Champion News

A Champion Sky

Reports are that the Old Tree Hugger Jamboree was another splendid affair down at the Mill Pond on the occasion of the 245th birthday of our beautiful Democracy. Love of Country and love of seeing dear compatriots combined. Laughter and summer feasting on fried chicken fueled fun among friends too long asunder under the thumb of Covid. Visitors from out of the sate hesitated to join the festivities as this part of the country has been deemed the current epicenter. Others plan to seek out their old friends in small groups. However we go about it, keeping connected keeps us healthy and grateful for having good people in our lives. Champion!

Champion Butterfly Weed

Recent good rains made gardeners happy and a few dry days following did the same for haymakers. “Don’t let a July rain fall on your onions!” If you planted them in the middle of March when you planted your potatoes, they are probably ready to reap. If you leave them in the ground much longer and they get rained on, they are liable to rot. So says lore around the cold wood stove in the middle of the Historic Emporium. It is also advised to cut a potato and set it on a fence post. If it releases water, potatoes dug then will not keep well. If the cut potato heals over, the harvest can begin. On Wednesday, Don and Reba Bishop were part of that conversation along with the Cowboy, the Prominent Champion and others there inside in the comfort of the air conditioning. Don has given up on growing sweet potatoes as the deer and groundhogs thwart them in his patch.

Chris Erkmann

Hoovey and Dawn Henson, who had driven up from Texas through Arkansas in a hard rain, relaxed out on the wide veranda chatting with The General, Dean Brixey, a gentleman farmer with just one hen and one rooster, and others. They stopped in again the next day for what Festus Haggen would call a good palaver. Since the 2020 Champion School Reunion had to be canceled, they were pleased to know it is on for this year and they will pass the word along to Royce and Eva Loyce. Hoovey looked for Alvin Barnhart and, most likely, saw him at the Mountain Grove High School Alumni celebrations. The internet brimmed over with images of the parade including Bob and Ethel Leach in a vintage red Chevy, which friends hope to see shining out on the Square one of these days. Or they could come in an old or new truck or a Blazer to share their good company, which has been much missed in Champion. St. Louis resident, Chris Erkmann, came on his motorcycle. He was in Springfield for the big Goldwing Rally and decided to make his way over to Champion, having heard about it through Kaitlyn McConnell, who he says is famous all over the state. He follows Kaitlyn’s Ozarks Alive! blog and, therefore, regularly reads The Champion News. His wife does not like to leave her garden in the summertime, so he made a solitary journey, which he says will not be his last trip to The Bright Side.

Champion Chicory

When it comes to ticks and chiggers, everyone has his own idea about how to avoid them and how to deal with the itch if they failed. Insect repellents serve some well while others have found the old remedy witch hazel, which remediates much of the itch. Those bites come along with the warm weather we longed for back in February. It arrived plenty warm, as usual, for the Vanzant Picnic. Once, an unknown number of years ago, there was a lightning strike on the back side of the Vanzant Cemetery just fifty or so yards away from the picnic grounds. An eyewitness said there was a snapping clicking sound, then a tree exploded—just blew apart in in a sudden burst of bright blue flame, and then came the slow roll of thunderous thunder. No one was hurt, but everyone became alert. Next Friday and Saturday, attendees will enjoy the games, the wonderful food and music. (Bakers are planning what they will make for the cake walk.) Great door prizes and raffles help draw a big crowd. Past experiences prompt picnickers to keep a weather-eye peeled like Champions–Looking on the Bright Side!

Champion Wild Potato