December 2023

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By Cort Reynolds

BLUFFTON__The Bluffton girls basketball team edged visiting Kenton 47-46 Thursday night, December 28, in a non-league battle.

Bluffton improved to 4-5 with the narrow win, while Kenton fell to an identical 4-5 mark after the close defeat.

The Pirate girls led 11-10 after the first period, and extended their lead to 24-16 at intermission as Macy Schaadt drained three triples. 

Bluffton saw its cushion sliced to 32-28 following the third quarter. Kenton won the high-scoring final stanza 19-15, but their rally came up a point short.  

Pirate junior post Ayla Grandey led all players with 18 points. She scored 10 points in the second half, and eight in the first half.

Schaadt contributed 14 points, while Blair Utendorf added six markers.

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BLUFFTON__Ralph Allen Nonnamaker passed away on Wednesday, December 27, 2023 at the Good Samaritan Home in Arlington, Ohio. Ralph was born on February 15, 1943 to the late Howard and Alma (Slusser) Nonnamaker. His first wife, Gloria (Rettig) Nonnamaker preceded him in death. On February 20, 1966 he married Jean (Montgomery) Nonnamaker. They were married for 57 years.

Ralph was a 1961 graduate of Cory-Rawson High School and then graduated from Toledo Meat Cutting School. He was a farmer and owned Ralph’s Market in Bluffton before working and retiring from Wonder Bread. He retired again from A to Z Meats in Bluffton.

Ralph is survived by his wife, Jean Nonnamaker; four children, Monica (Dennis) vonStein of Rawson, Jill (Michael) Woodward of Bluffton, Gina (Kevin) Burkholder of McComb, Cody (Stephanie) Nonnamaker of Jenera; eleven grandchildren, Miles (Melissa) vonStein, Brooke (Brandon) Anspach, Caleb (Carlie) vonStein, Morgan (Mitchell) Karhoff, Shelby (Jim) Armand, Chelsea (Cody) Basinger, Aubry (Dalton) Ream, Mariah (Addison) Diller, Logan, Blake and Makenzie Nonnamaker; fifteen great-grandchildren and one on the way.

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NOTE: The ticket link has been corrected.

The Bluffton Schools have announced the following details for the 2023 boys basketball McDonald's Holiday Tournament at Bluffton High School.

Continental will play Arlington at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 29.

Bluffton will play Cory-Rawson at about 6:15 p.m. that evening.

The Consolation Game will be played at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 30.

The Championship Game will be played at about  6:15 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 30.

  1. Top team in the bracket is the home team and will wear light uniforms.
  2. Bottom team in the bracket is the visiting team and will wear dark uniforms.
  3. Locker room assignments and team benches will be designated each night.
  4. Pregame warmup clock will be set to for the game to start at the designated start time. With a minimum warm up of 15 minutes.
  5. The gym will be opend 1 hour prior to the start of the first game.
  6. Spectators may enter 45 minutes prior to the start of the first game.
  7. Tickets will be available online at www.blufftonschools.org/athletics/athletics-tickets/

Tickets will also be available at the gate.

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BLUFFTON__Gary D. Bricker, 85, passed away December 24, 2023 at Lima Memorial Health System. Gary was born January 22, 1938 in Detroit, Michigan to the late Russell and Ruby Fern (Dorman) Bricker. On October 14, 1960 he married Violet Bradley Bricker.

Gary was a graduate of Columbus Grove High School and served in the Ohio National Guard. He worked in the dyno division at the Lima Ford Engine Plant for 41½ years. Gary attended the Upper Room Church of God in Findlay and was a long time active member at the Lima First Assembly of God. He was also a member of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Car Club and the Columbus Grove Fender Benders. Gary thoroughly enjoyed and was very passionate about restoring antique Ford cars. He was the best storyteller and volunteered a lot of his time painting fire hydrants in the Village of Bluffton. 

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Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 301 North Main Street, Jenera, will hold two services on the last Sunday of 2023. 

The morning service will be at 9:30 a.m. and a special New Year's Eve service will be at 7:00 p.m. The service's theme is: "Good News of Great Joy: The Greatest Gift for the New Year." Bible readings are:  Isaiah 51:1-6, Luke 12:13-21 and James 4:13-17 which is also the sermon text. 

The sermon theme is "Look to the Lord and Plan Ahead." The psalm is Psalm 90:1. Hymns are: "Across the Sky the Shades of Night, O God Our Help in Ages Past, Abide with Me, and What is the World to Me?"

Everyone is welcome and the church is handicapped accessible.  The services are live streamed and archived at www.tlcjenera.org.  More information is on the web site or by calling 410-326-4685.

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By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Over the decades Bluffton residents lift up several memorable individuals to a sacred list known as “Bluffton characters.”  One of those special people was Lazarus “Lotzy” Basinger, (also known as Santa Claus) a familiar face in the Bluffton crowd over his 90-year life span.

These special people each developed a niche of their own calling, earning respect from the common citizen. Their traits and stories are recalled by many, although they are unknown by today’s younger and newer residents. 

To us, their contributions to what makes Bluffton such an interesting and accepting community cannot be ignored.

Lazarus was probably one of the last people in Bluffton who experience way of life of the earliest Swiss immigrants. He was raised on his father’s farm near Pandora, Riley Township, Putnam County, Ohio.

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To my fellow Bluffton residents:

The holidays are fast approaching and I would like to take a moment to thank each and every one for your patience and kindness as we dealt with many projects in Bluffton. 

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Nature Pals: Winter is “snow” much fun!

The Johnny Appleseed Park District is happy to announce that we will be  offering additional days (with different times) for this popular program! The Park  District will offer “Nature Pals: Winter is “snow” much fun!” on: 

  • Fri., Jan. 5 at 11:00 a.m.  
  • Sat., Jan. 6 at 11:00 a.m. or 1:00 p.m. 

McElroy Environmental Education Center, 2355 Ada Rd., Lima, OH. 

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Blanchard Valley Health System is now offering 3D mammography at three locations in Northwest Ohio.

Mammograms are available at Bluffton Hospital, EasternWoods Outpatient Center in Findlay, and the Ottawa Medical & Diagnostic Center.

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Video of the meet is available HERE.

By Cort Reynolds

Tournament host Bluffton High School finished a strong third at the 10-team Allen County Invitational wrestling tournament Friday, December 22.

Shawnee narrowly won the team title with 256 points to edge Allen East by a single point. 

The youthful Pirate wrestlers came in third with 179 points.

Mustang freshman wrestler Jordan Neal won the 144 lbs. weight class title and was named tournament MVP. He posted a 5-0 mark with three pins at the event.

Pirate senior Kyle Basil rose from the fourth seed to win the 175 lbs. crown. He pinned top seed Jameson Wicker of Lima Senior in the third round at 3:20 to win Pool A in preliminary action.

Basil pinned Allen East senior Nick Zellmann in the semifinals of the tournament to advance to the title match.

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