Ramona senior center begins Thanksgiving celebrations
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
I suppose you could call the senior center luncheon Thursday a "dry-run" for the traditional Thanksgiving celebration happening this week. I know in our household Pat made her special sweet potato casserole and Mom whipped up some grape pineapple salad — both recipes are rarely seen, except at Thanksgiving.
The wonderful meal certainly did whet the appetite for the best parts of Thanksgiving — juicy, succulent turkey, fluffy mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie so fresh that it was steaming as Marlene Anduss cut and sliced her contribution to the meal.
Twenty-seven guests gathered Thursday for the Thanksgiving luncheon at the Ramona Senior Center. Rita Brady, who made sure all the "cooks" didn't bring just desserts, coordinated the food!
There were representatives from all age groups at the event, the youngest was probably Collin Bailey who happened to be in town on Thursday noon — usually he's on the road since he's a trucker. The oldest citizen at the luncheon was Tony Meyer, who is over 90 and "still truckin" too!
Two of the luncheon guests were having birthdays in and around Thanksgiving — Collin Bailey and Marguerite Utech. This entitled them to be first in the "chow" line.
Even the builders on Martha Ehrhardt's home — John Laurin of Marion and Butch Suffield of Peabody — accepted the invitation to enjoy a warm meal in the warmth of the senior center. "That was a great meal!" said John, when I spoke with him later. "I really enjoy meeting people, and Butch already knew quite a few Ramona folks."
After the delicious turkey dinner, about a dozen folks stayed for card games and dominoes.
The seniors are already planning their Christmas lunch on Dec. 18. Folks are invited to bring a covered dish for the luncheon and if you want to stay afterward to play games. You're also invited to bring a gift of $5 or less and these mini-presents will be used as prizes for bingo and other games.
The group also is taking a Christmas excursion on Dec. 17, heading for a light supper at the Kirby House in Abilene and then viewing the Christmas lights in "the big city."
"We'll be adding our own musical entertainment as we view the lights," said Norma Bird, president of the Ramona seniors. "Everybody knows a few Christmas carols."
David and Faith Judd were in Ramona over the weekend. David is a nephew of Leonard and Marge Hanschu. But the Judds didn't get much time to socialize with their relatives because they came expressly to continue installing the new Mac computers that Pat and I recently purchased.
By the time the Judds departed on Monday we could find our files and print! We're working on the next edition of the Ramona News and that will really put the system to the test.
Josh Leach knew exactly what he wanted for his 13th birthday — a dance! So his mom, Fern Leach, and his sisters, Jenny and Rachel, combined their resources and creative energy, rented the Lincolnville Community Center, asked Ryan Olsen of Lincolnville to be the DJ, invited all the junior high kids from Centre High School and Josh had one heck of a party!
In addition to 40-50 junior high kids, Josh's aunts and cousins attended, along with his grandparents, Don and Norma Bird.
Sandra Svoboda went to the yearly craft show Saturday in Salina at the Bicentennial Center. She met her sister-in-law, Patty, who lives in Salina. I was surprised that Sandra was going to the show, rather than exhibiting at the show, because she's an amazing "crafter" herself.
In fact, on Saturday she was wearing one of her own "snowmen" creations — a darling jacket made from a sweatshirt, appliqued with a jolly snowman on the back.
It was "guys' night out" Monday evening when Tony Meyer, Erich Utech, Fred Utech, and Junior Hanschu headed for Marion for dinner. "It's a free steak dinner," said Tony, "put on by the Marion city fathers. They do it every year."
Erich Utech shed more light on the event: "It's the Farmers Appreciation Dinner and its sponsored by the Marion Chamber of Commerce and the businesses that belong to the Chamber." What a wonderful tradition — our farmers deserve lots of gratitude.
Fred Utech was our "hero farmer" last week when Pat was on the search for wheat. She's making wheat socks, and she had the socks, and needed some wheat!
If you haven't heard of a wheat sock, it's a relative of the "warmed brick" that my grandmother used on those blustering Kansas nights when the kids crawled into the frigid featherbeds. Pat's wheat socks are for our bed and breakfast to keep our guests' toes cozy and warm when they snuggle under the flannel sheets and down comforters.
We first learned about wheat socks from dad's physical therapist, Darlene. She made one for him in hopes it would relieve the many aches and pains he had. Pat thought it was so amazing she made one for herself and began using it in her massage therapy practice.
Then we gave our wheat sock to one of our B&B guests one night, and they were so enthused they wanted to take it home. So Pat decided to make enough socks for every room in our guest house and even some for sale. She had the socks, died them red, had them embroidered with "Cousin's Corner B&B" and then she needed the crucial ingredient — wheat!
"When I asked Erich for wheat he said all he had was five gallons that he's using for rat poison," said Pat. "Ask my brother," said Erich. "He has lots of wheat!"
Fred Utech to the rescue — he brought several sacks of wheat and when we asked what we owed him he said, "Just be my friend for life!" In addition to friendship we promised him a wheat sock and a loaf of homemade bread. Part of the wheat is going in our mom's direction — she makes amazing homemade wheat bread and likes to grind her own flour.
As winter approaches, there's nothing quite so comforting as a new roof — just ask the Thompsons who moved here from California this summer. The Thompsons purchased the old Beisel home at Fifth and B and after many years of enduring the elements, the house needed a new roof — urgently!
But the Thompson's house has extremely steep gables and while Jim Thompson loves remodeling the old house, that steep roofline wasn't something he was wanting to tackle. "I hate heights!" Jim said adamantly.
So Ramona's postmaster, Kathy Werth, recommended her friend, Don Matkin and his brother Elmer. And this past week Don and Elmer have been racing against the weather to put on a new roof.
Not much else has been happening in Ramona. It's been a quiet week in town. When I called folks to ask what they'd been doing, the reply I heard most often was, "not much."
And that's the news from Ramona where everybody's looking forward to folks arriving for Thanksgiving, and even then a traffic jam is still two parked cars and a dog in the road.
