Ramona
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
The parish hall in Ramona was overflowing with friends and family who came Saturday afternoon to wish Tony Meyer a happy birthday. Tony's actual birthday was Saturday, so that detail made the celebration even more meaningful.
Tony was born west of Ramona on the Meyer homestead and his own father delivered him on that snowy and blustering March day because the country doctor could not reach the Meyer place in time. We were glad that the weather was much more friendly 95 years later.
When I first presented the idea of a birthday party to Tony he wasn't so sure, but before long he was counting the days. "Only three more days until Tony Meyer's birthday," he joked Wednesday.
When the Meyer clan arrived, they almost filled the parish hall by themselves. Nieces and nephews came from as far as Wichita and Gorham and the one who came the most distance was probably Marlene Brunner from Freemont, Neb., who happened to be in the area staying with her mother Alma Meyer and brother, Dennis, of Tampa.
Life-long friends added a special flavor to the celebration. Asta Chase of Lindsborg has been Tony's friend since the 1930s. She was the only guest who fell into the "old flame" category since she and Tony dated when they were both in the Navy — she a Navy nurse and Tony a commander.
Mary and Linn Peterson of McPherson have a long history with Tony, too. They knew him when Tony worked for Globe Refinery and was also a student at McPherson College. Tony played for the Globe Refinery basketball team and last year when Tony and I were in McPherson for a funeral, the Petersons took us on a little jaunt to the former gymnasium where Tony played many notable basketball games. Many Ramona friends came to chat with Tony, who sat in a special chair with the flag draped behind him and surrounded by red, white, and blue balloons. Those who signed the guest book from Ramona were Fred and Marguerite Utech, Junior and Jeanetta Hanschu, Warren and Paula Fike, Virginia and Brian Lewis, Jim Weber, Merv Deines, Darlene and Al Sondergard, Reign and Marlene Anduss, Margie and Art Stroda, Tim Steinborn, and of course my sister and me.
Jim and Rosie Sader of Junction City brought Tony a bag filled with things to eat and drink. After the party Tony told me to look inside. "There's a bottle of wine in there," he said with amazement. "We'll have to throw another party so we can drink it!"
The theme for the party was patriotic since Tony's life was defined by his Navy career. Red, white, and blue balloons made the parish hall very festive. Pat and I created a pictorial display of Tony's life featuring all the highlights from basketball career to Navy career, stockbroker to cattleman. Beside the display was his Navy uniform, which Tony has graciously allowed us to keep at our little Dirt Gambler's Museum until he needs it.
"Be careful with it," admonished Tony when he let us take it. "I'm going to be buried in that suit."
I chuckled on Saturday when one of his nieces got his Navy commander's hat and put it on Tony for some family pictures. It wasn't long before he asked me to take it and put it back on display. "It's too tight!" he said, as he rubbed the red indentation on his forehead.
Tony's last living siblings (from a group of 12) were an important part of the celebration. George, 92, and wife Millicent, came from Ellinwood, despite the fact that George had just gotten over a touch of flu. Magdalene. 91, came from Topeka where she resides with daughter, Annita. "We took Mom to the circus last week," said Annita. "She even rode an elephant at the end of the show and was waving at the crowd as they circled the arena!"
Nieces and nephews and their offspring entertained Tony with several songs. Tony loves music — it's the one thing he can hear and enjoy easily. The family choir of a dozen or more sang several patriotic songs and even the Navy Hymn.
Magdalene's great-grandson, Noah, age seven, sang "You Are My Sunshine," and his mother, Angela Albin, performed a beautiful rendition of "His Eye is on the Sparrow," which also included Noah.
Pat and I added our tribute to Tony by singing "Somewhere in the West," which has been our theme song since we first bought property here and spent our vacations in Ramona. The words to the song really tell the story: Is the trouble and strife we find in this life, really worthwhile after all. I was thinking today that I'd just run away, out where the west wind calls. With someone like you, a pal, good and true, I'd like to leave it all behind, and go and find, a place that's known to God alone, just a spot to call our own. We'll find perfect peace, where joys never cease, out there beneath the clear blue sky. We'll build a sweet little next, somewhere in the west, and let the rest of the world go by. (And that's eventually just what we did!)
Tony did the same thing — trading in the high-energy city of San Francisco for tranquil Ramona in the year 2000 — and perhaps this is why we have a special bond. He lived in San Francisco after he retired from the Navy, (not far from Pat's Napa Valley residence), and he'd spend May to October in Ramona, dabbling in the cattle business. When we'd come out to Ramona for three or four weeks in the summer, we'd go on jaunts with Tony to the sale barn, or out to eat.
"Let's take a different road home," he'd say. "That way you don't get bored!" And that seemed to be Tony's recipe for life. He was forever adventuring and exploring. "I've been to three Olympic games," bragged Tony at his birthday event. "I was in Rome, Canada, and Germany."
And Tony's the only Ramona resident that I know who's been to a Presidential Inaugural Ball. "I went to Reagan's Inaugural Ball," said Tony, "I even wore a tuxedo. They were taking pictures with the president for $35 — and can you believe I didn't have one taken! I thought that was too much money!"
Another form of entertainment for Tony is going out to eat, and Tony knows how to get a group together. "I'm taking six ladies out to lunch at Butch's Diner — you and Pat want to be part of the group?" Tony paid for the meal, and we ladies at the table would chat and provide the entertainment. One of the frequent guests at these "round table parties" was Edna Mueller of Tampa.
"The only thing missing from this party was Erich," said Edna. "He would have loved this!" And indeed Erich was one of the most notable life-long friends missing at Tony's celebration.
Gail and Marissa Makovec had planned to attend — Marissa made the cakes for Tony's party. But instead they attended the Wichita funeral of Sgt. David Berry, who was recently killed in Iraq. "He was Simon's sergeant," said Marissa, "and since Simon is still in Iraq, we attended especially to represent him."
Thirteen of Simon's unit were injured in a recent bombing — including Simon. Thankfully Simon's injuries were minor, and he was released after treatment.
The Makovecs thought their son would be home by the 4th of July (we wanted Simon to be the grand marshal of our town parade), but his tour has been extended to November. "Simon asks for everyone at home to pray for the troops," added the Makovecs.
Now that Tony's birthday party has been done, Pat and I return to "regular programming" which means house remodeling. Early in January, when we were in Key West on a business trip, Tooltime Tim tackled the kitchen in the Ramona House where Pat and I have lived since moving to Ramona (except in September I moved into the house just east across the ally, that was once Erich Utech's home).
"I'll gut the kitchen and put up new drywall while you're away," said Tim. And before we returned home he warned us, "You're front lawn looks like a redneck lives here because there's a sink, cupboards, and wood everywhere!"
When we returned home, of course, we were faced with our mother's death and because Pat's kitchen was all torn up, we often found ourselves cooking meals at Mom's place.
It wasn't long before we realized that somebody needed to inhabit Mom's big house — it just needed a physical presence there. And if anybody can fill that house it's my sister. After all, there's still a trailer full of stuff from Pat and Tim's September trip to California sitting in Tim's barn, just waiting to find a home.
So we made a decision that Pat would move into Mom's house and we'd continue the renovation of the Ramona House — putting in new flooring throughout, remodeling the bathroom and re-doing the bedrooms.
Ironically, back in November I had calls from two different families who are coming to Ramona in April for family reunions. "We want all three of your guest houses," they said. But I had only two guest houses because I'd moved into one of them. But one morning as I was doing my morning meditation I was processing my sadness that I couldn't offer three houses (this has been a longtime dream to have housing enough for family reunions). And in the stillness this message arrived: "Tell them you'll have three houses by April." This message came through a couple of times but I couldn't imagine how I'd pull that off, so I told the families there would be only two houses for rent.
Well, I'm sure you get the significance of this — we now have three houses for families to rent. For the time being the house we call The Ramona House will be our third guest house. And by mid-April, if all goes as planned, that cute little house will have a face-lift inside and out, and beds enough to sleep seven.
And Pat, well, she just may go back over and sleep at the little Ramona House from time to time, or cook a meal there. After all, she's been designing this new kitchen in her imagination for months and with red and white checked wallpaper and new white cupboards, this little kitchen is darn cute!
And that's the news from Ramona where we've always got an eye for improvement, and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
