Ramona: Trinity Lutheran Church prepares for celebration
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
Trinity Lutheran Church resembled a beehive Saturday as more than a dozen members dedicated the day to working at the church to get everything beautiful for the church's 100th anniversary on Oct. 9.
When I walked in the door of the parish hall Max Morgan and Paula Fike were painting trim in the entry. Nolan Brunner was the "hire wire" act — the youngest adult sent up on the tallest ladder to paint the hard to reach spots, or nail down a piece of trim.
Paula Morgan was at a table folding brochures that gave details of the October celebration while Yvonne Brunner applied stamps and mailing labels. Her son, Tanner, put his youthful energy to work distributing brochures to every home in Ramona.
Other members coming and going with tools in their hands were Rick and Barb Hanschu, Kent and Jean Brunner, Tracy Brunner, Lauren and Orvell Brunner, Junior and Jeanetta Hanschu, Steve and Tom Eskeldson, and Donita Ryff.
"Terri Carlson of Topeka was here working with us too," said Yvonne Brunner. "She is the representative from Thrivent and she presented a $1,000 check to the church for repairs."
"What's the highlight of the celebration weekend?" I asked Barb Hanschu who's on the planning committee. "Christian recording artist Christopher Ames will be singing in concert at 2 p.m. at the church," replied Barb. "And if the weather's good, we'll have the concert outdoors, in a tent that will be placed just north of the church."
The speakers during the weekend will be the Rev. Tony Troup who pastored at Trinity Lutheran from 1983 to 1990, the Rev. Clark Davis, current pastor, and Jean Brunner, who's working on a puppet presentation for the children.
Ramona is so grateful for Trinity Lutheran Church and its members. Where Ramona once had four churches in the city limits, there's now only this one.
There were several cars parked around Lowell and Marge Hanschu's home this last weekend. "Our daughter Suzie has been here on the weekend for the last three weeks," said Marge. "She, and our son, Daniel, who's made three trips from Missouri to Ramona in the last four days, are helping us get ready for our upcoming moving sale. Daniel has been doing so much driving that he hasn't gotten much sleep — that's an eight-hour trip one way!"
Marge said this past week has been a trying one as many decisions had to be made about their future. "God's answered many prayers," said Marge with emotion in her voice. "Lowell is already up in Joplin, Mo., he's residing at Joplin Health Care, and I've rented a small one-bedroom apartment not far away at Mercy Village. We can see each other's place from our windows," said Marge.
Marge was pleased that the apartment complex will allow their dog Bandit. "But Bandit will have to go to doggie school," said Marge with humor, "because he's gotten so spoiled. But I'll be able to walk Bandit to see Lowell every day."
The Hanschus' moving sale is Saturday and Sunday at their residence at 4th and B. "I'm making the final move to Joplin on Oct. 9 and 10," said Marge.
Marge's neighbor, Naomi Fike, was in town Saturday. Her son, Joe and wife, Janet, brought Naomi from Marion Manor to have lunch at the Ramona Café. Afterward they stopped at Naomi's house to pick up some of her favorite clothes.
"I don't know if it's safe to take me home," said Naomi, "because I may not want to leave!" Naomi is working diligently with rehab specialists in Marion, so that she can return home to Ramona before long. Until then, you can call Naomi — she has a phone in her room: 620-382-2375.
Two weekends ago there were so many cars coming and going at our Cousin's Corner guest house that folks were asking, "What's going on?"
For the past few months Judi Cox, a certified iridologist from Texas, has been using Cousin's Corner house to see her many clients in this area. There are so many folks who want to see Judi that she sees clients from early morning until near midnight during the two or three days she's in Ramona.
"What's iridology?" I can hear you saying. Iridology is the study of the iris of the eyes to detect weakness throughout the body.
"The whole body is mapped out in the iris of the eyes because the eyes are an extension of the brain," explains Judi. "The eyes are actually brain tissue. The nerves that go throughout the body send messages to the brain as to what's going on in that area of the body, and since the eyes are part of the brain those nerve endings in the eyes are the same configuration as in the body."
"I don't heal people — doctors don't heal people — but the body is created and designed to heal itself. All I do is strengthen, using herbs, the areas of the body that do the healing — there are four main centers I work on first. Those four areas create energy so the body can do its own healing and when those four areas are strong there aren't nearly so many symptoms to treat. We go to the cause of the problem, rather than focusing on the symptoms."
Judi is on the road a lot because she sees clients not only in Texas and Kansas, but in Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, and Oregon. She's always been fascinated with healing the natural way. In college she studied nutrition, and before she became a certified iridologist she was a neuro-muscular therapist.
I've been seeing Judi since February and with her help my body is healing life-long lung issues with asthma and allergies. All of Judi's clients could probably tell a story — most more spectacular than my own. Many are miraculous stories, like Lisa Hanschu's, who conquered cancer "with herbs and prayer," says Lisa,
Lisa's husband, Ronnie, was the one who found Judi Cox in Texas and suggested this alternative to his wife when the medical way could offer no more help. "I guess I'm a stubborn person," said Lisa, "and Ronnie knew about Judi for 18 months before I was willing to try healing through iridology and herbs. It wasn't until the second time I was facing the end of my life, and the medical way had failed, that I finally agreed to seeing Judi. I took a leap of faith because I did not want to die. I risked my life on trying this, just as much as I risked my life on chemotherapy. "
Lisa reported that Judi saw 40 new clients when she was in Ramona on the weekend of Aug. 20. There have been several astonishing recoveries since Cox was here last, and folks who are feeling well tend to want to talk about it.
"I used to keep track of all the appointments with a book, but now there are so many people who need help I've created a computer program to track everything," said Lisa, who coordinates Cox's Kansas appointments.
On Aug. 21, 1955, Mervin Deines stood as best man at the front of Trinity Lutheran Church in Ramona, as his brother, Vernon, took Bonnie Piper to be his wife. On Aug. 21, 2005, Merv was once more at his brother's side — or more accurately, he was sitting behind him — as Vernon and Bonnie took to the skies and flew to Las Vegas to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Merv had his wife, Leona, sitting right beside him.
"This is a 50-year-old wedding party," joked Bonnie to the stewardess. "That sounded like the title to a good book," she laughed. "The stewardess gave us a Pepsi to celebrate."
Bonnie said the Vegas trip was her favorite way to commemorate their anniversary. "I hate parties," she said frankly, "so I told everyone, 'I had a party for my 25th, 40th, and 48th, so don't mention the word party to me for our 50th!'"
Bonnie said they didn't come home with any big winnings, but had a great trip. "If I had won big, we would have walked out the casino door and bought one of those fancy Nevada homes that are just gorgeous," joked Bonnie.
I asked Bonnie how she met Vernon, since he had already graduated from Ramona High School when she attended school there. "I was a cheerleader," said Bonnie, "and Vernon returned for the games and kept the score for the Ramona High teams."
Vernon certainly had a flair that would attract any girl's attention. "When he asked me for our first date, he came to school, called my teacher out of the room and told him to tell me that the principal wanted to see me in his office. I wondered what I had done," said Bonnie. "But when I walked in the principal's office, there stood Vernon, and he asked me for a date!"
Six months later Bonnie had already graduated from high school and Vernon had already asked Bonnie another question: Will you marry me? "He was tall, nice looking, neat. He was it! I was 17, about to turn 18, and we got married on Vernon's birthday. Time sure has flown by!"
Vernon and Bonnie Deines lived in Ramona for many years. Vernon was mayor for so long, that I doubt anyone will ever break his record. "He was mayor even after we moved to Herington," said Bonnie. The Deineses have lived in Wichita for nearly 10 years, but Vernon's legacy as mayor can still be seen in Ramona.
Bill and Carol Utech, of Topeka, came to Ramona this past Thursday. While Carol visited Bill's siblings, Bill spent the afternoon talking with my sister, who was interviewing him because he and Carol are sponsoring the next issue of the Ramona News (due out in early September.)
"Bill is an award-winning photographer and I could have spent the afternoon just looking at his pictures," said Pat, who writes the town newsletter (with a little help from me). "But if I had only looked at pictures, I would have missed his great stories."
I arrived in the office just as Bill was telling how he met his wife. "I loved roller skating. I bought a pair of white shoe skates from Sears and learned to skate in the hay loft," said Bill, who grew up just west of Ramona. "When my brothers went to Herington to the movies, I'd go to the skating rink."
When Bill moved to Topeka where he lived with his sisters for awhile, he skated seven nights a week at the Fairyland Skating Rink. "They had a whistle skate where you moved from person to person every time the whistle was blown," explained Bill. "Carol came skating up and I said, 'Where have you been all my life, baby?'"
That encounter was on a Sunday night, and the next night Bill went to the drug store where Carol worked and asked for a date. "We've been dating ever since," said Bill with a grin. "It was love at first sight!"
Bill had more great stories to tell, but you'll just have to read the Ramona News to hear 'em.
And that's the news from Ramona where a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
