Lawn mowing signals arrival of Fourth at Ramona
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
The Fourth of July is a lot like a wedding — lots of planning and preparation and, in a flash, it's all done and over with, except for the cleaning up afterwards! But you know it's worth all the hustle and bustle when you're still telling stories to each other days after the last firecracker is heard.
I would have known the Fourth was approaching even without looking at the calendar, just by listening to all the lawn mowers firing up. First Nate Bailey, then Jeannie Weber, then I started mowing, too. David Staatz across the street soon followed. Paul Jones, having assumed his old post as city maintenance man, had been mowing for over a week to get the city park and every ditch in town mowed down and looking spiffy.
As I mowed around the bank building, I looked across the street at the Ramona Senior Center and was inspired — not a blade of grass out of place — thanks to Al Sondergard, Don Bird, Bob Brady, and Reign Anduss, who now are the official caretakers. I have a lot to live up to as their neighbor across the street.
I thought, how lovely that your neighbors and fellow citizens in town care about how the town looks. How grand that we can join together to make Ramona beautiful so we can be proud when guests come into town for special events.
Paul Jones and Collin Bailey were hauling picnic tables from the park to the downtown area so folks would have a place to sit and eat. Reign and Marlene Anduss were stocking up extra supplies at the café for hungry folks, and Pat, Tim, and I were putting the completing a new museum exhibit, building floats and decorating the former barbershop for its first official use as parade headquarters.
The morning of the Fourth, Main Street Ramona was bustling as Jeannie Weber filled up a swimming pool for the kids to cool off in, Paul Jones was hanging flags, and I was making signs so folks would know what was happening, when, and where.
Cindy Bird and her family were putting the finishing touches on their parade float entry. "I wouldn't miss celebrating the Fourth in Ramona for anything," said Cindy Bird, who once lived in Ramona, but now lives in Council Grove. "I just love it!"
The parade theme was "Clowning Around in Ramona" and I had to grin as I saw clowns and circus "acts" popping up everywhere. Capturing first prize in the float division was Tooltime Tim, who inspired the "Circus Sideshow" float. He was the highlight of the entry, dressed as the "Bearded Lady." He was joined by Naomi Fike, the "Amazing Naomi," fortune teller extraordinaire, and Kathy Werth (Ramona's postmaster) as "Neptune the Mermaid," fresh from the sea.
"My daughter applied glitter all over my arms and face and it's so thick, I'll probably be sparkling for days!" laughed Kathy.
Pat and I were on Tooltime Tim's float, as the clowns inviting everybody to "Come on in, worth every nickel you spend, to see Ramona's greatest sideshow!" Actually it was worth every nickel just to see Tim in a wig and a dress!
Tim Steinborn won $50 first prize from Cow Camp, Inc. Somebody was heard to comment, "He deserved to win that prize, all by himself!" No doubt about it!
Second place in the adult floats was awarded to Jeannie Weber and family, who added an international theme to the parade with everybody dressed in costumes around the world — even the puppy dog on the float was in costume. Their $30 prize was awarded from Tatge Mfg. in Ramona.
Third place went to the Bird family with the theme, "Quit Clowning Around and Shop at Norma's Attic!" They won a gift certificate from Pizza Hut in Herington and soda from Barnes Food Center in Herington.
The kid's floats are always fun to see — Pat and Tooltime Tim created this year's two entries and put the kids of Ramona on them. The High Flyers won first place, $15 from Tatge Mfg., with Bryanna Svoboda, Emily Staatz, Zach and Michael Antoszyk, as trapeze artists. Adding to the authenticity was John Antoszyk, who was pulling the float and at one point stopped it to do handstands and other acrobatics for the crowd.
Second place kid's float was awarded to the Circus Carousel with Mikayla Antoszyk and the Mercer children. They split a $10 prize from Agri-Producers in Tampa.
Some kids were on foot or on bikes and they had a parade category all their own. Two entries tied for first place: Nick Kleiber in his go-cart, and the "Cowboy Clowns," who were Anna and James Weber with Dillon and Makenzie Deines. They all received cash prizes from Cow Camp Inc.
Second place was Rustyn Kerbs, who received a prize from Cow Camp and toys from Alco in Hillsboro. Tyler Bentz won third and received video certificates from Barnes Food Center and games from Alco. Jacob Jirak won fourth and received a cash prize from the City of Ramona.
Winners of the adult single entries included the Brunner Family which won first place and received a cash prize from Agri-Producers. Second place went to Janet Fike and her son Josh from Lawrence, who received gift certificates from Norma's Attic Antiques and the Ramona Café.
"Animals on Parade" was a new category in the Ramona parade. The kids were so enthralled with being clowns that only one — Tanner Brunner — entered this category. He led the parade riding his horse with the American flag flying high. He won a $15 prize from the City of Ramona, along with toys from Alco and video certificates from Barnes Food Center.
Adults with their animals had three entries: the Olsens from Marion with their miniature horses won first place of $25; second place went to Marge Hanschu and her dog Bandit, who wore a cowboy hat and had two squirt guns tied around his body. Sheri Bentz won a gift certificate from Al's Café for third place with her goat that was dressed up like a clown.
Three other folks walked away "winners" at the raffle of two children's bikes (donated by David and Jane Staatz of Ramona) and a barbecue (donated by Jim Brunner of Ramona). Reign Anduss of Ramona won the girl's bike and Kathryn Herrman of Ramona won the boy's bike. Beth Hanschu of Joplin, Mo., won the barbecue.
"A total of $233 was received from the raffle," reported Betty Ohm, member of the Ramona Improvement Committee. One-third of the funds went to the Ramona Senior Center and 2/3 to the Ramona Improvement Committee, as the Staatz and Brunner families specified.
The Ramona Improvement Committee began as the Centennial Committee and its primarily purpose is to maintain the big event held each year on Memorial Day in Ramona. In addition they have made improvements such as building the shelter house in the park, the park picnic benches, the "Welcome to Ramona" signs on the edge of town, and other park improvements like tennis nets, etc. They also donate to the lunch at the Angel Tree event that's held in December for the children of Ramona.
The Dirt Gambler's Museum was bustling with guests all afternoon of the Fourth. Gertie and Hank Schubert were "tour guides" and it was fun listening to folks clustering around various exhibits and sharing their own stories.
The new element to the exhibit is fashions beginning in the 1900s — thanks to the generosity of Johanna Brunner Kaiser and her daughter-in-law, Ruth Kaiser, both of Lincolnville. Johanna's clothes collection is remarkable, especially since she is nearing 102 years of age and has a phenomenal memory of the year she purchased the dress, what store, and how much she paid for it!
Last week, my sister and I (and even our mom, Martha) took a trek to Lincolnville to visit Johanna and Ruth. We had a delightful morning sorting through dresses, hats, shoes, and purses.
"Oh I bought that dress in New York City when I was working at Cornell University," said Johanna as Ruth held up a stunning orange dress. "That dress cost $5 at a dress shop where you had to wait on yourself — that's why the prices were so low."
"And that pink dress I bought at the Hope dress shop in 1930, for $10," continued Johanna.
"And our hats — we always went to Herington on Good Friday to get our hats."
When she unfolded one of her basketball uniforms from Chapman High School around 1915 she commented: "The young girls of today wouldn't think of wearing so many clothes to play basketball!" No shorts for the girls of 1915 — they wore bloomers!
Where Johanna's fashion outfits end, her daughter-in-law's begin. "I've had people even give me dresses from the '50s and '60s," said Ruth, "because they knew I collected them."
For the Fourth of July exhibit, Pat cut out mannequins from cardboard, draped them in dresses, added hats, shoes, and jewelry from our own personal collections, and now when you walk into the bank, it looks like a crowd of ladies is already there!
We plan to have an all-out fashion exhibit including wedding dresses from ladies in the community ready for viewing by Labor Day. If you have a dress (or dresses) you'd let us show, please call.
As always, if you or your family wishes to see the exhibits at the Dirt Gambler's Museum, just call us at 785-965-2621 for an appointment.
On Sunday, Trinity Lutheran Church was packed — there were folks in every pew! "It looked like most of the pews were filled with your relatives," I teased Barbie Hanschu. "Almost!" she laughed in reply.
The reason for celebration was the baptism of Rick and Barbie's first grandchild — Shaylee Faith, born May 29 to Danelle (Hanschu) and Mark Leiker.
When I asked Rick who all the "notables" were at the ceremony, he replied with a grin, "Too many to list." But when I spoke with Barb later in the day, she paired it down to the grandparents.
Shaylee has two "Grandpa Ricks" because Danelle's and Mark's fathers both are named Rick. Mark's parents, Rick and Marilyn Leiker, came from Hoxie for the baptism and even Marilyn's father — LeRoy Shaw of Hoxie (the baby's great-grandpa) was present.
The Hanschus hosted a dinner at the parish hall for family and friends. Rick's mother Burma Hanschu of Herington was present and Barbie's parents, Bob and OmaLou Mushrush from Elmdale also were there.
In addition to the baptism, Shaylee and her parents were moving from Nebraska to Kansas. "It's been a busy week," said Barbie.
Mark is starting an orthodontist practice in Great Bend and Danelle is working as a physical therapist — following in her mother's footsteps.
It was evident by Rick's smile that he was pleased to have his first granddaughter only a couple of hours away in Great Bend.
Lauren Brunner turns 80 this Thursday and his children threw a first-class birthday bash for him this past Sunday at Lauren and Orvell's home outside Ramona.
"The children invited neighbors and friends," said Lauren's wife, Orvell. "We had homemade ice cream which is a favorite of Lauren's, and a barbecue, too."
Around 30 guests attended — I know for a fact that Tony Meyer and Hank and Gertie Schubert were there because they shared the news with me. When I talked to Warren and Paula Fike, who attended, they mentioned the Deines, Eskeldsons, and Wingerds, all of Ramona. I'm sure there were others.
Other Brunner news comes "after the fact," after Yvonne Brunner returned from a long, long family trek from June 3 to 26. It began when her brother-in-law Doug Culbert of Michigan flew into Kansas City and the two drove to Arizona where Yvonne's mom Belan Latting lives in Sierra Vista. Yvonne's sister Charlotte Van Dermolen also lives in Phoenix.
"My sister Charlotte bought some Persian rugs at an auction," said Yvonne, "so I took the trailer out to Arizona to pick up a couple for myself and some for my sister in Michigan. Then Doug, my mom, my sister, and I drove to Michigan to where Doug and my other sister Dianna live. I logged about 4,000 miles and did all the driving!"
Yvonne said her mom is very adventurous, even at 86. "You can't hold her back," said Yvonne. "She loves antique lanterns, so we stopped at a lot of antique shops between Arizona and Michigan," said Yvonne with a laugh. "By the time we reached Michigan, we had lots of stuff in the trailer!"
Pat was on the floor of the bank making carousel horses out of cardboard for the upcoming Fourth of July parade when Dave and Faith Judd walked into the bank. (Dave is Lowell Hanschu's nephew. Dave's mother was Eldina Hanschu.)
"We have a scanner for your computer," they said, as they held up an Apple scanner.
Pat and I looked at each other — we didn't know we needed a scanner — we had a perfectly good, relatively new, color scanner sitting on our desk.
Then Dave began to describe the scanner he recalled seeing on our desk when he came through the museum on Memorial Day. "I could swear it was an old black and white scanner," said Dave, as he stood by our scanner and described what it looked like. "And I was impressed with what you're doing at the museum and since this was my mother's home town, Faith and I decided to give you one of our computer scanners, and here we are."
"I assure you," I said, "that the scanner you see today is the one that's always been here." And when Dave wasn't convinced, I added, "All I can say is that the 'computer angels' altered your vision as you walked through the museum on Memorial Day, because it brought you into our lives so we could discover that we needed your help."
Pat and I aren't computer people — we just use computers, and we've been having dramas lately with our equipment and were considering buying new machines. So what a gift it was to have "The Mac Lady" (that's Faith) and her husband spend several hours checking out our equipment and advising and instructing us on how to utilize and improve what we have. Because of their gift, we can now do a better job scanning and storing the family pictures that many of you are sharing with us.
On Saturday, Jim Thompson stood at our front door to introduce his family to us. They'd just arrived from California and Jim was taking his wife Terri, his mom, and five children around town to get everyone familiar with their new home.
On Monday, I saw Jim and Terri's second grader Cassie in the park. "Who have you met so far?" I asked. And she brightly reported "Mikayala, Emily, Molly, and some names of kids I didn't even know."
Then she looked up at me inquisitively: "Who are you?" I told her I was the one she met when she first got to town on Saturday. "Remember, I have three kittens at my house." "Oh," her eyes lit up with recognition. "You should wear your hair down the next time so I recognize you!" Indeed, I had my hair down on Saturday and up in a ponytail on Monday — something even I didn't remember!
Already the kids are working to help their dad fix up the house on the north end of town. On Sunday, we saw one of Jim's youngest sons lugging a broom down the street — the broom was about three times his size!
So if you see some new kids in town, checking out the town on their bikes, introduce yourselves to the Thompson kids! I haven't yet learned all their names myself, but I know the oldest son Ben will be in seventh grade and the only daughter is Cassie. That leaves three names to learn by next week.
On Tuesday, I happened to stop at a market in Herington and Paula Fike's familiar voice called out. "What are you doing here?" "Gathering the news, are you?" I asked Paula, who was surrounded by friends I'd never met.
Paula, surrounded by friends, introduced the group — Delores Stroda, Dorothy Hoover, Alice (Sader) Wendt (who grew up in Ramona), and Ida Mae Wendt. "We meet every morning for coffee at the drugstore," said Ida Mae, "and then here again in the afternoon." With a schedule like that, I wondered how the ladies had time to make any news to even talk about? It's a rigorous schedule and Paula says she joins in only once or twice a week.
Warren and Paula Fike attended Paula's H.F.K. Mueller family reunion Saturday at the senior center in Tampa. "One hundred and twelve people were there," said Paula.
This Sunday it's Game Night at the Ramona Senior Center. The fun begins at 5 p.m. with a silent auction — that's where you put your bids on paper and bidding continues throughout the evening. "Bring anything from cakes to collectibles," said Norma Bird, president. "The proceeds help with the purchase of the new air conditioner for the center."
For those who want to learn Mexican Train Dominos, I'll be teaching that game this Sunday evening. Card Bingo also will be played. Bring snacks for the 7:30 break.
The next Ramona Rowdies (that's Ramona's senior group) trip will be to Prairie Rose outside Wichita on July 31. Prairie Rose started out as a working cattle ranch and it's now a major tourist attraction.
"The trip includes all you can eat, a musical show, buggy rides, a museum," explained Norma. "The cowboys serve the meal and the entertainment is wonderful. The cost of $31 includes transportation. Call Norma Bird at 965-7135 to make reservations.
In closing, I pay tribute to one of Ramona's boys — Jack Anderson — who grew up in Ramona and most recently lived in Clay Center until his death this past Sunday afternoon. Jack's funeral will be Friday here in Ramona at Trinity Lutheran Church.
Jack was one of those fun-loving people who often took time to write a note to my sister and me after reading our columns and stories each week. His notes and letters were like an on-going conversation — one that we'll miss with his passing.
And that's the news from Ramona where we live with gusto so there's stories worth telling once we're gone and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
