Ramona correspondent
A camera crew from Kansas State University arrived in Ramona Oct. 28 to make a documentary of sorts about life in small-town America. The director of this endeavor was Dr. Rick Scheidt, professor and co-chairman of the Lifespan Human Development Unit in the College of Human Ecology. He plans to use the finished film in the classes he teaches.
This wasn’t the first time Scheidt has been to Ramona — far from it. He’s been visiting Ramona for more than 20 years to interview residents. My sister and I first met Rick in 1995 when we were here for a summer. Rick and another professor came to visit our Aunt Gertie Schubert, who lived most of her married life in Ramona on C Street.
Aunt Gertie was a treasure-trove for Rick because Gertie was the unofficial town historian in many ways. She kept the pictures, many of which she gave to us when she moved to Colorado. She knew the people and their stories.
“I remember my early visits to Ramona, when Vernon Deines was mayor,” Dr. Scheidt said. “He asked me, ‘What can you do for us?’”
Mayor Pat Wick asked Scheidt the same question when he visited again more recently.
“Bottom line, is there anything you can do for small towns like Ramona?” Pat asked.
Rick gave the same answer to both mayors: his mission was one of recording what was happening as small towns disappear, not changing it. Sometimes we joked with Rick that when he arrived we felt like how the zebras must feel when a National Geographic photographer shows up to capture on film how zebras and lions cohabitate.
“Oh, I hope it’s not all that bad,” Rick said with a laugh.
On this particular visit, two videographers came with Scheidt and several Ramona residents were asked to appear for interviews.
He talked with Al and Darlene Sondergard. Al was born in Ramona.
“We enjoyed being interviewed,” Darlene said. “Some questions were easy to answer —like why we choose to stay here in Ramona. We stay here because this is home to us, and it’s our roots. We stay because people here watch out for us.”
Other questions were harder to answer.
“When he asked what we could do to make the town more enticing for young families to move to Ramona, I just drew a blank,” Darlene said.
Indeed, it’s a challenge for small towns to offer services that younger people desire and demand.
“We just need more Brendan Baileys,” Darlene said with a smile, referring to young people who were raised in Ramona and return to their hometown to raise their families.
Brendan, who grew up in Ramona, returned a couple of years ago with his wife, Michele, and their two children.
Betty Ohm was also interviewed because she had a business here in Ramona and lived all her married life here. For 48 years, she had a café, which I called the “front room of Ramona,” because the café was attached to Betty and Harold’s home on Main Street.
“When I had the café I knew everyone,” Betty said. “I knew what they drove, what they ate, what they drank, what they smoked. People came to the café to play cards or dominoes or just visit.”
Betty and Harold retired from the café in 2000. They still live in Ramona, but a lot has changed since that time.
“I miss having the cafe,” Betty quickly admits. “I’d do it all again. It was good for me, for Harold, our family. Ramona was good to us, and still is.”
Betty said that she couldn’t keep up with who lives in town these days, let alone identifying what they drive.
“I see cars all the time, but I don’t know who they belong to,” she said. “And the other night on Halloween, I didn’t know many of the kids who came to my door. I’m sad about that because I always loved knowing the kids in town.”
Lisa Hanschu grew up in Ramona and now lives on a farm southeast of town with her husband and daughter.
“Answering the interview questions reminded me that we take a lot for granted,” Lisa said. “There’s a security that comes from growing up in a small town. When I was a kid I could walk down to Sader’s Café for a Coke or Dr. Pepper, and one of the staples in life was a Betty Burger,” she said, referring to Betty Ohm’s famous hamburgers.
“If we needed air in our bike tires we went to the Sondergard’s Garage. And before there were privacy laws that prohibited such things, the bank would give away their junk mail to us kids when we’d stop by. We had so much fun with that junk mail. We’d go and play bank,” Lisa said. “If we needed play money, we’d go up to Tox-O-Wik where Dad worked. They had round-shaped pieces of metal that were thrown out behind the building. They made great coins!”
Lisa’s memories were rich with stories and traditions. She remembered fall as a special time of year in Ramona, when it seemed everybody in town was out raking their leaves.
“We’d rake the leaves into the ditch and have such fun jumping into the pile before Dad came and burned it.”
Lisa said that recalling her childhood in Ramona made her ponder how we live today.
“Life seems so busy these days,” she said, “that we have no time to truly live.”
My sister, Pat, and I were also interviewed by Scheidt, since we came here as children and then decided to return to live.
“You seem less optimistic about Ramona’s chances than you did 15 years ago when we first met,” Rick said.
“Oh, when we first visited here in the summertime, that was like dating,” I said, jokingly. “When we moved here — well, that’s like getting married. It’s a very different experience.”
The truth is that life is one big series of changes; and it’s not always on an upward spiral. And there’s no guarantee that a small town will survive another 100 years. In the end, the residents of any small community, individually and collectively, decide the fate of a town — one day at a time.
Another benefit of small-town living is that folks know each other, and if there’s a crisis or a challenge, people often step up to offer assistance.
Fern Leach didn’t grow up in Ramona, but it’s been her home for more than 17 years. She and her children occupied a Main Street dwelling that was connected to an antique store that was owned by Fern’s parents, Don and Norma Bird.
For the last couple of years she’s served as City Treasurer.
This last June, Fern was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called Multiple Myleoma. This cancer causes a cell protein in the blood to attack the bones.
“I am so grateful for everyone’s prayers,” Fern said. “I have people of all faiths praying for me, from around the world — Buddhists, Christians, Catholics.”
She tugged at a medallion that was hanging around her neck.
“This is a Father Kapaun medallion that I received from Vickie Jirak. Even though I am not a Catholic, I was so touched that she gave me this gift and is praying to Fr. Kapaun on my behalf.”
Fern is currently undergoing an intense treatment plan, culminating in a stem cell transplant in December.
“I’m hopeful that one stem cell transplant will put the cancer in remission for a couple of years,” Fern said.
“Even though my mom’s disease is painful, even though she has fractured ribs and lesions in her legs, and even though mom is incredibly tired, she has continued to work part-time,” Fern’s daughter, Rachel, said.
Rachel lives in Wichita.
“But in December, when she has her transplant, she will not be able to work for two months.”
To assist Fern with medical and living expenses, Fern’s family and friends are having a soup supper from 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 14 at Herington Senior Center, 14 W. Main St., Herington.
There will be chili and chicken noodle soup, dessert, and drinks. Live music will make the affair festive, and there’ll be many fun things offered in a silent auction.
A second fundraiser will be 5 to 9 p.m. Dec. 1, at Herington Pizza Hut on U.S. 77. If patrons mention Fern Leach at the time of purchase, Pizza Hut will donate 15 percent of sales to Fern’s medical fund.
And that’s the news from Ramona, where offering a helping hand is a way of life, and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.