Ramona
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
Tony Meyer always is looking for something new to experience — his adventurous spirit has been what's kept him young. So when my sister and I reminded Tony we were taking him out to lunch for his 93rd birthday Thursday, he suddenly said, "I can't go, I've got to be home watching the television, so I don't miss Steve Fossett's landing of the GlobalFlyer in Salina!" Turning 93 wasn't the "big deal" for Tony — in his eyes, Fossett's record-breaking non-stop flight around the world was far more remarkable than turning 93.
But Thursday morning, Tony called and had changed his mind. "I'm dressed and ready to go to lunch." My sister and I looked at each other — we were down at the office working — we needed a quick makeover if we were going to look festive!
Thirty minutes later we had Tony loaded in his sedan and we were headed for Salina for lunch. We figured a steak house would be the best luncheon choice because Tony is a cattleman, but leave it to Tony to surprise. "Don't they have something on the menu besides steak?" he queried. Quickly we located "shrimp" on the menu.
Because Tony wanted to catch every minute of the GlobalFlyer action, the waiter seated us at a table that faced the television set. Tony was set — he had shrimp, he had minute-to-minute updates on Steve Fossett's journey home, and we presented a miniature birthday cake that said "Happy Birthday, Tony" and the restaurant gave him free ice cream. He was king for an hour!
We told Tony we'd take him to the airport, in hopes we'd catch a glimpse of the GlobalFlyer landing, so after lunch we headed for the airport. Because we had an hour before the projected landing, we had plenty of time to make a shopping stop.
Tony said he'd be fine just waiting in the car, but when Pat and I emerged from the store we saw a small congregation huddled next to Tony's car. "Oh, no! Has something happened to Tony?" we wondered as we picked up our pace. But alas, Tony was in fine form — engaging anyone who walked past the car in conversation about our plans to head to the airport and asking folks for directions!
When we reached the airport we made every attempt to get next to the runway — but even 93-year-old gentlemen celebrating their birthday and walking with two canes didn't get the guards to break the rules.
"I can make it!" said Tony as he began the several-block-trek to the chain link fence that separated the crowd from the runway.
Fortunately a trucker from Lawrence had gotten there early and parked his rig right next to the fence. He was kind enough to let Tony perch on the steps to his rig (we hadn't thought about bringing a chair — oops!). When folks around us heard that this was Tony's birthday, Tony got royal treatment.
Suddenly a group of high school kids broke out in "Happy Birthday" as though it were a choral rendition. When the song ended everyone in the area cheered and clapped. A nine-year-old with a video camera decided that videoing a 93-year-old was a fascinating past time while he waited for the GlobalFlyer to land.
We held our current position for about 20 minutes and when word spread that it would be another 20 before Fossett landed, Tony was eager to explore for a better vantage point. With his two canes and navigating gravel, he inched his way through cars, trucks, and people to another spot along the fence. "Just get me to the fence and I can lean," he instructed.
When Tony reached the fence, with the runway just a "stone's throw" away, it wasn't long before this new group of folks standing beside him were acquaintances. "Here, have this chair," said a young man who was holding his daughter on his shoulders. "We won't be needing it."
Tony gladly accepted the bright pink lawn chair, and when he settled back into it with his knees so close to the fence that they touched, he declared with regal satisfaction, "This is the best birthday ever!" and everybody smiled and applauded.
Eyes were peeled on the sky-line, and "young eyes" of two teenage girls standing next to Tony were the first to spot the plane descending. "There it is!" they exclaimed and shouts of "Where?" "Just over the trees." "I can't see it!" were heard all around.
Tony pulled himself up so he was standing and the young ones kept instructing him on where to look in the sky, and suddenly we all saw the plane descending. Within seconds the plane's wheels were near the earth. "He's landed!" Tony exclaimed with tears brimming in his eyes, as he watched the rather delicate plane glide by! The crowd erupted in cheers and applause.
When we were once more in the comfort of Tony's car, and leaving the airport along with all the other spectators, Tony relived the excitement of seeing this "first" in history.
"Now I'm going home for a nap!" Tony declared with satisfaction, as we turned the car toward Ramona.
Tony received quite a stack of birthday cards wishing him well on this landmark birthday. The one that "takes the cake" came from his brother, George. There's a long, lanky, blond in a bikini on the front of the card — she's holding a hose and leaning against a sports car. "Brother, you know you've gotten old when you look at this picture and what comes to mind is
Many of you might remember the flurry of activity in December when KSKG radio spearheaded a work bee at Jim Thompson's home on B Street in Ramona. While the family didn't get moved into the house by Christmas morning, they did celebrate Christmas there by opening presents.
Jim has continued finishing the upstairs bedrooms and recently the family started staying overnight in the house. "CJ took me upstairs to his room," said my sister, Pat, when she stopped by the house recently. "He made me stand outside his room and he yelled through the door, 'I'm cleaning it up first!' and then he allowed me in to sit on the bed while he played music on his karaoke machine that he'd gotten for Christmas."
As Pat listened to his entertainment, five-year-old CJ said, "Put your feet under the covers — doesn't it feel sooo good!" He was obviously very comfy in his room with the Spiderman sheets and comforter.
Art Stroda and Tim Steinborn have been spending their evenings getting the kitchen finished, so the family can move into the house. They've been installing cupboards, deck tops, and sink.
After laying the Formica on the countertops, Tim said, "I think I could do that on my own, now. I learned a lot from Art working on this project."
Monday evening Tooltime Tim textured the kitchen ceiling. Painting is the last project, and the kitchen will be complete.
Norman Benhardt rolled into Ramona Tuesday, but it wasn't in a car — he came by train.
"Oh, I used to live near Ramona and I had some time on my hands," he said, pointing to the Union Pacific train that was blocking the tracks. Norman is an engineer for the railroad. "I thought I'd just walk around town and relive some memories until I get instructions to roll."
Norman's grandparents, Godfrey and Elizabeth Benhardt, once lived where Don and Norma Bird now reside on F Street in Ramona. "So do you spell your name Benhardt or Bernhardt?" I asked, since that has been confusing to me ever since we moved here.
"We spell our name without the 'r'," explained Norman, "but originally our name was spelled Bernhardt." Norman proceeded to tell the story of how Ramona had two Godfrey Bernhardt's in town. "The mail kept getting mixed up so my grandpa decided to drop the 'r' in our name and hopefully clear up the confusion."
But it seems there's always confusion when you change a name — because one of Godfrey's sons, Lawrence — died before the family name change occurred, so he's buried in Lewis Cemetery and his gravestone reads "Bernhardt" and when his parents eventually died, they were buried right beside Lawrence, and their headstone reads "Benhardt."
"Well, there's another mystery that perhaps you can help me clear up," I said to Norman. "Was Doris Benhardt a relative of yours?" Indeed she was — Doris was Godfrey and Elizabeth's daughter.
The reason I was fascinated with Doris is because I noticed her maiden name was Benhardt, when she graduated from Ramona High School, and then she married a Bernhardt.
"What's really funny is that originally she was a Bernhardt, and then her dad changed the family name to Benhardt, and then she married into a whole different family of Bernhardts," chuckled Norman.
This kind of "name game" can only happen in the country!
And that's the news from Ramona where your name is your reputation, and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
