Champion News

CHAMPION—February 13, 2017

Champion!

        Champions are pleased to live in a part of the world where there are still wild bears and the sighting of a majestic bald eagle is not a rare event.  The Missouri Department of Conservation has a GPS Tracking Study going on to keep track of the black bears in the area.  They say that they have collars on about a third of the local bears and that a person can go the MDC website to see where they have been and where they are going.  Things are getting warm so they may be waking up.  Be careful out in the woods.  The buzzards are back in force and eagles are soaring yet, so look up and be glad to be in one of the world’s wonderful wild places.

        “Old Indiana” was the first song of the night at the Vanzant Bluegrass Jam on Thursday.  Jerry Wagner kicked things off and then David Richardson sang, “Country Roads.”  The music went around and around the circle–the songs accompanied by eight guitars, two banjos, two fiddles, two mandolins, one harmonica, one bass fiddle and one ukulele.  As it does every Thursday, the evening started at 6:00 with a great pot-luck supper and, then music and visiting.  The crowd joined in to sing, “Stay All Night, Stay a Little Longer,” but at 9:00 the good byes began, the instruments were boxed up, and the parking lot emptied.  Friends and family still miss Russell and Sue Upshaw who had a big part in keeping the music going after the previous venue closed.  They still have some stalwart representatives there every Thursday.

        Someone from Jason Smith’s office is going to be in Ava on March 2nd from 1 to 2 p.m. to give area residents a chance to get their concerns directly to the Congressman.  This will happen at the Chamber of Commerce Office, which is at 810 SW 13th Avenue.  For those unfamiliar with Ava’s streets, it is out on the east side of Highway 5 by the Cox Health Center, south of the intersection with Y Highway and north of the 4 way stop at the intersection of Highway 5 and Highway 76.  The 2010 census reported that there were 749,444 people in the 30 counties of the 8th Congressional District of Missouri.  There may be more than that now and there are more than a few concerns for Congress to look at.  Some are:  Protecting and expanding our access to affordable healthcare;  Strengthening our public school systems;  Expanding and safeguarding Social Security and Medicare;  Saving our environment from corporate polluters;  Preserving our retirement savings from Wall Street bankers, and you probably have more.  Mr. Smith and his 434 fellow congressmen have a lot to consider.  His constituents are grateful to have the chance to speak with a person in person to address their worries.  By the very nature of democracy, all our elected representatives are obligated to act in our best interests.  Contact your President at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500, or by phone at (202) 456-1111 or (202) 456-1414, Governor Greitens (573) 751-3222, Roy Blunt (202) 224-5721, Claire McCaskill (202) 224-6154, Billy Long (202) 225-6536.  Paul Ryan does not answer his phone so write to him at 700 St. Laurence Ave., Janesville, WI 53545.  If you cannot get out to see Jason Smith’s staff member at the Ava Chamber of Commerce at 1 p.m. Thursday, March 2nd, call his office at (202) 225-4404.  Hooray for a participatory democracy!  Some ladies participating are calling themselves “The PerSisters.”

        Mary Beth’s lovely daughter Claire had a birthday on the 13th.  Trish Davis and Linda Clark have the same birthday—February 17th.  Pete Proctor will be having birthday cake on the 18th.  His dear Mother, the late Ruby Proctor, had the 19th as her special day.  She went to school in Champion, raised her children here and made friends who miss her still.  Bells ring to celebrate charming Joanna on the 21st.  Your Champion friends and families remember you and wish you all happiness as you start another trip around the sun.

        Just a few miles north east of where Suzie and Wes Freeman live in McKinney, Texas is a little community called Blue Ridge.  The community may have been named by some pioneer lonesome for Kentucky.  It is currently a mess because on January 30th the Seaway Pipeline spewed out 14,000 barrels of oil, about 600,000 gallons, when a subcontractor hit the pipeline with a tractor during a road widening project.  This is the second spill from this pipeline in the last year.  Studies from Auburn University indicate that the oil is not the only hazard of pipeline spills.  “When tar sand is exposed to the air, the harmful chemicals that are added as diluents evaporate into the air forming heavy toxic clouds close to ground level.”  Crude oil contains more than 1,000 chemicals hazardous to humans, such as the carcinogen benzene.  It is the reason that the Standing Rock Sioux have fought against the DAPL since last spring.  The Blue Ridge pipeline trails along a major highway in Texas, the DAPL is set to go under Lake Oahe, which provides water to Standing Rock and to millions of people down the Missouri River.  The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration states that since 1997, more than 11,000 pipeline oil spills have occurred with 324 human deaths, more than 1,300 injuries for a cost of more than $7 billion dollars.  After the recent Executive Order accelerating the construction of this pipeline and the Keystone, many Veterans of the Vietnam War and the current wars in the Middle East are joining in again with the water protectors at Standing Rock.  They say they will form a protecting barrier around the peaceful protesters threatened on their own land by the privatized and militarized police. These are exciting times for Suzie and Wes, hillbillies in Texas, and for the whole country.

        “There comes a day in February when a dog will look for the shade.”  That was one of Lonnie Krider’s sayings and Saturday was one of those days.  Daffodils are starting to emerge on south slopes and gardeners in low elevations are struggling not to get ahead of themselves.  As lovely as it is to see things swelling and getting ready to bud out, there will likely be another hard freeze before, and perhaps after, March 20th, which the Prominent Champion Girlfriend heralds as, “Spring! Spring! Spring!”  She and other Sweethearts were probably busy early in the week, making those special valentines, cooking breakfast and working toward getting a long list of honey-dos done.  Candy, flowers and jewelry are nice, but smiles across the dinner table say all those sweet things and more that generally go without saying.  It is nice to have a sweetheart.  “Keep the love light glowing…” in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!