Champion News

 

Fox Creek ran backwards on Wednesday after a couple of good rainstorms so that the Clever Creek crossing north of Champion was a lake. The mile and a half trip to the Bright Side became a fifteen-mile journey, the long way around, but well worth it. Alice McClure, who had just had her 90th birthday earlier this month, made the trip down from Salem, Iowa with her daughter Carole Brown through heavy rainstorms to spend time with kinfolks and friends in her old stomping grounds, Denlow and Champion among them. Pete Proctor and his brothers were glad to see their Aunt Alice and cousin Carole. Alice and a sister in Oregon are the last two living of a family of twelve siblings—eight girls and four boys. She had some good stories to share including a trip to Heaven from Denlow when she was four years old. She says Jerry Bennett keeps up with The Champion News online up there in Iowa and shares it with her. She plans another trip next summer and her Champion friends look forward to it.

An invitation to a tea party does not come often. When it does, RSVP right away. Thursday’s event out on Fox Creed Road featured an elegant table setting, delicious teas and tasty treats. Friends and neighbors sat around a table sharing histories and stories, current happenings, ideas, hopes and plans. Thanks goes to a gracious hostess and her equally gracious mother for putting the party together. Imagine the benefits of many small, pleasant gatherings happening all across the whole nation, fostering friendship and understanding. Another friend, Ruby Adams, shares a thought: “If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can’t buy.” Will Rogers said, “We will never have true civilization until we have learned to recognize the rights of others.”

Champion Hovey Henson down in Houston, TX writes in to say, “My little girl Avery, (his granddaughter) was off to school this week, leaving an empty space in our lives. She was accepted to Abilene Christian, Baylor, Texas Tech and other, but chose Texas A & M because of their traditions. I am very proud of her. Dawn says that I brag too much. Can’t help it, I am totally intoxicated with her. It seems that we had her for such a short time, like it was only yesterday that she was brought to her home at one year and a month from Kazakhstan to be part of our family. I will have to get used to a 93-pound little girl being on the campus of a major university. Suck it up, grandfather. Kids grow up. Love, Hovey.” Hovey is not the only one with separation anxiety as children and grandchildren go off to school for the first time or when they leave home. In today’s world closeness has not all that much to do with geography, but lucky the family that can get together often. Phone calls and video chats are sweet, but they are not hugs and they lack a little of the preciousness of seeing loved ones in the flesh.

Blaine Denlow says she would rather stay working at Wolf Pen Cattle Company than to go off to preschool. She is a mutton busting trooper though, so she will do well. Hopes are that all our Skyline Tigers get off to a good start. They are lucky to be in one of the two rural schools left in Douglas County. It is a dynamic little outfit with a talented, dedicated staff all working to help these young folks grow up to be solid citizens. B.D.’s great-grandfather, grandfather, father and brother are all Skyline alumni. Her Top Hand there on cow farm happened to have a battery-operated impact wrench and just the right socket to fit the lug nuts as an old neighbor labored to change a tire. He was just passing by and thought he could be of help. He was. One of his grandmothers was over in the Senior Center in Mountain Grove on Friday and heard about his good deed. She said she is proud of him and agrees that he is a real Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!

The Champion School Reunion is coming up at the end of the month. It always occurs on the Saturday before Labor Day. Alumni, their families and friends always enjoy this gathering. It is a chance to catch up with everyone’s news and to share stories of the bygone days and of old well-remembered Champions who are no longer with us. It happens out on the wide, wild, wooly banks of old Fox Creek, at the foot of several hills, where country roads meet the pavement. Everyone is welcome.

Champions who, for one reason or another, were unable to attend the Mountain Grove Heritage Festival on Friday or Saturday have The Wright County Journal to thank for sharing so much of the festivities online. The many, many pictures and stories almost transported us. Neighbors who attended said there was a huge crowd, that the little town transformed itself into a wonderful street party, full of arts and crafts, great food and music and the sense of community that makes this part of the world a beautiful place to live.

Preserving the garden’s bounty is hard rewarding work that will pay off in the cold months until planting time again next year. While they are at it, those canners might sing, “…sowing in the noon time and the dewy eve, we shall come rejoicing bringing in the sheaves.” You can almost hear it. Can you hear it? Zachary Poteet of the Clear Sound folks can help you if you are having trouble. He is in Mountain Grove on Tuesdays and Thursdays offering free hearing tests, repairing and adjusting hearing aids. He is making friends and doing important work. Zachary was working in the Springfield office back in July when a driver confused his brake pedal with his gas pedal and crashed into a column that damaged the building. He said it was startling and they were all grateful that no one in the building was seriously injured.

A sweet surprise blew into the Champion Square on Sunday in a little red car. Kaitlynn McConnell stepped up on the wide veranda with her pie box and a pie to share. It was a Peach Macaroon pie, the 58th pie she has made from the many community cookbooks she has collected for her Ozarks’ Pie Project. It was delicious, though a couple of fellows insisted on calling it Peach Macaroni. Online Kaitlyn shared a sentiment that needs to be said often. With her permission, we share it here. “How do we overcome chasms that feel can’t be bridged? No low water crossing or iron bridge can span the divides that seem to separate us in this highly charged political world. But really, that’s not a new thing: There have always been misunderstandings, prejudices and injustices – here in the Ozarks, too. While I wish it wasn’t so, I think it’s human nature to put up barriers with those we don’t know or feel are different or wrong. I don’t know how we fix problems that ends of a spectrum feel are insurmountable. I do, however, believe that we only come closer to greater understanding by reaching out with a bouquet of love and a desire to find common ground. Believing the other side is the enemy will never help convince anyone of anything besides reinforcing hatred. I worry about those divisions in the Ozarks (and the greater world) and what that means long-term. Life has never been, nor will ever be, perfect. I’m afraid there will always be those misunderstandings and prejudices and injustices. We can’t fix how others perceive these realities, but we can look inside and be better – for ourselves, and for the world. Those thoughts perhaps aren’t only about the Ozarks. But it’s where we can start.” Another talented journalist, Molly Ivins (1944-2007) said, “Listen to the people who are talking about how to fix what’s wrong, not the ones who just work people into a snit over the problems. Listen to the people who have ideas about how to fix things, not the ones who just blame others.” Pete Seeger said, “It’s very important to learn to talk to people you disagree with.” We can agree these folks are Champions—Looking on the Bright Side!

 

The Skyline VFD is looking for an unwanted vehicle to use for training purposes. It will then be converted into scrap, with the proceeds going towards operating costs of the fire department. If you have some old wreck sitting around in the way, call 417-349-9150. They will make good use of it. Champions are excited about the new Skyline Fire Station. It is a beauty. Check it out when you come to the Second Saturday Skyline Swap Meet on the 10th. There will be garden produce and assorted critters as well as crafts and garage sale items, friends and neighbors.

Shelling peas and piecing quilt blocks are some of the good things that can be done inside in the air conditioning during these scorching days. Many of us remember shelling bushels of peas out on the porch, drinking iced tea and taking a break for some cold watermelon. Those are good memories that come back to us in the middle of the winter when we open a jar of peas to have with supper. All of us who have quilts passed down to us from our old folks enjoy them for their warmth and for the connection to dear family. It is a good connection to continue. Kaitlyn McConnell said that she had created another flower to complete her great-grandmother’s feed-sack quilt. “It’s so meaningful to help see this vintage top turned into a quilt—especially since I get to help complete it alongside my friends at the Chadwick Quilting Circle.” Quilters are excited that Linda has gone through her enormous fabric stash and will be including it in the sale there at Charlene’s place, The Gift Corner, in Norwood this Friday and Saturday. Linda has lots of cotton pieces, some corduroy and upholstery fabric. This will be their last sale there until sometime in September, so get there early to claim your favorite pieces.

Summer school has been exciting this summer. Mrs. Goss provided some great STEM challenges. Her birthday is August 13th. Cryslynn Johnson was an 8th grader at Skyline last year and is off to high school somewhere. Her birthday is August 12th. Lee Borders, a third grader will celebrate on the 16th. The Back to School Bash on August 1st was a good way to start the year. Open house will be on the 15th and the first day of school will be August 19th. School days hold sweet memories for many of us. The Champion School Reunion will take place as usual on the Saturday before the Labor Day weekend. That happens on August 31st. Everyone is welcome—alumni, their families, descendants, friends and neighbors, and just anyone with an affection or connection to Champion.

More excitement comes with the election. Perhaps some of the negativity and rancor will dissipate as the ballots are counted. Then a new episode of campaigning can begin with more of the same until November. Back in the 1960s a Nobel laureate said in a literary magazine, “We know they are lying. They know they are lying. They know we know they are lying. We know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.” A good question to ask any candidate is, “Would you pull me out of a mud hole?” Believing that we have government to provide order, stability, and safety, to ensure domestic tranquility, promote the general welfare and to secure the blessing of liberty, Champions continue to—Look on the Bright Side!

Bob Clark

Friends of Clarence R. (Bob) Clark applaud the unanimous ruling of the jury in convicting William R. Wolfe Jr. of first-degree murder of their friend on September 21, 2020. The long-awaited trial began on July 22 and concluded midday on the 25th. Guilty on all ten counts. Bob Clark was 84 years old when he was slain by a person he had helped many times over the years. Bob was a genial, good-hearted, interesting person who lived in Brushy Knob for close to fifty years. A friend writes, “Four years waiting, justice served at last. Bob Clark was a seasoned bridge player—a participant in our rotating neighborhood klatch. He was formidable when he played as your opponent and a godsend when he played as your partner. He always knew who had the aces! A kind and generous man, we miss him immensely.” When sentencing happens on October 8h, at 9:00 am, his many friends will have a chance to express to the court the positive part he played in their lives.

One of the great pieces of news coming out of the Ozark Empire Fair happening this week was that our Champion friend, Kaitlyn McConnell, won a blue ribbon for her cornmeal pie. The recipe came from a cookbook produced by the Eddie Mae Herron Center in Pocahontas, Arkansas, one of the many cookbooks Kaitlyn has referenced for her Ozarks Pie Project. She has featured Champion frequently in the nine years she has been posting “Ozarks Alive,” and is always a welcome visitor.

In the old days, school started on the first Monday after Labor Day. It starts earlier these days. Sparky Clark Shannon has been out of school for decades. His birthday is on August 3rd. Right around there somewhere is the big day for an old boy called R.D. and for his good neighbor, Connie’s younger brother. August 5th will be the birthday of Skyline School third grader Genesis Castillo. Caleb Harden is now a Skyline alumnus off to the ninth grade somewhere. His birthday is also on the 5th. Jaxton Harley will have the sixth for this big day. He will be a fifth grader at Skyline. Gina Hollingshad who went to school in Dora then taught third grade there, will have her birthday on the 6th. She is the pretty part of Whetstone which can be seen on stage at 10:00 Friday morning at the Mountain Grove Senior Center. It’s always a great show, followed by a great lunch in the big hall with lots of interesting people. Gina will be celebrated big time at the Vanzant Jam on Thursday. Champions hear good reports of the Ava Senior Center jam too. The barber shop has been a mainstay for musicians for a long time. It is nice to be in a part of the world where music plays such an important role. It is good for us.

The Olympics are another big show this week. Though parts of the opening ceremony seemed to have been widely misinterpreted by many folks here, once it was explained it just became part of the fun with big blue Bacchus. It was a depiction of a raucous party held by the Greeks in Greece where the Olympics started, and not the much-loved Italian painting. Death defying, high flying, scantily clad, dedicated athletes do what seems to be impossible. The work they do to be the best in the world at what they do makes them Champions—Looking on the Bright Side!

 

Wednesday morning’s sudden predawn two-and-a-half-inch rain filled Clever Creek to a rushing torrent.  Spots in Cold Springs Road that had been washed out in a previous one hour long four-inch rain were washed out again only more so.  People traveling by the pavement gathered at the Historic Emporium and had a good visit.  Later in the day the creeks subsided, but by Saturday old Champions headed north to 76 were pleased to have all-wheel drive.  Wolf Pen Hollow was a challenge.  Cowgirl Blaine Denlow lives up that way.  She was busy busting mutton on the weekend.  She has some good gear that kept her from getting hurt, but it made it hard to get up after she hit the ground—hard to move with all that protection.  For a cheering section, she has in her family a couple of dazzling great grandmothers and a host of friends and neighbors.  She will be starting school in just a few weeks.  Summertime is slipping away.  Our wonderful Skyline R-2 School will have an open house on August 15th ahead of the first day of school on August 19th.  Little rural schools are a big part of the history and character of this part of the world.  How lucky we are to have this one.  Eli Johnstone was a kindergarten student last year.  His birthday was July 18th.  Eugene Elliot will be a seventh grader.  He shares his birthday is on July 30 with kindergarten student Rayven Castillo.  Skylines’ music teacher Cheyenne McIntosh will celebrate on July 29th.  We sing the praises of Cheyenne and of music education, the benefits of which are many.

Another great musician, Sharry Lovan just celebrated her birthday on the 21st.  She does a lot of good work with the Heart of the Ozarks Bluegrass Association.  Another great bluegrasser, James Woodrow Orchard, would have celebrated his 88th birthday that day.  Young Wade Day has the 27th for his big day and Reba Bishop will celebrate on the 28th.  Karen Ross had her 55th birthday in Champion some years ago when she was our much-appreciated mail carrier.

Other much-appreciated mail carriers, John and Brittiany made funnel cakes at the Vanzant Picnic.  John was particularly fetching in his fancy apron.  Check the picnic out on your computer at www.championnews.us.  Unfortunately, there are no photos of John in his apron.  The picnic was another epic success.  Eastern Douglas County Volunteer Fire Department volunteers gifted the community with a couple of beautiful evenings full of great music, good food, games, and community fellowship.  About two-thirds of all the fire departments in the Nation are volunteer fire departments.  The EDCVFD and the Skyline Area Volunteer Fire Department serve us well.  Thank you.  The Skyline Firehouse is getting closer to finished.  It is a big red building with three big doors next door to the Skyline School.

The good recent rains have made the whole area verdant and lovely.  Gardens are brimming over.  In these turbulent times, with so much of the world suffering, we here have much for which to be thankful.  Felix the Farmer writes in to say he is doing fine and that he hopes our garden is doing good.  He drew pictures of watermelon, corn, tomatoes and carrots.  He has probably already learned how to braid garlic.  One lazy old gardener did not even plant any garlic last fall, figuring to (hoping to) make a trade for some with a friend.  Eavvie Hector Sharrock out in west Texas once said, “We’ve plucked and shelled, peeled and sliced With sweat dripping from our knife.  Our freezer’s full ad so’s our jars.  Not much is left but garden tares.”  The tares are not the weeds that almost jump out of the ground into the hands of grateful gardeners in these unseasonably mild wet days in Champion—Looking on the Bright Side.

2024 Vanzant Picnic

Picnic food has no calories—not the cheeseburgers, the bratwurst, the ice cream or the cobbler. That is one of the special things about the Vanzant Picnic which got off to a splendid start on Friday. Steve Moody does an excellent job as master of ceremonies, acknowledging the support of local merchants and businesses as well as the many volunteers who make this great event happen. The entertainment started with a country band Go West with Ed McCarty from over around Willow Springs doing old cowboy songs like “I’m an old cowhand from the Rio Grande.” The American Legion Post 30 out of Mountain Grove presented the Colors with Dennis Lynch doing a fine job leading the National Anthem. Whetstone took the stage with many of their favorite songs and with Joe Cash who shared “Jambalaya and crawfish pie.”

American Legion Post 30

Go West

Whetstone with Joe Cash

A fleet of side-by-sides ferried people to and from the vast parking area. Saturday’s crowd was enormous. Whetstone started the show, followed by The Finley River Boys, who have been one of the main attractions at this picnic for several years. They had to cut their second set short for a health emergency, so Whetstone stepped up to fill in with some special guests. A new Champion, attending the picnic for the first time, Carissa stirred the crowd with “The Traveling Soldier.” Tom guest-starred with “Cross the Brazos at Waco” and Sherry Bennet gave us “Steel Rails.” Sherry is “…looking up ahead,” lining up musicians for the Pioneer Heritage Festival coming in October. Bluegrass Friends finished the evening’s entertainment with banjo, bass and guitar. That “Dueling Banjos” tune was a big hit. They had special guests too, as two little tikes, somewhere around 4 years old joined them on stage for the ABC song.

Finley River Boys

Gina, Carissa, David, Sherry, and Tom

Bluegrass Friends

Bluegrass Friends with Kids

Interspersed with the music Steve Moody was on stage calling out the names of the many people who won door prizes and the excellent raffle items. All the financial proceeds from the picnic go to support the Eastern Douglas County Volunteer Fire Department. Those volunteers leave their jobs, their supper tables, and their beds in the middle of the night to do what must be done to protect lives and property. In addition to their tools, equipment and fuel, the cost of the required insurance is phenomenal. The picnic was phenomenal and the benefits to the community are precious. While meeting old friends and making new ones, picknickers were blessed with the joy of seeing children scampering about having fun the way they may have had fun many decades ago. The whole picnic is reminiscent of the old days, of the simpler times of our youth. We are grateful for the opportunity to relive some of it like Champions—Looking on the Bright Side!

 

The Fourth of July celebrations were legion with friends and families feasting and enjoying the fun at the creeks, at the parades and fireworks displays. There were solemn serious events as well. It turns out there are more people in the world celebrating freedom from the British Empire than celebrate Christmas! They have just had their election over there in the U.K. The loser was dignified in defeat and the winner was magnanimous in victory saying that politics can be used for the good and country before party. It all sounds so civilized. The cultural wars here seem to have so far prevented many from sitting down to a nice cup of tea with “them,” even though they were all just singing that same song. Not so in Champion where the Wednesday gathering featured sugar cookies, apple pie and ice cream together with good humor and friendship among neighbors with differing views.

After the ball was over, that is to say, when the music stopped, a new band member was one of the two damsels in distress out on the Square. One vehicle seemed to have an issue with a little overheating, which the lady ultimately determined not to be so severe that she could not reach her father’s place which is relatively nearby. The musician’s rig turned out to not need jumper cables after all. The General did not have his with him anyway. The Prominent Champion had his, however, they were ineffective. The Farmer went up the hill and brought down a big tractor to give her little car a mega boost, but that did not work either. It turned out to be mold and rust on some connecting wires which were made viable again with some contact cleaner available at the Historic Emporium. For all their trouble and friendly good efforts, Claire says, “Thank you.”

The Vanzant Picnic has been held in its current location since 1967, according to well-informed sources. It is always a stellar event with great music, games, food, and fellowship with seldom seen friends. It happens this Friday and Saturday, 12th and 13th, starting at six both evenings. Linda and Charlene up in Norwood, next door to the school, will be having another of their awesome indoor sales on those days from early morning until afternoon. Saturday morning will find the Second Saturday Skyline Swap Meet in full swing in the parking lot of the Brushy Knob Church at the corner of Highway 76 and Highway C. Garden produce, eggs, live poultry, puppies and myriad other things make this a great early morning outing. Everyone is welcome to participate. There are no set-up fees. The new Skyline VFD Firehouse right across the road is coming along nicely. One of these days there will probably be a grand opening ceremony. We will look forward to it and to all the lovely summertime stuff going on.

Holiday revelers were grateful that the rain held off for all the festivities and to have our aquifers recharged, while we are mindful of the hardship the hurricane has caused many in its path. Hopes are that the wash-out spots in our lovely country lanes will eventually be repaired and visitors unfamiliar with the perils may be able to return home unscathed…Champion—Looking on the Bright Side!