Today expectations are that Foxtrotters, equestrians, and cowboys all will enjoy the marvelous change in the weather for Bud Hutchison’s Fall Trail Ride that heads up in Champion on Wednesday the 16th! Mountain Grove cowboys already have it on their calendar. The Square will be full of trucks and horse trailers in the morning. Many of Bud’s friends from around the area will gather to go off on a wide ramble around the countryside. By the time they get back in the early afternoon, the Sometimes Wednesday Porch Band should be tuned up and jamming. A recently retired mail carrier has pledged to join the ensemble with her spoons. We miss Bud and these trail rides help his friends smile, remembering good times they had with him over the many years. It will make Wilma happy to know that his friends remember that he had a great smile and could spin a yarn with the best of them. When the Jimmy Brown the News Boy (John) brings the Douglas County Herald to Champion on Friday, we will already know the stories of this ride and plans will be underway for the next one.

 

Skyline R2 School students celebrating birthdays soon are first grader, Wyatt Shannon, on the 19th; fifth grader, Haylee Surface, on the 22nd; sixth grader, Emily Mayberry, on the 23rd and prekindergarten student, Grant Strong, on the 24th. Happy birthday all you Skyliners! They are getting ready for Halloween over there and it is going to be an exciting time on the spooky Tiger Trail. Vladimir Putin’s birthday is October 7, 1952. He is big in the news these days. Steve Connor’s birthday is October 11th. Janet Chapin celebrates on the 12th, and Cathy Baldwin does that on the 13th along with lovely banjo picker, Carol Green. Among the interesting people who have birthdays on October 14th are Dwight D. Eisenhower, Eva Clark, Jill Godshall, Dea Friloux, Leslee Krider and Bonnie Rogers. They do not know each other. Joe Moskaly has his big day on the 15th. Corinne Rogers, Darlene Connor, and Carson Cline all enjoy the 18th. Marty Watts will have his party on the 20th. Anna Henson’s birthday was on the 21st somewhere around 1903. She is well remembered in Champion yet. Another Old Champion says that on October 21, 2046, just 27 short years from now, she will be 100! Donna Moskaly enjoys the 22nd as her special day, and Esther Grace Oglesby will be two years old on the 23rd. Her aunt Breauna Krider celebrates on the 24th, but she was already celebrating with her sweetheart on the 14th. Endeavor to enjoy every day as much as you do your birth anniversary because time is whizzing by.

It will be sad to see Mountain Grove’s Downtown Pawn Shop close. Marjorie Carter and Linda Keys have been serving the community in that business for a long time. They will close their doors November 1st and Mountain Grove will have lost another business on the square. Their friends will miss the ladies and wish them well.

Persimmon spoons.

An old Champion friend once lamented that he had had to ask his son-in-law to help him with the firewood and that he felt bad about it. He was asked to recall a time when, as a young guy, he had the chance to help some old man do something. Did he recall how good it made him feel to be of genuine help? So the old guy was admonished to consider that he was doing the son-in-law a favor. It is hard to ask for help, but, at some time or the other, everyone needs it. Lem and Ned might walk up your driveway and ask if they could do a few chores in exchange for a few turnips. Let them. Whether you are getting help with your firewood or find yourself in the hands of capable, competent, caring health care professionals, your hope may be that your benefactors feel satisfaction in their efforts commensurate with your gratitude. Salute to the Step-Down Unit at Cox South! To lend a healing hand or any hand at all is Champion!

A much-loved grandmother, Sarah Emaline Hector, who was born in Haleyville, Alabama and lived in West Texas much of her life, would suggest that any new Yankee to arrive in the neighborhood should be treated to a Country Pie—a nice green persimmon pie. Here in Champion the persimmons seemed to have started ripening early, along with the pawpaws. Summer turned to fall overnight. Weather forecasting lore says to look at the shape of the kernel inside the persimmon seed: if the kernel is spoon-shaped, expect plenty of snow to shovel. If it is fork-shaped, plan on a mild winter with powdery, light snow. If the kernel is knife-shaped, expect frigid winds that will “cut” like a blade. The prognostications of persimmon seeds or of Punxsutawney Phil are not scientific in any kind of reliable way. Adopted Champion granddaughter, Greta Thunberg, is encouraging all of us to listen to the science. She has been traveling around the United States and Canada recently helping to raise awareness of the climate change happening to a planet near you. She gets a lot of negativity pointed at her for this activism, but she is not deterred. What a Champion! Looking on the Bright Side!






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