Champion News

CHAMPION—October 3, 2016

Many enjoyed wagon rides at the last Pioneer Descendant’s Gathering on the Thomas Farm.

        The Pioneer Descendants Gathering ended its important fifteen year run with flurry.  There was a great flurry of dust on the way over the Edge of the World and much sweet nostalgia as people realized this was the last time Dale and Betty Thomas would share their beautiful space with the whole world.  Wagon rides out along the creek gave that feeling of being in another time.  Music floated over the clearing as friends and neighbors met and visited remarking on the beautiful weather and the swift passage of time.  It has been a genuine gift to the area to have this event all these years.  Tom Brown and John Burden have been honored by their many descendants.  Find pictures of this last lovely gathering at www.championnews.us.  There are various festival organizations around the area ready to fill the gap.  People in Fordland and in Ava are looking to replicate this great experience.  Vicki Warren Martin says on line, “While it is true that this is the last year that this historical rendezvous event will be held at the Dale & Betty Thomas Farm, it will not be the end!!  Because so many of the participants want to see this tradition continue, the gathering will be held next year at the Barren Fork Muzzleloaders Traditional Rendezvous & Muzzleloader Range in Gainesville.”

        Skyline VFD Auxiliary President Betty Dye celebrates her birthday on October 7th.  Champion, Vicki Trippie, who lives in Springfield and works tirelessly for democracy celebrates that day too.  Sue Thompson, a Canadian with Texas ties sings at the Vanzant Bluegrass Jam on Thursdays.  She is due a birthday serenade.  Her special day is the 8th.  Friday the 7th the Christian Agricultural Stewardship Institute (CASI) is having a conference at the Vanzant Community Center starting at 11 a.m. with a pot luck luncheon and a round table discussion on the theme of year round gardening.  There will be examples of squashes and peppers and the like from this year’s garden and possibly seeds to share.  There are currently about ten core member families of the Douglas County CASI group and they invite the community at large to join them for this interesting and topical get together.  Organizer, Geoffrey Goss, is from Nottinghill just over in Ozark County, and became acquainted with Vanzant and this nice venue while he made frequent trips to the Topaz Mill.  He says that parsnips, sun chokes, kale and winter peas are some of the winter crops that will be discussed and that there will be literature available.  Everyone is welcome.

        The newly installed horseshoe pitch on the flat spot between the garden and the wood pile on the grounds of the Historic Emporium is the subject of much, or at least some, interest these days.  Its debut featured negotiations concerning the distance between pins, methods of scoring and acceptable techniques for the actual throwing.  A frontiersman from Far North Champion met up with a motorcycle hoodlum from Ozark County for the first match.  After hammering out the rules the game commenced and when the dust settled, it was generally figured that the frontiersman had significantly bested the hoodlum.  Some competitors are already in training with daily practice sessions and it is pretty well figured that the pitch will be seeing regular action now as long as the good weather holds.  There is no fee for the use of the court at this time but as popularity grows there may be some official guidelines for reservations and time limits.

        It is said that bad politicians are elected by good people who do not vote.  With just over a month until this year’s National election and all that that may mean for everyone here, it is pleasing to see that friends and neighbors with opposing views are beginning to practice some of that Golden Rule ethos.  Everyone will do the best he can to promote his interpretation of what he perceives to be the facts and will marvel that many of his contemporaries are working from an entirely different set of realities.  While he would like to be able to convince them of his rightness and their wrongness, he sees that they believe as fervently as he does and so he knows he will just have to let them be wrong.  Meanwhile, he encourages everyone to participate.  Only 28.5% of estimated eligible voters voted in the presidential primaries.  It is amazing that so many relinquish their franchise while complaining that the government is such a mess.

        Reuters is an international news agency headquartered in London, England.  While it has not been any more responsive to the call for more news coverage of the Water Protectors waging peaceful protest against the Dakota Access Pipe Line project, it did an investigation into the nation’s pipeline system which was published last week.  The gist of it is that “sensitive technology designed to pick up possible spills is about as successful as a random member of the public finding it, despite efforts from pipeline operators.”  It turns out that pipelines are not backed by scientist.  An open letter in Science Magazine decries the inadequate environmental and cultural impact assessments DAPL had to go through.  From Standing Rock, North Dakota to the Ecuadorian Amazon, indigenous people that are defending their land, lives, and culture are being surrounded by police and having their rights violated as companies and governments seek to expand the oil frontier.  Meanwhile pipeline breaks in Yellowstone, Arkansas and Alabama are still not being remediated.  What is clean water worth?

        “The Last of the Garden” is a recipe for a green tomato pepper (and other things) relish that goes well with a pot of beans, according to a regular visitor to Champion who happened to be enjoying the music and visiting at the Pioneer Gathering on Sunday afternoon.  Gardeners are digging up sweet potatoes, sharing winter squash and making plans for the successes they will have next year.  Walnut leaves are drifting down in yellow swirls and sumac and dogwoods are getting red in the woods.  The Teeter Creek folks have some nice pictures on their facebook page of the spicebush this week.  They say, “Spicebush stands out brilliantly in wooded valleys and ravines this time of year with its bright-red berries.  All parts of the Spicebush (leaves, berries, stem bark) have a wonderfully fragrant smell, the juicy berries being the most pungent.”  They said that the leaves were widely considered to be the best beverage tea by Ozark pioneers.

        Come down to the wide, wild wooly banks of Old Fox Creek to enjoy a pleasant beverage with friends on the wide veranda during this glorious fall weather.  If the clanking of horseshoes and heated rivalry get too loud, just go inside and sit a spell.  The rowdies will wear themselves out soon enough and all will be tranquil again in one of the world’s truly beautiful places.  Share your thoughts on horseshoes, your recipes, inquiries, stories, histories and hopes for a bright future at The Champion News, Rt. 72 Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or at champion@championnes.us.  “It will help us every day. It will brighten all our way, if we’ll keep on the sunny side of life!” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!