Champion News

CHAMPION—May 7, 2012

                     Moonstruck Champions used many square yards of digital camera space taking pictures of the Super Moon.  Some think of it as phantom film.  Certainly the visage resembled an apparition.   Many just enjoyed the spectacle transfixed with no need to preserve it for the future.   It is quite a Champion thing to recognize the beauty of a moment.  

                  The internet is full of moon pictures from all over the world.  There were certainly some good ones taken around Champion, which has lovely topographical contours even in moon glow silhouette.  Neighbors over on Teeter Creek, southwest of Champion, have been posting some excellent pictures not just of the moon, though it is an excellent photo, but of native plants and herbs.  Fire Pink, for example, is a flower that many will recognize, but just may not have known the name.  There are also pictures of Blue Cohosh, Alum root, Toothwort and Giant Trillium.  The photos are taken out in the woods so it is a great help in identifying so many familiar plants.  The Teeter Creek Herbs site also had some great morel pictures earlier in the Spring.  They are good neighbors and it is a real gift to share knowledge.    A prominent Champion, known more for his work habits and responsibilities than herb lore, was heard explaining that the dandelion flower is very rich in Vitamin A.  Smartweed is a common weed in this area that everyone will recognize.  It is the very herb that the young lady was reported to have been collecting when the damp, shivering cowboy came riding into camp that day.  Conjecture is that it was really stinging nettle that she was collecting in order to prepare a tea for treatment of arthritis.  Whatever the herb, it was a most neighborly thing for her to abandon her own enterprise for the moment to help the struggling rider.  Help is coming in for him from all directions.  Anonymous donors have stopped in at the Recreation of the Historic Emporium over on the North Side of the Square in Downtown Champion with a set of “floaties” though they did not indicate whether they should be used by the cowboy or the horse.  Someone else has left a tiny bar of fine milled French soap (pilfered no doubt from a Parisian hotel) suitable for carrying in a saddlebag, should the wrangler opt for creek side ablutions in the future.  “Savon” by Lane of Paris has a pleasing aroma that may ameliorate the ambient odor of the saddlebags if not the cowboy himself.  Rowdy is supposed to smell like a horse.   Bud Hutchison will lead the annual Champion Trail Ride on Wednesday so there will likely be recounting of the Near Drowning and so much of the focus of the trip will be trying to keep the barber from losing his saddle to laughter.  By the time the bunch gets back to Champion there will probably be more stories to tell and Champion is a good place to tell them and to hear them. 

           Champions are finding ants in flowerpots, under stones and all the regular places inside and outside where ants like to live.  For getting rid of inside ants there are special ‘baits’ that really do the trick.  They are the best on the market for the job and they are the only ant baits available at Henson’s Grocery and Gas in Downtown Champion.  It has proven out that the Mercantile has a very expansive inventory and that the diversity of the stock available is made possible by the quality of the merchandise.   It is as simple as that—the good stuff can be found in Champion.  More “good” to recognizes is the quality work being done by the County Road people.   The repair to and dressing up of the aprons at the low water crossings after the big rains makes it a pleasure to come to town.  

                    The outlook for a cooler week ahead has some Champions renewing enthusiasm for their gardens.  From Thursday through Saturday those root vegetables can go in with the prospect of good success.  Prospects for good success are the standard kinds of prospects in Champion.  Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood also includes information about the best days to prune in order to encourage growth and a list of the month’s best fishing days.   Area fishermen are looking forward to the big bass fishing tournament that will benefit the Skyline R-2 School Foundation.  Local businesses from all around the area are sponsoring the tournament which will be held May 26^th at the Spring Creek Boat Ramp in Isabella Mo.  Contact new Skyline school board member, Brian Sherrill, at 417-683-7950 for more information.  The school year is winding down and the week will be busy with end of the year activities.  Eighth grader Sage Clunn will have his 14^th birthday on the 10^th so he will get a chance to celebrate with his friends before school is out.  Saturday evening the Skyline School cafeteria will be the site of the Skyline VFD Community potluck.  This will be a prime opportunity for people who live in the Skyline Fire District to get together and to meet their volunteer firefighters.  The get-together will start at six p.m. and promises to be a lot of fun.  Her Auxiliary friends are hoping to see Esther Wrinkles there with some of her strawberry-rhubarb pie or whatever she feels like making.  Esther is a good cook and a longtime supporter, actually a founding member, of the fire department.  Anyone interested in the possibility of becoming a volunteer fire fighter or participating in the Auxiliary is urged to come. 

                   Mother’s Day will be a chance for Esther’s family to express their appreciation for her.  She has many fans outside her family as well.  There are some nice pictures of her on the website at www.championnews.us.   She has always been active in the community and has served on the election board for many years.  Mother’s Day is a fine time for the voting public to recognize the women like Lucy Burns and Alice Paul who fought so long and under such oppressive circumstances to gain the right for women to vote.  The 19^th Amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1920.  Alice Paul said, “When you put your hand to the plow, you can’t put it down until you get to the end of the row.”  They were great Champions of equal rights for women.  Happy Mother’s Day all you Champion women!  Send your songs and poems about your Mother to Champion Items, Rt. 2 Box 367, Norwood, MO. 65717 or to Champion at getgoin.net.  If you are a good yodeler, come out on the porch at Historic Emporium located on the broad and shady banks of Old Fox Creek and sing that old Jimmy Rodgers tune that goes, “I’ll never forget that promise to my Mother, The Queen of My Heart!”   You will be in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!