Ramona: Lynn Kleiber family moves from the country to Salina
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
Ramona is much more than the five streets in any direction — many of the enduring families that share Ramona as an address are found in the country, surrounding town. I always think of them as the foundation of Ramona because those families have been here solidly for years, while in town, shifts can occur from one month to the next.
It's those families in the country who have been here for generations, not just for months or a few years. Their names — Kleiber, Hanschu, Deines, Utech, Brunner, Fike, Eskeldson, Tajchman, Jirak — are the very cornerstones that have upheld Ramona for more than 100 years. These names are tied to the very land, as one father and mother pass the family legacy and land to their sons and daughters.
For that reason, when I first saw the "for sale" sign in front of the Kleibers' farm on 330th a few months back, I felt the earth quiver, as though portending a quake. Just driving by their house on the way to Tampa always comforted me. Just knowing who lived there, and recalling the rituals I'd been apart of — like graduation parties — even in the short time I've lived here.
I imagined what it would feel like to go to school programs and not see them in the audience. In five years I've become fond of their children, Amanda, Andrea, and Nicholas, and have acquired cherished memories like doing a school play together, celebrating graduations, or teaching them art.
Soon after Pat and I moved here in 2000, we attended a school program at Centre and Lynn and Peggy Kleiber were sitting in front of us. Our aunt Anna was with us at that program and she leaned over and whispered, "They're your relatives, you know." (Lynn's mother and my mother are cousins.)
I soon discovered, however, that "they're your relatives" is a common occurrence out here in the country. And even if you're not related, there's a bond between folks in the country that over the years makes you feel like you're related, even if you're not.
This past May, when Andrea graduated from Centre High School, I was invited to her graduation party held at the family home. As I sat around the huge dining room table with other guests, I realized what a honor it was to be in the mix — watching people oohh and ahhh over Ashton Kerbs' engagement ring, listening to her mother Julie talk about the September wedding, relishing Vickie Jirak's laughter, watching Elias experience cake and ice cream. We all were making memories that are tied to each other, forever.
So when I heard rumors recently that the Kleibers had sold their farm, I chose not to believe it until I saw a "sold" sign. And then I saw Peggy at Ashton Kerbs' wedding Sept. 24, and Peggy confirmed that they indeed had sold their place. It was happening so fast there wasn't even time for a "sold" sign to go up — there still isn't.
"When are you moving?" I asked Peggy at the wedding reception. "We've already started moving," said Peggy with her infectious laughter. "The real question is when will we be finished!"
I was imagining that the Kleibers would be around for another month or so, but alas the realty contract specifies that they'll have vacated the farm and house by Sept. 30. By the time you read this column, the Kleibers will be settled (or at least they and their boxes will be moved) to their new home three miles north of Salina.
"There are many memories tied to this house," said Lynn Kleiber in the midst of packing boxes. "My children are the sixth generation to live in this house. I was raised here, and we had many a family gathering in this dining room. Mom's cooking was excellent and the relatives loved to visit!"
Packing unearthed many memories for the Kleiber family. "It's like finding buried treasure," said Lynn. "I was upstairs moving everything from the big room where the girls had their bedrooms and seeing it empty reminded me of when we had the room remodeled and carpeted — the girls were four or five. When the kids saw it for the first time they exclaimed, 'oh my gosh' and rolled all over the floor! I captured it all on my camcorder."
"I've lived here all my life," said Andrea, who's a freshman at K-State. "I didn't want to see the farm sold and figured this is the house I'd always come home to." But Andrea admits that she probably wouldn't choose to live her adult life in the home of her childhood. When I asked her if she'd choose city life over the country, when she marries and has a family of her own, she quickly says she'd choose the country.
"I'll miss the people the most," said Andrea's mom, Peggy. "I've lived in this house all but one year of my married life. There's something wonderful about going in the bank and everyone knows you. And the wedding dances, I'll miss that too, and church, where you know everybody."
But the one thing the Kleibers won't miss, especially Lynn, is the drive to work every day. "I won't miss the daily two-hour and 100+ mile commute," admits Lynn, who's a rural mail carrier in Salina, "but I will miss the small-town atmosphere that we enjoyed here."
Peggy divulged that moving to a new house in Salina will be lovely. "I won't miss the paneled walls of the farm house," she says with laughter. I commiserated because I'm not fond of paneling either, but found it was the favored approach in the country for covering up the troublesome plaster walls found in old houses here.
But moving to the city has its challenges too. The Kleibers' new home sits on an acre of land, but neighbors are within sight. "We belong to a neighborhood association," said Peggy, "and we learned what that meant recently when we positioned our propane tank on our property in a spot that some of our neighbors didn't like."
But as Peggy looked around at her new neighbors, she realized she didn't like what some of them had done to their property either. "Our little propane tank is nothing compared to the huge shed our neighbors built — it's all you see when you enter the neighborhood!" said Peggy with a ornery glint in her eye. "So I decided to give the neighborhood association something to complain about."
Listening to Peggy talk about her plan made me laugh, and I realized that she has a mischievous streak that's just delightful — a glint in the eye that her daughter, Andrea also shares.
"We have this family joke about pink flamingos," explained Peggy. "Lynn hates them so as a joke I've always suggested that the kids get him something with pink flamingos on it for birthdays, Father's Day, and other important occasions."
Lynn's managed to get rid of all of the flamingoes over the years, except one — a big six-foot pink thing that Peggy's scheming to put up in the front yard of their Salina home. "That'll give the neighborhood association something to focus on!" she says with mischievous glee.
If you want to see if Peggy follows through with her "flamingo threat," visit the Kleibers at their new home, at 4276 Turner Lane in Salina. Their new phone is 785-827-5208. "Do stop by and visit," said Lynn.
The Kleiber homestead on 330th in Ramona will now have a new name attached to the land — Billinger. Arleigh and Scott Billinger of Lancaster, Calif., are the new owners, but will not reside here until next year when Scott retires. I learned these details from Sylvia Bailey of Lincolnville, who's Scott's sister and owner of Bailey's Grill & Tavern.
Many of the details about the Kleibers' move were garnered at the wedding reception of Ashton Kerbs and Jesse Smith, Quite a few Ramona folks were there — Sandra Svoboda, Candace Tajchman, Vickie Jirak and Raschelle, Marissa Makovec and family, and probably others I didn't see. Marissa catered the wedding reception, which was done with her trademark excellence.
Highlights of the wedding, from my perspective were: Ashton's stunning, shimmering, billowing, champagne-colored gown, a duet sung by Ashton and her brother, Rustyn, Ashton's mother, Julie as her maid of honor and gorgeous in her sage-colored gown.
Julie and Russ Kerbs looked like they were having a great time at their daughter's wedding. "People kept asking Russ if he was nervous, " said Julie, "but he was excited. We both had a wonderful day! One of the wonderful aspects of the wedding was realizing that I lived in a talented and wonderful community. Everyone involved in the wedding was a local person — florist, caterer, musicians, hair stylist."
When I mentioned the delightful suckers that were at the reception Julie said, "Oh there's a story behind that. When I was in high school I made heart-shaped candy that was cinnamon for Russ when we were dating. Later my sister-in-law, Denice Bina — who made Ashton's wedding cake — found heart-shaped molds for making suckers, and I'd make suckers and sell them at arts and craft fairs. I recently made some for another family wedding and decided to make them for Ashton and Jesse's wedding too."
By the time I left the reception, I'd had eaten three and had two in my hand — I had to try all the flavors.
Pat, Tooltime Tim, and I missed the wedding dance because we had tickets to "Always Patsy Cline," at Great Plains Theatre Festival in Abilene. If you love Patsy Cline music, you must see this production. By the time you leave, you'll forget that you aren't seeing the real Patsy. Michelle Mead is tremendous as the famous country singer.
There's lots of activity on the north end of town as the Ramona Park Improvement Committee and the Ramona Volunteer Fire Department begins work on another haunted house for Halloween weekend. The former Sader home, now owned by a family on the east coast, has hired Gale Makovec to level the house and clear the property, but before that happens, there'll be one more haunted event for your fun and entertainment.
Jayme Brunner was mowing the property last week, and Art Stroda, Jeannie Weber, and Tony Stroda were seen starting to construct haunted hallways and spooky rooms inside the house. Exact dates and times will appear in the newspaper.
And that's the news from Ramona where a traffic jam is two parked cars and a dog in the road.
