November 17, 2014
CHAMPION—November 17, 2014
Sunday‘s dusting of snow was just enough to decorate each leaf in a way that made its shape more defined and the stresses of the cold on their colors precipitously invisible under the perfect garnish and it all looks clean and cool and perfect—like spring, but white. Sycamores, white in colonnades along the creeks, are a conduit between snowy earth and sky. An early entry to winter has Champion busy with preparations and plans for a snug few months ahead. “What’s all this nonsense about global warming when we are so cold?” The Old Champion replies, “Global warming is not climate warming. It causes climate change, which will make it warmer or colder, wetter or dryer, depending on your location. We’ve been colder than Alaska this week. What climate change brings with it is extreme conditions.” Champions are ready for whatever comes.
“The great thing about getting older is that you don’t lose all the other ages you’ve been.” So said Madeleine L’Engle. She was born in November of 1918, and lived until 2007. She wrote poetry, plays, short stories and novels, including “A Wrinkle in Time.” She has a number of quotes about birthdays. Jill Sterling’s birthday was November 13th. She was just in the neighborhood from Tulsa. Representing the Inconvenient Minors, she sat in on the regular Fortnight Bridge game on Saturday down at Vera Cruz. Susan Needham (Southern Champion grandmother of Seamus, Zack, and Elizabeth and astute political observer) has her birthday on November 23rd; Waylin Moon (Skyline 8th grader) has his party the 24th; Skyline second grader, Faith Crawford, shares her birthday with super-teacher, Lannie Hinote, on the 26th. W.A. Marsters (born Richard Masters in 1831) was an English adventurer who settled on Palmerston Island in the Cook Islands in 1863. He died in 1899 at the age of 67. He had three wives, 23 children and 134 grandchildren. W.A. Masters, farmer, born in Frog Level, Oklahoma in 1914, had his birthday on the 27th. He was the survivor of twins, father of three, a one man band. Alyssa Thornhill is a Kindergarten student with a birthday on November 28th, Ally Smith, third grader and kindergarten student, Billy Strong, share the 29th. All the ages we have been are worth celebrating.
Nine year old Champion, Foster Wiseman, tells the story of his first deer hunt when he harvested an eight point buck:
 |
 |
History, they say, is written by the winners. The modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is traced back to a poorly documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts, but did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660’s. A fall harvest festival goes back beyond the English Reformation in the 1530’s. Who knows how long the Green Corn Festival had been celebrated among the Wampanoag and other Native peoples? The first official “Day of Thanksgiving” was proclaimed in 1637, by Governor Winthrop. He did so to celebrate the safe return of men from the Massachusetts Bay Colony who had gone to Mystic, Connecticut to participate in the massacre of over 700 Pequot women, children and men. The United American Indians of New England observe a National Day of Mourning in Plymouth at noon on Thanksgiving Day. Every year Native people from throughout the Americas gather to stand out in the cold in peaceful dissent of the pilgrim mythology which says that the pilgrims arrived, the Native people fed them and welcomed them, the Indians promptly faded into the background, and everyone lived happily ever after. Now Nebraska farmers of European descent are standing alongside the Rosebud Sioux Tribe against the Keystone Pipeline as it threatens the precious Oglala Aquifer. Everyone is grateful for the harvest—food family and friends—but history marches on. Champions will enjoy their turkey and dressing, their family and friends, but will not pretend that any of us know the truth about how we got here. Will you have canned cranberry sauce, or fresh? “Hooray for the fun! Is the pudding done? Hooray for the pumpkin pie!”
Cinita Brown from way across town has written in with a story about Cletis Upshaw. While visiting with him in his home in Norwood in the late 1990’s she was pleased to find photographs on his wall of most of the early, east end Douglas County men who made history. She inquired about a familiar looking one and Cletis answered, “Girl, that is old Robert Hicks, the first representative of Douglas County.” Later she and Kenny Brown went back and scanned Cletis’s photo collection which she says she will be happy to share. TCN (The Champion News) is currently working on a page for the website dedicated to Cletis and will be pleased with Ms. Brown’s good input. Share your Cletis stories and pictures at champion@championnews.us or by snail-mail at TCN, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.
The gentlemen from the east end Douglas County road shed have been busy down in Old Fox Creek. They have a bucket loader down by the bridge and have been working the creek bed with the purpose of having water flow under the bridge and not over it. Accomplishing routine and deferred maintenance is a way to keep things moving smoothly. Angela Souder and Melissa Lang of the Douglas County Health Department will be back in Champion from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 on Tuesday the 25th. They have probably already saved at least one Champion life with their blood pressure checking device. Last month there were prominent citizens, and prominent girlfriends, cowboys, old timers, new-comers, some regular loafers and drop-ins who took advantage of the amenity. Come down to the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the north side of the Square any day and enjoy real community. Country music star, Lynn Anderson’s song “Top of the World” says, “Such a feelin’s coming over me/ There is wonder in most everything I see/ Not a cloud in the sky, got the sun in my eyes/ And I won’t be surprised if it’s a dream” … or Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
