Ramona correspondent
Now that I’ve lived in Ramona for almost 10 years, I’m acutely aware of small town challenges. You don’t have three grocery stores from which to choose.
You don’t get to vacillate between Target and Wal-Mart. And you aren’t over-whelmed with opportunities — like events, kids’ camps, and evening concerts.
Indeed there are many benefits of living in a town of 100 — you know the residents (most everybody), there’s silence (most of the time), and there’s neighborly support (especially in crisis).
When Judy Pasch came back to her Kansas roots last year, she chose to stay at Cousins’ Corner, our guesthouse. We instantly connected and I called her a kindred spirit.
Meeting someone who thinks like me is such a comfort — like putting on a comfy pair of shoes.
Judy and I spent many a morning on the porch swing, discussing life and personal growth, and cherished dreams. After last year’s visit, Judy soon called and said, “I’m coming back and I’m going to do a piano camp in Ramona!”
Now, being a logistical person, I immediately started thinking of what such a camp would require — pianos, was the first thing that came to mind, and there weren’t any that were accessible.
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of everything,” Judy said with typical enthusiasm.
She arrived Sunday and we installed her in one of our guesthouses. She quickly began unloading her VW bug — carrying one box after another of supplies into the house.
“How did you fit all those boxes, and your keyboard into that car?” I asked in amazement.
“My husband was amazed, too,” Judy said. “In fact, after I had the car packed, he came out and offered advice. ‘Don’t you think your keyboard should have been at the bottom of all those boxes so it doesn’t slide, in case you have to make quick stop?’”
Judy gave a quick reply: She wasn’t unpacking anything, at this point, until she got to Kansas.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Judy said an hour later. “I’m playing house, and rearranging things so the front room looks like a studio.”
In her Wisconsin life, Judy teaches piano to 25 students and is a lecturer and advisor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in the department of consumer services (which has to do with the economics department).
When she sent her proposal of the music camp to Ramona City Council back in April, I had to chuckle. She’s used to the world of academia, where you have to explain yourself backwards and forwards. Rarely are things in Ramona so formal as to require a four-page prospectus on the objective, action plan, and timeline of anything — much less a kid’s camp during the summer.
But her proposal contained something that was quite charming. When she listed her qualifications and experience she, of course, mentioned that she was a piano instructor for more than 15 years, but then she said this:
“My musical roots begin in Pilsen, Kansas, where my grandfather John Benda, played the violin in the Steiner Orchestra. I hope to return to Kansas where my parents were born as a custodian of the arts, whose passion for music, bridges past generations of musicians, to the present.”
“I realized that in Madison, where I live, kids have so many opportunities to explore music and the arts,” Judy said to me early on in the process. “I want to give the kids of Ramona a taste of these things, too.”
This past Monday morning, six kids, ranging in ages 6 to 12, joined Judy for two hours of music exploration. When the first day’s class had ended, I saw the kids out on the sidewalk with Judy with tablets and pencils in hand.
“What are y’all doing?” I asked.
“We’re taking notes about what sounds we’re hearing,” Cassy said, one of the older students.
“We learned that music is vibration and tomorrow we learn about that,” chimed in C.J. Thompson, Cassy’s brother.
When I asked what other things they’d been exploring, 9-year-old Troy replied, “We wrote down how music makes us feel, when we like to listen to it and what kind of music we like.”
The kids will be meeting every morning this week and by Friday, Judy anticipates the kids will be composing their own songs.
Judy has roots in the Ramona area. Her grandpa, John Biehler, had an implement store in Ramona. Her father, Edward, was born here. Judy’s mother, Marcella Benda, grew up in Pilsen.
“More than anything my returning to Kansas is about exploring my history and roots here. I’m forever curious about my father’s connection and love of the land here,” Judy said. “Coming back and doing this workshop for the kids is my way of sharing my love of music, in the place where my parents grew up.”
Then she pauses and smiles,
“I’m not sure why — I’m puzzled by how I’m drawn here, to this place — but I’m having a bundle of fun.”
And that’s the news from Ramona, where a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.