CHAMPION—July 19, 2010

          The good news in Champion is all about family and friends.  That is just the way this place is.  Cousins, brothers, sisters, children, parents, aunts and uncles and those grandparents, as well as long time dear friends, are all having a field day with visiting and feasting.  It is a great time of the year in Champion to do just that.  In the winter time a trip out into the snow for an armload of wood, or a shoulder against a brisk wind to finish up the outside work just requires pulling on a sweater or a chore coat and a visitor is happy to lend a hand.  In the summertime, the hard work better be done early in the morning, and while a visitor may have it in his heart to turn a hand to help, the oppressive humidity might suffocate that good impulse.  Some may rail about the softness of a society that cannot do without its air conditioners, but few will turn them off.  Older folks find themselves enjoying the softness of a good sofa and quiet visiting on the hot afternoons.  Naps are also nice.  Some visitors have said that they have never seen Champion so very green this time of the year.  They need to come back more often.  Champion!

          A week later finds the construction of the Replica of the Historic Emporium on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion well under way.  In spite of rain delays and a great surplus of supervision, the rest of the floor joists are in and the whole thing has been covered by quite a substantial sub-floor.  It is amazingly flat–big and flat and very square.  “All the world’s a stage,” they say, “and all the men and women merely players:  they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”  The they in this case is that old square Willy Shakespeare.  The quote comes from his play “As You Like It.”  Champions like it fine.  There was talk of mounting an impromptu stage play on the big, flat, square stage of the sub-floor, but the timing was a little off.  By the time the General could get his rabble of players together the walls would be going up and he would just be a complication. Now if there is one thing the General is really good at, it is complications.  His music career is a prime example.  It may be that the Backyard Bluegrass will be willing to let him sit in again the Skyline Fire Department Picnic.  His last appearance on his custom made instrument with that group was captured in a series of still (silent) photographs which can be seen in color in the Champion Friends Category on the website www.championnews.us.  Look under ‘Generally Speaking.’   Those pictures do a good job of conveying the lively atmosphere of the picnic.  It’s going to be a doosie this year.  Anyone interested in volunteering to help ready the grounds, can show up Tuesday morning, July 27th at 9 a.m. at the picnic grounds.  There will be plenty to do and an opportunity for meeting friends and neighbors.  A great colored photo of the Picnic Quilt is right on the neighborhood events page.  It is Bright and Beautiful.

          Sixty pounds of protective gear and equipment is what the soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan carry around in the same kind of intense heat that Champions are experiencing these days.  The Love and Gratitude for those who serve cannot be expressed often enough or completely enough.  World War II Veterans still remember clearly their military experiences and the friendships forged in that difficult time in their youth.  Every age finds young people bound together by the common experience of National Service.  For each group the feeling is that nobody who was not there can possibly understand exactly what it was like for them.  Veterans cross generations to help and understand each other.  They are Champions every one.

Just being able to stroll out to the garden to bring in a little picking of black-eyed peas or a few peppers is enough to wear out some old Champions. There is still time to get some good gardening done and Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood, says that starting the 25th root crops can go in the ground again.  The 22nd and the 23rd will both be good days to prune to discourage growth…a nice time to get a haircut. Louise Hutchison has more welcome company coming and one of the bunch is an Iowa brother who is bringing her a sack of corn…ten dozen ears.  That is quite a lot of corn.  A Champion’s Aunt used to stand the ear of corn up on the middle part of an angel food cake pan to cut the corn off the cob.  It is not supposed to make such a mess that way.  Linda Mallernee takes eight cups of corn, a cup of water, a teaspoon of salt and a stick of butter and boils it for three minutes.  She lets it cool and freezes it, and it is said that it is the most delicious corn imaginable.  If Louise says it is good, it is good.   Louise is all smiles over the birth of another great-granddaughter.  Ryleigh Elizabeth Deal arrived on Friday the 16th.  She has a two-year-old sister named Emily, and the family lives in West Virginia.  Louise will have pictures to share soon. 

          Take a moment out of your busy schedule to stop in at Champion.  The rare opportunity to see something substantial rise up as an example of how things just ought to be does not often come along.  Wood frame construction is exacting and quite interesting.   While many feel free to ask questions and make comments about how if they were doing it, they would have done it thus and such a way, most Champions are just standing back and enjoying the spectacle.  One of the duties of a non-participating observer is reticence.  One is reminded of an old Earnest Tubb song, “I love my gal, she’s a little bitty booger, just as cute as a bug and sweet as sugar.  I’m a gonna buy her a diamond ring, and we’ll get married in the spring.  Do you need any help?  No help wanted.  Could you use a little help?  No help wanted.  Just call on me if you need any help. Do you need any help?  I’ll handle this job all by myself!”  That July Monkey is finally there on the counter at Henson’s Store and you never saw a cuter monkey!  The silent auction is a monthly endeavor by the Skyline Picnic Society to help the fire department make its truck payment. Sing your favorite Earnest Tubb song in the Loafing Shed next to the Temporary Annex on the West Side of the Square while enjoying progress in the making.  Spin a yarn there or at Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717 or at Champion at getgoin.net.  Change is in the air, but Champion is always the same at heart—Looking on the Bright Side.

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