Visitors can choose to participate in unstructured and/or structured activities during the Richard S. “Doc” Phillips Discovery Center Open House on Saturday, July 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Oakwoods Nature Preserve.
Activities and attractions include bird watching via the Windows on Wildlife, mounted animals and live animals on display, nature videos, field guides and nature books for reading, touch table and puppets, and seasonal displays and exhibits.
By Monty Siekerman From Ada Icon - For the fourth year, the local community will celebrate the 4th of July with a free Patriotic Pops Concert by the Lima Symphony Orchestra beginning at 7 p.m. on Saturday in Ada.
Kirsten Osbun-Manley will once again be featured soloist and, for the first time, the Noteworthy Community Choir of Ada will perform.
Here's the list of special programs in July at the Bluffton Public Library.
The “Libraries Rock” Summer Program continues. Because registration for many of these programs began at the beginning of June, registration may be full for some programs. To register, call at 419-358-5016, visit our website at blufftonpubliclibrary.org, or stop in during library hours.
Bluffton Family Recreation continues registering adult coed softball teams for the summer, according to Daniel Tinch, BFR executive director.
This league plays games at the village park diamond on Monday and Wednesday evenings with games starting at 6 p.m.
League play is from July 9 to Aug. 8. Registration is $300 per team. Contact BFR, 215 Snider Road, Bluffton, call 419-358-4150, or register online at www.bfronline.com.
According to Pat Motter, “It’s difficult to get Jim to smile.”
But at noon on Friday, we saw a glimpse of a smile on Jim “Duke” Motter. It was during a surprise retirement party for the guy who holds the record for stone tonnage hauled from Bluffton Stone Company’s quarry.
Motter retired after 49 years at Bluffton Stone Co., where he certainly holds several other records like, mileage put on trucks and years of service.
Bluffton University named Sean Elvert as its next head men’s soccer coach.
Elvert returns to Bluffton after serving as an assistant men’s soccer coach at Ohio Northern University for the past year. The two years prior, he was the assistant men’s soccer coach at Bluffton and briefly led the team as the interim head coach. In both assistant roles, he gained significant experience in recruiting, day-to-day operations and player training.
First National Bank, Bluffton, will hold a firecracker Friday cookout from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday, July 6.
The cookout takes place in the bank’s parking lot at 112 Cherry Street. The event is free and open to the public. Serving includes hot dogs, chips and drinks.
Joyce Ann Risser, 81, died June 28, 2018, at Lima Memorial Health System. Joyce was born March 19, 1937, in Lima to the late Jesse and Lucille (Fetter) Augsburger. On June 29, 1956, she married Dale Risser who preceded her in death on March 24, 2014.
Joyce was a graduate of Lafayette High School. She was a homemaker, had previously worked at Triplett Corporation in Bluffton and attended the County Line Church of the Brethren near Ada. She enjoyed helping her husband on the farm, flowers, gardening, canning, baking and playing games with her grandchildren.
Jonathon Lamb, 37, Bluffton, plead guilty to two counts of rape on Tuesday June 26, in Hancock County Common Pleas Cour, according to Bluffton police.
The charges stem from a complaint filed with the Bluffton Police Department in May of 2017 in which officers received a report of a possible sexual assault involving a child.
During the investigation, officers learned that the incident(s) happened in February of 2017 and Jonathan Lamb was subsequently arrested and charged with one count of first degree felony rape with a specification due to the age of the child.
Several program of interest to the public are on the July Bluffton Senior Citizens calendar.
Dan Orzano of the Ohio Department of Commerce will present a discussion on investment and securities fraud. The program is at 2:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 25.
The Hancock Historical Society will present a program at 3 p.m., Monday, July 9. The program topic is “ice cream.”
July’s dinner meeting is at 6 p.m., Monday, July 9. It is a summer picnic. The cost is $8 and tickets must be purchased by July 5. Pat and Harlan Basinger will show photos from the trip to Iceland.
