Champion News

Champion School Dec. 15, 1915 Someone has numbered the photos and the names on the back of the photo are: 1. Oscar Krider, 2. Ella Coonts, 3. Alvin Hutchinson, 4. Eva. Hutchinson, 5. John Roads, 6. Lillia Riley, 7. Ethel Irvin, 8. Edd Sutherland or Switland??, 9. Mabel Proctor, 10. Lena Roads, 11. Glads Roads, 12. Allis Irvin, 13. Bullie? Irvin, 14. Lola Hutchinson, 15. Ople Lofton, 16. Carl? Riley, 17. Elis Suthland?, 18. Felda Proctor, 19. Floid Hancock, 20.0ple Coonts. Teacher: Ella Goodman

Excerpted from “Champion school Memories” published in 1985: “In the fall of 1892, the school board met and drew up specifications for a new schoolhouse and advertised the same for bids.” “The last day of school held at Champion was on April 24, 1959.” There are a few Champion students yet, and a few of them will rendezvous for a reunion. Last year there were five attending, but there are others scattered around the country. The Historic Emporium was full of descendants, friends and neighbors all celebrating this exceptional little spot on the map with such a rich history. Everyone is welcome to the celebration. There is a potluck luncheon at noon and plenty of visiting before and afterward. We hope to see you there, Saturday, August 31st.

The 34th Champion School Reunion was held on September 2, 2018. Scrolling through the photos there you may see Richard and Kaye Johnston, Robert and Connie Brown and Paul Brown, Harold and Eva Phillips, J.R. and Janet Johnston, Wilma Hutchison, Royce and Jody Henson, Wayne and Frances Sutherland, Laine Sutherland, Tanna, Kalyssa and Foster Wiseman, Fae Krider, Robert Upshaw, Dean Brixey, Beverly Keller Dooms, David and Irene Dooms and many others. It is a joy to see their faces and smiles again if only on the computer screen. Many are missed and good memories of them reside with the rest of us.

From “Champion School Memories” again: “In 1955, eight school districts were reorganized and the Skyline R-2 School District was formed…Black Oak Flat, Pea Vine, Pine Park, Stoney Point, Cold Springs, Brushy Knob, Denlow, and St. James.” In 1959, Champion, Fielden, East Fairview, East Dogwood, Diamond and Vera Cruz were consolidated into the Skyline district. Skyline is still going strong with more than 90 students, preschool to the 8th grade, and some recent significant upgrades on the campus. There is new flooring in the cafeteria, front hallways, library and offices. The front hallways have all been painted to match school colors. The roof is being completely replaced by West Plains Roofing. The front bathrooms are being remodeled. To be thanked are Tyler Williams for flooring, Brooks Williams, Candace Mayberry and Erica Sudderth for painting and updating. It is a bright and beautiful place doing important necessary work. Thanks! One of only two rural schools left in Douglas County, the importance of this vital institution to the community cannot be overstated.

Thanks too to the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department for looking out for our health and safety! They were just granted an award of $2,530 and used the funds to purchase battery-powered tools, including a chainsaw, Sawzall, and glass cutter, to enhance their extrication and forcible entry capabilities. The department expresses its gratitude to Jessica Miller and the FFAM family for their support in acquiring these game-changing tools. The new firehouse is beautiful, and we will be looking forward to an open house celebration soon!

Back on August 21st Skyline VFD Lieutenant Terrell Johnson had a birthday. Champion grandson Drayson Cline had one on the 23rd and his uncle Dakota Watts had one on the 24th. Skyline fifth grader Lauren Collins shares her birthday with Barbara Krider on the 25th. Barbara lives in Illinois near Rita Krider whose birthday is on the 26th. Felix the Farmer’s dad also celebrates that day. Skyline first grade student Mia Truillo’s birthday is on the 27th. Bill (Wes) Smith, Minnie Jo Henson and Steve Moody all have birthdays on the 29th. Fifth grader Brantley Kilgore, kindergartener Chaseton Shelton and fourth grader Jason Smith all celebrate that day too. Laine Sutherland and Wayne Anderson have both passed away, but they are well remembered and missed on their birthdays on the 30th. Kalyssa Wiseman, Jenna Brixey and Skyline eighth-grader Aiden Ray Hurt all celebrate on the 31st. Skyline R-2 School staff Sarah Goss and Carolyn Willhite had birthdays on the 13th and the 23rd. Happy birthday to all of you. We acknowledge and appreciate you.

Pulled pork and baked beans and other delights were the Wednesday treats celebrating a political victory and optimism in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!
 

 

Fox Creek ran backwards on Wednesday after a couple of good rainstorms so that the Clever Creek crossing north of Champion was a lake. The mile and a half trip to the Bright Side became a fifteen-mile journey, the long way around, but well worth it. Alice McClure, who had just had her 90th birthday earlier this month, made the trip down from Salem, Iowa with her daughter Carole Brown through heavy rainstorms to spend time with kinfolks and friends in her old stomping grounds, Denlow and Champion among them. Pete Proctor and his brothers were glad to see their Aunt Alice and cousin Carole. Alice and a sister in Oregon are the last two living of a family of twelve siblings—eight girls and four boys. She had some good stories to share including a trip to Heaven from Denlow when she was four years old. She says Jerry Bennett keeps up with The Champion News online up there in Iowa and shares it with her. She plans another trip next summer and her Champion friends look forward to it.

An invitation to a tea party does not come often. When it does, RSVP right away. Thursday’s event out on Fox Creed Road featured an elegant table setting, delicious teas and tasty treats. Friends and neighbors sat around a table sharing histories and stories, current happenings, ideas, hopes and plans. Thanks goes to a gracious hostess and her equally gracious mother for putting the party together. Imagine the benefits of many small, pleasant gatherings happening all across the whole nation, fostering friendship and understanding. Another friend, Ruby Adams, shares a thought: “If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can’t buy.” Will Rogers said, “We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.”

Champion Hovey Henson down in Houston, TX writes in to say, “My little girl Avery, (his granddaughter) was off to school this week, leaving an empty space in our lives. She was accepted to Abilene Christian, Baylor, Texas Tech and other, but chose Texas A & M because of their traditions. I am very proud of her. Dawn says that I brag too much. Can’t help it, I am totally intoxicated with her. It seems that we had her for such a short time, like it was only yesterday that she was brought to her home at one year and a month from Kazakhstan to be part of our family. I will have to get used to a 93-pound little girl being on the campus of a major university. Suck it up, grandfather. Kids grow up. Love, Hovey.” Hovey is not the only one with separation anxiety as children and grandchildren go off to school for the first time or when they leave home. In today’s world closeness has not all that much to do with geography, but lucky the family that can get together often. Phone calls and video chats are sweet, but they are not hugs and they lack a little of the preciousness of seeing loved ones in the flesh.

Blaine Denlow says she would rather stay working at Wolf Pen Cattle Company than to go off to preschool. She is a mutton busting trooper though, so she will do well. Hopes are that all our Skyline Tigers get off to a good start. They are lucky to be in one of the two rural schools left in Douglas County. It is a dynamic little outfit with a talented, dedicated staff all working to help these young folks grow up to be solid citizens. B.D.’s great-grandfather, grandfather, father and brother are all Skyline alumni. Her Top Hand there on cow farm happened to have a battery-operated impact wrench and just the right socket to fit the lug nuts as an old neighbor labored to change a tire. He was just passing by and thought he could be of help. He was. One of his grandmothers was over in the Senior Center in Mountain Grove on Friday and heard about his good deed. She said she is proud of him and agrees that he is a real Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

The Champion School Reunion is coming up at the end of the month. It always occurs on the Saturday before Labor Day. Alumni, their families and friends always enjoy this gathering. It is a chance to catch up with everyone’s news and to share stories of the bygone days and of old well-remembered Champions who are no longer with us. It happens out on the wide, wild, wooly banks of old Fox Creek, at the foot of several hills, where country roads meet the pavement. Everyone is welcome.

Champions who, for one reason or another, were unable to attend the Mountain Grove Heritage Festival on Friday or Saturday have The Wright County Journal to thank for sharing so much of the festivities online. The many, many pictures and stories almost transported us. Neighbors who attended said there was a huge crowd, that the little town transformed itself into a wonderful street party, full of arts and crafts, great food and music and the sense of community that makes this part of the world a beautiful place to live.

Preserving the garden’s bounty is hard rewarding work that will pay off in the cold months until planting time again next year. While they are at it, those canners might sing, “…sowing in the noon time and the dewy eve, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves.” You can almost hear it. Can you hear it? Zachary Poteet of the Clear Sound folks can help you if you are having trouble. He is in Mountain Grove on Tuesdays and Thursdays offering free hearing tests, repairing and adjusting hearing aids. He is making friends and doing important work. Zachary was working in the Springfield office back in July when a driver confused his brake pedal with his gas pedal and crashed into a column that damaged the building. He said it was startling and they were all grateful that no one in the building was seriously injured.

A sweet surprise blew into the Champion Square on Sunday in a little red car. Kaitlynn McConnell stepped up on the wide veranda with her pie box and a pie to share. It was a Peach Macaroon pie, the 58th pie she has made from the many community cookbooks she has collected for her Ozarks’ Pie Project. It was delicious, though a couple of fellows insisted on calling it Peach Macaroni. Online Kaitlyn shared a sentiment that needs to be said often. With her permission, we share it here. “How do we overcome chasms that feel can’t be bridged? No low water crossing or iron bridge can span the divides that seem to separate us in this highly charged political world. But really, that’s not a new thing: There have always been misunderstandings, prejudices and injustices – here in the Ozarks, too. While I wish it wasn’t so, I think it’s human nature to put up barriers with those we don’t know or feel are different or wrong. I don’t know how we fix problems that ends of a spectrum feel are insurmountable. I do, however, believe that we only come closer to greater understanding by reaching out with a bouquet of love and a desire to find common ground. Believing the other side is the enemy will never help convince anyone of anything besides reinforcing hatred. I worry about those divisions in the Ozarks (and the greater world) and what that means long-term. Life has never been, nor will ever be, perfect. I’m afraid there will always be those misunderstandings and prejudices and injustices. We can’t fix how others perceive these realities, but we can look inside and be better – for ourselves, and for the world. Those thoughts perhaps aren’t only about the Ozarks. But it’s where we can start.” Another talented journalist, Molly Ivins (1944-2007) said, “Listen to the people who are talking about how to fix what’s wrong, not the ones who just work people into a snit over the problems. Listen to the people who have ideas about how to fix things, not the ones who just blame others.” Pete Seeger said, “It’s very important to learn to talk to people you disagree with.” We can agree these folks are Champions—Looking on the Bright Side!

 

The Skyline VFD is looking for an unwanted vehicle to use for training purposes. It will then be converted into scrap, with the proceeds going towards operating costs of the fire department. If you have some old wreck sitting around in the way, call 417-349-9150. They will make good use of it. Champions are excited about the new Skyline Fire Station. It is a beauty. Check it out when you come to the Second Saturday Skyline Swap Meet on the 10th. There will be garden produce and assorted critters as well as crafts and garage sale items, friends and neighbors.

Shelling peas and piecing quilt blocks are some of the good things that can be done inside in the air conditioning during these scorching days. Many of us remember shelling bushels of peas out on the porch, drinking iced tea and taking a break for some cold watermelon. Those are good memories that come back to us in the middle of the winter when we open a jar of peas to have with supper. All of us who have quilts passed down to us from our old folks enjoy them for their warmth and for the connection to dear family. It is a good connection to continue. Kaitlyn McConnell said that she had created another flower to complete her great-grandmother’s feed-sack quilt. “It’s so meaningful to help see this vintage top turned into a quilt—especially since I get to help complete it alongside my friends at the Chadwick Quilting Circle.” Quilters are excited that Linda has gone through her enormous fabric stash and will be including it in the sale there at Charlene’s place, The Gift Corner, in Norwood this Friday and Saturday. Linda has lots of cotton pieces, some corduroy and upholstery fabric. This will be their last sale there until sometime in September, so get there early to claim your favorite pieces.

Summer school has been exciting this summer. Mrs. Goss provided some great STEM challenges. Her birthday is August 13th. Cryslynn Johnson was an 8th grader at Skyline last year and is off to high school somewhere. Her birthday is August 12th. Lee Borders, a third grader will celebrate on the 16th. The Back to School Bash on August 1st was a good way to start the year. Open house will be on the 15th and the first day of school will be August 19th. School days hold sweet memories for many of us. The Champion School Reunion will take place as usual on the Saturday before the Labor Day weekend. That happens on August 31st. Everyone is welcome—alumni, their families, descendants, friends and neighbors, and just anyone with an affection or connection to Champion.

More excitement comes with the election. Perhaps some of the negativity and rancor will dissipate as the ballots are counted. Then a new episode of campaigning can begin with more of the same until November. Back in the 1960s a Nobel laureate said in a literary magazine, “We know they are lying. They know they are lying. They know we know they are lying. We know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.” A good question to ask any candidate is, “Would you pull me out of a mud hole?” Believing that we have government to provide order, stability, and safety, to ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare and to secure the blessing of liberty, Champions continue to—Look on the Bright Side!