  Some Champions are off to Tennessee to see those Tennessee grandsons Dillon and Dakota.  They are just about grown now so they have to be looked at often to keep their faces familiar.

        “Junior and the General bear a striking resemblance to a couple of old time Champions, Lem and Ned.  Lem and Ned might easily have matured into replicas of Junior and the General if they had stayed around Champion, or if they had lived.” This mysterious note came anonymously over the Internet.

        Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood indicates that the 25^th through the 27^th will be good days to clear fencerows and to work in the woodlot.  Those are also good days to prune for the discouragement of growth.  Those sound like good days to clean up the vegetable garden to get ready for some fall planting of spinach.  A Champion was talking about a variety of greens that is a cross between Mustard and Spinach.  It sounds hearty and tasty!  The wet year has some tomatoes, squash, green beans and cucumber vines still producing.  A Teeter Creek Friend once grew cucumbers for a big pickle factory.  She was out in Montana on a wheat farm.  The rows were a quarter of a mile long, so three rows of cucumbers was quite a few cucumbers.  She said that the smaller the cucumbers were the more she was paid per bushel.  She did not say how much that was, but she did indicate that it was some while back.

        Esther and Raymond Howard were in the neighborhood on Sunday.  They brighten up even a bright spot.  Esther was talking about the Fair Grove Heritage Reunion and craft show.  It always happens on the last full weekend in September.  Fair Grove is Northeast of Springfield and West of Marshfield.  There will be a number of Champions in attendance.  Esther will exhibit some of her paintings there and other Champions will be peddling various homemade trinkets.

        “Wake Me Up When September Ends” is a song written by Billie Joe Armstrong, of the band Green Day, as a memorial to his late father.  It has a storyline about a soldier being killed, but the lyric is open ended enough so that whether you know all that or not, the tune can still conjure the feeling of summer fading away.  The opening lyric sets a downbeat tone:  “Summer has come and passed/ The innocent can never last/ Wake me up when September ends.”  The soldiers are losing their summer in Afghanistan and Iraq too.  The weather there is just a little warmer, about ten degrees warmer than here these days.  They will have a short autumn and winter will come soon and heavy.  The U.S. soldiers serving there are not summer soldiers or sunshine patriots, but they are there doing what their Nation asks of them.  They are all Champions who have the Love and Gratitude of their Nation due them while they are there and also when they come home.

        The Wagon Train has come and gone again.  Time passes sweetly in Champion.  The seasons roll around.  Children grow and things change.  In Champion though, there is a sense of timeless nostalgia and that old home feeling of things being just the way they are supposed to be.  Step up on the porch at Henson’s Store for some of that feeling.  It is on the North side of the Square.  Look in on www.championnews.us if you are too far away to make the ride.  Drop a note to Champion News or to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 if you know what ever became of Lem and Ned or if you have an autumn poem to share—something like “Get your spirit fortified! Get down to Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!”

CHAMPION—September 14, 2009

Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman, Prince and Princess of the 2009 Champion School Reunion

        The social whirlwind that is Champion is still spinning vigorously through the high and low spots at the end of WW highway.  Champions still reliving the recent reunion are passing pictures around and are making plans to draw a bigger crowd next year.  One of the pictures that has surfaced is of Foster Wiseman driving the lead car in the Labor Day Parade.  He is escorting his sister, Kalyssa Wiseman, who was named Champion Reunion Princess 2009!  Their mother celebrated her birthday in Champion on Sunday in the midst of family and friends who wish her well.  Health and Happiness!

        The Wagon Train is on its way.  It will be exciting to see all the wagons and interesting rigs, interesting characters, and all the well tended horses and mules.  Pictures from previous Champion layovers of the Wagon Train can be seen at www.championnews.us and new pictures will go up on that site of this year’s train in a few days.  Clifton Luna leads the train out of West Plains on a Monday and it takes until Thursday to get to Champion.  They should pull into Champion around noon and will make a rest stop there for their lunch and to be examined and admired by any Champions or others who wish to stop by to wish them ‘Happy Trails.’  By Friday they will wind up in Mansfield, making about twenty miles a day.

        One of those pictures from years past is of a guy named Paul Uhlman of Gentryville.  He was riding a horse named Miss Spot.  Seeing this picture brought up a story recently related by Elmer Banks.  He must have heard it from J.T. Shelton while they were out hunting one night.  According to Elmer, J.T. and Paul Uhlman (perhaps the very same guy) long years ago, before Highway V was ever black toped, went out hunting with their dogs.  They had been out all night and about the break of day they were surprised to hear a rooster crowing.  They were out in the middle of nowhere with no home places around–no place where a rooster could reasonably expect to be found.  Again the rooster crowed.  They scratched their heads and said, “What in the world is going on?”  It took some time to finally locate the rooster.  It was roosting on the axel of J.T.’s truck.  It was J.T.’s own rooster!  It had survived a rough ride and had gone through low water crossings and was still there under the truck on the axel.  Elmer, who wrote for the Cajun Sun Times Picayune (or another illustrious newspaper) said he would have written that J.T. had brought the rooster along on purpose so he would be able to get home on time and avoid some domestic problems.  This was quite a domestic rooster, as well as a rough rider.

Junior and the General Entertain

        There is a rough, bad rooster living over on the Krider farm.  Young Eli and sister Emerson Rose were visiting there the other day when Eli went out to gather the eggs.  The old red rooster made a run at Eli and gave him quite a scare.  Anybody laying odds on the longevity of that rooster better get his money down.  Eli’s Grandmother was not amused and was heard to make only slightly veiled threats against the fowl.  As a diversion from that scare, she brought two of her daughters and Eli and Emerson Rose with her over to Plumber’s Junction for some amusement on Thursday evening.  She had heard there was to be a bass duel—a face-off, bass-off between Eddie (Junior) Berry, of Blanche, a veritable virtuoso on the conventional washtub base, and Generalissimo Upshaw (the Infamous) on his homemade hillbilly basso profundo violoncello.  The band was made up of a number of regular musicians including Sue Murphy, Norris Woods, Wesley Hancock, and that wonderful yodeling fiddler from over in West Ava, Jerry Somebody.  There were quite a number of other musicians joining in.  Their names would have been available if a person could only have waded through the crowd to get to them.  The music was lively.  Conversations and laughter filled the space as old friends and family greeted each other and reminisced.  Then stepped up Junior and the General.  Before a note was played Junior was on the defensive as the General wrestled his unwieldy contraption from the case.  Junior ducked and dodged for all he was worth as a length of broomstick narrowly missed his head while the General muttered shallow apologies and continued to flail the air with the neck of his musical ax as if he had hold of a flogging rooster himself.  After a protracted exercise in awkwardness he settled down and the music began.  The band must have contrived to start the duel with “Hear that lonesome whippoorwill, he sounds too blue to fly.”  Before that midnight train could start its whine, the General started his.  The band, actually everyone, knows that this particular song is like poison to the General as it renders him blubbering and inept.  The clear winner of the music part was the melodic Mr. Berry.  The General won the prize for theatricality.  Cameras flashed and the audience roared.  It was a fine send off for Wesley Hancock who was beating it out of town early the next morning heading back to Idaho.  Champions and survivors of that Thursday at Plumbers all wish him well and a speedy return.

        Champions enjoying a good garden harvest are grateful for the weather and grateful for the food filling their shelves and freezers.  Some are cleaning up spots in the garden to plant some leafy greens and turnips.  There is time to get those spots ready because the next good planting days start on the 20^th of the month according to Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood.  She has some excellent mums this year.  Some Champions will get some of those planted soon trying to spruce up a little for some special company.  Some Champions just stay spruced up!  It is their way of life to be ready for anything at any time.  If company comes by unexpectedly they have no messes to hide and no apologies to make.  Champion!  They set a good example like the men and women, young and older who wear the Nation’s uniforms.  They are capable, ready and alert.  For those who do serve and those who have served in the dangerous places of the world on behalf of their Country, Champions everywhere have Love and Gratitude to express.  For those at home when their Soldier marches off or comes home again or does not, they have compassion, understanding and support.

        Now, that is a Bright Side song if ever there was one!  This song was written in 1874, about the time some of this country was being settled by antecedents of folks living here now.  The song was written by Knowles Shaw and was inspired by Psalms: 126:6.  Champions who are fearing neither clouds or winter’s chilling breeze are working with a will and a song in their heart to get the harvest in.  Bright Side songs and sweet reunion day pictures welcome at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367 Norwood, MO 65717 and at Champion News.  Sing one of those songs out on the porch at Henson’s Store in the throbbing heart of Historic Down Town Champion.  It is on the North Side of the Square.  The Champion Picture Postcard business is a thriving concern as many of them offer expansive views of the famed Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive.  Each of them is emblazoned with the contagious motto:  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

CHAMPION—September 7, 2009

Ruby Proctor, Esther Wrinkles and Zilea Lambert in the forground with Irene Dooms and Vivian Floyd.

        There was a fine turn out for the 27^th Annual Champion School Reunion on Saturday.  A mild threat of rain just turned into a mild and pleasant day for old friends and family to gather.  A wonderful spread of potluck dishes covered a long table and the temptation to return to it often was hard to resist.  After dinner everyone settled down for some heavy-duty visiting and some good music.  Charles Lambert on mandolin together with the guitars of Wesley Hancock, Robert Graham and Robert Upshaw made for good listening.  Susie Hancock did some harmonizing with husband Wesley and their daughter Shawn Harrison joined with Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman in a most enjoyable rendition of “I’ll Fly Away.”

Doris Giles Clark visits with Dale Thomas.

        Only one teacher attended the Reunion this year.  Doris Giles Clark began teaching at the Diamond school, which was located down on Bryant Creek at the site of what later became the Monastery.  That was in 1947.  She was in Champion for the 1948-1949 school year.  Ms. Clark taught in a number of schools in the area including Bakersfield and a year at Skyline.  After 33 years she ended her career at the Dora School where she taught Special Education.  Robert Brown, one of the thirteen students attending, said that Ms. Clark had whipped his backside when he was in her class at Champion.  No more whippings were reported, but one student was heard to ask another if she had ever had to stand with her nose in a circle drawn on the blackboard as punishment for whispering.  Other students on hand were Dane Lambert, Wes Lambert, Charles Lambert, Billy Joe Lambert, Esther Wrinkles, Irene Dooms, Vivian Floyd, Elsie Curtis, Elva Ragland, Ruby Proctor, Tommy Sutherland, Anita Sutherland Krewson.

Ruby Proctor and Esther Wrinkles share a moment.

        Other Champions celebrating the day were Pete Proctor, Fae Krider, Debby Massey, Darlene Brown, Connie Brown, Robert Graham, Mary Graham, Zilea Lambert, Tom Cooley, Arlene Cooley, Roger Wiseman, Tanna Wiseman, Foster Wiseman, Kalyssa Wiseman, Betty Henson, Robert Upshaw, Sharon Upshaw, Dale Thomas, Betty Thomas, Russell Upshaw, Sue Upshaw, Dean Upshaw, Daily Upshaw, David Coffman, Peggy Carreras, Jim Carreras, Holly Elizabeth Boche, Shawn Harrison (Hancock), Wesley Hancock, Susie Hancock, Nikki Sorrell, Murrell Clark, Kenneth Anderson, Barb Anderson and Virginia Canada from Coco Beach, FL.  These folks came from one end of the country to the other just for the joy of being together.  Already plans are in the works for next year.  Some schemes are being hatched to lure back some of those students and teachers who have been absent at recent reunions.  Contemporary gospel songwriter, Gene Jeffress, wrote, “What a reunion there, meeting on Glory Square!”

        The Labor Day weekend marks annual reunions and meetings all around the country.  The Haden Family generally gets together about this time of the year. Champion’s Tennessee Friend, Darrell Haden, comes to mind as he often does with hopes that circumstances let him come back to his old stomping grounds.  Some grounds sure could use a good stomping from time to time.

        Pete (Lyman) Proctor was overheard at the Champion Reunion to say that the VFW and the American Legion have been asked to participate in a memorial service for Norwood High School graduate PFC Jonathan Yanney who lost his life in Kandahar province Afghanistan on August 18^th.  The service is to be held on Friday the 11^th at 2 o’clock at the High School in Norwood.  Those who serve the Nation in the dangerous parts of the world are being memorialized all across the Country with the Love and Gratitude that they have coming.  Those who survive and those who are survivors of those who do not are also to be remembered.

        Norwood’s illustrious Postmaster has been off celebrating a birthday (Tuesday).  He has been on a fishing trip with son Ryan up to northern states to some special fishing holes.  Champions hope they caught some big ones.  Fishermen are always in a good mood when they’ve ‘caught a big one.’

        The social and economic achievements of American workers are celebrated with Labor Day.  For the jobless who want to work it is hardly a holiday.  For fortunate old Champions ‘retired’ from the workforce it is just another day for working in the garden, in the kitchen, in the wood lot, in the hay.  One was heard to complain that he works harder now than he did when he was earning money.  Vegetables are not inexpensive when you are buying them or when you are growing them.  It all takes work.  Good planting days for root crops will be on the 9^th and 10^th and on the 13^th and 14^th according to Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood.  It says that the best fishing days in September will be the 3^rd-6^th, and the 13^th and 14^th, so maybe Kirk and Ryan will have been in the right place at the right time.

        A couple of old Champions were talking on the phone the other day.  One is getting pretty old and was born and raised in Champion.  The other one is also pretty old but has only had Champion as a home place for a little over half her life–35 years.  The one who has been here the longest says, “Oh, Champion has changed.  It’s not like it was.  It’s really gone down.  It will never be the same.”  It is human nature to think that the prime of a person’s life is when things are right, the way they should be.  Any old guy who got out of high school in 1957 will tell you that the 1956 Thunderbird is the most beautiful car ever and they might as well have stopped making cars after that.  History is sweet to have and the past is often a pleasanter place.  They are still making cars though, and to Champions living the wonderful Champion life of today in their prime, these are the good days.  Lamenting change is lamentable.  That old guy said that he didn’t know too many people in Champion who were in the prime of their lives, meaning that the median age is getting up there.  The Champion newcomer says that it is pretty much a choice minute to minute if you are living a prime life or not.  “Sometime in the next few minutes could be the moment that will be remembered as the best one,” she extols, “So, Live!”  She is an extoller and exhorter.  Champion!

        “Wait till the sun shines, Nelly.  When the clouds go drifting by.  We’ll be happy, Nelly.  Don’t you sigh.”  The song was published in 1905 and has been the anthem of the floor traders on the New York Stock Exchange since 1934.  These days kind of remind a person of 1934, but it was the prime of some lives back then.  Drift over to Henson’s Store on the glorious Champion Square to sing any kind of prime of life song.

        Mail those kinds of songs and poems to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or e-mail them to Champion News.  Pictures of the 2009 Champion Reunion will go up on the www.championnews.us website soon, so keep checking in.  Through the grapevine the question came from some Upshaw cousin out in California who asks, “What does that Champion writer have against the General anyway?”  The question came after seeing the series of silent pictures depicting his musical aptitude.  The General will reprise his performance on his unusual instrument in a bass-off, face-off duel with another inventor, Eddie Berry of Blanche at Plumber’s Junction on Thursday.  Wesley Hancock will use the occasion to make his farewell to the area for a while.  He is not being driven away.  His roots will bring him back soon to Champion—Looking on the bright side.