Ramona
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
On March 3 Tony Meyer turned 92. I do believe he has the honor of being the Ramona resident with the most "seniority!" In years past, Tony's birthday always seemed to sneak up on us, and Pat and I would lament that we didn't get to properly celebrate with him. And then the past couple of years Tony got sick right before his birthday and landed in the hospital.
But in 2004 we finally got it right and planned a small gathering on the 3rd at Butch's Diner in Tampa. Joining Tony for lunch were long-time friends Erich Utech and Erich's sister, Edna Mueller of Tampa, and of course Pat, me, and Tooltime Tim, who just happened to be off work that day because it was raining.
There was a cake with candles and even a birthday hat — it was a king's crown with "92" in glitter on the front. Tony tired of the hat quite quickly.
"This thing is too small," he said. And about the time it nearly fell in his plate he asked, "Can I take this thing off?"
Tony even had a new shirt to wear. Pat and I decided one should do something unusual when you're 92 so we bought him an exotic black shirt with palm trees on it. The only unfortunate thing about the shirt was that it was short-sleeved, and Tony only wears long-sleeved shirts!
Tony is one tall man with very long arms and the only long-sleeved shirts to be found this time of year in his size were white — which was absolutely too boring!
On the morning of Tony's birthday I stopped by his house with the new shirt.
"I suppose I could wear it today," he said with reservation. "Just for my birthday." And then he added, "This is the first time in my life that I've worn a short-sleeved shirt." And I replied, "At 92 it's time to do something for the first time!"
The short-sleeved shirt was such a phenomenon that we had to take a picture of Tony with his arms reaching heavenward, showing off those limbs that were finally seeing the light of day. Having been protected all these years, Tony's arms looked like the skin of a 20-year-old!
As we had lunch, Tony told stories from 92 years of life.
"You know I have a twin, don't you?" teased Tony. "Eleanor Murphy was born on March 3 too. The doctor from town went by horseback to deliver Eleanor and there was such a blizzard that he didn't reach our house until the next day and I was already here!" Since the doctor didn't arrive in time to deliver Tony, Tony's dad officiated at his birth.
A fun coincidence was that when we walked into Butch's Diner on March 3 for lunch, who should be sitting there but Tony's "twin," Eleanor Murphy. She was at Butch's too, celebrating.
"Did you ever have a birthday party when you were a child?" I asked Tony. "No parties!" said Tony emphatically, "Mom had 12 kids with no modern conveniences and no running water. There wasn't time for parties."
When Tony was about six, he and his brothers John, George, and Martin, decided to run away from home. "We just wanted to see a train go by," said Tony, "so we walked about a mile and a half south of the farm and hid in the wheat fields near the train tracks. It was so exciting when that train came rumbling along."
"And his mother was waiting with some peach twigs in her hand when the boys returned!" added Erich Utech, who knows Tony's history about as well as his own.
The conversation jumped ahead to rights of passage, like learning to drive, entering the service, and buying new cars. "I bought a red 1939 DeSoto on Nov. 20, 1938," said Tony.
He wanted his dad, who had only driven Model Ts, to try driving his modern beauty, so Tony took the car out to the pasture where his dad could experiment.
"Tony's dad didn't care for the fancy new car," said Erich. "He liked his Model T with pedals. The last Model T had a shift instead of pedals and that was in 1927. They were something else!"
"My dad never drove anything but a Model T," said Tony. "He got killed in the last one, and the year was 1961."
The Meyer boys are blessed with longevity. Tony's oldest brother, Martin, is 95 and this weekend in Tampa, his brother George, celebrates his 90th birthday.
Before arriving at Tony's birthday lunch, Erich Utech had been at Lauren Brunner's for the weekly 10-point pitch party. This week Warren Fike, Fred and Erich Utech, and Steve Eskeldson joined Lauren for some card competition.
"We play cards and catch up on the gossip while we play," said Erich with a grin. Indeed he shared some gossip about the recent burglaries in Ramona and had more current info than I did and I'm city clerk. Maybe I should join the card party so I can keep up!
"They won't let me play cards with 'em," commented Tony. "Do you know why? 'Cause I can't figure!"
Tony's birthday celebrations continued throughout his birthday and into the weekend. Since his birthday was on Wednesday he just had to make his weekly pilgrimage to the Sale Barn in Herington. "They had a big sign up that said 'Happy Birthday Tony Meyer,'" said Tony. Even the auctioneer stopped the bidding when Tony entered the sale arena. "And at church on Sunday they announced my birthday and sang to me, too."
David Staatz had a birthday March 5 and was taking time off work to celebrate. Well, actually I should say that he took time away from his normal job, because David was still working
Although David was taking vacation time around his birthday, he was rarely standing still — he's always involved in a project. I noticed this morning that he's already got flowers planted in some of his garden beds, adding color to the north end of D street.
I flew to Oregon on March 6 for a memorial party of my mother-in-law, Miriam Shinn. I shared a decade of my life with Miriam's son, Michael, an attorney in Portland. Miriam died of throat cancer and when I spoke with her a month ago, she knew that her days on earth were coming to a close.
I only had planned to stay a couple of days in Oregon, and then I decided to stay a week. Perhaps it was the unusually radiant sunshine (normally it's raining in Portland), or being within walking distance of astounding restaurants and glorious department stores that had rows upon rows of gorgeous high heels for spring!
Oh, and did I forget to mention movie theaters — three within a couple of blocks, and I adore movies — especially in the middle of the day.
I went walking every morning, hunting for my favorite haunts and was disappointed to find that the pastry shop I enjoyed 20 years ago, now is a bar. But never mind — there was a Starbucks coffee shop on every other corner, with almond croissants and cherry cheese Danish and I was in heaven!
And in the evening I connected with friends, and over a crab cocktail we caught up on each other's lives — the friends were amazing and the crab was delectable! And to think I was about not to take this little trip.
I thought of a jillion reasons I shouldn't leave Kansas and trek to Oregon. My duties as city clerk, a city council meeting, writing newspaper columns, the cost, the time, I wasn't feeling real hot, taxes to be prepared, mom's house project, and the list goes on.
And then my sister said to me, "Life's short, Jess. Don't let the 'shoulds' keep you from living!"
It seems that when we have to say goodbye to someone, that's when we realize just how much we've loved them. That certainly was the case for Dorothy Riffel and her family, when they came to Ramona on the weekend of Feb. 27-28, for Harvey Riffel's funeral in Herington.
Dorothy and her children and grandkids filled Cousin's Corner B&B to overflowing. There were people sleeping everywhere — even on the floor!
"Next to my daddy, Harvey was the most wonderful man," said Mary Franz, Dorothy's daughter. "All of us, even the grandchildren, were very attached to him and feel so lucky to have spent 10 plus years together."
Dorothy Schubert married Harvey Riffel in 1991, a few years after her first husband, Martin, died. Although she and Harvey lived in Salina, Harvey's final resting place was in Herington.
Dorothy's children — Frank Schubert, Mary Franz, Kris Clayton, and Jeannie Crawford — had many of their children present for the family gathering. It was fun watching the guys out playing football on the vacant lot next to the house, and seeing "clumps" of cousins strolling the streets of Ramona. Hank and Gertie Schubert got quite a few visitors over that weekend. "Martin Schubert was a cousin, but more like a brother," said Hank. And Mart and Dorothy's children see Hank as an uncle, and the grandkids are attached to Hank and Gertie too.
"Dorothy's grandsons came by to sing for us," said Gertie. "Three of them are in bands of their own."
When the family left Cousin's Corner they left two CDs behind, with a note attached: "Here are a couple of CDs from Aaron Franz, Kent Clayton, and Kyle Clayton — something for the younger set to listen to."
Kyle Clayton's band is called The Last Free Exit and Aaron Franz and Kent Clayton belong to a band named Crazy Chester.
And that's the news from Ramona where a lot can happen in a week, and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
