Champion News

CHAMPION—September 10, 2012

          Champions are set for another busy fall season and some are tiring of the constant comments about the swift passage of time.  “You’ll miss it by talking about it so much.”  That sentiment also speaks to people who are so busy taking pictures with their fancy cameras that they do not really see what is in front of them.  If they were to lose those cameras or lose the photos, they might lose the whole experience.  One of the main things that Champions do is enjoy the beauty of their surroundings in the wonderful here and now.  It would take a tenth degree curmudgeon to find fault with these lovely days.

Here comes the wagon train!  The West Plains Wagon Club is on its way again, having left West Plains Monday with the objective of lunching in Champion on Thursday.   Tanna Wiseman will be celebrating her birthday that day and may be in town with Foster and Kalyssa to enjoy the curious spectacle of seeing all the wagons roll into the Square with all the beautiful animals and the fascinating rigs.  There are covered wagons and buggies of various sorts and every year brings something new and interesting.   Clifton Luna has been ramrodding this outfit since the 1980’s and it is a highlight of the season for Champion to have the welcome visitors.  The train will complete its journey in Mansfield on Friday.  Champions are particularly looking forward to seeing Jerry and Diane Wilbanks.  They have been ‘wagoning’ for close to a decade now and made their first trip through Champion in 2010 with this wagon train.  They liked the area so much that they have moved here from Potterville.  They have a nice place over on Bryant Creek now and from time to time they hitch up their buggy and roll over to Champion just for the fun of the trip.    

          Lainie Sutherland has sent six photographs of Champions and some ‘Denlowites’ and random Sutherland portraits to the Champion News.  They will soon be available on-line for everyone to enjoy.  Anyone who would like to share photos of old times in Champion is welcome to e-mail them to Champion at getgoin.net  or to mail them, via the illustrious US Postal Service, to Champion Items, Rt. 2, Box 367, Norwood, MO 65717.  The first picture has twenty young people and an adult woman standing beside a rock bluff.  While in town for the 30^th Champion School Reunion last week, various Hensons went out exploring, searching for ‘the bluff’ under which those people had their picture taken.  It is not known if they actually found the location, though it was clear they were having a good time looking.  Eva Henson Phillips wrote from Bella Vista, Arkansas to say how much she and her family had enjoyed the reunion and that it was so nice to be able to use the store’s facilities to bring the festivities in out of the rain.  “Royce, Jo, Tom, Valli, Alex, Evan, Victor, Victoria, Vaughn and Whit all enjoyed their walk from Cold Springs to Champion.  That was quite a crew walking the old ‘trail’ once more.”   Royce called it “The Walk of Ages.”

          Miss Emerson Rose and brother, Eli Ogelsby, were happy to be visiting with their Grandmother in Champion during the past week while their Dad was busy with the recent horseshow.  On Saturday night he won the Grand Championship prize for training five year old horses.  Articles and pictures will be showing up in the papers all around the area with more complete and accurate information about the event.  It made for a late bed time Saturday night, but everyone was excited and had a wonderful time.  Little niece, Taegan Krider, loves to see the horses canter.  She loves all her cousins too, and is happy when they come to visit.  “Peanut” is quite a farm girl and there are some great pictures of her being such at www.the-dairy-maid.com a link to which can be found at www.championnews.us.   Little children growing up in the country, knowing all about farm life is a real National Treasure.  The little rural schools, like Skyline R-2, are just what the Country needs.  The Skyline R-2 School Foundation had a meeting on September 5^th to set priorities for the school year ahead.  It is good news to know that there are currently 31 children in the school district benefiting from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library program that the Foundation sponsors.  These youngsters, from birth to age five years, receive a new, age appropriate, book in the mail every month.  The love of reading and the love of learning are life skills that support success no matter what course people choose in life.  It makes them Champions!

          The fall garden wants to be planted.  The next good days for planting above the ground crops will be the 16^th through the 20^th, according to Linda’s Almanac from over at the Plant Place in Norwood.   Linda is still busy dealing with all the produce from her summer garden and, while friends do not like to see her tired and overworked, they do not feel altogether sorry for her having to deal with such abundance.   Fortunately, she can work a few bridge games into her busy schedule, and that gives her some time off her feet.  At the regular Fortnight Bridge Club game on Saturday, she took second place behind the Vera Cruz player, who was celebrating her birthday.  The host, Champion, came in third and the low money went to Brushy Knob.   Wilma Pointer, who attended the Champion School Reunion this year, remarked that she would like to learn to play bridge.  She lives in Mountain Grove where there are a number of great bridge players who often meet at the Senior Center there.  Wilma will find it to be an intriguing game that she will never tire of playing. 

          Music on the Square this Saturday may include the All-General, All-Star Accordion Ensemble with its great repertory of patriotic songs.  The General will have all know that it is important to support the Troops and the Vets!  The music may just be one old guy with a French harp up on the porch of the Historic Emporium playing  “Listen to the Mockingbird” or some hillbilly jug band singing, “Who Poured the Whiskey in the Well?  There’s just one thing for shore, that water’s ninety proof or more!”  Come on down to the Square in Historic Downtown Champion to enjoy the Fall Market Day Celebration spread out on the wide grassy banks of Old Fox Creek.   It is a picturesque, lush green utopia.  It’s just where the pavement ends and where the fun begins.  Champion!  Looking on the Bright Side!