CHAMPION—January 10, 2022
The archery tournament in Norwood went off without a hitch on Saturday in spite of the threat of freezing rain and seriously low temperatures. Skyline coach, Debora Barker, reported: “Another awesome job at this tournament, archers! Eight in our group scored their personal season best today!” There are fifteen Skyline students participating in the archery program overseen by Mrs. Barker and Mrs. Jana Brixey. Archery, like music, demonstrates that attention to detail and diligent practice produce success that can carry on well beyond school years. Champions are happy to have a big doe headed to their freezer as the result of a well-directed arrow.
Champion niece, Elizabeth Johnston Lawrence, celebrates her birthday on January 9th. Long time Champion friend, Tom VanDyke, from down in Needville, Texas has his birthday on the 10th. Local herbalist, Bob Liebert, of Teeter Creek Herbs, (www.teetercreekherbs.com), has his big day on the 11th. That was also the birthday of the late Wilburn Hutchison, who along with Fleming Geer, saw a dirigible flying over the place now occupied by the Skyline School sometime back when dirigibles were the new ships in the sky. Edie Richardson, another knowledgeable herbalist, moved to the Norwood area back in 2019, and established, along with her handsome husband, an organic farm where they are steadily harvesting good food out of their high tunnel and getting ready for another banner year in the garden. Her birthday comes just before that of Diane Wilbanks, Robert Graham, Melanie Blankenship Upshaw and the late Norris Woods, banjo picker extraordinaire and genuinely all round pleasant person. They are all recognized on the 13th. Champion grandchildren, Miley Schober and Reese Kutz celebrate on the 16th and the 17th. So happy birthday to all you folks young and old. Enjoy yourselves and the fond attention of your friends and families.
Jimmy Driftwood set words to an old fiddle tune: “In 1814, we took a little trip, along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip. We took a little bacon and we took a little beans and we fought the bloody British near the town of New Orleans.” The tune was The Eight of January. This year on that date, the KC Chiefs whipped the Denver Broncos for the 13th time. They are now 12 and 5, ready for the playoffs. Somebody just learning football talk now knows that because Tennessee beat Houston on Sunday, the Chiefs will not get the buy which would have given a couple of valuable players more time to rest and heal. We applaud the vigor of the Chiefs and the willingness of old people to learn new things.
The intersection of myth and reality is where Brooks Blevins new book, “History of the Ozarks, Volume 3: The Ozarkers” is destined to take us. That sounds like where the pavement ends and country roads begin, maybe at the bottom of several hills on the wide, wooly banks of a wet weather creek. Newcomers to the Ozarks, and there are many, can find much interesting and useful information about their new home in Mr. Blevins’ trilogy. The author has visited Champion on numerous occasions in years past and may be back again one day. He is always welcome in Champion! Looking on the Bright Side!
