Ramona: Chrissy Cheever becomes Mrs. Smith
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
There were quite a few little white lies told this last weekend as folks tried to trick Rick Hanschu into thinking that nothing big was going to happen for his 50th birthday.
But something BIG did indeed happen Saturday night. I saw the parish hall surrounded by cars and smelled the scent of barbecue in the air. And then I kept hearing all these fascinating comments about the party from people who had attended. I was darn curious!
When I called Rick to get details, he wasn't immediately forthcoming.
"Oh, come on," I coaxed. "I hate having to make it up," I teased. "I've already heard lots of tidbits about the party from Ramona folks who attended. If you don't talk to me then you can't blame me if I get some detail wrong," I threatened.
"Well, you can print that I turned 40," he said. "That's one error I wouldn't mind."
"So were you surprised? You can at least tell me that," I said, trying to get Rick to divulge more about the party.
"Oh yes, I was surprised," he admitted, and then he began to tell me about all the tricks and bluffs that made his surprise birthday truly memorable.
"My wife was acting like nothing was going to happen, so I decided to call her bluff and throw a party of my own on Friday night," said Rick.
"Then my son Brandon called last week to say he wasn't coming home over the weekend at all," explained Rick. "When I asked him why, Brandon simply said, 'I'm too busy.' " So Rick pulled out the stops — "You've got to come home," he said, "your sister is here from Nebraska. Danelle and Mark are taking me out to dinner Saturday night."
Alas, the busy K-State senior agreed to fit dad and the family into his schedule. And when he arrived home, he was designated the chauffeur for taking the family out to dinner — supposedly to Al's Cafe in Lost Springs.
"Brandon came down our road to 360th where he was to turn left for Lost Springs," said Rick. "But instead he turned right, toward Ramona.
"Shouldn't you have turned left?" queried Rick. "Oh, I thought I'd take the highway around," bluffed Brandon. Then when they headed into Ramona, Brandon told another fib, saying they were going to eat in Herington instead of Lost Springs.
But as they pulled up to the parish hall, Rick was heard to exclaim, "What's going on at the church?"
"Then I knew I'd been duped," said Rick with a grin. Although Barb may have looked like she wasn't doing a thing for Rick's birthday, she and several friends (Yvonne Brunner of Ramona, Nancy Riggin of Burdick, and Kathy Silhan from Pilsen) were preparing quite a wing ding to celebrate Rick's half-century of life.
The party invitation declared, "Praise the Lord, Rick made it to 50!" And then the invitation went on to list the many "close calls" Rick has experienced, beginning with his birth.
Rick's mother had such a difficult time birthing Rick, the doctor said to Rick's dad, "It's your wife, or your baby." And even though Rick's father told the doctor to save his wife, Rick was stubborn enough to make it!
Then there's the three concussions. The first happened when Rick was a child. The story goes that Rick was throwing rocks at his older brother, Ronnie, who was taking shelter behind a shed. Ronnie was yelling because he wanted to get out from behind the shed and get some rocks of his own so he'd have something to throw back at Rick and get even.
Rick's younger 5-year-old brother, Rory, hearing all the screaming and yelling and thinking Rick was hurting Ronnie, grabbed a pipe and hit Rick over the head. That was concussion #1. The other two occurred while Rick was farming.
Then there was the near-fatal accident when Rick fell asleep at the wheel. He was heading back to school on a Sunday night after having spent a weekend with Barb. "The road took a 90 degree turn, and I didn't," said Rick with candor. In addition to the turn, there was a drop-off and a steel post declaring the same. It was the post that held his car from going over the edge.
Moving right along, we come to the collision where Rick tangled with a train over in Abilene. "It was a blind intersection," he explained, "and as I approached, I saw a friend coming from the other direction. We waved at each other, and I thought to myself that surely there can't be a train if he's coming across the tracks and waving at me — because he had a better view than I."
Fortunately the force of Rick's truck hitting the train spun him around and pushed him away from the tracks. The friend who had waved, hadn't seen the train coming, either.
"My wife was a little upset with me that day," said Rick, " because I hadn't called and told her about the accident. I thought I'd just tell her when I saw her that night."
And of course, the many cattle-related injuries. "You've seen those old movies where the cowboy and his horse chase after the cow," said Rick, "and the cow goes under the tree and the horse doesn't stop? Well, that's what happened to me. My horse kept chasing the cow and the tree branch hit me, and I fell to the ground."
Or the time a calf charged him in the barn and injured his spinal column. Another fraction of an inch and he would have been paralyzed.
Oh, and don't forget the recent incident where Rick was roping someone else's bull. "I didn't think the plan through," laughed Rick, "and when the bull started charging my horse, I told Max Morgan that I'd rope the bull and he could heel him. The only problem was that we weren't close to the trailer where the bull needed to go."
The bull was standing quite still with a rope around his neck when Max pulled up with the trailer. But something spooked that bull and he reared up, popped the rope, which pulled Rick's horse to the ground, broke the saddle, and pinned Rick's leg under the horse. At this moment, the bull turned and started to charge.
Who needs to go to a rodeo in Abilene when you have this kind of excitement right here in Ramona? Fortunately, Rick got his leg loose and the bull hit the end of the line, so to speak, when the slack in the rope around the bull's neck snapped tight.
Barb says that Rick has promised not to rope any more bulls after he turns 50.
"So is it true," I asked. "Is your life going to be more calm now that you're 50?"
"Nahh," Rick said with a grin. "It's what keeps me young."
As for gifts at the birthday party, the invitation gave specific instructions: "Rick is so old that he has accumulated lots of junk, so if you think you ought to bring something, bring 50 pennies or nickels (he's worth it) we'll put them in a jar and put them in the collection plate on Sunday as our thanks that he's still around."
According to Junior Hanschu, who tallied the money received, the offering plate next Sunday will be heaped with $16 worth of pennies, $13 of nickels, $10 in dimes, $13 in quarters, all in celebration of Rick's 50th birthday.
Oh, and Rick's receiving another gift in the near future. A couple of weeks ago when his daughter Danelle and her husband Mark Leiker came to visit, they presented an early birthday present. It was a T-shirt declaring that Rick will be a grandpa in May of 2003!
A family celebration of another kind was taking place in and around Ramona this past weekend for Jeanie and Jim Weber. Seven of Jeanie's family, including herself, were baptized on Sunday at the Lincolnville United Methodist Church.
"It was very meaningful to do this as a family," said Jeanie. "It was very special to share an experience like this."
In addition to Jeanie, the following family members were baptized: Jeanie's son Randall Ricketts, Tabatha Debeutey and their son Jordan; Jeanie's daughter Crystal Goza and Crystal's boyfriend Venecia; Jeanie's son Luke Ricketts, and Jeanie's daughter, April Chambers.
Jeanie and Jim have been attending the United Methodist Church for six years, and on Sunday they both officially joined the church.
"It started when my daughter Amber was baptized about six months ago," said Jeanie. "We got to realizing that the kids hadn't been baptized when they were young and before I knew it, they were all grown up. I started asking if they'd like to be baptized."
In addition to Norma Weber from Ramona, other guests attending the event were the kids' father Ronald Ricketts and his wife from Emporia and Jeanie's stepmother and stepfather, Lowell & Wanda Chambers, also from Emporia.
Jeanie and Jim had rented our bed and breakfast house — Cousin's Corner — for the weekend celebration. On Sunday, following the baptism, family and friends met for lunch at the house. "We had a great time," said Jeanie. "Our favorite gathering spot seemed to be the kitchen."
"Oh, I enjoyed seeing your Cousin's Corner house," said Norma Weber. "It was amazing how many people I recognized on the walls." Our bed and breakfast is filled with family memorabilia and the reason Norma would recognize so many faces is because she's a cousin. Norma also had company at her house Saturday night when her daughter Barb and husband Charlie Stinchcomb of Russell stayed overnight. "They visited Charlie's folks, who live east of Marion," said Norma, "and then went to Wichita on Sunday."
Last week I reported on Frances Buxman's birthday and didn't realize that her best friend, Treva Schneider, also had a birthday on the very same day — Oct. 19! How's that for sisterhood! "I went to Junction City and my daughter, Thelma (Appodaca) took me to dinner at Applebee's. I really enjoyed it," said Treva.
"What parent in their right mind would let their youngster leave the house on this cold Friday morning wearing shorts, a tank top, and flip flops on their feet," I thought, as I approached a young lady wearing summer garb, standing on tiptoe getting a drink of water at Centre Elementary School.
Then a young man came bustling past me, wearing swimming trunks, Hawaiian shirt, and sunscreen on his nose. "Am I in the twilight zone?" I wondered. "Am I the only one around here who thinks it's winter outside?" as I pulled my coat closer around me and headed for the classroom to help my sister teach her weekly art class.
Suddenly it dawned on me. It's "Beach Day" — the final event of Red Ribbon Week, a drug awareness program observed across the nation. That's why so many kids were wearing Hawaiian shirts and sandals.
But I hadn't seen the best yet — that awaited me in the 4th grade classroom. I walked in the door with arms full of supplies, seriously focused on what Pat was planning to teach that morning, and the moment my eyes saw Rustyn Kerbs, I just burst out laughing!
All seriousness vanished when I saw Rustyn perched at his desk, looking slightly bored, peering out through foggy swimming goggles, a snorkel dangling from his mouth, and a towel wrapped around his neck. The delight of seeing so many creative kids sent me hunting for a camera so I could take a picture and let all of you enjoy a chuckle too.
And for those hunters anxiously awaiting the opening of hunting season, don't forget the breakfast and lunch being prepared Nov. 9 at the Ramona Senior Center. Breakfast will be served from 5 to 9 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Ramona Senior Citizens and the Ramona Volunteer Fire Department. For more information contact Kim Antoszyk, president of the Ramona Senior Center, 785-965-2643. And for those hunters who need lodging, the California Sisters' Bed & Breakfast has five bedrooms filled with warm, comfy beds. For reservations, call 965-2621.
It's almost Halloween and I feel more in the spirit of things now that my holiday lights are up and Pat and Tooltime Tim have carved some spooktacular pumpkins for our front porch. We even got a scarecrow up this weekend — "Jake cleaning his eaves" is hanging on the side of Jake's Place, where my parents are residing.
And that's the news from Ramona where a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
