Ramona
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
Attending graduation parties Sunday was like one long progressive party. I was invited to two of the parties and it was fun to move from one place to another and see others doing the same. Last year's graduates, home after their first year in college, were having fun, too, moving from one friend's party to another, making the circuit of friendship.
Four Ramona Centre High School students graduated Sunday afternoon: Raschelle Jirak, Amanda Kleiber, Nicole Ryff, and Stacy Terwilliger. The first two had their parties at their homes, Nicole held her celebration at the Lutheran parish hall in Ramona, and Stacy combined her party with her boyfriend's, Joseph Forsberg, who also graduated and it was held in Burdick, where Joe lives.
When I arrived at the Jiraks, Raschelle's dad, Steve, was already at the barbecue and Vickie had her arms full bringing food from the house for the outdoor picnic.
"My goal was not to cry," said Vickie laughing.
When the graduate emerged from the house looking comfy in shorts and T-shirt, I grabbed a moment to speak with her.
"I'm going to Emporia to college," said Raschelle. Her plan is to be a teacher, and there's no doubt she'll accomplish this goal with honors — Raschelle was president of the National Honor Society this year at Centre High School.
At the Kleiber home, Amanda was dressed in a delicate pink chiffon dress, looking as though she were "holding court" as folks came and went from the house — except for the fact that she was barefoot!
Lynn and Peggy Kleiber were keeping everyone supplied with food while sister Andrea, was urging folks to eat. "I don't want to be eating all this food all week long!" said Andrea with humor.
When I asked Amanda about the highlights of graduation she mentioned the power-point presentation that Raschelle Jirak created, showcasing the graduates throughout their lives. "She did a great job!" enthused Amanda, who was vice president of the senior class. Amanda will head to K-State this fall to major in chemical engineering.
Stacy Terwilliger said the highlight of graduation was all the presents. The one gift that stood out the most was a car — a gift from her father, Bruce Terwilliger of Abilene. "He brought it to graduation on a trailer," said Stacy. While the car wasn't a surprise — her dad had been working to get it ready to present to Stacy — it was certainly the most fun to receive! Stacy, who lives with her mom, Ronda Thomas, plans to attend college at Fort Hays and major in accounting.
Nikki Ryff really finished her high school studies at the end of her junior year at Centre, but returned to walk down the isle with her classmates. She was one of eight in the class who have gone to school together all 12 years.
"I've been attending Butler College in El Dorado and Wichita for this past year," said Nikki. "I have one more semester and I'll receive my certificate in early child care." Nikki plans to teach pre-school.
She's obviously a girl with vision and determination. She said that moving from a high school to a college campus wasn't difficult, it was just a bigger campus. "And the people were very nice at Butler college," said Nikki. "In some ways I think moving to college would be easier than moving to a new high school." Nikki is the daughter of Phil and Tammy Ryff of Ramona.
Reign and Marlene Anduss were in Newton for the weekend attending several family functions. Their granddaughter graduated from high school and then a baby shower for their grandson's baby. When I asked if this was a first great-grandchild, Marlene just laughed. "This is our fourth!"
Other honors were celebrated this past Thursday evening at Centre High School where two Ramona students — Jennifer Werth and Shaina Makovec — were among six students inducted in the Centre High School chapter of the National Honor Society.
Membership in the National Honor Society is one of the highest honors awarded to a high school student. There are chapters in more than 12,500 schools across the nation.
The basis for selection was Jenny's and Shaina's performance in these areas: scholarship (3.5 GPA or above), leadership, service, and character. The selections are made by a board of five teachers.
Additional responsibility was placed on the shoulders of Jenny and Shaina since they were elected as officers for the National Honor Society chapter at Centre — Jenny will be president of NHS and Shaina will be vice president. Both young ladies will be seniors next year.
Jenny is the daughter of Kathy Werth, Ramona's postmaster, and Shaina's parents are Gail and Marissa Makovec.
Last Week's News
The annual Artful Eye exhibit, featuring the artwork of third, fourth, and fifth grade students from Centre Elementary School, was held May 14. My sister, Pat, teaches art at Centre, and I'm her "Vanna White," helping instruct the nearly 60 students who are part of the once-a-week-art class.
Several Ramona kids received awards for their work: Justin Deines, fourth grade, received first place for his rendition of the hen house. Anna Weber of third grade, won two awards — second place for a watercolor of sunflowers and an award of excellence for a watercolor of Noah and his cow.
Mikael Antoszyk, fourth grade, received three awards: second place for a watercolor of sunflowers, third place for watercolor of daffodils, and an award for special achievement for being one of the most prolific artists in the show — he had eight paintings on display.
Emily Staatz, fifth grade, won first place for her abstract pastel drawing of an angel. Emily also received an award for excellence for her abstract rendition. She even sold her painting that night to Yvonne Brunner who saw her work and loved it. "I've got two more people who want me to draw another angel," said Emily with delight in her eyes.
Yvonne's son, Tanner, fifth grade, also won an award. He received second place for his pastel rendition of K-state football players. Nick Kleiber, fifth grade, drew and painted a dragon from "scrap" (that's pictures found in magazines) and received third place in the watercolor division.
Cole Svoboda, fifth grade, won two awards: the Picasso award for "pushing the envelope" and trying new techniques and a third place ribbon for a pastel still life drawing of fruit and flowers.
Jacob Jirak was the winner of the evening with three awards, the most prestigious being the artist of the year for the fifth grade class. He also won first prize for his watercolor of a giant poppy and first prize for a pastel drawing of an Indian warrior. For his abstract watercolor of a bowl that he drew from "scrap" he received second prize.
Even grandmothers from Ramona were proud. Judy Gratz's attended the art show to see the work of her granddaughter, Cassandra Dones. Cassandra won three ribbons for her outstanding work — one of them was a special achievement award for her outstanding detail in her paintings.
The art show concluded with a reception created by Marissa Makovec of Ramona with assistance from teachers, Kim Smith, Candace Tajchman, and Gail Lorson, and of course lots of parents who brought cookies.
Health issues have been in the news recently for several Ramona residents. After 16 days in Wichita and Herington hospitals, Henry Schubert arrived back home May 16, looking very fit. On May 1, he suffered another heart attack and upon arriving at Herington Hospital they decided to fly him by helicopter to Wichita where Hank's heart specialist could oversee his care.
Besides his cardiologist, his sister, Frieda, lives in Wichita and is a practicing nurse, so he had expert medical care on all fronts. "I used to only take three pills — now there's 10!" said Hank with a resigned smile when he arrived back home.
Hank and Gertie's oldest son, Keith, and his wife, Vicki, from Colorado, arrived May 16 to get Hank from the hospital. Keith and his brother, Gary, felt this recent heart attack, was just another "wake-up call" that they needed to have their parents close to them so they could tend to them personally.
"We felt like God has opened all these doors," said the Schuberts' daughter-in-law, Vicki. "An apartment was suddenly available in a wonderful retirement community where usually in Colorado you have to be on a waiting list, and it's in Greeley where Gary and Carol live. And their granddaughter, Tara, who's going to cosmetology school, will now be Gertie's personal hairdresser!"
The Schuberts' move to Colorado will be happening quite quickly — on Memorial Day weekend. As soon as we have an address, I'll include it in my column because I know that receiving mail "from home" will be most important to Hank and Gertie as they create a new home in Colorado.
It seems there are lots of changes happening within the "old guard" in town. Erich Utech has faced some health challenges recently and for the past three weeks we haven't seen his familiar red truck performing the morning ritual of getting the mail and stopping by Tony Meyer's house. In the afternoon we could almost tell time by Erich's truck arriving at Tony's for the late afternoon respite.
Following two weeks of radiation treatments in Salina, Erich went to stay with his sister, Edna Mueller, in Tampa for a couple weeks. And then this past week he was admitted into Herington hospital.
My sister and I were just two among many, who drove Erich to his daily treatments in Salina. "Why do you do this for me?" asked Erich one day as we drove home. "Because I care about you," I said. "You're our neighbor, and I can't always explain why I care about someone — it's a heart thing."
As I watched family and friends from Ramona and Tampa take their turn driving Erich, I hoped he would see how much he was cherished and needed in this community. It's not always easy to accept help when you've been independent all your life and yet it's an honor to help a friend, neighbor, and brother.
Farmers in the community are assisting Erich with his crops since he doesn't have the energy to farm. He always has his nephew, Junior Hanschu to help, and the Brunners have bailed Erich's hay and planted his milo. "They did this once before for Erich when he had a surgery," said Edna.
But the person who misses Erich the most is his friend and life-long buddy, Tony Meyer. "I feel just terrible that Erich isn't feeling well," said Tony, who visits Erich every afternoon.
"You know what this means for me — I'm out of work! I always helped Erich move equipment and other things and now I've got nothin' to do. Do you think I'll go crazy just sittin' around here?"
Tony is doing his best to keep busy — the other night at 10:30 I stopped by and he was sorting his papers and cleaning his "desk" (that's the kitchen table.) What else is a man supposed to do when his best friend is temporarily "down for the count?"
This Memorial Day weekend Ramona will have occasional traffic jams as folks arrive to celebrate Memorial Day services held at 10:30 a.m. at Lewis Cemetery, followed by the picnic in the park at noon, presented by the Ramona Improvement Committee. Folks are invited to bring a covered dish. Chicken and drinks are provided. Donations are appreciated.
The Dirt Gambler's Museum will be open from 1 to 3 p.m. Memorial Day.
And that's the news from Ramona where life changes rather abruptly sometimes, but a traffic jam will still be two parked cars and a dog in the road.
