Ramona folks still talking about Christmas adventures
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
When Katherine and Ole Herrman go on vacation, it's like I get a vacation too. They deliver videos and brochures and notes and even their diaries of the trip.
The Herrmans flew out of Wichita Dec. 20th and were greeted at Regan National Airport by Katherine's brother-in-law. Most of Katherine's family still resides in the D.C. area. "It's where I grew up. I lived there until I was 18," said Katherine, explaining her connection to the East Coast. "On this trip I saw my parents and two sisters."
The morning after their arrival in Washington, D.C., they joined Katherine's niece, Maria, for breakfast. "Then we walked by the White House and the National Christmas tree," wrote Ole in his travel dairy.
The Herrmans packed a lot into their six days, visiting The National Museum of American History, the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, FDR Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, and the WWII Memorial that's currently under construction between the Washington Monument and the Reflection Pool.
The highlight of their tours was the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Ole wrote in his diary, "You read about the Holocaust but it doesn't really hit home until you see things like letters, pictures, and artifacts. There was even a cut-away model of the gas chambers and crematoriums. And piles of property and possessions of normal people — like silverware, assorted kitchen items. Shoes
"It's an awesome museum," agreed Katherine, "but you just want to cry when you leave. One room was filled with shoes — all black. Simple shoes
Katherine had a personal connection to the Holocaust Museum. "My next door neighbor as a child — Nassa Godin — and her mother were both part of the Holocaust," said Katherine. "I saw the concentration camp ID numbers tattooed on Nassa's mother. Nassa is a tour guide at the museum."
On Dec. 22 the Herrmans headed for Baltimore Harbor where they toured the US Constellation, the oldest sail-powered war ship, and Ole went on board the USS Torsk, a diesel powered submarine, that sank the last enemy vessel of WWII. The sub also has an amazing service record of 11,884 dives — among the highest of any sub in U.S. history.
Right near the ships and subs is the National Aquarium where seahorses were on special exhibit. Katherine shared the video they took of the seahorses and what a delight! There were yellow ones and pink ones and even a special breed that has "adapted" to their environment and they look like leafy plants! Their disguise is so effective that you think you're seeing plants floating in the undulating waters, until they begin to navigate and purposefully move! I could hardly believe my eyes.
By Christmas Eve the Herrmans had toured the National Air & Space Museum and the newly opened Steven Udvar-Hazy Center which features artifacts like the Concorde that ceased flying in 2003, the first space shuttle Enterprise, the "Huey" helicopter so essential to the war in Vietnam. They viewed the Hope Diamond at the Natural History Museum, did some "antique-ing" and even attended a Christmas office party where Katherine's sister worked.
On Christmas Day it was about presents and eating. Reading Ole's diary entry made my mouth water: "Ham, turkey, potatoes, peas, corncake dressing, and cranberries." It made me long for Christmas dinner all over again.
"I'm ready to do Christmas all over again," said Norma Bird. "We had something going every day and it was all so much fun. After Christmas Norma's granddaughters, Jenny and Rachel, met Norma in Salina for some "girl fun."
"We went shopping and they took me to lunch at Red Lobster," said Norma, "and then we saw a woman's movie — 'Mona Lisa's Smile.' It's really wonderful!" On New Year's Eve the Birds thought they'd have just a couple friends over for food and games. "And we ended up with 11!" laughed Norma. Bob and Rita Brady, Darlene and Al Sondergard, Marlene and Reign Anduss, Velda and Jim McDiffit from Herington, Marlene and the Birds' granddaughter, Katrina. "We had so much food we could have had the whole town over," said Norma.
And things haven't slowed down for the Birds. "Last Monday I went to Wichita to have some work done on my veins," continued Norma. "When I came home I was wrapped like a mummy — from my toes to my thighs," and she chuckles. "I asked the doctor what I could do and he said I had no limitations, so I decided to go bowling!"
Her husband and daughter protested but Norma didn't give in. "We already had one sick and one gone on our bowling team," said Norma, "and if I hadn't played, our team would have had to forfeit." (And she obviously lived to tell the story!)
Hank and Gertie Schubert, along with Hank's sister, Martha Ehrhardt, gathered at Cousin's Corner B&B for another holiday celebration Jan. 2, with Schubert siblings, Frieda Struebing of Wichita and Anna Schimming of Herington.
The reason for the occasion was that Frieda's son, Alan Struebing of Summerland, Calif., was visiting with his wife, Meg and two small daughters, Dorcy and Emma. Alan's sister, Becky Peoples of Haysville, came along, too.
"It was wonderful to see my nephew," said Martha Ehrhardt. "I hadn't seen him since he was a teenager and it was so much fun to meet his wife and daughters."
My sister and I happen to be godparents to Alan's children. It's rare that we get to see them at holiday time so we were especially excited about their visit since we'd kept their Christmas presents until they arrived.
When we wrote Meg and Alan and asked what the girls would like for Christmas, Meg said, "Give them something that will exercise their creativity. And we'd like things that aren't plastic." (Well, that "nixed" the Barbie doll we'd been thinking of buying — which didn't exactly break my heart. I happened to agree with Meg's desire for a "no plastic" Christmas).
Alan dropped a hint that his girls loved playing dress-up. That was all we needed to hit the trail! Pat and I scurried up and down the isles of Goodwill in Salina and when we reached the check-out counter we had a suitcase (to hold all the stuff), two frilly dresses, gloves, jewelry, high heels, slips, fancy nightgowns, belts, clip-on earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, and even some fancy bras, one of them strapless.
When the girls opened the package with the bras their mom laughed, "Great! Now you don't have to play with mine!"
We coaxed and cajoled, trying to get the girls to dress up in their finery, but they were very shy to try it all on. But within minutes, Emma, who's six, had all the rings on her fingers. Every finger had a ring, except one thumb (and that's because we only bought 9!)
Buying all this dress-up stuff reminded me of my own childhood. Pat was 12 years older than I was and I was enthralled with her adult clothing — the crinolines, high heels, and the strapless formals.
Pat had a chartreuse formal that I just loved putting on. Being six years old, I didn't exactly have the equipment to uphold a strapless gown, so I'd get apples and oranges to put in the bodice. Voila! I was transformed into a woman! If my sister's boyfriends were around, I even got to practice flirting!
Warren and Paula Fike had lots of children surrounding them Dec. 27 at their Christmas gathering. The most exciting part of the holidays was the arrival of three new great-grandchildren in November and December. "The youngest, Carley Collett — was just 11 days old when we got together to celebrate," said Paula. Carley's parents are Adam and Elissa Collett.
The other December baby was Alec Guinness Wagner, born to Rebecca and Ron Wagner on Dec. 10. If you're a Star Wars fan, you'll notice that baby Alec was named after a Star Wars character, "We didn't catch that," laughed Paula. The third new arrival, Sage, was born in November to Iris and Luke Pauly.
Another "grandchild milestone" happened when Gary and Carol Fike's daughter, Grace, took her first step while visiting Grandpa and Grandma Fike. "By the time they left for home, Grace was walking clear across the room," said Paula.
Paula Morgan's son, Ryan, has relocated from Texas to the Lincolnville area. Ryan arrived with his companion, Kim, and Kim's two young daughters, Kristin and Katie.
A couple of years ago when Ryan brought Kim and her daughters to Kansas for a visit, they expressed the desire to return to live here someday. But Kim was finishing her degree in drafting, and then Ryan wondered where he'd work.
"You know, God does strange things," said Paula. "Sometimes you look and look for something and about the time you stop looking, it drops in your lap!"
Ryan and Kim came to see Paula and Max for Thanksgiving and Ryan saw the job opportunity to work at the Shields' farm helping Kim. He got the job! "Ryan and family got here on Saturday," said Paula, "and on Monday, Ryan was out fixing fence!"
The children start school at Centre this week, too. "It might be an adjustment," said Paula, "since they're coming from a school of several thousand kids, to a school with 100 or less. And their winter clothes aren't going to cut it. But then you know about that!" laughed Paula.
Indeed, I'm still adjusting to Kansas winters. Right now my toes are freezing and that would be excuse enough to bring my column to a close, except that Tony Meyer had an exciting visitor and you just have to hear about it!
"I've got an Egyptologist at the house," announced Tony when he called. "My nephew Glenn Meyer is here visiting." I grabbed my camera, pen and paper — this was going to be fun!
"So what got you interested in Egypt?" I asked Glenn after Tony introduced us. "Back in '92 I took my first class. It was really a hobby for my spare time — a weekend class on ancient Egypt."
But once Glenn started investigating the mysteries of Egypt, he got hooked! "I have studied Egypt so extensively I could have a bachelor's degree," said Glenn with a grin. "I've been there five times. If I could make a living a Egyptology, I would!"
I discovered that Glenn, Martin and Florentine Meyer's son, began his career in journalism, writing for the Kansas City Star. Then he earned a degree in computer science in 1982 and landed in California working at NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Admin) on flight simulations. "I integrate systems and write code. And then there's the paperwork," and Glenn laughs.
"What intrigues you about Egypt?" I asked. "There's just something about looking at anything that is 5,000 years old," said Glenn, who has become so enthralled with Egypt that he can read hieroglyphics.
"What's your next trip?" I questioned. "The five western oases," replied Glenn. "I was going to go there on my last trip in 2003, and my girlfriend was going with me, and then a close friend advised against it. 'You don't want to take a new girlfriend to the five oases — it's the desert, and lots of sand and no conveniences.' So I decided to visit the five oases at a later date," Glenn chuckled.
"You may have heard of the five oases," continued Glenn. "One of them — Bahariya Oasis — was in the news recently when they found about 15,000 mummies there. Another oasis is Siwa where Alexander the Great visited to consult the Oracle regarding his future."
Erich Utech was at Tony's house when Glenn came to visit. When I walked in the door, Erich was showing Glenn the 2003 Utech calendar created by Erich's sister, Dolores Siggs and her husband Ernie.
On the cover of the calendar it read: The Utech Family has had no weddings, no births and no deaths — although Ernie (Siggs) tried to die but the Lord said, "not yet."
"Look at this," said Erich as he pointed to all the pictures of the different generations. "In the first generation there were 21 of us and in the second generation there's 20." And he continues with amazement in his voice, "And in the third generation, there are 30 so far and three more are in the hangar!" I just love how Erich puts things — never fails to make me smile.
Bobby Thornhill came into the bank last week to introduce his cousin, Terry McRae, who will be moving to Ramona this next May/June. Terry owns the property just east of Bobby's house on the corner of 3rd and C.
Terry currently resides in Germantown, Wis. "I'm moving as soon as I retire," said Terry, who works for Harley Davidson.
Terry's no stranger to Kansas. "I was born in Herington. My parents were Francis "Jack" McRae and Orpha "Connie" (Ladner) McRae. My mom was born in Ramona." Terry's dad (Jack), is a brother to Bobby's mom, (Dorothy Thornhill), Jack's and Dorothy's mother was Mary McRae.
Terry and Bobby had fun reminiscing about family heritage and stories. It's clear that Terry is another "character" like his cousin, Bobby. He'll be a delightful addition to the citizenry of Ramona!
"I lived in Herington until I was about two," said Terry, "and then, according to my dad, the family left and ran away because of bootlegging and they went to Wisconsin where they worked for the breweries — like Pabst. We have lots of interesting family stories!" and he chuckles with that same mischievous grin that I see on his cousin's face when he tells a story.
In 1998, the McRae's celebrated the 100th anniversary of their home place out on U.S.-77 near Herington. "My uncle died on the McRae farm," said Terry, "and his last words were, 'They'll never find the still!' which was out in the pasture. The McRaes were known for making beer," said Terry laughing.
And that's the news from Ramona where every family probably has a story or two about making beer, and a traffic jam is two parked cars a dog in the road.
