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Ramona

By JESSICA GILBERT

Ramona correspondent

(785) 965-2621

Ramona folks celebrated the holidays whenever the weather allowed this year. As I checked in with folks I kept hearing "we planned to meet on . . ., but then the snow came and we changed the date!" Folks are flexible in the country.

And that's what's so great about the holiday spirit — it's about "spirit," no matter when or where it's shared. The Utech and Hanschu families celebrate on alternate days, and have for years, because it's a challenge to get everybody here on the same day. Junior and Jeanetta had Christmas Dec. 29 at their home. Guests included son Jayson and his wife, Jan, and their three sons (with the wonderfully unusual names) Jakob, Jorge, and Jaxxon; the Hanschus' daughter, Jennifer, and her husband Jeff Braden and son Joshua; and daughter Jolene and husband Neil Albrecht and their children Kallie, Morgan, and Landon; and of course Jeanetta's parents from Ramona, Fred and Marguerite Utech.

The group had brunch in the morning and then opened gifts in the afternoon. All the kids and grandkids spent the night and then attended church Sunday morning.

This same group of family, plus some, gathered the next weekend, Jan. 5, at Fred and Marguerite's. Joining the celebration were the Utechs' granddaughter, Sally Utech, the Utechs' son, Garland and his wife Dianna, Amy Utech, Hollie West, Lance, Alexandria, and Paige Utech, Scott, Rachel, Westley, and Tucker Utech, and Fred's sister, Dolores Siggs.

Dolores makes a family calendar each year, which includes important dates as well as pictures. So the highlight of this Christmas celebration was the distribution of this treasured keepsake. I remember when Dolores's brother, Erich, was still living, we took a picture of him holding his Christmas calendar, because he thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread!

Gail and Marissa Makovec also have grand family gatherings, which take them from state to state! "We celebrated before Christmas with my side of the family in Oklahoma," said Marissa, "and then went to Branson, Mo., with our kids, and Simon's fiancée, Dana. When we came home, my parents, sister and family came for more festivities."

If you've followed my column over the years you'll recall that before Simon Makovec was shipped to Iraq he and Dana, along with his family, all took a trek to Branson and Simon got a standing ovation from the crowd gathered for the Jim Stafford show.

"We just had to go hear Jim Stafford again, for old time's sake," said Marissa. Stafford called Simon up on the stage again, but this time he introduced Dana Beltz as Simon's fiancée, not just his girlfriend. He talked about Simon receiving a Purple Heart for his service in Iraq, and the crowd, once more, gave Simon a standing ovation.

Simon and Dana have set their wedding date for Aug. 2. "We're going to a bridal fair this weekend," enthused Marissa, who is a seasoned event planner.

Steve and Vickie Jirak started December with their daughter's graduation. "It happened during the electrical blackout," said Vickie, "on Dec. 15. We'd invited all her aunts and uncles to come to Emporia and go out to dinner in celebration, and then the bad weather arrived and only four could make it." Then Vickie, with laughter, added, "I guess the only good thing about that was that we saved money!"

Raschelle graduated from Emporia State University with her degree in education. And, of course, she graduated with honors — magna cum laude — and already has begun her teaching career in McPherson at St. Joseph's Elementary School on Jan. 2.

"She's so excited about this new chapter of her life," said her mom. "I told her God must really want her in McPherson because things have just been falling into place."

One of the little miracles to be celebrated is that Raschelle wanted to live in a house, rather than an apartment, and so she put a notice in the church bulletin at St. Joseph's and one of the members contacted her saying he had a home for rent and even set the rent lower than usual!

Vickie has spent considerable time in McPherson helping her daughter get settled. "It's a good thing she has a mother," teased Vickie, "because she needed help getting her school room ready and didn't want to stay at the school by herself late into the night, so I went and helped. We worked until 4:30 in the morning cleaning and throwing out stuff. I'm great at throwing out old stuff!"

Christmas for the Jiraks is always celebrated twice — with the Jiraks and with the Tajchmans. "Christmas Eve was with my mom (Teresa Tajchman) and the next day with Steve's family. Ten of Margaret's 12 children were there," said Vickie. "And of course, no Christmas would be complete without somebody getting the flu! This year it was Jacob and me!"

On New Year's Eve the Jirak family went to another Ramona household — Jake and Terri Turley and family. "The Srajers and the Kerbs families were there too," continued Vickie, "and we had such fun playing Pictionary. We played guys against gals and I'll tell you, women just have a form of communication that works when playing this game. Do you know what I mean?"

Indeed I do. When I played that game with my women friends, we always left the guys in the dust. While they stood with furrowed brow, the gals could name what was being drawn before a shape even took form. It was uncanny.

Norma Bird always has a house full over Christmas. "All my kids and grandkids were here," said Norma, "and we gathered at my daughter, Fern's, because she has that big room where my antique store used to be." The group had Christmas Eve dinner and then went to candlelight services in Herington. On Christmas Day they had breakfast, opened gifts, and then cooked a big Christmas dinner and played cards and visited afterwards.

On New Year's Norma attended a party at the Herington Senior Center. "They had a progressive pitch party, and I love playing cards," said Norma.

"Oh, and I attended my first tea dance in Salina recently," added Norma. "I went with three of my girlfriends, and while I haven't danced in years, and there weren't a lot of guys to dance with, we still had a great time!" As a dancer myself, I could relate. That's always the comment at most dances — not enough guys. I tease my male friends and tell them that they'll be popular beyond belief if they take up dancing!

Two folks in Ramona got married over the holidays. Kathy Werth, Ramona's postmaster, married Don Matkins, who has been in her life long before she moved to Ramona. "Don is the only dad that my daughter, Jenny, really had, and she was so excited when we got married," said Kathy.

Don is quite a tease, so we got lots of chuckles at city council (Don's our city maintenance man), hearing Don talk about what kind of wedding he envisioned. "Nothing elaborate, no tuxedoes," he teased. "If I had my way, Kathy and I would be sitting in our recliners for the ceremony, and maybe I'd go and buy a new pair of boxers for the event! The ceremony would be simple — I say 'I do, and so does she.'"

In the end, they had a beautiful cake, got new outfits, were surrounded by close family and friends, and I was even invited to sing.

Kathy heard me sing a few bars of the wedding song, "Because," which was popular in the 1950s because of Perry Como. I grew up hearing that song because my daddy was a minister. By the time I was nine I knew all the wedding vows, could sing "Because," and longed to be in a wedding!

So when Kathy asked me to sing, I wondered if I'd remember all the words from 50 years ago. (Thank God for Google!) As Pat, Tooltime Tim, and I drove to the wedding that was held in the Friendship Center in Salina, I pondered how long I'd been singing this song — since I was eight years old. But, ironically, I've never sung the song at a wedding until Don and Kathy's wedding. So I joked with Kathy that I'd been practicing for 50 years and finally got to sing my favorite wedding song! At last!

Kathy and Don didn't get any extensive getaway or honeymoon. Kathy had to be back in the post office — nothing, not even a wedding, can delay the mail!

Frances Buxman had all her kids, but one (Ralph), home for the holidays. "We thought the weather would keep some away, but they finally made it," said Frances. The family dinner and gift exchange took place Dec. 22, and one of the rituals is noodle soup and butterballs. "Oh, we always have that!" pronounced Frances.

Frances's granddaughter, Bryanna Svoboda, said the best part of Christmas was seeing all her family — some of whom stayed at our guesthouse and she joined the fun, even though her house was just down the street. "Oh, and I got an iPod for Christmas, and it holds over 1,000 songs," she adds with a smile.

Frances Hanschu wasn't feeling well around Christmas time so instead of going to see one of her children, the kids came to her. Sharon and her husband Mike, and Randy and his wife, Jo and their daughter Kaci all were here in Ramona. Sharon and Mike's daughter, Cindi, and her family, were here from Salina, too.

When I asked Frances if she did anything for New Year's she said, "I went to bed! You know, I'm the oldest woman in Ramona now — a little over a month older than Darlene Sondergard. I never thought I'd live to be the oldest in town."

My sister's favorite holiday is Christmas. She insists there be magic — and has created it all her life for her kids and her kid sister! "I always want a surprise at Christmas," said Pat. "It's the little kid in me I guess. I kept stuffing stockings long after my kids were grown, and lately I've told myself to 'brace up!' and accept that things change."

Pat felt like she'd had Christmas early when daughter, Jana and first grandchild, Dagfinnr, were here for a week in November. And yet, as Christmas approached, I could see she was yearning for some Christmas magic. We've become quite practical, the two of us, over the last few years. We don't have lots of gifts under the tree, and now that our older relatives and parents are gone or moved away, we don't have big Christmas dinners at our house anymore either. And sometimes, let's face it, we're just too pooped to make magic!

Fortunately we have cousins! Our Aunt Naomi's kids — Joe, Steve, Virginia — invited us to join them for their family gathering Dec. 23, which was at Joe and Janet Fike's in Lawrence this year.

Any event at Joe and Janet's is magical, but especially Christmas! Christmas decorations abound in every nook and cranny. There's a scent of spiced drinks in the air. There's food everywhere — tabletop, counters, end tables — because Janet is a consummate cook! In addition, she and her friends get together before the holidays and cook and bake and Janet's pantry and freezers are filled with endless tins of homemade chocolates and cookies. (We chuckled because with this year's weather, Janet's "freezer" was huge! It was her enclosed deck just off the living room! There were snowdrifts surrounding the stacks of tins and Tupperware as snow flew through the screens.)

The dinner was a feast beyond compare! (We'd already made a "dinner" of the snacks!) Afterward we traded gifts, and swiped gifts (if we liked somebody's better), and then ate more cookies and chocolates. When we finally headed for home later that evening, Janet called out, "Don't forget to pick up your foil-wrapped tree decoration!" The huge, sparkling foil-covered-chocolates were towering in a gorgeous crystal bowl on a table near the front door. Wow! Was my "inner child" ever satiated!

But back to my sister. As Christmas approached, we knew it would be a different celebration. I was spending the holiday with the man in my life — John Holecek — in McPherson, and that left Tim and Pat here in Ramona.

But Santa didn't disappoint Pat this year. While she didn't have stockings bulging with goodies, there was something special under the tree on Christmas morning — a little teddy bear that sang "When You Wish Upon a Star" — and in his arms was a little box that held a beautiful necklace with sparkling diamonds! "It's the first diamonds I've ever received in my life!" said Pat with delight. Ah! Santa came through!

John created my Christmas since he invited me in his direction. We'd both expressed a desire to do something community-oriented over the holiday, so he planned the celebration with that in mind.

On Christmas Eve we both greeted folks at The Lords Diner in Wichita, where the homeless and folks in need come and receive a warm meal 365 days out of the year. The operation is carried on by volunteers and very impressive. More than 300 people (which was a light night, according to the staff) were fed a lovely pork chop dinner and then invited to pick up socks, gloves, hats, and coats that were piled high in the corner of the dinning hall.

Because John and I are both excellent cooks, our celebrations always center around food — so we had dinner at P.F. Changs (wonderful Asian food), and then attended the majestic mass at the Wichita Cathedral for soul food.

Christmas Day began as greeters at a community dinner. John grew up in McPherson and he's very gregarious, so being a greeter is one of his favorite things to do at holiday events. We bundled up and stood outside the hall, shaking hands and helping people through snow and ice to the door.

We spent the afternoon cooking wild duck for our Christmas dinner, along with other complicated and time-consuming recipes. My sister teases that we don't like to cook anything unless it's chopped, sliced, diced, marinated, reduced, whipped, simmered, and takes hours to concoct. She's right — Christmas dinner preparations began at around 2:30 and about five hours later we sat down to eat!

Harold and Betty Ohm spent Christmas with their daughter Brenda and her family. They left a few days into the electrical storm because it was just too challenging to care for Harold with no electricity and proper heating. The Ohms celebrated Christmas Dec. 29 and then came home the following day.

"We were there for two weeks and we had such a good time together," said Betty, "but I was ready to get back home — even if it was a mess from the storm. There's just no place like home!"

Betty's right about that — sometimes it's good to get away from home, so you like getting back to it. I'm about to do that. You won't see my column until mid-February because I'm going to Bali again, with my friend Jill from Oregon. Since I visited Bali with her more than a year ago she's had a home built there (right on the beach) and so we're going to spend a month celebrating her new house, my birthday, and the fact that you can get a 90-minute massage for $10 in Bali!

My dear sister is staying home and holding down the fort — boy will I ever owe her when I get home!

And that's the news from Ramona where a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.

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