Ramona: Butler exhibit showcases mature class members
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
The Lutheran parish hall was brimming with beautiful ladies wearing hats historical, graceful, and whimsical. The oldest guest, Laura Safford of McPherson, was 97 and the youngest was 2-year-old Sydney Lair of Wichita.
Pat and I began transporting china to the parish hall on Friday and for the next 24 hours, our lives were a flurry of totting, hauling, mixing, slicing, dicing, baking. Our faithful buddy Tooltime Tim was there helping us from the minute he got off work at the rock quarry until the last dish was washed and dried on Saturday and all our cooking equipment returned to our houses on Sunday.
"So when are you going to consider using paper plates for this event?" teased my sister, as she was washing a pyramid of crystal and china. "Never!" I replied stubbornly. That's half the fun of having a tea party — seeing all the beautiful dishes we usually have packed away or in china cupboards.
It's been said that a picture is worth a thousand words — so I'm hoping that if I write less this week, the kind editors at the Marion County Record will include pictures instead. Pictures are really the only way to adequately talk about the Spring Tea Party.
Some things about the tea we don't have pictures of — like Marissa Makovec, who brought her daughter Shaina to help serve at the tea, and decided to stay and help us. We felt like we were blessed with an angel! A cooking angel!
"I'm not catering this weekend," she said. "Would you like some help?" We didn't hesitate to reply in chorus, "You bet!" It was amazing to have someone who is used to catering, pulling things from the ovens and watching over the kitchen when we had to exit and welcome all the guests.
We also had a wonderful group of young servers. Lexy Jost, Emily Staatz, Bryanna and Cole Svoboda, and one-time Ramona resident Katrina Fredericks, who was here visiting her grandparents (the Birds). She joined the fun, too.
Shaina Makovec and Jenny Werth were two older young ladies who are familiar with waiting tables and they helped keep the youngsters on track.
Team leaders for serving the guests always are two gentlemen who've performed this task since "Day 1" and that's Tim Steinborn and John Holecek. John is from McPherson and he came to the very first tea when he brought his aunt to the event. Since it was a "ladies only" party, he gladly helped us in the kitchen. He's been coming every year since.
"We ought to do one of these teas for Dads," said 10-year-old Cole Svoboda as I loaded a plate with Mudpie scones. "We're doing this one for the Moms," he continued, "and I think Dads would like it, too."
Naomi Fike went straight from the tea party to her son, Steve's house in Walton. "On Sunday, Steve and Maureen took me to Moundridge to a beautiful new restaurant called Lake's Edge," said Naomi. "Nick (Naomi's grandson) came along, too and Mrs. Dunkel (Maureen's mother) was there from Salina." The restaurant, located at a retirement center, is situated next to a man-made lake (thus the name) and Naomi said the view and the food were both great!
As for birthday presents — Naomi got a jewelry chest, which is something she's wanted for a long time. "Now I'll have to get busy and organize all my jewelry," said Naomi.
Orvell Brunner was home for Mother's Day, but earlier in the week she had a dizzy spell that landed her in the hospital. She went in the Herington hospital on the 4th and was out by the following Wednesday. Over this last weekend, her daughter Ann from Wichita came to visit and planted some garden vegetables.
Frances Buxman went to the hospital in Abilene on Friday May 9 with what the doctors say was a mild stroke. Doctors were concerned about a blood clot they suspected was roaming about Frances's bloodstream. She hopes to be home by Thursday.
Although Frances was in the hospital, many of her children still came home for the yearly ritual of having a barbecue and planting flowers in the yard. By Sunday evening, there was a new flower bed around a tree in the front yard, jardinières of flowers flanked the porch stairs, the lawn was mowed, and everything looked right spiffy.
The Sondergards' house was surrounded by cars for Mother's Day. All their kids were home and the backyard was a flutter of activity with grandkids running about. It was just one of those picture-perfect moments as I watched Kink barbecuing in the small storage shed in the backyard, interrupted every now and then by the grandkids, who had to see what he was doing.
Martha Ehrhardt invited her brother Hank Schubert and his wife Gertie over for Sunday dinner. Afterward, music filled the house as Gertie played the piano and Martha played her marimba. Gertie got flowers from her son Keith and his wife Vicki and her other son Gary and his wife Carol sent some new clothes. (Carol is a consummate shopper!)
Trevia Schneider spent Mother's Day in Topeka at her granddaughter Michele Whitehead's home. Michelle and her husband John Michael were hosts to Trevia, her daughter Marilyn Gregory (Michele's mom), and John Michael's parents and grandparents. When Trevia returned home on Sunday she stopped in Abilene to check up on her pal, Frances Buxman. "She looked real good," reported Trevia, "and she ate all her supper!"
Norma Weber sorta celebrated Mother's Day a week early when she went to visit her daughter, Barbara Stinchcomb, in Russell over the weekend of May 3rd. "My granddaughter Angela Muller was visiting from Washington, D.C.," said Norma.
This Friday evening from 7 to 9 p.m., you're invited to come to the former bank building in Ramona and view the Artful Eye Exhibit which features the artwork of 3rd and 4th graders from Centre Elementary School. Pat teaches art to these youngsters and each year we hold a "gallery exhibit" showcasing their best work so the children get the feel of what an art gallery is like.
Come and have some refreshments and learn something about art. You might even meet the next Picasso!
Everybody's invited to the Memorial Day celebration in Ramona, sponsored by the Ramona Improvement Committee. Services begin at Lewis Cemetery at 10:30 a.m., followed by a picnic in the Ramona park. The committee provides the meat and folks are invited to bring salads and desserts. The Dirt Gambler's Museum, our tiny museum at the former bank building, also will be open the afternoon of the 26th from 1:30 to 5.
On Memorial weekend, the Ramona Café will be closed — Reign and Marlene will be attending their granddaughter's college graduation in New Haven, Conn.
Pat and I were honored to speak before two groups last week — both were mother-daughter-friend salad suppers. We joined a group of over 60 ladies at the Aulne United Methodist Church May 7 speaking about "The Tie That Binds." One of the questions I asked some of the ladies and children was whether they played house as children, and if so, what part did they play.
The responses were fascinating. Some of the ladies were in their 90s and reported they didn't have regular playhouse furniture or dolls. "We used sticks to make our toys," said one. "We drew lines in the dirt to show the different rooms," said another.
Afterwards Deana Olsen of Marion divulged that playing house wasn't her favorite game. "The kids in our neighborhood always wanted to play cowboys," said Deana. "The boys all wanted to be Roy Rogers, and the girls wanted to be Dale Evans." And then she laughed and said, "And then there was me — I wanted to be Trigger!"
The following night we joined well over 100 ladies at the King's Daughters ladies' salad supper at the First Baptist Church in Durham. The theme for the evening was "Go Light Your World," and Pat and I were honored to share our experiences of coming to Kansas and our ventures in little ol' Ramona, where a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
