June 2017

Historical society celebrates the Swiss on Sunday

  • /

Q: What do these names have in common?

Augsburger, Amstutz, Basinger, Bixel, Burkholder, Criblez, Deppler, Diller, Geiger, Gratz, Habegger, Hauenstein, Herr, Hilty, Hostetler, Huber, Kohli, Leiber, Luginbuhl, Luginbill, Lugibihl, Lugibill, Lehman, Matter, Motter, Moser, Neuenschwander, Niswander, Oberly, Probst, Reichenbach, Schmutz, Schumacher, Stauffer, Steiner, Suter, Welty, Zimmerly, Zimmerman, Zuercher.

Did we miss someone?

A: There's a Swiss ancestor in your family tree.

  • /

Bluffton High School class of 1957 celebrated its 60th reunion on June 17, 2017, in the Bluffton town hall.

Attending, front from left, Ruth Augsburger Koontz, Eva Galloway Pickett, Raeleen Bucher Greenawalt, Marjory Lehman Lyman, Jane Badertscher Walter, Judy Tschantz Koepke and John Murray.

Second row from left, Judy Schiffke Hauenstein, Nan Schmidt Knee, Mary Jo Diller Lehman, Martha Koontz Hindgardner, Margie Gerber Closson, Linda Core Kramer and Dwain Leiber.

Award recognizes NWC school with highest level of consistency in sports competition

  • /

Bluffton and Columbus Grove tied for the Northwest Conference 2016-17 “Don Bachman Award of Excellence".  The tie puts both schools at the top of the conference standings for the third time each, according to Jim Raabe, NWC commissioner.

This award recognizes the school in the conference that exhibits the highest level of consistent excellence in conference-sponsored sports and scholastic bowl competition each school year.

Founded in Bluffton in 1916 - but was under capitalized

  • /

Note: The Icon acquired a manuscript titled “A Brief History of Bluffton’s Industrial Developments.” This publication was prepared by the classes in Marketing and Small Business Administration from Bluffton College, under the director of Dr. Howard Raid. Publication date is May 1959. We’ve updated some current addresses so viewers may identify locations.

Kennel Manufacturing Co.
Incorporated Dec. 30, 1916; dissolved Feb. 19, 1919

  • /

Let's swim in the Buckeye. Here's a photo of the earliest Bluffton Buckeye swimming area taken some time between 1910 and 1920.

Imagine that you are on the south bank looking north on the Spring Street side of the Buckeye. That's location of the pool.

You'll see a rope. It separates the deep end from the shallow end. The deep end includes a diving board.

The man on the deck is Steiner Geiger, who gave swim lessons. It is possible that his two sisters are on the diving board.

  • /

052887 - The Icon first thought this was a a zip code, but upon further study, we believe the owner of this plate was born on May  28, 2987. We welcome clarification from any Icon view with more information. We spotted this plate on a blue Honda CR-V in Ada. (The monthly renewal sticker confirmed our birthday theory.)

Jamie Nygaard captures the show with her camera - lots of photos

  • /

Photos by Jamie Nygaard
Well, it rained on our parade, but the 50th annual Bluffton antique car show was still a bit hit. Watch the Icon for the list of winning vehicles.

- Check out 28 photos below -

Whether it was a Ford, Chevy, Mercury or Dodge, lots of vehicles from the past parked on Main Street on Friday as if they owned the street. And the did.

Jamie Nygaard photographed the show for the Icon and her photos follow:

 

Here's an elementary, middle school, high school update

  • /

School is out for the summer, but several school programs are in session. Here's an update on school summer activities from the school website:

Superintendent's office
Open all summer - Mondays to Fridays 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Bluffton High School
June office hours – Monday to Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Closed July - Reopens in August

The buzz-in system will not be used during summer months. The high school doors are open at College Avenue and Jackson Street, unless cleaning is taking place.

  • /

It's Week 3 of the Bluffton Public Library's summer reading program.

Here is a list of activities at the library from Monday, June 19, to Saturday, June 24.

Activities are from pre-school and under, children, teens and 'tweens, adults and inter-generational activities.

Here's his recent columns posted on national websites

  • /

FROM ADA ICON - Cort Reynolds, Ada Icon sports writer, has had several of his articles posted this spring on national sports websites.

These includes:

• Why many of the best passers in today’s NBA are centers
Unselfishness is a dying art in hoops amid the me-first, three-point satulrated, dribble-driven generation of “points” guards
Posted on The Sport Haven

Pages