White Christmas comes to Ramona a day late
By JESSICA GILBERT
Ramona correspondent
(785) 965-2621
Ramona is a winter wonderland! Despite it being the day after Christmas, I still broke out singing, "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas," as I baked an apricot cheesecake and watched through the kitchen window as the snow descended to carpet the lawn in white.
It was so exciting that I just had to create a reason to get out in it — so I bundled up, put on my thermal socks and walking boots, threw a scarf around my neck, and walked down to the old bank building where we have our office to begin writing this week's column.
My favorite cat, Snickerdoodle, trailed along behind me, every now and then stopping to pick up his paws and shake them. "What is this strange cold, wet, stuff under my feet?"
The only unfortunate part to the snow is that there wasn't enough of it to go sledding. My sister Pat loves to go sledding late at night and the moment the big flakes began to descend on Thursday she was talking to Tooltime Tim about getting his old car hood out for a midnight ride.
The snow brought a "stillness" to Ramona, which is rather amazing — how can a town that's already quiet, get even quieter?
But the stillness was a pleasant repose after all the hustle and bustle of the past few days. It began Dec. 21 when Santa came roaring into town on the fire truck. When he finally stopped in front of the Ramona Senior Center, I expected the kids to rush to the door to see, but instead they were engrossed in visiting, eating hamburgers, and speculating on what was in all the packages wrapped so brightly.
"Come on, kids," I urged. "If you're expecting a gift from Santa in the next hour, don't be looking too apathetic!" I doubt they knew what the word "apathetic" meant, but they got my drift, and by the time Santa entered the building, they were standing at the door with enthusiastic smiles and cheers.
The senior center was packed with parents, kids, and some of the town folks who played Santa's elves and bought presents for 35 Ramona children. In the kitchen, Tooltime Tim, Pat, Ramona Mayor Connie Smith, and I were busy preparing lunch for the crowd.
Lunch was a "new wrinkle" in the traditional Angel Tree event, thanks to the Ramona Improvement Committee, the City of Ramona, Cousin's Corner Bed & Breakfast, and Barnes IGA in Herington, who provided the "fixins" for hamburgers, chips, drinks, and cookies.
Afterward, many of the children visited Collin Bailey's train display. Others came to visit too — there were cars parked on both sides of the street in front of Collin's house.
By nightfall, as the community Nativity program approached, we had a full-blown traffic jam on the corner of 4th and E where the Lutheran church is located.
"The air was just filled with Christmas magic," said my sister Pat, who created the costumes for 20 nativity characters. "My favorite memory was walking behind the kids as they left the Parish Hall and proceeded to the church — the cluster of little angels, their wings jostling as they walked and ran, the herd of shepherds surrounding Cole who was carrying his baby lamb, and wise men calling out, 'your stepping on my train!' "
One of my favorite moments was listening to the three wise men — Derek Stuchlik, Nick Kleiber, and Rustyn Kerbs — discussing which of them was carrying the gold and who was carrying the frankincense and myrrh.
Rustyn's mom, Julie, reported that Rustyn was contemplating the proper behavior of a "wiseman" as they drove to the performance. "Mom, do you think wisemen were serious?" pondered Rustyn.
As they put on their costumes, Pat instructed the wisemen to walk like they were really important with their heads held high — after all, they were looking up to follow a star.
The wisemen were breathtaking to behold, their costumes in brilliant orange, regal green, and glittering gold, made from sari material which came from India — one of my sister's favorite countries.
Cole Svoboda's baby lamb nearly stole the show, however. Right at the conclusion of Jean Brunner's rendition of "Oh, Holy Night," the little lamb started bleating, as though right on cue, and sweet laughter floated through the church. "Was that planned?" asked my mother. "That little lamb just seemed to baa-aaa, at just the right moments."
The holy family had its hands full as they tended the baby. Emily Staatz as Mary and Jacob Jirak as Joseph did an admirable job amusing baby Allison Mainville who represented the infant Jesus.
Emily was definitely challenged as she tried to keep her little niece content, while also keeping her headdress on straight. She had high hopes that the baby would be willing to rest in the manger once in awhile, but little Allison was intent on being in Emily's arms and watching what was going on.
But the challenging moment came when the baby lost her pacifier in the straw — there was a look of panic in both Mary and Joseph's eyes.
After the program, folks had the option of pie and coffee at Reign and Marlene Anduss's café on Main Street or visiting our bed and breakfast. Pat and I delighted in having many Ramona folks tour the house. "I approve!" said Treva Schneider, who's mother-in-law Lydia Schneider last owned the house. "I wish Duke could have seen what you've all done."
When we checked in with Reign he said that Marlene's pies were all gone — there'd been a good crowd at their place, too.
The next evening there was excitement again at Trinity Lutheran Church as the members and their families gathered for the yearly church Christmas program. "The church was full again," said Betty Ohm who attended both events.
I overheard Jean Brunner saying they were turning several little boys into sheep — her grandson Tucker being one of them. "Oh, Tucker will follow Tanner anywhere," she said with a smile.
When I asked how they made the sheep outfits she explained that her daughter Jill just took a couple of white trash bags, sprayed them with adhesive and threw cotton balls on the bags. "They looked really cute, but we were full of cotton by the time we got them made," said Jean.
"Tucker wandered off," said Jean. "We called him the little lost lamb. He saw his mom at the back of the church and took off down the aisle to be with her."
Other little sheep were Dylan Deines and Devin Richardson who was here visiting his grandparents, Harold and Betty Ohm. "We even had one little cow," said Jill McGrath, who helped plan the program. "Jorge Hanschu played that special part."
Nicki Stenzel was Mary and Bryant Brunner was Joseph. Hovering angels were Shelby and Jessica Deines, Samantha Coup, Makenzie Deines, Anna Weber, and Jordan Richardson. Shepherds were Tanner Brunner, James Weber, Adam Coup, Justin Richardson, Justin Deines, and Jakob Hanschu.
Tracy Brunner and Brandon Hanschu were readers, along with several of the youngsters who also had special parts to recite. "Pastor Davis read the Christmas story and had a Christmas message," said Jean.
"We tried to involve everybody — even Leola Neuschafer's grandkids were in the audience and two of them joined the other young people in singing "Away in the Manager," reported Jean.
The Ramona trains even got involved in the event — with several of the program participants sitting "caught" on the other side of the trains which were blocking the tracks. "Lori Moldenhauer and Pastor Davis came from Tampa and were stuck until they found an alternate route," said Jean. "We had people all over who were trying to get through."
On Christmas Eve families were beginning to gather. "We were at Fern's on Christmas Eve," said Norma Bird, "and the kids got to open one of their gifts." The following day on Christmas, the family gathered at Norma and Don's house for lunch. "We make it easy — I make corn chowder and we have cold cuts and desserts," said Norma.
When I called Orvell Brunner it was her daughter Ann who answered the phone. "The family was here on Christmas Day," reported Orvell, "and we're still Christmassing! Ann is still here and it's always a holiday when she's here," she said with a laugh. "The family came at noon and we had butterball soup, then our big meal in the evening. We spread it out and eat all day!"
Lauren and Orvell's grandson Tanner Brunner had been competing in Junior Rodeo just days before Christmas. "I think he won something around $60 altogether," said Orvell, "and he bought everybody's Christmas present with his winnings."
When I spoke with Tanner about his recent competition, he said that he entered several events on the Dec 21-22 event held in an indoor arena near Wichita — barrel racing, goat tying, break-away roping, and pole bending. "I won 1st and 2nd in goats," reported Tanner, "and third in poles."
"How long have you been competing?" I asked Tanner. "Well, I started when I was about 5, but then I took a couple of years off. I started up again last summer," said 10-year-old Tanner, who will be competing again in January.
Nate Bailey and Judy Gratz went to Hope to celebrate Christmas. Dinner was hosted by Nate's son Brandon and his wife. Nate's other children Collin and Margaret, along with grandkids, joined the festivities.
Mayor Connie Smith's company arrived on Dec. 23 — her oldest son Bill Lawson from Mulvane, his wife Lynn, and three of their six children, and Connie's daughter Catina Cunningham and her son Alston of McPherson. But the biggest surprise of all was that Connie's husband Dan arrived on Monday, too! "I wasn't expecting him until Christmas," said Connie.
"Any memorable gifts?" I asked Connie. "Oh, you bet! The biggest box under the tree was for me, from Dan. The grandkids kept bugging me, wanting me to open it, but I told them I was waiting until Christmas Day. Finally, Dan said I should just open the present, so I did."
Connie said that to many women this may not be an impressive gift, but she was thrilled — stainless steel tube step-ups for her new Dodge pick-up. "They're gorgeous!" said Connie.
Christmas gifts don't always come in a box, either. "Todd Svitak entered into our Christmas celebration," said Connie. "My son and his family were supposed to leave Monday evening and when they got out to their car, it wouldn't start. We called Todd Svitak and he agreed to work on the car on Christmas Eve." Once Todd agreed to work on the car, the next "drama" was insulin. "My granddaughter is diabetic and hadn't brought any insulin because they weren't planning to spend the night," said Connie.
Following a quiet Christmas with her husband Dan and friends Paul Jones and Mark Arnold, Dan was on the road once more. "Then it was a blizzard near Hutchinson and Dan and his truck ended up in the middle of a 20-car pile-up on the freeway," said Connie. "Thankfully he wasn't hurt — and I'm looking forward to some peace and quiet for New Year's."
The Stroda family met at the Parish Hall on Christmas Day for their annual gathering. "There was probably close to 40 people there," said Marge Stroda, the matriarch of the family. "All my children were there," she said. That's Tom and Terry from Texas, Marilyn from Herington, Robert and Elaine from Salina, Art and Jane from Ramona, and James from Hill City.
"Everybody brings a little something," said Marge, "and Jane does the main part of the cooking, and then we exchange gifts." Marge reminded me to add that all her children's families were present on Christmas Day — too many to count and too many to list.
Making the season bright are three new grandbabies for Marge and Maurice Stroda. Brian Haden and Cynthia from Wichita have a new baby girl Kiana. And then there's Jennifer and Vinnie from Ramona with their son Mathew. Stefanie and Ben from Ramona have their daughter Allison.
Gertie Schubert spent Christmas Day in the hospital — her doctor had concerns about blood clots. So our dinner table had only Uncle Hank Schubert, Pat, me, and our mother, Martha. We had just gotten a new stove, which inspired all kinds of Christmas cooking. After lunch, Hank went to visit Gertie and Martha stopped to see her sister Anna Schimming in Herington.
Treva Schneider had a house full already on Christmas Eve. "We always have butterball and noodle soup," said Treva. I know there were 13 people at her house because I was making cinnamon rolls for Treva and her family, and she specifically told me to make enough for 13.
Naomi Fike went to her son Steve's on Dec. 21, then the following day went to her daughter Virginia's in Haysville and had a big dinner and a gift exchange. "Almost needed a truck to get me home, I got so much stuff," said Naomi. Then she went home with Steve's through Christmas and returned home on Dec. 26.
Frances Buxman had four of her children home for Christmas, but the big event is happening this weekend, when all the kids come home. "There'll probably be about 32," said Frances. "My tree is covered with gifts."
Even Frances's son Scott from Ulysses is coming this weekend, despite a recent surgery on his hand. "His hand is wrapped so big he can't get his jacket on," reported Frances. Evidently Scott had an old injury to his hand that became a problem recently when his hand was hit by a board. The old injury flared up, requiring surgery. "They took a piece of bone from his arm and fused it in his finger," said Frances, as she tried to explain the intricate procedure.
"I went to my daughter Barbara's in Russell for Christmas. I left on Dec. 22, and came back on Christmas Day," said Norma Weber. And on Christmas Day, Norma's son Jim and his wife Jeannie joined the party in Russell, then drove Norma back home to Ramona.
Even though Paul Jones didn't have a Santa hat on, he had presents in the back of his "sleigh" as he drove out of town last Friday. He was heading for Topeka to spend a couple of days with his sisters and also visiting his daughter who has a new grandbaby.
Oh, before I forget, the picture in last week's column had a wrong caption. I often send more than one picture to the newspaper, giving them a choice of pictures if they have room. Somehow my captions just twisted around. So, if you're wondering who the two men and one woman were in last week's photo, they were brothers Gene and Carl Danitschek with Carl's wife LaVonne who were in the area visiting family. I also made another "oops" when I said that Gene and Carl's mother Emma was living in Herington — she now resides in Winfield.
