Ramona: Sisters are four-square for the Fourth of July
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
"I didn't know I had so much junk," teased Harry Cheever as he mingled with the crowd that gathered at his home place on north "B" in Ramona. "We all face that one," I said to Harry, "anybody who moves after living in a place for very long, has to eventually face all the stuff they collect, buy or save."
Harry, with his typical mischievous grin and twinkling eyes, was doing a great job Saturday morning at being upbeat as folks gathered for the auction. Harry and his wife Imogene moved to Marion a couple months back so they'd have medical support for Imogene's health. And the last task was to sort through a lifetime of possessions with the help of their sons, Ron and Dennis, and bring closure to the sale of the home place.
"This sale thing is a mixed bag, isn't it?" I said to Harry, giving him a little hug. "While it's great fun to see lots of old friends, and it's a relief to let go of some possessions and a comfort to have some money in your pocket at the end of the day, there's still a little sadness mixed in with it all."
I think about that a lot. Pat and I have a lot of "stuff" in Ramona. We have one whole house that is filled with "stuff" we bought at auctions — like the one held at the Cheever place on Saturday.
We joke with Pat's daughter, Jana, who's next in line to inherit all our "stuff" and we often tell her, "When we leave the planet or can't be here anymore, just sell everything and go on a trip to Europe. Oh, and be sure and give some of the money to Tooltime Tim since he helped make it all happen!"
Last summer Tim helped us move some of our possessions from California to Ramona, and he was heard to say, "When you two die, is Jana going to want me to move all this back to California?" Pat and I decided right then and there that we'd better stipulate in our Will that there's a sale — no moving involved!
The Cheever sale was a little like a family reunion. Ron and Dennis, were overseeing the auction details, Ron's wife, Marvena was providing lunch and snacks under the awning of their camping trailer that they'd moved up to Harry's for the day.
I walked over to say hello to Marvena and spotted a little blond toddler with her. I thought she looked like Alexia, Marvena's granddaughter, but Alexia lives in Virginia with her parents, Chrissy and Scotty Smith.
But that grin, those eyes, can it be? "It's Alexia," confirmed Marvena. "Chrissy and Scotty just arrived a day or so ago."
I turned around and here was Scotty, on leave from his Naval duties. Scotty is stationed in Norfolk, Virginia and will be there for four years. He just returned from a five-month tour of duty that took him to Kuwait, Iraq, Iran and other locations I can't even spell. He is a police officer in the Navy and serves on the USS Saipan.
"Our ship received the amphibious record for being out to sea the longest without being in port," said Scotty. "We went 148 days without touching land."
Oh, by the way, the biggest sale item at the Cheever sale was the house. It was purchased by another Ramona family, Reign and Marlene Anduss, who own the Ramona Café.
Thank goodness Harry still likes to drive, because then he can still come to Ramona to see his old friends and of course his son, Ron, and family. Frequently Harry's seen at the Ramona Café having lunch, and it's comforting to meet him there because it feels like nothing has changed — nothing at all.
On the Fourth of July Ramona turns into a Norman Rockwell moment. That's how my sister, Pat, describes what goes on here in town. The annual celebration began about four years ago, before we ever moved to Ramona, when my sister wanted to have a parade in town. "Who will come?" I wanted to know.
But she was optimistic. "Even if it's just our relatives (we had our family reunion on the Fourth), some decorated bikes, a wagon or two," she said, "I still want a parade."
So we sent a press release to the Herington and Marion newspapers and when we arrived that year for our month-long stay, we saw the press releases — BIG and BOLD. "We'd better start planning something," I teased, "because folks are expecting something to happen."
And indeed it did happen. Folks came from Ramona and Herington, on bikes, motorcycles, in the back of trucks and Ramona's first parade was held. The fireworks that first year were a gift from our family — and today they're supported by community businesses, most notably, the Tampa State Bank.
What began as family fun has now expanded to a wider family and community with different families creating and sponsoring various events. For the schedule of events, see a separate story in this week's paper.
Ramona families have pulled together to bring about this year's event. Jeannie Weber wanted to be sure the kids had something to do in the afternoon of the Fourth, so she and her family have orchestrated an afternoon of fun and games.
Pat and I, and our Aunt Gertie Schubert, will have the Dirt Gambler's Museum open from 4-7 because we love celebrating the history of Ramona and its families. Also, our passion is the parade — and Pat and Tooltime Tim are already hard at work creating this year's entries. And my contribution to the parade is getting the prizes from area businesses.
Mayor Connie Smith loves fireworks and she has mowed her field, Freedom's Field, for Friday's Finale — the FIREWORKS! Connie's husband, Dan, takes the trek to buy the fireworks and Rob Prine and Alan Bentz from the Ramona Fire Dept. are ensuring our fireworks display is amazing and safe.
The Ramona Rowdies (Ramona's Senior group) adds their part of BINGO and ice cream. "And we've got to have a band," said Jeannie Weber. So she booked the Stuchlik Polka Band and another Ramona family — Lisa and Ron Hanschu — said they'd sponsor it, along with Lisa's family, the Moldenhauers and Stikas of Tampa.
Even Marion folks — the Meiers of Wagon Wheel Express — add to our community event by sponsoring the band and also having their food concession, Uncle Haney's BBQ in Ramona for the day.
Ramona's very own restaurant — The Ramona Café — will be open on Friday, too, which means Reign and Marlene will be working an extra day this week to make the town celebration memorable.
And there have been other donations from folks who just want to support and be anonymous. "Here's money for whatever you need it for," said one generous farmer as he handed me a $100 bill. "Oh, that will go for fireworks and parade prizes," said I.
But despite all this community effort and support, there's still one thing we need on the Fourth of July — that's YOU! You in a lawn chair on main street watching the parade, YOU coming to town to eat, YOU in the parade.
Put a bunch of family members on the back of a trailer (we call this a "float" in our parade). Paint some faces, put on a red nose, (The theme is circus and clowns), brush up on your juggling skills! Juggle one ball, if you can't juggle two, but be there! Be funny, silly, outrageous — you won't be alone!
The parade starts sharply at 7 p.m. — if you come late, you may miss it! We may take the parade around the block twice, just to extend the fun!
And that's the news from Ramona where there'll be A LOT of parked cars in the road on Friday — and we hope the dogs will all be properly tied up.
