All Bluffton Icon News

SLIDESHOW Photos from the September 28 Bluffton Fall Festival at Schumacher Homestead, a Swiss Community Historical Society event. CLICK A PHOTO to view the slideshow at your own pace.

The Schumacher Homestead at 8350 Bixel Rd will be open for its annual Christmas Open House on December 7 and 8 from 2:00-6:00 p.m. For more information, visit www.SwissHistorical.org.

“My one journey is over…my new one begins.”  Fairy I. Parkins, 91 passed away November 20, 2024 at Bluffton Hospital.  

Born during the Depression Era on December 22, 1932 in Findlay to the late Ira and Louisa (Schaaff) Roth, Fairy saw many changes. She saw horse drawn equipment change to tractors, oil lamps to electric, radio to TV and party lines to cell phones. Fairy experienced the atomic age, a man on the moon, sixteen presidents and the growth of the computer age. Growing up on the farm, she was always her Dad’s helper. She carried lanterns to the barn, drove horses to make hay and in 1949, a John Deere Tractor.  

Graduating seventy-five years ago, in 1950, from the first combined class of Cory-Rawson High School, Fairy always let people know that and that the Cory-Rawson colors were green and gold.  She got her first job in 1951 at Woolworth’s Dime Store then became a bookkeeper at Daisy Maid Bread when Edward Parkins was discharged from the Korean Conflict and was hired as a new driver. A love match sparked and on April 22, 1954, she married Edward Parkins who preceded her in death on May 4, 1986 from a battle with cancer. ▶︎

By Paula Pyzik Scott

At the November 19 special meeting of the Village of Bluffton Ordinance Committee, council members and residents discussed best case and worst case scenarios for the expansion of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in the Village.

Seven residents attended the meeting led by council and committee members Mitch Kingsley and Joe Sehlhorst. 

The committee has taken a year to draft legislation that would spell out how residential property owners in Bluffton may build attached and detached ADUS for rental and non-rental purposes. 

The expressed goal of the legislation is to ease housing shortages and allow for a wider range of housing options. ADUs exist in and can be built in Bluffton, but specific guidelines are not provided for the Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals.

The residents in attendance expressed concerns about changing the character of neighborhoods and creating more rentals with absentee owners. ▶︎

Kids, teens, and families are invited to an Open Craft and Game Space on Tues., Nov. 26.  Enjoy the day, get creative, and play together! The library will provide all the materials.

Thanksgiving Holiday closure
Library will close at 5:30 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 27 and remain closed Nov. 28-30. Regular hours resume on Mon., Dec. 2 at 9:30 a.m. 

Women in Business, a casual networking get together for Bluffton area business owners and managers, will meet at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 21 at Town Hall. Marlena Ballinger of the Dough Hook Meat Market will be presenting how to use the Canva online design platform.

Rodan + Fields representative Cindy Luginbuhl is providing catering.

Women in Business meets on the third Thursday of the month.

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