Early in the morning on December 21st, about 3:00 a.m. our time, at the prehistoric stone circle known as Stonehenge, hundreds of people gathered to sing and dance in celebration of the winter solstice. Rejoice! Our days are getting a little longer day by day. At noontime here, Champions gathered for a potluck dinner at the Historic Emporium to celebrate the solstice and the joy of community and renewing old acquaintances. Fifty plus people feasted and visited, met old friends and made new ones. Almartha’s first gentleman spun yarns about his two two-year-old pups and bragged about besting his lovely sister in their yearlong weekly scrabble game. A rousing ‘happy birthday’ song for Butch Stone rocked the joint. He was there with Dawn and their daughter and grandson visiting from Colorado. Butch had quite a hand in building The Champion Store. It must be said that is is much more than a building. And the continual hard work that goes into keeping this vital center of the community going does not go unappreciated.
          By the time this is in ink we will know who was naughty and who was nice. The tissue paper, gift bags and boxes that littered the floor have probably been delt with. The joy of Christmas with its religious significance and sweet family time marks the high point of the year. Some mandate that Christmas decorations be packed away by New Year’s Eve. Others leave a few ornaments up all year to keep them reminded of the beauty of the season and precious memories going all the way back to childhood. If you have had the opportunity to attend a school Christmas program, you cannot have left without a sense of optimism and delight. To hear those little ones belting out their songs and reciting their parts in the play, you see bright young people learning how to cooperate and to be part of something bigger than themselves. They are the farmers, teachers, doctors, bankers, musicians, artists, mechanics, and community leaders who will be running things in just a little while. We applaud their sterling efforts and count ourselves lucky to see them in action.
          An unprecedented amount of seasonal silliness had the Vanzant Jam jamming Thursday. Fourteen players filled the circle. They and the onlookers were all decked out with headdresses of Christmas trees, antlers, and Santa hats. David Richardson’s “Where’s the line to see Jesus” was a favorite and just one of the many Christmas songs around the circle. A rousing “Happy Birthday, dear Mary” celebrated Mary Goolsby. The evening ended with some raucous bluegrass and good cheer. Thursday, after Christmas on Wednesday, is Boxing Day and Vanzant will have its Jam! Perhaps someone will instigate that song for The General himself who celebrates his birthday on December 31st. He was recently online recanting a statement he had made concerning the Winter Solstice of 2019. He said, “Fact checkers prove it to have been parsley wrong.” His previous piece allowed that “The winter solstice causes the north star to be so high in the sky you have to look south to see it. And the ‘Big Dipper’ appears to be only half full.” He said the alert from the Vansant Metro Meterollogical Observatory would expire during the New Year’s Eve party. He has indicated that he will not make it to Champion on New Year’s Day, though the store will be open for business. He may be recovering from the whole world celebrating his birthday with fireworks and firewater.
          We can take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism. Groucho Marks said, “I’m not crazy about reality, but it’s still the only place to get a decent meal.” Someone else said, “Time is free, but it is priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t save it, but you can spend it. Once you have lost it, you can’t ever get it back.” You will be making good use of it if you wander down to the end of the pavement to the wide, wild, wooly banks of Old Fox Creek where country roads meet, and the watchwords are Love and Gratitude–Champion! Looking on the Bright Side!

Facebook