January 2024

Mark A. Shulaw, 60, passed away January 28, 2024 at Bluffton Hospital. Mark was born April 17, 1963 in Findlay to the late Paul Jr. and Janet (Wise) Shulaw. 

By Cort Reynolds

McCOMB__The visiting Bluffton High School boys basketball team used a huge third quarter to pull away and beat McComb 67-44 in a non-conference contest Saturday night, January 27.

Bluffton improved to 14-1 with the blowout win that extended their win streak to 12 games. The Panthers fell to 2-12 after the defeat. 

The Pirates raced to a 16-6 lead after the first period. But McComb rallied with an 18-7 second stanza to take a 24-23 edge at intermission. 

Yet Bluffton seized control with a dominating 25-4 third quarter. Blake Sommers poured in 14 points in what proved to be the decisive period. Bluffton canned four triples in the third quarter.

Sommers netted 21 of his game-high 24 points in the second half. The Pirates won the final period 19-16 to outscore the Panthers 44-20 after halftime. Sommers tallied seven more markers in the final stanza.

The Bluffton Police Department has announced the following awards to members of its department for 2023. Officer of the Year was presented to Tyler Noble and the Chief's Leadership Award was presented to Nathan Jordan. The proclamations made by Chief Ryan Burkholder are below:

The public is invited to hear works by Allen County poets from the new publication of River and Rust. The event has been rescheduled to February 16, 2024 from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The event is free to the public. Books are available for sale in the ArtSpace Gift Shop.

Select poets from the collection will read their personal interpretations of Lima and all that appears in Allen County. The collection represents talented individuals of various races, ages, and backgrounds and demonstrates their link with one another through their shared connection to Allen County, a place they all have called home.

The poets are:

Pastor Steve Terry, New Life Church of God, Fort Wayne, Ind., shared, “The Impact of a Positive Attitude,” during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Forum in Yoder Recital Hall on Jan. 16.

By Cort Reynolds

BLUFFTON__The Bluffton High School girls basketball team put on a furious rally in the fourth period but fell short 57-50 to visiting Riverdale in a non-conference contest on January 27.

The evenly-matched teams entered the game with identical 7-9 records.

Third in a series of famous Bluffton High School alumni

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

Ray Leon “R.L.” Triplett
Nov. 13, 1883 - Oct. 25, 1977
Bluffton High School class of 1902

Call it small-town ingenuity. Bluffton’s favorite entrepreneurial son became a 20th century household name here.

R.L. Triplett, founded an industry, which became a leader in its field. And, his business model spurred the local economy crediting him with created more jobs than any other person in our village history. For nearly eight decades the Triplett company was Bluffton’s largest single industrial operation and employer.

As a family-owned business from 1904 until 1983, the Triplett Electrical Instrument Co., was affectionally referred to locally as “the meter works.”  Under its later ownership, the company eventually closed.

By Cort Reynolds

NORTH ROBINSON__The Bluffton High School swim teams finished a strong third at the North Central Ohio Swim League championship meet hosted by Colonel Crawford in the William Ferrell Natatorium on January 27.

A book release celebration for “New Moves: A Theological Odyssey” will take place at 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, in the Musselman Library Reading Room.

Through this theological memoir, J. Denny Weaver, professor emeritus of religion at Bluffton University, shares how his career as a theologian developed and led to his shaping a nonviolent understanding of Jesus’ atonement.

By Cort Reynolds

VAN WERT__The visiting Bluffton High School boys basketball team rode a big fourth quarter to defeat pesky Lincolnview 75-59 in a Northwest Conference contest on January 26, extending their win streak to 11 games.

Bluffton also maintained its hold on first place in the league with the victory as they improved to 13-1 overall and 4-0 in the NWC. 

The Lancers fell to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in NWC play after the defeat. 

The Pirates led 16-10 after the first period and 38-26 at the half. 

Yet Lincolnview hung within striking distance at 48-40 heading to the final quarter. Chayse Overholt hit two triples and scored eight points for the Lancers in the stanza. 

But a 27-point fourth period outburst by the Pirates allowed Bluffton to pull away and win by 16.

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