April 2023

By Paula Scott

Have you ever served breakfast for 50 at 7:00 a.m. on a Friday morning? It’s all part of the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce routine on the second Friday of the month from September-June.

This April, director Jim Enneking got a hand with the member meeting from sponsor Northwest Ohio Orthopedics & Sports Medicine, caterer Greenhorn Restaurant and program provider Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities (OOD).

Bluffton’s “Golden Age,” covering a period from approximately 1886 to 1900, is a program presented by Fred Steiner at 6:00 p.m. onTuesday, April 25 at the Bluffton Public Library.

“Bluffton was a boom town during these years,” says Steiner, who will show photographs and share stories from this era during the program.

Several significant developments occurred in Bluffton, which rival any 15-year period in the town’s history.

• Oil and natural gas discovered in Findlay, Bluffton’s first oil well drilled in 1890

• Business district, offered wide selection of products and services

• A dozen saloons operated here

• Town hall built in 1887

• Water plant in service in 1896

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CORRECTION: This month the school board meeting is on Tuesday rather than Monday.

On Tuesday, April 18, the Bluffton Board of Education will hold a regular meeting with an agenda including the following items; many relate to preparations for the 2023-2024 school year. The full document is HERE.

The meeting will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Elementary School media center, 102 S. Jackson St.

TREASURER’S TRANSACTIONS

Jo Ann L. Bassett, 91, passed away at 1:30 a.m. on April 16, 2023 at her residence. She was born August 9, 1931 in Lima to the late Harold and Alma (Snyder) Vore. On August 1, 1954 she married James H. Bassett who survives her. 

She graduated from Beaverdam High School in 1949 and from Bluffton College in 1953 with a degree in Education.

The February Student of the Month at Bluffton High School was John-Paul Yoder, a junior with a 4.000 GPA. John-Paul is the son of John-David Yoder and Lynda Nyce of Bluffton. 

John-Paul is a member of the Academic Team, Spanish Club, Jazz Band, Pep Band and is an SOS tutor. He was on the Cross Country team and the Basketball team.

By Tracy Turner, OSU-CFAES
Edited by Mark Badertscher, OSU Extension-Hardin County.

A new online farm management course offered by The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) will help Ohio’s beginning farmers qualify for the requirements of the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer Tax Credit program.

Called Farm On, the self-paced, on-demand farm financial management course was created by Ohio State University Extension professionals and is offered through OSU Extension’s new Farm Financial Management and Policy Institute (FFMPI), said Eric Richer, assistant professor and OSU Extension field specialist in farm management. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of CFAES.

“The Farm On financial management course was created to address the needs of Ohio’s new and beginning farmers who want to better prepare themselves to operate a commercial farm in Ohio and do that with a high level of economic stability while remaining profitable and responsible at every step along the way,” said Richer, who is the lead instructor for the Farm On course. “We believe Farm On will be a great deliverable to Ohio’s agriculture industry because it is on-demand, self-paced, and taught by Ohio State’s expert farm management instructors.”

On Fri., April 14, the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District opened the Ottawa Metro Park Campground for the 2023 season. 

The Ottawa Metro Park Campground season will run through October 14, 2023. 

Cost per night is $30, Seniors 60+ is $25 per night. Each site has water, electric, picnic table and fire ring. Campsites are available on a first come first serve basis.

Bluffton University’s music groups will come together for a spring concert featuring fun and familiar tunes at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, April 23 in Yoder Recital Hall.

Dr. Roy Couch, music department chair, notes that “University Chorale, Camerata Singers, Concert Band and Brass Ensemble will all perform a varied program of classical music, arrangements and some pieces that are just for fun.

The following article is being shared in memory of Katie Laine by her sister Suzanne Hilty Lind and originally appeared on the blog of writer Greta Holt. Katie's obituary is HERE.

Katie graduated from Bluffton High School in 1966. After the death of her birth mother, Eleanor Keeney Myers in 1949, she grew up in Corpus Christi, TX with her father, George Myers, her brother George Myers, Jr., her stepmother Hannelora, and five half siblings. George and Katie's baby sister, Suzanne (Susie) stayed with the Herman and Celia Hilty family in Bluffton after the death of their mother and was later adopted into the HIlty family. Following a time of disruption in the Myers family in Texas, Katie moved to Ohio and lived with the Hilty family for six years, attending Bluffton Junior and Senior High School. She returned to Texas for university studies and raised family and developed her career there. The two sisters became close friends and continued a loving, often hilarious relationship throughout their adult lives. 

September 8, 2020

My friend (since 6th grade!), Greta Purves Holt, has been writing for many years. I was sharing some writing I was doing with her and she invited me to be a guest writer on her blog. Here is the story I wrote about experiences my German stepmother had during WWII in Nazi Germany.

By Katie Myers Laine
https://gretaholtwriter.com/2020/09/07/through-my-mothers-eyes/

All that came to be in my life began with what occurred to my two mothers.

In 1949 my birth mother, paternal grandmother and paternal great-grandmother were killed in a car accident.  They were buried on my second birthday.  My father, a WWII veteran (paratrooper), left after her death.  When he returned, he had married a German woman, and she became my stepmother.  They arrived in America, the promised land, on July 4, 1951, the nation’s birthday.

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Katie Laine passed away peacefully, surrounded by loved ones on Monday, March 13, 2023. Katie had a long battle with a rare lung disease.

Kathryn (Katie) Lenore Myers Laine was born on October 2, 1947 in Bluffton, Ohio to George, Sr. Myers and Eleanor Keeney Myers. Katie’s siblings are George, Suzanne, Barbara, Michael (deceased 1972), Joe, Eric, and Julie; she was close to all of their spouses, children and relatives.

Katie grew up in San Marcos, Texas, then moved to Ohio, where she spent her junior high and high school years. She graduated from Bluffton High School in 1966.

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