CHAMPION—April 3, 2017
Champion Deer
Sam Walter Foss was an American poet who passed away at the age of 53 in 1911. He wrote, “Let me live in a house by the side of the road where the race of men go by. They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong, Wise, foolish—so am I. Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat, or hurl the cynic’s ban? Let me live in my house by the side of the road and be a friend to man.” There are five verses to the poem and they all make Champions feel good about being in this tranquil part of the world. Be advised, however, that those houses will soon be disappearing into the woods again. Mailboxes will be the clue that just out of sight are families and old retired people and solitary individuals, comfortable in their new seclusion. It is a glorious time of the year with flowering trees and all the tender greens filling the spaces in the gray brush. Champions appreciate the beauty of home and the reputation of being a friendly bunch, though the Prominent Citizen felt snubbed when an Old Champion drove by him on the road the other evening, engrossed in her thoughts and failed to see him. Perhaps she will endeavor to be more alert, and he, a little less sensitive.
Travelers through the countryside in the early evenings this time of year are often rewarded with the sight of deer out in fields and frequently crossing the roads. These handsome creatures are on the move year round and vigilance by motorists is a requirement for a safe arrival. Sharon Tate Williamson said that she and Harold drove down home to Booger County the other day to see the redbuds and they were absolutely beautiful. They went to Ava and on to Champion and Drury. They were headed to Rockbridge to have a fresh trout sandwich, but at Gentryville there was a sign that said the road was closed six miles ahead. She was told that the low water bridge over Bryant Creek was under water, so they missed their treat. They just live up in Springfield so maybe they will make it back down this way soon. Had they been to the Historic Emporium on Wednesday, they might have had the chance to visit with Don Dooms and his charming companion as they pause in the area on their way from their winter home in Arizona to their summer home in Idaho, where Don says there is currently still five feet of snow. They may linger on the Bright Side a while, then meander through Oklahoma to fish for a spell before heading north.
The Cold Spring Store is now just a pile of decaying lumber with brush growing up through it. The old log house of the Coffman family up on 76 is rapidly disintegrating. Once there are holes in the roof it does not take long for the whole thing to go. Orville’s beautiful old barn is now providing a roosting spot for buzzards and the walls are starting to sag. It is sad to see the old buildings disappear and with them the memories of the people who built and occupied them and the events that occurred in and around them. The landmarks of previous generations are being lost, particularly to those Champions without deep roots of family history in these parts. While change is the only constant and changes are inevitable, let us not always consider that they are necessarily improvements. Simpler times are often thought to have been better, and certainly some were undeniably better. Still, the nostalgia that we feel for the past may, in part, just be that we were young and strong. Many an old age pensioner (OAP) yet thinks the 1957 Chevy/Ford/whatever was the best car ever made. How lovely it would be to again sit with Cletus Upshaw and to hear his stories of this part of the world and to hear his laugh. Deward Henson used to call Champion the Village and he was the inspiration for our motto: “Looking on the Bright Side!” Deward’s daughter continues his optimism—doing ‘no better-no worse,’ and enjoying her new situation in Ava.
In response to the recent proposed deregulation of the coal industry and the proposed opening up of federal land and federal park lands to coal mining and oil production, an Old Champion suggested a song for the Vanzant Bluegrass Jam. The fiddler said he was not old enough to know the song—“The Dream of the Miner’s Child.” She said, “Go down to the village and tell all your dear friends that as sure as the bright stars do shine, something is going to happen today. Please, Daddy, don’t go to the mine.” Well, it is said that there are more jobs available in sustainable power—solar and wind–now than in the petroleum industry. It is also suggested that coal country has the infrastructure suitable to all kinds of manufacturing—good rail transportation in and out and plenty of people who need jobs. Uncles who worked in the Civilian Conservation Corps back before they joined the service always talked about what wonderful things they built and the friendships they fostered and the help it was to their desperate families back in the Great Depression. They were farm boys, used to hard work. These days it might be a challenge to find young people willing to do physical labor, particularly in the mood of the country with such uncertainty. In those old days there was a sense of camaraderie and of everyone working for the good of all. These are confusing times. The peaceful, prayerful activist who worked unsuccessfully to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline are being treated as ‘terrorists.’ They are native to the land, and struggled to protect their water, their heritage, and the land ceded to them by the United States Government in the Treaty of 1868. Many of those whose land is being threatened now by the Keystone Pipeline in Nebraska are white. Reckon they will be considered ‘terrorists’ when they protest? If you have a bone to pick with our government, do it by phone, post card, or e-mail, but do it. Vote. Participate in our democracy or we may lose it. Governor Greitens (573) 751-3222, Roy Blunt (202) 224-5721, Claire McCaskill (202) 224-6154, Billy Long (202) 25-6536, Jason Smith (202) 225-4404 and others are anxious for our input. They work for us.
Mushroom fever is running wild through the neighborhood. Many nice small to medium specimens have been bragged upon and a few shared, they say. The dogwoods are beginning to show themselves and Sharon’s observations about the red buds were spot on. Gardeners are getting things going. The almanacs say that above ground crops can successfully be planted on the 2nd, 3rd, 9th, and 10th. April’s moon is called the Pink Moon. It is an exciting time of the year. Yearling ticks have been making themselves known. More time is being spent on the wide veranda and the industry of the Preeminent residents who go about tidying their landscapes does not go without notice. Come down to the lovely place for a break from your dreary speculations or look in on it at www.championnews.us. “I never knew the charm of spring/Never met it face to face/I never knew my heart could sing/Never missed a warm embrace/Till April in…” Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
The old Cold Springs Store
