Ramona Residents Rally for Family Across the Pond

When Ramona resident Rita Maskall got a call from her sister, Julie Norman, in the UK and was informed that she had stage four breast cancer, she decided to do whatever she could to help out her family.

Maskall's good friend, Rhonda Ruthenberg, told Patch that the family had heard of and consequently applied for experimental treatment in Mexico. Maskall invited Norman to stay with her here in San Diego to reduce the cost of living expenses during her cancer treatment.

Norman, her husband, Brian, their 5-year-old daughter, Freya, and Norman's mother all made the trip Ramona and have settled in.

Ruthenberg said Norman's treatments have reduced a large tumor on her liver by 50 percent and she is now considered a candidate to have it surgically removed.

"Her treatments are working, however, the family is running out of resources to pay for one last round of treatments needed before heading back to the UK," Ruthenberg said to Patch in an email.

In order to help with the final payment for treatment, Ruthenberg has set up a poker ride with the help of Ramona Trails Association.

"A lot of us belong to the organization and we asked if we could use the staging area for the horse trailers to get ready for the ride and they were happy to oblige," Ruthenberg said. 

The is set for this Sunday, Aug. 19.

Riders will saddle up and receive a poker hand, a meal, water ticket and two raffle tickets. If horses aren't your thing, you can also ride or bike the event. Non-riders can also attend the lunch after the ride. They'll receive a meal and water ticket with one raffle ticket.

Ruthenberg said numerous Ramona businesses, such as , , and , have donated to the cause, suppplying the raffle prizes.

A silent action will also be part of the fundraiser, with desirable item like a week's stay at a cabin in Big Bear, a Coach handbag, jewelry, rounds of golf, saddles and more.

The fundraiser will be catered by Wrankler BBQ Pit and costs $40 for riders and $20 for non-riders. Extra raffle tickets can be purchased for $1 each and extra poker hands are $5. Ruthenberg said space is still available but to RSVP to her at rhondaruthenberg@yahoo.com by Friday evening to ensure that there's enough food.

""If people would just like to donate, we will graciously accept donations also," she said.

The poker ride will begin at 10 a.m. on Aug. 19 at . Proceeds will directly benefit Norman's final cancer treatment which will allow surgery.

"They have never asked us for anything," Ruthenberg said of Norman's family. " And [they] are astounded at the generosity of the Ramona residents."

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story stated that the Ramona Trails Association was hosting the event. In fact, the organization has donated their staging area for space for any horse trailers. Patch regrets the error.