Champion News

CHAMPION—January 18, 2010

        Champion is a privileged place.  No resident or visitor however casual or important can deny it.  Even the National Resources Conservation Service has used Champion as a source and inspiration.  Champions know the NRCS to be part of the United States Department of Agriculture.  A soil scientist from Wisconsin traveling in these parts wrote, “It sticks and stacks, It squeezes through cracks between your toes goes mud.  It plops and drops, and oozes and goozes.  Thick or thin it’s mud!”  The piece goes on to extol virtues of mud and what a glorious and wonderful thing is mud.  Champions agree that a little dirt cannot hurt and yet, while still not at all complaining, they indicate that they prefer their mud a little warmer.

        Excellent good news comes from Betty Shelton who is mending nicely from having broken the ball off her right arm bone back just before the bad weather hit.  The doctor says it is mending beautifully and she was out celebrating on Friday night with a good dinner over at Plumber’s Junction where her friends there surprised her with a lovely card and some good wishes.  She said she was “floating on a cloud.”  Good news and good wishes must surely help the mending process.

        Barbara Krider has had an arthroscopy procedure on her knee and is making a splendid recovery.  Hopefully she will be in the neighborhood soon to lead the final perlustrations down Lonnie Krider Memorial Drive to determine where the signs will be placed.  Her sister-in-law is feeling better over her fall on the ice and things in Champion are just humming right along in the most pleasant way.  No complaints.  More good news comes from Ed Bell a Champion son-in-law and always-welcome visitor.  He has made the Dean’s List at Drury University.  Friends and family who love him are not at all surprised.

        Wally Hopper sent a note (Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717) to say, “PFC Jacob Hopper has completed training at the US Marine Corps Depot in San Diego, CA.  He graduated with honors and was Guide On of his platoon during the complete time of training.  He will return to Camp Pendleton for further training in Security and Infantry.  His Security duty may include the Washington DC area.  He is the son of Wally Brian and Janet Hopper and the grandson of Donna and Wally Hopper, who was also a Marine from 1953-1956.”  Champions stay mindful of those who serve the Nation with Love and Gratitude.

        Bill Pool sent an e-mail (Champion News) to say that two weeks ago he had opened an attachment to an e-mail that contained a Trojan virus that killed his computer.  His daughter, Kathy, had called him to report that her friend in K.C. had received an e-mail that supposedly had a UPS shipment tracking number in it.  When opened, it had a virus that ruined her computer and her security system was powerless to stop it.  His advice is to be very cautious about what you open.

        It turns out that Champion is right in the middle of the Louisiana Purchase, which Thomas Jefferson negotiated with such aplomb in 1803.  Napoleon let go of his holdings in the New World because of his military defeat in the twelve-year slave rebellion in St. Dominique that had deprived France of a quarter of its annual income and cost the lives of 40,000 French.  He got $15 million dollars (60 million franks) for the land west of the Mississippi.  Much of that went to pay off French debt to the U.S. and the rest he got in bonds, which he sold at face value and really only recognized $8,831,250 in cash.  At that time he also demanded 150 million gold franks in reparations for Haiti’s independence.  This began a two-century economic stranglehold that did not allow the country to develop in a natural way.  On Friday in Paris, France urged Haiti’s creditors to speed efforts to cancel the impoverished Caribbean nation’s debt now estimated at $640 million.  No wonder they cannot afford to put a little rebar in their concrete.  Bonaparte’s Retreat has long been a favorite song in Champion.  “I met the girl I love in a town way down in Dixie.  Neath the stars above she was the sweetest girl I ever did see, so I took her in my arms and told her of her many charms.  We kissed while the fiddle played The Bonaparte’s Retreat.  All the world was bright as I held her on that night and I heard her say, ‘Please don’t ever go away’ and so I held her in my arms and told her of her many charms, etc.”

        On your way into Henson’s Store in downtown Champion, take just a moment to admire the impressive kindling box.  Some tinkerer must be producing a lot of fine trinkets in a local woodshop.  Champions are hoping that more of those trinkets show up at the silent auction at the Skyline VFD Chili Supper.  A couple of craftsmen have been generous with their donations at this event in previous years and there is always exciting competition in the bidding for their special items.  The Skyline Ladies Auxiliary will meet at Henson’s Store on the evening of Groundhog Day to get plans in the works for the March 6^th Chili Supper.  The years roll around so quickly.

        Lem and Ned are anxious to get in the mud and pestering Linda for an almanac already is just the start of it.  As seed catalogues and orders go whizzing through the mail and the Internet and robins bob along it is easy to forget that a week ago it was fourteen degrees below zero in some parts of Champion!  A warm day inspires impatiens.  There is always plenty to do.  Choosing the right thing to do is the trick.  Those are some tricky guys.  They kind of remind a person of the General who was loitering around Champion on Saturday, plainly interfering with the work of four grown men and a little boy as they replaced the roof on the well house at the church.  The General’s wife (bless her) waved to onlookers and eventually was successful in persuading Himself to move along.

        Sometimes a break from the arduous labors of living in the country requires just kicking back and listening to some good music.  When the Champion mentioned “I Traced Her Little Footprints in the Snow” last week, she was doubtlessly thinking of a sweet version of that song by Lonnie Krider.  He had such a fine voice and such a good heart.  A year has gone by since his untimely passing.  A person may not know in his lifetime how many lives he touches and to what effect.  Champions know what a gift he was to the community and beyond.  His music still brings a smile.  He will always be missed, but never forgotten.  He was a Champion.  Go to www.championnews.us to see some pictures of Lonnie and on that site to “Champion School Reunions” to hear him sing.  Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!