Champion News

Father’s Day again has given every man and woman and child a chance to say out loud what we want our fathers to know or wanted them to have known before they passed on. The “Mom and Dad Waltz” is an old tune that sums it up for many of us. “In my heart joy tears start because I’m happy and I pray every day for Mom and Pappy.” Every family is different, as is every father/child relationship. Where would we be without our fathers? We wouldn’t.

Glen Brandstedder can find live music most every day or evening of the week. At Vanzant on Thursday, he mentioned that Royce Henson, whose passing was marked last week, had been one of his teachers in Mansfield back in the day. He reckons it was in about 1953 or 1954 when he was in Mr. Henson’s woodworking shop class in the basement of the Mansfield High School, where he put together a cedar chest. It was a three story school building. Glen remembered an instance when an unruly student was ‘kicked in the butt’ up every step to the principal’s office. In such places as that, in those days, the board of education was often applied to the seat of learning. This extreme heat is keeping Glen and others from being out as much as they would like. He said he might not make it to the McClurg jam Monday. He used to deliver Kitty Clover Potato Chips to the store there back in the 1960s. He did that kind of delivery work for twenty five years all over the Ozarks. He has stories to tell.

Summer officially arrives on Tuesday, but it has been here for a few days already. It is prime time for family visits. Having young folks in the house is exciting for Old Champions. For days ahead of their arrival, the old folks plan chores, activities, and meals for company. Stories will be told, and memories made. It is the time we dream of during long, dreary winter days. Feed them on banana pudding and take them to the creek. Send them home with as many mementos of their visit as you can get them to take.

Old folks, our gardens are beautiful, but they need to be tended early in the morning and late in the evening. Take care. Drink water. Let those city kids visiting harvest the potatoes. Edie Richardson’s Garden is the kind of garden we would all have if we were as knowledgeable, resourceful, enthusiastic, and as well supported as she is by her handsome husband. The first tomatoes to show up in one Old Campion’s Garden is on a cherry tomato plant shared to Champion by our charming previous mail carrier, Karen Ross. (Our new mail carriers are also charming.) Karen is also a great gardener and has shared plants with her friends here often over the years. She and Edie are friends and Facebook has helped others of us stay in touch with them during these busy days. It turns out that as we accumulate more experiences and age, it takes less and less to keep us busy in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!