Champion News

CHAMPION—August 26, 2013

        Good news comes in a wonderful little package by the name of Drayson Vaughn Cline.  He arrived on the 23^rd at 10:24 in the evening.  The good news came to many on the social network facebook via the young man’s proud aunt.  He is a popular guy already.  On one side of the family alone he has cousins:  Dakota and Dillon Watts, Foster and Kalyssa Wiseman, Eli and Emerson Rose Oglesby, and Taegan Krider.  There is another whole side of the family, the Clines, out there also very much excited about a newcomer.  In just a few minutes internet messages arrived from Cathie Alsup Reilly, Nadine Shaffer Smith, Leigh Ann Lewis, Katie Vivod, Candy Clark-Hibbitts, Emily Ash, Teresa Chapman-Stout, Anna Johnson, Barbara Brooke, Wilma Ash, Darcy Cecil, LaDonna Garrison, Wilda Moses, Steve Krider, Sherrill Ash, Christy Berry, and Kathy Krider.  By now, the Mother and Father are no doubt swimming in well wishes and their Champion friends and family are overjoyed for them and wish them every good fortune.  “Mama rock a little, Papa rock a little too, gonna try to do a little sleeping maybe.  If it’s just for a moment or an hour or two, it’s entirely depending on the baby!”  Champion!

        Birthdays continue to be a favorite subject particularly among those people having them.  Dakota Watts just had one, and Foster’s grandmother, Bernice Wiseman, just had one.  Kalyssa Wiseman and Jenna Brixey have one on Saturday.  They will both be six on the 31^st.  That is the day of the Champion School Reunion in Champion and the Brixeys are having a family reunion over in Nixa, so everybody will be celebrating and having fun.  Skyline School teacher, Mrs. Gunter, celebrated on the 23^rd and Crystal Sartor will have her special day on Thursday the 29^th.  Skyline teachers will be enjoying the book fair starting the 29^th.  It will last until September 9^th.  They say there will be plenty of time to buy the newest books, including Grandparents day on the 6^th.  Everyone is invited to stop in to see what is available.  Back to birthdays, years slip by more quickly it seems as people age.  The nature of the excitement over a birthday changes with age as well.  Expressions of Love and Gratitude are the order of every day for celebrating Champions. “Happy birthday!” they shout, “We are glad you could join us for another year!”

        The famed bear of Brushy Knob can be seen on the community events page at www.championnews.us.  It might be easy perhaps to be a little dismissive of what seems like the disproportionate fears of an otherwise solid, well-grounded citizen reporting having seen a bear in her yard.  Then the picture of the bear appears.  No wonder fear gripped the heart!  The folks at the Department of Conservation say to make a lot of noise when you are out if you suspect there is a bear in your area.  A couple of pot lids banging together can be as noisy as a shotgun and perhaps a little less dangerous.  Of course if a person goes in the house to get pot lids, chances are pretty good that the bear will not follow.  If he does, however, go for the shotgun.   Mostly people are admonished to stay alert.  That is always good advice and it was good advice on Sunday when a night owl over in Champion East looked up to see a brown striped scorpion walking toward her across the clean wood floor!  She captured it and photographed it for the Champion News.  She said she had no idea that there were any of these things around here and had never seen one.  The University of Missouri extension office says that this is the only naturally occurring species of scorpion in Missouri.  Young scorpions are pale yellowish-brown, usually with two lengthwise dark stripes on the abdomen; older scorpions are uniform dark brown with the stripes faint or lacking.  This one is young.  It takes about four years to become adults and then they only live a couple more years.  A good piece of information about all scorpions is that they glow under iridescent light such as a black light.  The high tech night owl of Champion East probably has a couple of black lights hanging around so she can scan her floor if she gets worried.  Research informs that scorpions hide during the day and are active at night.  They eat soft-bodied prey such as spiders, ants, crickets, beetles and butterflies.  The Department of Conservation says that while these scorpions are usually found in drier habitats, they require moisture and may be attracted to moist areas.  They tend to live under boards, stones or other objects, or beneath loose bark on trees and logs.  They generally do not like extremely high temperatures and, during the summer, may enter the living areas of a home seeking relief from heat and dryness.  When they come indoors, they are most often found in crawl spaces and attics.  It may be that the unusual weather of recent months has the little critter confused.  He is very interesting, but not welcome.  Not welcome inside at all—neither scorpion nor bear.

        Pete Proctor posts on Facebook that a 20-year old northwest Missouri man has died during fighting in Afghanistan.  The Department of Defense announced Sunday that Pvt. Jonathon Michael Dean Hostetter of Humphreys was killed Friday by an improvised explosive device.  He was a combat engineer who joined the Army in September 2012.  Also killed in the explosion was 23-year old Army Spc. Kenneth Clifford Alvarez of Santa Maria, California.  Both men were assigned to the 40^th Mobility Augmentation Company, 2^nd Engineer Battalion.  Pete is good to keep the U.S. Service personnel in the forefront to remind the community of the sacrifices people are willing to make for their Country.  His Champion friends appreciate his efforts and his own service.  For many reasons, including the noble purpose of preserving freedom and insuring the safety of the Nation, young people join the military.  A popular posting on social media has a young child asking his mother, “Why do we have wars?”  The mother answers, “Because we are ruled by an elite group of psychopaths who own the banks that control the government and media.  They fund both sides of war for profit and they manufacture the consent of the public through the propaganda of the media.”  The world is an increasingly dangerous place and for whatever the reasoning, Champion applaud those willing to protect and defend.

        Pete will probably be at the Champion School Reunion on Saturday.  Friends are looking forward to seeing Ruby Proctor there with her sisters and children and dear friends.   There will probably be a bunch of Browns, Cooleys, Sutherlands, Hutchisons, Wrinkles, Hensons, Andersons, Kriders, Upshaws and many others.  Hopes are that the weather will be cool and pleasant.  The big walnut trees have shaded this event for many years now.  It is sure to be an excellent gathering again.  There was some talk last year about people bringing their pictures to share.  Hopefully, some of that will happen and the debris in Fox Creek will doubtlessly spark memories of high water marks in the past.  The school house floor is dry again and there will be some who have not seen the nice steps and wheel chair ramp that have been added in recent years.  The water covered the new steps and reached the steps of the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square but it stayed high and dry.  It is delightful to be part of such a progressive community so dedicated to its wonderful past and so keenly alert to its excellent present.  Everyone is welcome to join in the fun at Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!