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Ramona

By JESSICA GILBERT

Ramona correspondent

(785) 965-2621

The smell of barbecue wafted through Ramona Thursday as Bob Brady tended hamburgers on the grill outside Ramona Senior Center. The occasion was the monthly luncheon, and instead of the usual potluck the Ramona Rowdies (the fond name given to the senior center group) decided to have a barbecue.

Attending the Thursday luncheon were Bob and Rita Brady, Fred and Marguerite Utech, Lauren and Orvell Brunner, Al and Darlene Sondergard, Reign and Marlene Anduss, Tony Meyer, Steve and Myrna Eskeldson, Nancy Hatterman, Lowell and Marge Hanschu, Martha Ehrhardt, Naomi Fike, Trevia Schneider, and Jessica Gilbert.

The senior center was decorated with festive Halloween decorations and as folks savored lunch, the conversations gravitated toward the upcoming holiday. "Did you play any pranks on Halloween?" I asked Lauren Brunner.

"I didn't do any of 'em," he said, "but had 'em done to me." Lauren went on to tell the story of the year he had a sow with pigs and after returning home from the community Halloween party, he found all the piglets moved from the barn to his front porch. Lauren looked down the table toward Steve Eskeldson. "Didn't you know something about that?" he asked with a grin. Steve only smiled and kept his mouth full of hamburger.

"One year Merv and Leona Deines came home to find their big rooster in the kitchen sink, tied to the faucet," said Darlene Sondergard as she looked down the table at her husband. "I know nothing about it," said Al.

"We soaped lots of windows," said Reign Anduss, motioning toward his childhood friend, Bob Brady, who moved to Ramona more than a year ago. "One year, Bob and I, along with 13 other friends, egged the cops in Newton — they never did find out who did that," said Reign. "Do you remember that?" asked Reign, and Bob remembered but wasn't going to incriminate himself by adding details.

"When we still had the Ramona Garage we'd accumulate lots of old tires throughout the year and they were stored behind the garage," remembers Darlene Sondergard. "On Halloween those tires would all disappear and reappear everywhere around Ramona. The kids would roll them all over town and then the city would have to collect 'em and get rid of them."

Darlene said she eventually learned who played the prank. "Our daughters were involved!" exclaimed Darlene, "and Fred and Marguerite's daughter and Naomi's boys. You don't find out these things, however, until your kids are grown, gone, and married!"

When I related that story to Tooltime Tim, he even admitted to being part of that folderol.

After the senior center luncheon the nominating committee submitted their recommendations for senior center officers for the coming year. Marlene Anduss was voted president of Ramona Senior Center, Rita Brady was elected vice president, and Darlene Sondergard will continue her duties as secretary-treasurer.

Two members of the Ramona seniors were celebrating birthdays — Marge Hanschu and Trevia Schneider.

Marge, who celebrates her birthday on Oct. 28, said her birthday was extra special for her because she shares the same birth date with one of her grandsons. "Martha has two boys — Brandon and Nick — and one has a birthday when I do, and the other has the same birthday as Lowell's," said Marge.

Trevia Schneider and Frances Buxman share the same birthday and often they celebrate together. But on Oct. 19, Trevia was luxuriating in doing absolutely nothing on her birthday. "I might even stay in bed all day," she teased Frances, but Trevia admitted that never happened. Frances went to lunch at Butch's Diner on her birthday with her son, Tim Steinborn and the California Sisters.

Trevia had already celebrated her birthday by the time the actual day arrived. "My family surprised me on Sunday," said Trevia. "They all came to church and then brought dinner to the house."

On Oct. 14, representatives from the Ramona Senior Center attended the annual meeting of Senior Citizens of Marion County, which was held in Goessel. Marge Hanschu, Darlene Sondergard, and Marlene Anduss attended. In addition to the usual business conducted at the meeting, there was entertainment and social interaction.

"The Elbiata Singers of Goessel High School sang for the program and they were great," said Marlene Anduss.

Arnie Sondergard and his wife, Judy, of Lincoln, Calif., spent a nostalgic 24 hours in Ramona Oct. 12. With them was Pauline Sondergard of McPherson, who married Arnie's father, Dale Sondergard, after his first wife, Leona, died.

Arnie is the son of Dale and Leona Sondergard and he spent the first seven years of his life in Ramona and then continued to return, visiting his grandparents, who also lived in Ramona.

"I lived in this house until I was about seven," said Arnie, as he walked down F Street and pointed to the home now owned by Don and Norma Bird. Don was working on some projects out in his yard and stopped painting to walk around the house with Arnie and talk about how Arnie's childhood home had changed over the years.

The Sondergard family moved from Ramona in 1947, and located in Manhattan. Dale was planning ahead since he wanted his children to have a college education.

As we rounded the corner by Trevia Schneider's house on the corner of F and 3rd, Arnie said, "This is the corner where my twin brother, Ron, broke his arm. The year was 1944, and we were four years old. I stuck a stick through the front wheel of his tricycle, which threw my brother off."

Further down on 3rd Street was where Arnie's grandparents lived, Jake and Mary Schnell. Bobby Thornhill and Judy Bickford now live in the stately white and aqua-trimmed house on the corner of 3rd and C. Bobby graciously opened his home and invited the Sondergards to walk through the house and relive some memories.

"I'd come here in the '40s and '50s and visit my grandparents in the summer," said Dale. "That's how I knew Ramona." As we passed the bedroom on the first floor Dale said, "I could never go in that bedroom — that was my great-grandpa's room. Those were the days when grandparents came back to live with their kids. The door would be open a little and I'd see him sitting there in his chair."

We walked into the living room and Arnie pointed to a television against the window. "That's where the radio was — there was no television in those days. We loved listening to the radio shows."

"Oh, yes, I remember listening to those shows on Sunday night," said Bobby Thornhill. "We'd sit in the dark, listening to 'Gunsmoke.' It was like you were there!"

As Arnie walked away from his grandparents' old home, he saw the brick garage at the west edge of the property. "That was my grandpa's shop. There was always sawdust flying everywhere!"

Arnie remembered driving with his grandpa in his '51 Ford. "I was about 11 and sometimes Grandpa would let me drive on the country roads," said Arnie. "I can still see him sitting in the right seat — he'd keep opening the car door so he could spit tobacco!" Arnie smiled with the memories.

Warren and Paula Fike were making memories in California recently. They attended the Fike family reunion in Arizona on Oct. 9, and then continued to southern California to be with Warren's brother, Duane Fike and his wife, Rutheta.

"We stayed four nights with Duane and Rutheta," said Paula. One of the highlights of their trip was visiting Forest Lawn Cemetery. "There are four Forest Lawns," said Paula. "We got to visit two of them and you'd be amazed at how much history is connected to these cemeteries."

As Paula was sharing details of their southern California excursions Warren interjected, "And you couldn't pay me to live there!" The traffic — oh my!

Ramona hasn't had much traffic from the west these last few weeks because Marion County Road Department has closed a stretch of Pawnee and 360th while they're "grinding up" the old worn out road. This stretch of road has been one of the worst in the county and the time has come to tear it up, let it settle, and repack in preparation for resurfacing in a year or so.

While the road is being repacked with a mixture of gravel and millings, folks who need to get to Hope or Herington should travel north out of Ramona on F Street and turn west on 100th, and rejoin Pawnee/Oak at that point. We appreciate your patience as this work concludes.

Monday evenings can be rather quiet in Ramona, but on Oct. 18, cars lined the west side of the street as women filled the Ramona Café from the altar society of the Holy Redeemer Church in Tampa. "Since we have a restaurant in Ramona, I thought it would be great to bring the group here for a change," said Vickie Jirak, who is a Ramona resident and a member of the society. The Andusses prepared a first-rate turkey dinner for the group of 23 — even down to the pumpkin pie.

The society had guests from Wichita, Mother Marie Bernadette, Mother Superior for the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and Sister Mary Cora, who is the daughter of Jeanne and Gerald Rziha of Tampa. Having Sister Mary Cora part of the evening was especially lovely since her mother, Jeanne, is a member of the Altar Society. The society gave the Sisters a "food shower" and also voted to give a contribution to the Order. The sisters pray for the day when they can have a larger facility. "We have a small chapel that seats 18 and we have over 20 sisters. Imagine what it's like when visitors come to join us in prayer," said the Mother Superior.

In celebration of fall and Halloween the Ramona Fire Department and Ramona Park improvement committee have planned a Spookfest beginning at noon Saturday with a silent auction in the park, followed by games for kids, pumpkin decorating, costume contest, a wiener roast, and concluding later in the evening with a hayrack ride and the haunted house, which opens at 7 p.m. Catch the hay ride downtown in front of Ramona Fire Department. The haunted house is on the north end of town just south of the former high school on Main Street.

And that's the news from Ramona where spooks and goblins will abound this weekend and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.

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