I am a big fan of Ramona Jan. I met her over ten years ago when we did a skit at the North Branch Inn that John Bale was running.  We were to make something up on our own that portrayed us either eating at the North Branch Inn, staying there or working there. I was dressed as a waitress with an order pad and before I took the customer’s order I told them a story about a time I lived on Long Island and managed to get my picture on the front page of the Wall Street Journal during a heat wave. This was in response to their question of how long did I live in the area of Sullivan County.  

Ramona’s daughter was sitting at the bar, telling the bartender about a trip she had taken to Europe. It was quite involved and funny. Keith Olsen was a bartender and he was telling a story to a customer about a time when he gave his mother a home permanent and dye job which didn’t come out too well.

Ramona outclassed us all with  a guitar solo and then story of her experiences when she couldn’t get a piece she wrote played by anyone so she decided to play it herself.  Her first gig was at CBGB’s in NYC and even though she had been a music and art teacher, among other things, she was extremely nervous about her performance which she was about to do. There was a group in the audience that looked like a tough motorcycle gang and she anticipated a hard time from them. That was until some guy from that gang, yelled out - Raquel Welch.

Okay, she thought, if I resemble Raquel Welch, I can certainly play the guitar and sing in this dive which does not even have doors on the booths in the Ladies Room. After that she went on to play at Max’s Kansas City and to work with Barry Manilow, Frank Sinatra and Barbara Streisand. After we finished at the North Branch Inn, Ramona told me about Yarnslingers, which sounded fascinating.

She asked if I would be interested in taking part in those events. Yes, I would but the problem was the upcoming ones were taking place in the winter, and I shut down my house in Callicoon Center in the winter so at first I said NO. But then I decided to give it a whirl and just went to the venue and drove back to New Jersey the same night. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I took part in about six of them and enjoyed every minute of it. Once a snowstorm was predicted and my family advised me not to go.  But as the hours ticked by, only a few inches were predicted and I went without a problem- no slipups.  

Ramona once told me she would be interested in writing a column so I recommended her when they were lookimg for a columnist to replace Anne Stabbert. With all the top level jobs she’s had it’s so inspiring to learn that writing her column is her favorite occupation. If I had to pick one person that I know who could handle the health draw- backs that she is experiencing and come out ahead, it would be Ramona. I’ve seen her drive through Callicoon on her bike and give a wave when she went by when she was first diagnosed with cancer about five years ago.  She also continued her historical tours of Callicoon back then. I went on a couple of those tours and she pointed out some interesting facts that weren’t widely known.  

So Ramona you are a Miracle Woman, and I look forward to the celebration when you get this thing licked.