New residents in Ramona are here to stay
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
In the small town of Ramona, you notice things — like when someone leaves or someone comes to stay. The Barclays recently moved into town over on 5th Street. Travis Barclay and his wife Dawn have recently returned from Germany where Travis was serving in the military. Dawn works at Fort Riley as a human resource specialist and Travis, newly discharged from military duty, works in fiber-optics. The Barclays bought the Ramona property from Dan Martin — a longtime friend. "We just fell in love with Ramona," the Barclays said, "and we plan to be here a long time." They have two children, 8-year-old Vanessa and 10-year-old Nick. "Between the two of us, we spent 13 years in the military," Dawn explains, "and I vowed I would never again have neighbors living on the other side of a wall — I wanted space. However, I wasn't so sure about commuting 40 miles to work." As it turned out Dawn enjoys the drive and loves the wide open space of a small town.
We also have several people who've been out-of-town. Naomi Fike was just getting her balance after heart surgery when her hip broke. She is now recuperating from a hip replacement at the Herington hospital. Visitors are sometimes difficult to receive, but cards are a welcome addition to the long days of being confined.
My sister Jessica, the usual author of this column, is in California. She went back to Sacramento to help a friend of ours celebrate her wedding day. Jess was looking out the window of the airplane as they landed in the big city and later called home to say, "I forgot how many houses are in a town like this and how close they are together." After being in Ramona for a couple of years with less than 50 houses, this was culture shock.
"In the midst of town, at 5 a.m., I actually heard a rooster crow," she reported the next day. "With all the frantic energy and hubbub of the city, the sound of that rooster was quite lovely."
"Do you feel older?" Triple-T asked the other day. The occasion was my 65th birthday and I had to think a minute before I answered. Truth is, I don't! This probably happens to all of us as we age — the interior clock and the exterior clock are on different time zones. On the inside, I'm 30 years younger than the calendar says and then I see something I'd like to do or discover a whole new field of learning I'd like to explore and I'm very aware that I must choose carefully how I spend the rest of my life. Maybe that's the good thing about being 65 — the wisdom, the awareness of the grandness of each experience. When I was 10, I couldn't wait to be a year older. Now I'm quite content.
Frances Buxman had the birthday girl over for supper this weekend with her favorite food: mashed potatoes! Whatever the menu, as long as there's mashed potatoes, I'm a happy camper.
"Now, you've got something to write about," said Tool Time Tim as he scooped yet another helping of salsbury steak onto his plate, "You're always wondering if there's anything happening!" He's right! Sometimes the news is a little too close to home to notice.
The volunteer fireman blew into town on my birthday with a cake and everything. No, they weren't coming to help me celebrate! It was the quarterly meeting of the fire chiefs and communications officers in Marion County and this time it was happening in Ramona.
"It's really good to have them here," said our Fire Chief Paul Jones as he called out the names of the towns represented around the potluck table: Hillsboro, Marion, Peabody, Florence, Lincolnville, Lehigh, Goessel, Durham, Tampa, Lost Springs. "Did I miss anyone?" Paul wanted to know.
For sure, we'd miss the volunteer firemen if they weren't around to help us out in emergencies. This meeting was for more than fellowship. "It gives us a chance to work together in Marion County to enhance fire protection," said Lester Kaiser from Lincolnville, who is the current president of their board of directors.
Most of these volunteers have been doing volunteer work with the fire departments for years. Larry Jay from Goessel admitted to having 24 years of service under his belt. "And why do you do this?" we ask, knowing the commitment, the dedication, and plain old hard work involved in fighting fires. "I've got to think about that," says Larry rubbing his forehead and grinning, "I don't have a ready answer." Whatever the reason, we're glad for your commitment.
As Elaine Lowry, chaplain of the Kansas State Fire Fighters Association Auxiliary, offered a prayer of thanksgiving for the food, she also prayed for the protection of these volunteers who put themselves in harms way in order to help others. I say, "Amen!" to that and Thank YOU!
Junior and Jeanetta Hanschu are giving thanks these days. They have added another little grandchild to their family tree as their daughter, Jennifer and son-in-law Jeff Braden brought a new little boy, Joshua Michael Braden, into the world. Evidently this little guy surprised everyone by arriving early. On the day of the Marion County Fair parade, Junior kept teasing his daughter as the family sat watching all the emergency vehicles drive by, saying, "Oh, here's the ambulance coming through the parade, Jennifer. Would you like for them to stop?" Would you believe, within 15 minutes of the parade being over, Jennifer was on the way to the hospital — without ambulances and sirens. "We were celebrating Jeanetta's birthday, Aug. 8th, when all of a sudden my daughter said, 'It's time.' and she and her husband headed for the hospital," said Junior. "We were eating birthday cake," Jeanetta adds, "and didn't even have a chance to swallow it." "We just give thanks that little Joshua is here and to think he was born on his grandma's birthday!" announced a proud grandpa!
Here's something you may want to check out. The Hope Community Historical Association is having the grand opening for the new museum in Hope during the Hope Heritage Festival, Sept. 7 and 8. There are events all weekend, beginning with a fun run for the brave at 7a.m. on the 7th — you can remember that one, can't you? There are even T-shirts available, if you'd like to be a walking advertisement of this grand event. The fun continues with all kinds of activities until the Sunday afternoon piano concert at the Methodist church. With this much going on — don't forget about visiting the museum.
Leon Coup of Hope has been dreaming and scheming to have a museum in his hometown for a long time. "I've been collecting stuff in my garage and people have been donating things," Leon said as he visited the little Dirt Gambler's Museum we've established in Ramona.
One of Leon's early memorable purchases was the day he bought the old Hope City Jail and perched it in his back yard. "My wife thought a playhouse would be good for the kids," Leon chuckled, "I don't think she had a jail in mind but she was a good sport about it until the day she went in there to feed our daughter's rabbit and the door clanked shut and she was locked in."
Let's rejoice, along with Leon's wife, that all those things he's been collecting through the years will now have a new home — in the Hope Museum. So, come on by and see what they've created in the old white church building on Main Street across from the Catholic church in Hope.
As always in this column, we celebrate the good news which will continue to happen for the next couple of issues whether or not you hear about it from us. Meanwhile, just talk amongst yourselves and spread a good word about that little town where things are so low-key that a traffic jam is caused when there are just two parked cars and a dog in the road.
