Ramona
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
I have a tradition at Thanksgiving where I inquire who in Ramona had the most folks at their Thanksgiving table. It's one way I amuse myself and bring "intrigue" to reporting Thanksgiving news that doesn't vary much from turkey, eating, visiting, and eating.
After several years of reporting, it's like a secret contest each year to see if anybody beats Warren and Paula Fike for the "record" — which is usually about 50 people.
This year the Fikes held their Thanksgiving on Nov. 21 and 45 folks gathered at the Fikes' farmhouse. Once more they get the "crowd award."
"All our kids were here, but some of the grandkids were missing," reported Paula, and that's why the numbers were around 45 instead of 50!
Coming in second would have to be the Brunner family, who registered somewhere in the mid 20s for folks around the table. "Everybody came home except our granddaughter, Amy and her husband John. Jean's parents, the Carlsons of Burdick, joined our family too," said Orvell.
Ann Brunner Koch and her husband, Bernie from Wichita came the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and stayed until Saturday. "They helped us put up our Christmas lights," said Orvell.
Ann and Bernie's daughter, Emily, came to Thanksgiving with her new husband, Gabe Schlickaw. Emily got married this summer and somehow I failed to get that news in my column. Emily and Gabe are moving to Dodge City in the near future.
I asked Ben Thompson if there was anything special his grandmother made for Thanksgiving. "Heaven," he replied. He went on to explain that "Heaven" is an ambrosia-like salad that's made of tropical fruit, marshmallows, and whipped cream. "It was worth my mom coming from California just for that salad," agreed Ben's dad, Jim.
The Thompsons shared Thanksgiving with their friends Kim Young and son, Nathan. The Youngs have been close friends with the Thompson family since they moved here a year and a half ago, and Kim has been a steady rock as the family weathered their recent loss of mother and wife, Terri.
The two families celebrated Thanksgiving together, along with Jim Thompson's mother, Joyce, who is here from California and plans to stay through Christmas.
"We took all our kids to Salina to see the movie 'The Incredible'," said Jim Thompson, "and then had dinner together." Joining the group was Ron and Stacy Nelson (Terri Thompson's brother and wife), along with their children Brandon and Aaron. The Nelsons have moved here from Oregon and are looking for a permanent home in Ramona.
Martha Ehrhardt inaugurated her new kitchen with 19 guests for Thanksgiving. Her sister-in-law, Naomi Fike, brought her family celebration to Martha's house, which included Naomi's sons, Joe and Steve Fike and their families. Martha's sister, Anna Schimming came too, and Martha's nephew, Ken Peoples and his three sons, came from Wichita since his wife, Becky, and her mother, Frieda Struebing, were on a trek to Colorado to see Hank and Gertie Schubert.
Tony Meyer came to our family Thanksgiving and rather enjoyed sitting around the television with all the guys watching football. Tony, who came from a large family, felt right at home with such a large crowd.
We're always delighted to collaborate on Thanksgiving dinner with Joe's wife, Janet, who's our family's version of "Julia Childs." We prepared the staple items like mashed potatoes and vegetables and Janet brings amazing hors d'ouvres which are a meal in themselves, astonishing pies, turkey, and memorable stuffing. Steve's wife, Maureen, make her famous poppy seed bundt cake — a dessert so gorgeous it's a table centerpiece, and so yummy that it's devoured down to the crumbs.
Dan and Connie Smith also were initiating a new wing to their house on 2nd Street. They recently added a large room on the south side of the house and this was the first time the family gathered to use it.
"Our house has so many small rooms, and none of them big enough to hold our growing family," said Connie. "So we decided to build a room that would be big enough for all of us.
The room has many windows, and because it's surrounded by the ponds and gardens that are Connie's hobbies, one feels like you're right in the great outdoors.
"I cooked dinner for Dan and Paul (Jones) on Thanksgiving, so we were the first to use the room," said Connie, "and then my family came on Saturday and Kim and Sean Mellstrom and Mikayla joined us too. Everyone was so content, they didn't venture anywhere else in the house."
While the room isn't completely finished, Connie said nobody seemed to notice that the walls were just sheet rocked and taped. "I think I was the only one who noticed because I knew what was waiting for me after Thanksgiving," laughed Connie.
Twenty people were at Frances Buxman's Thanksgiving table. The only children missing were Scott and Junior. Granddaughter, Kayla (Pat's daughter) and her boyfriend came from Arkansas.
After dinner the men and boys retreated outside for some skeet shooting. A.J. Svoboda and Tim Steinborn instructed the younger kids on the art of shooting clay pigeons. A.J.'s son, Cole, already had some experience at the sport. "Is this going to be in the newspaper?" asked Cole, when he saw my sister, Pat, show up for the adventure.
Yes, indeed, Pat had to join the guys and take her turn with the shotgun. When our 98-year-old aunt Anna learned of Pat's whereabouts she simply said, "Oh!" and rolled her eyes.
Norma Weber had 17 for Thanksgiving and she was delighted to watch somebody else cook the meal. "This was the first Thanksgiving where I watched instead of cooked," said Norma. "Jeannie did all the cooking and it was great."
Norma's son, Jim, was home from his trucking expeditions, and Norma's daughter, Barb Stinchcomb and her husband, Charlie, came from Russell for the family gathering. Jeannie's children made the numbers swell from five to 17!
Norma Bird also reported that she had light responsibilities this Thanksgiving. "We had dinner at Cindy and Julie's and the only cooking I had to do was make a cheesecake," said Norma.
On the afternoon of Thanksgiving the Birds had a photographer come and take family pictures. "Never do that after you've eaten a lot!" laughed Norma.
She said the gathering was more fascinating this year because her granddaughter, Jenny Davis of Salina, brought an exchange student from Algeria who is living with Jenny and her husband. "She wants to be an interpreter," said Norma, "and already has learned four languages."
Al and Darlene Sondergard were in Hope at their daughter, Kay's, for Thanksgiving. "There were about 20 at her house," said Darlene, who summed up the day's activities when she said, "We ate, and visited and then ate some more! That's what's so fun about Thanksgiving!"
Trevia Schneider's house was filled with her daughters Theresa, Tina, and Marilyn and their families. "We even had visitors in the afternoon — Tonya Utech and her son, Tyson, stopped by," said Trevia. "We all played games and cards and the family stayed until seven."
Several folks asked me if the Ramona Café was open for Thanksgiving because they saw lots of cars parked in front. The restaurant wasn't open for business, but there sure was a lot of cookin' goin' on!
The Andusses daughters, Connie, Marsha and Roxan, brought their families to Ramona and quite a few stayed at our bed and breakfast for three nights. "It made it nice for us," said Marlene, "because usually everybody comes for dinner and then goes home. Since they stayed at Cousin's Corner, they could come and be in Ramona near us, and we all gathered at the restaurant for meals. This is the first year we've been able to spend so much time together."
Reign and Marlene's granddaughter, Mindy from Connecticut, was here visiting for three whole days. "We had a terrific time together," said Reign.
Frances Hanschu gets the "this-is-no-way-to-spend-Thanksgiving-award." On Nov. 22 she was taking out the trash and was in a bit of a hurry when she fell in the carport. "I drove myself to the doctor; I had an appointment that day anyway," said Frances, "and the doctor confirmed that I'd broken my nose. So I've been staying close to home."
With a couple of bruised knees, a bandaged nose, and black eyes, Frances was thrilled to have Thanksgiving dinner delivered to her and Clinton in Ramona by her children, Randy Hanschu and his wife, and Sharon Mueller and her husband.
Frances is recovering and doing lots of resting. "Clinton's been worried about me," said Frances, "and he told me to just stay home and not drive to Salina right now."
Kathy Werth thought her family was coming to Ramona for Thanksgiving, but instead she loaded up the turkey and took it to Salina where the family gathered at Kathy's sister's house. The reason for the shift in location was because Kathy's father had a heart attack and was in the hospital in Salina.
Kathy's father is undergoing open-heart surgery Wednesday, so Kathy will be spending part of the week there to be with her dad. We send prayers and best wishes her way.
The "adventurous Thanksgiving award" goes to Lowell and Marge Hanschu this year. They spent the holiday in an enchanting cottage on the beaches of North Carolina.
It all started when the Hanschu's son, Andy, invited his folks to come visit. Andy lives in South Carolina. "At first we thought we'd fly, and then our son, Daniel, who lives in Missouri, said he'd drive us to Carolina," said Marge. But then Daniel checked airline prices on the Internet and found the tickets so darn reasonable that he suggested his folks fly and he and his family would join them!
By the time Daniel told his children their plans, the numbers grew to seven leaving from Wichita and flying to Carolina.
I wondered what they did for Thanksgiving dinner since Marge said the restaurant prices were so high one almost lost appetite. "Andy went to a nearby Wal-Mart and got turkey and all the fixings and we had dinner in the cabin where we all stayed," said Marge. "It was great!"
The Hanschus visited an aquarium, took walks on the beach, and even took a ferry to a nearby island. "The kids even rented a beach wheelchair for Lowell. It's a wheelchair with large tires that can roll on the sand," explained Marge.
"We had so much fun on this trip, we're thinking of doing it again this summer!"
The quietest Thanksgiving" category has several entrants. Nate Bailey and Judy Gratz reported that they neither entertained nor went out and they had a most tranquil holiday.
Betty Stenzel said things were quiet at her house too — with four people for Thanksgiving supper. Joining Betty were her son Greg and companion Becky, and Becky's mom, Bonnie.
"Our Thanksgiving was lovely and on the quiet side," said Betty Ohm. Harold's sisters, Hilda Andrews of Herington and Irene Riffel of Park City, joined the Ohms for dinner.
Marge and Maurice Stroda were having a quiet holiday too. "Christmas is when our family all gets together," said Marge. She reported that Art spent the day working on the remodeling of their B Street home.
Bobby Thornhill and Judy Bickford just kicked back, had some turkey with cousin Terry McRae, who recently moved to Ramona, along with Judy's daughter, Chelsea, and her boyfriend.
And that's the news from Ramona, where Thanksgiving was memorable — whether adventuring or quietly celebrating at home — and a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
