Champion News

Plentiful, interesting information and reports about today’s solar eclipse have been big news and will continue to be for a while yet. It has been enjoyable. As for much of the rest of the news, some of the persistent partisan political poppycock and primacy of fact is interesting. For example, in the Skyline R2 school board election, The Prominent Champion cast the 80th and final vote. Steve Moody, Samantha Adler, and Wes Woods won their seats and will be doing good work for our great school. Politicking will be pervasive from here on out for a while. Civility is the watchword in Champion where candidates for the District 2 Commissioner’s seat stop in to explain their philosophy and their qualifications. We are fortunate to live in a part of the world where we have a say in what happens out on our beautiful country lanes. They are particularly beautiful now with the redbuds, the dogwoods beginning to open, the little wild purple phlox, and all the other wild treasures.

In addition to politicians, Wednesday had some pleasant and interesting visitors from Idaho spending time in Champion. Another bunch of pleasantness came to the Vanzant Jam along with Joann Lawrence and with Toni the equestrian who plans to be there on a regular basis henceforth. A call is going out for fiddlers for the jam. Music has significant positive properties however you find it. “Keep a little song handy, wherever you go, and nothing can ever go wrong.” That thought is attributed to Rude Valle in 1932, but it has merit today.

Mushroom aficionados are having their hay day and hummingbird scouts are checking us out to see if we are ready. We are ready! Bees are buzzing in the dandelions and redbuds. Gardeners are out there doing what must be done to give us the potatoes and onions, turnips, and beets. The tender stuff that cannot stand a freeze will go in later. The almanacs tell us that the 13th and 14th will be good days to plant flowers and other above ground crops. These are good days to start seedbeds too, or you can go see Sue or some of the other wonderful nurseries in the area. Our first Skyline area swap-meet farmer’s market is happening Saturday from 8:00 to noon. Helen Batten says there will be eggs and chicks and sweet Williams. She is hoping that some other participant will have some creeping phlox of the pink variety to sell or trade. It looks like there may be some nicknacks and whatnots. The folks at the Brushy Knob Church at the intersection of Highway C and 76 have donated their parking lot for this venture. With good luck and good community support, we will enjoy second Saturdays at Skyline all spring and summer. See you there.

Tennessee Champion grandson, and now father, Dillon Watts celebrates his birthday on April 12th. He will probably go fishing. On his birthday on the 14th, Bob Berry will likely drive around in his pretty red Studebaker truck, like himself a 1946 model. Another Tennessee gent, Dustin Cline has a birthday on Tax Day, the 15th. He might be in a race car somewhere, or behind a desk. Happy birthday to all of you. While acknowledging special people in our lives, special thanks go out to grown Champion children who come back to help the old folks. Sons and daughters who show up know what is needed and how to make things better. Love and gratitude go together. Meanwhile, we shall gaze at the beauty around us and hope for peace and ease to all the suffering in the world. Blessed in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

Mr. Stone came into the store on Wednesday with a 1997 copy of the Historical and Genealogical Society Journal of Douglas County, Missouri. The article he brought to the attention of The General was about a Civil War rifle that had been abandoned by a soldier who left it leaning up against a tree. The tree grew around it over time. It had been discovered many years later, an interesting local artifact. The gentlemen had both had occasion to see it in various locations. The 1996 issue of the Douglas County Journal has a great piece on The Champion Store. It is featured on the cover. Find a copy in the reading room at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion.

A cool misty day with a brisk breeze may have hampered Easter egg hunts in various Champion haunts, but family gatherings and church meetings still made for a lovely day. Holidays, especially religious ones, call us to closeness with our dear ones, those close at hand, those far away and those who have gone on. We count our blessings to have, and to have had, so many precious people in our lives as we feast and fellowship with family and friends. These days find much of the world in furious turmoil. Wars and disasters both, natural and manmade, are taking their toll. Even if all we can do to help is hope, Champions hope for peace and mediation of suffering.

Grandparents invaded the Skyline R2 School on Thursday afternoon. They came ready to play games and to enjoy some quality time with their young ones. Cookies and punch sweetened the already sweet time, and the library was jam packed with the wonderful book fair going on. Some of those grandparents are alumni of the school and have stories to tell about the old days. The quality improvements to the building and campus over recent years were met with approval. More than one expressed gratitude that such a great little country school still exists out here in the middle of Douglas County and that it is staffed with such genuinely good people. Our Skyline Tigers will go on to run the world before long, and they are getting a good start right here.

A good neighbor who wrote ‘The Champion Items’ for fifty years prior to this permutation once advised that sometimes it is a good thing to make a mistake in the paper. That allows for an opportunity to revisit a subject. Therefore, we gleefully revisit the birthday of Beverly Coffman Emery who will celebrate on April 7th, not April 6th. She will be celebrating with other family members whose birthdays are near her own and with all the population of Vanzant who think she is a Champion.

By the time these words are in ink, the April Fools’ pranks that were played upon us will still be causing chuckles. It turns out that balloons can be used in a wide variety of hilarious ways. It was reported that meatloaf disguised as cupcakes, iced with mashed potatoes, and garnished with chocolate bacon was a better prank than the sandpaper on that other roll of paper. The idea of chocolate bacon might catch on.

Monday’s music jam in Willow Springs is followed by one at Roy’s Store in Dora on Tuesdays, and by jams on Wednesdays at Champion and at the barber shop in Ava. Thursday has one in Vanzant. We have learned via the internet that the Acoustic Jam Session at The Barn will be moving to the Ava Community Center near the square starting April 2nd. All start times remain the same—the door opens around 6:00 to 6:30 pm and the music starts at 7:00pm. Doubtlessly there are jams going on Fridays and Saturdays somewhere in the area. Music is good for us, especially live music. It is especially good for musicians.

Musician and a Champion Scots daughter is sojourning on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. She celebrated her birthday on Sunday and said, “It’s been a crazy Easter weekend here. Madrid must have been empty on Friday because they were all crammed onto the beach in the roasting hot sun. Today we had black skies, howling wind and icy rain, but I still had a good day!” She is a real Champion–Looking on the Bright Side!