March 16, 2015
CHAMPION—March 16, 2015
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.” Charles Dickens said those and several pounds of other interesting words. These fit Champion well just now as sighs of relief add to the breezes and winter’s woes are being replaced by greening things and daffodils. There may be more winter ahead even after Spring officially arrives, still the collective feeling is one of reprieve. Passersby on a Wednesday morning trip to Ava saw Wayne and Joann Anderson sitting out on the back porch of the old house, the morning porch, watching the fog burn off the countryside stretched out there before them. It was a peaceful scene that might have been captured in a painting or at least on film, but the prospect of disturbing such sweet reverie to preserve it seemed counterintuitive. It looked like a private moment.
 Sisters, Linda Keys and Marjorie Carter, enjoy the sunny side of the street on the garden bench that Marjorie won in the drawing at the Skyline VFD Auxiliary Chili Supper on Saturday, March 7th. Included in the prize was the 42 inch cast stone fire pit. Ms. Carter has owned and operated Downtown Pawn on the square in Mountain Grove for twenty years and has been a regular benefactor of the various rural fire departments in the area. She says this is the first thing she has ever won and that she and her family will really enjoy it in her back yard this summer. The Skyline Auxiliary is appreciative of her support over the years and is pleased that her generosity has come back to her.
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Marjorie Carter at Downtown Pawn in Mt. Grove was pleasantly surprised to learn that she had won the drawing for the ornate garden bench and the cast stone fire pit at the Skyline VFD Auxiliary Chili Supper last Saturday. It was delivered to her Wednesday afternoon and she and her sister, Linda Keys, took a moment to have their picture taken on the sunny sidewalk. Ms. Carter has been a loyal supporter of the Skyline VFD for years and it is nice to see her generosity coming back to her. She was not present for the win, but she won anyway. Champion!
Tim and Jean Scrivner were at the chili supper. Tim contributed another of his remarkable bird feeders to the silent auction. Jean said that her brother, Charlie Burlile, up in Boston has had some adventures during the long, cold winter. The forecast ahead for them this week is highs in the 40s and lows in the 20s. They will have snow on the ground for a while yet. Around here, the mud has begun to settle in most places and hardly anyone is complaining. Soon it will be time for Cowboy Jack’s annual dampening. A voice piped up from the round table last Wednesday to say he almost drowned a good horse the last time. The round table is where the prevaricators sit. They cannot be backed into a corner that way. Fortunately Almartha’s bard was out on the porch (supposedly helping to load the heavy fire pit into the truck, but mostly just creating confusion) when he finally let his misogynism all the way out with a snide remark about women drivers. One of the ways these radicals go about instigating trouble is to push and push until the forbearance of the maligned wears thin and she retorts, “Aw, shut up.” Then he chuckles and grins real big, “You’ve been wanting to say that for a long time, haven’t you?” He won. His sister seems to be trouncing him regularly at Scrabble, so he goes off to the next county to cause trouble. His friends are still glad to see him coming, Bob and Ethel among them. They reported having seen quite a few deer the other day, a couple of big bunches. They are still enjoying the eagles up at the headwaters of Fox Creek. The other day Bob said if he lived closer he would come to Champion every day.
J.C. Owsley is a great fan of Champion. He posted some pictures recently of some still standing, but abandoned looking buildings and said, “This is a community in my home area that I remember from childhood as resembling Champion. Jordan is situated on the banks of Starks Creek instead of Fox. The store and post office closed over sixty years ago. The people went away, and the community died. I love The Champion News because it brings back memories from long ago in my own world. This area of Hickory County is the setting of a book titled ‘The Walking Preacher of the Ozarks.’ Reading the news from Champion is a highlight of my week. Thank you.” It is good to know that www.championnews.us reaches everywhere the internet goes, even to Texas. Rebecca Heston writes from there in response to Eulalia Jasmin’s OP ED piece last week. She says, “I do believe Ms. Jasmin has offered some of the best advice I have heard in a very long time. In today’s age, many laugh at manners and at that which is expected in polite society. But I think it would help us to remember that polite society is that which brought us away from the tribalism that permeated the societies of our ancestry and allowed us to live communally in cities and villages. I appreciate the reminder as well as the tips on how to survive those who persist in sharing more than we’d like to hear. Thanks for sharing her thoughts.” We do seem to be bombarded with too much partisan information—too much political bullying. It might be time to turn off the TV and computer and go out for a walk, and as our Hunter Creek friend says, “Now get up and go enjoy the beautiful outdoors!”
Sunday the 15th was Mother’s Day in the United Kingdom. It is lovely to be remembered. That day is one Carol and Chris Tharp remember—their 40th wedding anniversary. Mrs. Helen Batten had her birthday on the 16th. She is the first smiling face people see when they go to through the door of the Skyline School. In addition to being St. Patrick’s Day, the 17th is another wedding anniversary—forty-six years for Linda and Bob Hetherington over in Norwood. Linda has her Cole crops ready up at The Plant Place. Her almanac says that the 18th and 19th will be good days for planting root crops. Where it is not too wet to plow, some Champions are getting ready to get their potatoes in the ground. Myla Sarginson is in the third grade at Skyline. She has her birthday on the 18th. She has to get up a little earlier to get to school these days, but young people adapt quickly to change. When told the reason for daylight savings time the Old Indian said, “Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.” Spring Break is happening for many schools around the country. It happens that South Padre Island has been experiencing 50 degree drizzle and high winds for several days and all those high rise condominiums on the beach are full of college students who would like to be playing out on the sunny sand. They should have just stayed home or gone to visit the old folks. “Hey, Grandad, can I give you a hand with that?” “Grannie, I would be pleased to wash some windows for you if that is what you need doing.”
Bluebirds and robins and geese flying north all tell us Spring is near. Come down to the wide, wild and wooly banks of Old Fox Creek and share your ideas about what makes you know it is Spring. Remember that song from “State Fair?” “I’m as busy as a spider spinning daydreams; I’m as giddy as a baby on a swing. I haven’t seen a crocus or a rosebud or a robin on the wing. But I feel so gay, in a melancholy way, that it might as well be spring. It might as well be spring” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
