Champion News

CHAMPION—January 18, 2016

Sunlit debris along Fox Creek.

         Champions are a forward looking people.  Some are looking forward to mushroom season already and are now looking up into the woods grateful for the nine degrees Fahrenheit that may be doing away with some of the ticks and chiggers that plague even the most stalwart mushroom hunter.  They are also most grateful for the warmth of the flame and for the keepers of the fire who bring in the wood and haul out the ashes.  These are the same fellows who keep the water flowing and the truck running and the snow shoveled when it snows.  Respect for those hoary heads is amplified by the list of responsibilities they assume with no expectation of reward other than to keep the home operating smoothly.  Hooray for the menfolk–and for the womenfolk who do that kind of stuff too!  What Champions!

        The Skyline VFD Auxiliary got together the other night for a good meeting.  They are planning the chili supper that will take place on March 12th.  The next meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 9th, at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in downtown Champion.  Everyone is welcome to come and to participate in the hard work it takes to make a lovely event like the annual chili supper happen.  This happening is usually one of the first of its kind in the year and it is a chance to get rid of the winter doldrums, to visit with old friends, many of whom only get together at these festivities.  The year is off to a great start with support for the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department.

        Infrequent visitors to the Bright Side are in for a surprise.  The old farm house on the southwest corner of the crossroads is no more.  It was probably built back in the 1930’s by Ivy and Pearl Hutchison who eventually sold it to Clifford and Esther Wrinkles who lived there for many years before trading it to J.T. and Betty Shelton.  Harley and Barbara Krider acquired it a few years ago and now the property has passed into the hands of the Cothran family–Welcome to new neighbors!  The house had been unoccupied for a while since J.T. moved to Springfield and, consequently, it has made a rapid decline.  Some nice people with heavy equipment came and dug a big hole and pushed the old building into it.  It is buried now and will turn back into soil eventually.  Meanwhile, the foundation for the new house is going in a little higher up the hill and young Chase, who just turned two, will have the extraordinary good fortune to grow up in Champion!  Change is exciting, unavoidable, and constant in Champion and the world over.

        There was a nice young family who used to live up off C Highway back in the late 1970’s, Chris and Fae Giacalone.  They had a son, Chad Knight, and two younger ones, Caesar and Sicily who were born here.  They moved to Republic and later back to Michigan.  The children are all grown up and hopes are that they have started their own young families somewhere away from the poisoned water of Flint.  Even if there were not individuals with whom we have affectionate connections there, the lead poisoning of the water supply is an ongoing tragedy that will play out for generations.  Lead mining and smelting are an important part of Missouri’s history.  It has remained the dominate lead-producing state in the nation.  Wes Smith can point to a spot downstream of the slab across Clever Creek at the junction of County roads 243, 237 and Fox Creek Road where there was a vein of lead ore that local people mined.  Like other minerals and elements with useful attributes, there is definitely a down side to lead.  The Missouri Department of Health says, “Lead affects almost every organ and system in the body.  The effects are the same whether it is breathed or swallowed.  Lead damages the brain, central nervous system, kidneys and immune system.  Lead in the human body is most harmful to young children under six years of age.  It is especially detrimental to children less than three years of age because their systems are developing rapidly.”  There are some treatments available and their success rate is better with early detection.  The test is available at the Douglas County Health Department–a simple finger stick.  The lead the people of Flint are dealing with did not come from rocks in the creek, or old peeling paint or the mini blinds, but from the blundering of individuals whose responsibility it is to husband the resources and provide safe water for the inhabitants of the city.  Whatever their motivation for the catastrophic choices they made, they will surely be held responsible.  The next batch of elected officials will have them as an example of what not to do, meanwhile the full extent of the damage may not be known for a long time.  It is a reminder that choosing the right people for any job is a responsibility that has consequences.   In Douglas County a person can register to vote with the County Clerk in the Courthouse, at the drivers’ license bureau, the office of Family Services and on-line with the Office of the Secretary of State.  Call the County Clerk in your county to find all the places where you might register to vote.  Encourage your high school students about to become 18 to register to vote and to participate in the important decisions that determine quality of life.  There is to be an election on the Ides of March, always an ominous date.

Evening colors.

        The well-practiced fish story was again trotted out for the amusement of the Wednesday bunch, this time perhaps a little longer, with one parenthetical phrase after another until it was finally over and the mark, this time, Larry Dooms, was prime to take the bait.  But he did not.  It got a little quiet.  The erstwhile fisherman/story teller was almost up against it when the Knuckleball Champ stepped up and said, “Well, (pause) if it got away,(pause) how did you know how much the fish weighed?”  Face was saved, and the conclusion was finally reached. “I read the scales as it swam off.” Sigh.  It is plain to see that The General’s retirement will work to the benefit of the weekly meeting.  He also keeps the coffee pot perking over at Vanzant for the Thursday Bluegrass Jam.  He probably just naps the rest of the time.

        Special local birthdays include those of River Stillwood whose day was the 17th.  Mary Beth Shannon and kindergarten student, Jacob Kyle Brixey share their day on the 18th.  Sharon Woods will be celebrating on the 20th and third grader Kyle Barker on the 21st.  First grade student, Elisabeth Hinote, has her birthday on the 22nd and percussionist, Oliver Holden-Moses over in Oklahoma will be 17 on the 23rd.  Enjoy your voyages into another year with health and happiness!

        Next week’s subjects for consideration will be road conditions, garden plans, passive aggressive behavior and, as always, music.  Send any thoughts on any of these subjects to champion@championnews.us or to The Champion News, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  Go to www.championnews.us for a look back over the neighborhood for the past decade.  Come down to the wide, wild, wooly banks of Auld Fox Creek and stand on the broad veranda of the Historic Emporium.  You will be standing in sunshine, sheltered from the cold north wind and can “Count your many blessings.  Name them one by one..” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!