Ramona: Vacationing writer catches up on the news around town
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
I was home from vacation last week, but I didn't even attempt to write the Ramona news since I had no idea of what had been happening in town since the first of the year, except for the ice storms.
Every other day or so the Hawaii warmth was interrupted by reports of bitter cold from Tony Meyer, who dutifully called me on my cell phone to keep me apprised of the current weather crisis.
"What are you doing?" asked Tony one morning when it was 1 p.m. his time and 9 a.m. my time in Honolulu. "I'm eating," I replied. "You're skating?" The phone connection was weak at best, but when I got home from vacation, I certainly did my share of skating as I tried to get from my car to the house! As I lounged on the sandy beaches of Hawaii with my sister, her daughter, and Tooltime Tim, for the first two weeks of January, I had to congratulate my sister for her timing in planning this trip.
Usually in January it's Warren and Paula Fike who take off on a trek to Texas or Arizona and I think how lucky their timing was in missing the typical bad weather. This January the Fikes stayed at home and I was the lucky duck who got to hear about the storm rather than experience it.
On New Year's Eve I was packing my suitcase, counting the hours until I got on the airplane for Hawaii, while little parties were happening all around town counting the hours until midnight.
Tony Meyer had a living room full of company when two of his nieces arrived to help him bring in the new year. Rosalie Bentz Lorson of Salina, brought her family — husband Steve and their children Amy and Aaron who both live out of state — to stay at Cousin's Corner B&B, which makes visiting Uncle Tony very handy since he lives just across the street.
Gloria Bentz Schultz of Herington, along with husband, Pete, filled the remaining chairs in Tony's front room. I even joined the party for a while. Combine the laughter with the television's blow-by-blow report of how many minutes until midnight, and Tony had so much activity in his tiny house that he turned his hearing aids off so he could survive till midnight.
Down the street at Ramona Café several tables full of friends gathered to play cards until 2005 dawned. Reign and Marlene Anduss, owners of the café, hosted folks from Ramona (Trevia Schneider, Al and Darlene Sondergard) and Tampa (Mayor Jim Clemmer and wife, Mary, Walt and Iona Deitrich, and Jane Vajnar.)
"It was all very spontaneous," said Darlene Sondergard, "Marlene called and said 'Let's have a party!' and we had such fun together."
Lowell and Marge Hanschu were attending their grandson's wedding on New Year's Eve. "Our daughter's son, Brandon, married Tiffany at the Lutheran Church in Joplin, Mo. at 5:30 p.m.," said Marge. Brandon and Tiffany opted for a small wedding of about 45 people and afterwards the guests and family gathered at the groom's family home for a buffet supper.
"I raced to Martha's house after the wedding and I'd barely opened the door when the neighbor lady was standing beside me asking if she could help," said Marge. "I told her, let me turn on the light, take off my coat, and I'll put you to work. My son, Dan and his wife also were there to help get supper ready."
Marge's daughter, Martha, was so grateful when she arrived home with the rest of the wedding party and found everything ready for the guests. "That's what I'm here for," said Marge with a smile.
After the newlyweds and guests departed the remaining family members visited until 2005 arrived. "That was the first time I've been up at midnight to see the new year in for many years!" laughed Marge.
On New Year's Day in Ramona the Lutheran Parish Hall was surrounded by cars, and folks were walking in with arm-loads of presents. "What do you suppose is happening at the Parish Hall?" asked Tony Meyer, who has a direct view of the hall from his living room.
"Our family decided to have Christmas on New Year's Day," said Paula Fike. The Fikes have a family of 53 and 43 were at the party. "Our house gets pretty crowded with that many people, so we headed for the Parish Hall to celebrate."
Skip forward to this past Thursday when the Ramona Seniors gathered for their monthly luncheon. "I'm really hepped up about the Ramona Senior Center," said Darlene Sondergard, Secretary/Treasurer for the center. "We had a wonderful group and a terrific time together."
Attending Thursday's luncheon were Bob and Rita Brady, Al and Darlene Sondergard, Marge and Lowell Hanschu, Trevia Schneider, Steve and Myrna Eskeldson, Lauren and Orvell Brunner, Tony Meyer, Harold and Betty Ohm, Martha Ehrhardt, Pat Wick, Jessica Gilbert, Nancy Hatterman, and Fred and Marguerite Utech.
Reign and Marlene Anduss were absent from recent Ramona Senior Center activities because they were in Missouri attending their granddaughter's graduation from bootcamp.
"Our granddaughter, Krystal Toppings, graduated from Ft. Leonardwood as an MP," said Marlene. "We watched four platoons perform their drills and it was amazing," continued Marlene. The Andusses' granddaughter plans to be in the Reserves. "Krystal was recognized as being the one that improved the most from beginning to end," said Marlene.
This weekend Reign and Marlene have another exciting family celebration — it's their 50th wedding anniversary. The party is being held at the Peabody Senior Center from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, just in case you want to drop by. This also means that the Ramona Café will be closed this Sunday.
The Sondergards entertained Saturday evening when Bob and Rita Brady and Iona and Walt Dietrich from Tampa came together for more card playing. I think we have some card sharks in town!
Trevia Schneider got a visit from her most recent new great-grandson, Mason, who was born Dec. 30. Little Mason is the son of Michele and John Whitehead. Trevia's daughters, Marilyn Gregory (Mason's grandmother), and Tina Lindsly of Herington were part of the entourage.
Naomi Fike has another great grandchild to celebrate. Shelby Lair was born to Julie and Todd and this is their fourth child. When I asked Naomi when Shelby was born she replied, "Oh that was a couple of months ago!" So you can see that I was behind on the Ramona news even before I went on vacation!
Naomi's son, Joe and his wife Janet, came to Ramona Sunday and took Naomi to lunch. "Since the Ramona Café was closed this past Sunday we had to drive to Junction City. But after three weeks of being inside, I was ready to get out, even if it meant a long drive," joked Naomi.
Sunday Ben Thompson and I took a trek with my sister and Tooltime Tim to Salina to have a delayed birthday party. Ben and I share the same birthday, Jan. 15, and he turned 15 and I turned a number with more fives in it! Ben wanted to see the movie Coach Carter — it's terrific. Another Ramona lad also shares the 15th as his special day and that's Tanner Brunner. He said he was celebrating later this month.
Coming out of the movie on Sunday evening we ran into Lisa Hanschu who was there with her kids, James and Anna. "I've got good news!" declared Lisa. "I just got back from Houston and I received a clean bill of health!"
Wow! That's the kind of news I love to report. It doesn't seem all that long ago that Lisa was fighting for her life, now she's relishing the gift of good health.
Lisa and her sister, Lori Moldenhauer of Tampa, left on Jan 10 for Houston where Lisa was to undergo tests to see if the leukemia that plagued her early last year was still in remission.
"My sister and I had the best time together," said Lisa. "The seriousness of the testing was made easier with Lori along to give support."
While they waited for test results the sisters went shopping. "We checked out The Galleria, which is filled with stores that no one can afford unless you're a millionaire," said Lisa.
She said most folks who shop at the Galleria arrive by limo. "We arrived in a taxi," laughed Lisa.
They started their window shopping at Neiman Marcus. "Lori found a purse she liked for $845," reported Lisa, "and I saw a pair of jeans that looked like my 'chore jeans' — they were faded, and had holes in 'em. Out of curiosity I checked the price — $542. Lori and I realized that even if we had excess money like that, we wouldn't choose to spend it that way."
After window shopping Lori and Lisa had lunch at the Hard Rock Café. "When it was time to leave, other folks were climbing into their Mercedes Benz or their limousine. Lori and I, on the other hand, heard the yellow Taxi rattling up to the curb, and we climbed in."
When Lisa arrived at the hospital to receive her test results the doctor came in and hugged her. "I didn't know if getting a hug was a good sign or bad," said Lisa, "but then the doctor said 'What are you taking?' He was amazed at my test results. 'This kind of thing just doesn't happen, said the doctor."
"I give all the credit to prayer and herbs," said Lisa. "I'm enjoying a great life! I don't have to see the doctor again until October."
And that's the news from Ramona where we love reporting good news, and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
