Champion News

 

HOBA fun started on Thursday over in West Plains and the jamming went on until after midnight. The festival went on through the weekend with Tacie and the Sunshine Band reporting that their first time attending was awesome. “The festival grounds and the atmosphere are wonderful! We enjoyed visiting with old friends and meeting so many new ones. Thanks to the HOBA gang for having us out.” The Greenland Station Bluegrass Band echoed the sentiment. “We got to join an incredible lineup of bands in a beautiful venue with a fantastic audience.”

Friday’s fun at the open house event for the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department included a special appreciation award from Danny Maggard and Brian McFarland with the Douglas County EMA Office. For members who were not able to attend, the internet is full of photos and videos of the event. The splendid new building was full of fire department members enjoying each other’s company, some great food and the satisfaction of knowing our vital volunteers are working in a much-improved facility. There is space for training and hopes are that some of the many new folks to the area will join in the good work of protecting the whole community.

Carol Green the “C” in the lovely trio called “TLC” has her birthday on the 6th of October. Betty Dye, past president of the Ladies Auxiliary, celebrates her birthday on the 7th. Theresa Toast, who gives us important information during bad weather, shares her birthday with Skyline kindergarten student Preslee Trujillo. Champion grandniece, Madelyn Ward celebrates on the 10th. The 11th is for newcomer Steve Conner, and the 12th is for Janet Chapin and the late Evelyn Woods Carol who used to live on Cold Springs Road. Champion Leslie Krider, Skyline fifth grader Evan Homer and third grader Tinsleigh Miller all party on the 14th. Up on C Highway, Joe Moskaly will be partying on the 15th. Happy birthday to all of you.

It happens that both Colorado and Georgia have Douglas Counties. To get to the one in Georgia one might leave the HOBA festival and wind down through Arkansas, then try to skirt Memphis to get on some rough roads in Mississippi. Do this in some moderate to torrential rain with various vehicles hydroplaning off into deep ditches. Cross over into Alabama for beautiful road conditions. The road surfaces are wonderfully smooth and the right of ways perfectly manicured. The welcome center in Georgia is enormous and well appointed. A brochure in the entryway there details the many features of Douglas County including a Butterfly Trail. It may be that Colorado’s Douglas County has a butterfly trail as well. That calls for another adventure. This adventure, all the way to Atlanta, has Booger County residents hesitant to wear their KC Chiefs gear, their team having recently trounced the Falcons. Chief’s fans are delighted that the team is undefeated so far. It is a dangerous hard-hitting game with frequent injuries. With luck players can recover quickly.

How the country will recover from the ‘biblical’ devastation of Helene is to be seen. Often in the past we have observed that catastrophic events draw people together and bring out the most compassionate and helpful parts of us. Our hearts go out to all those suffering and we do not take for granted our good fortune in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!