Were you born in Bluffton? When did you graduate from Bluffton High School?
No, I was born in Lima and came to Bluffton in 5th grade. That was the year part of the grade school was at the high school and part I think at the college while the new grad school was being built. I was at the high school. I graduated from Bluffton in 1963.
Tell me some stories about your childhood -- school friends, teachers, funny stories about school or extracurricular.
I was always a "tomboy" and remember playing football at recess; in fact, I remember breaking Brice's glasses one time. I remember when the swimming pool opened at the Buckeye. That quickly became the summer hang-out place. One story about a teacher, that is not really a funny story, and much more recent. When we started coming to Brethren, we stayed in cabins that are now just behind our house. We became friends with the owners and one afternoon we were with them and they said Hinsons were coming to the cabins from Cincinnati and that they would probably have "Bollie" with them. When they came and walked up to us, much to my surprise, Bollie was Theola Sutermeister who was our class adviser. What a small world we live in. Now we are friends with her nephew and his wife who live in Texas, but are our neighbors during the summer.
Did you participate in extracurricular activities? Music, band, sports, etc.? Did they have women's sports then?
I was in band from eighth grade. I played a trumpet. I was a member of Girls Athletic Association which was the only sports for girls at that time.
Do you remember your prom dress? What did the guys wear?
I think one of them was white with kind of poofy short sleeves. The guys wore black pants and white jackets. I do remember getting a gardenia as a wrist corsage and before the night was over I had a really bad headache from it. What a shame from something so beautiful.
What car did you take your driver's test in? Where did high school kids hang out?
I don't remember for sure what car it was, but I would guess it was a Pontiac. After ball games everyone went to Ingalls (the old one).
What did you do after high school?
I joined the work force after high school. I worked at Marathon Oil in Findlay as my first job and again when I went back to work after having my first child. I guess I had a pretty varied career. Over the years I worked in automotive interior soft trim, a credit bureau and ended my career that last year in mortgage loans.
How often do you get back to Bluffton? What are some of the changes that you have noticed over the years?
Now I only get back a couple times a year. Sometimes I do not even get into town because I am there to pick up or drop off Mom (Trudy Baber). She usually spends a couple weeks with us each year. Ken (our younger son) lives in Findlay, so he brings Mom for all the holidays. When we lived in Findlay (until we moved here in July 200l) I made it back to Bluffton often, In fact, right before we moved I bowled on a league with Mom. I think the biggest changes I have seen is the growth. I was surprised with the college and also some of the houses out past Mennonite Home.
Do you look at certain houses and think of them as "so and so's house"? Which ones? Do any of your childhood friends still live here and if so, do you stay in touch with any of them?
I do, especially Steinmans on Lawn Ave and Bakers on Kibler St. I spent much time at both of these over my younger years. I do still have classmates living in Bluffton. Now that we have a group on Facebook I keep up with them more. I also feel I stay in touch through Mom.
Where do you live now? In what ways is it similar to Bluffton or is it
completely different? Did you ever consider moving back to this area?
We lived in Findlay from the time we got married in 1966 until July 2001 when we moved to Brethren, Michigan. We vacationed here for probably 30 years. Dad brought my husband here steelhead fishing (Mom and Dad fished here in the 40's) and when we got snowmobiles we stayed here. We decided that this is where we wanted to live when we retired, so we purchased a home here as a vacation home and moved when we retired. It really is not very similar to Bluffton as it is a lot smaller. Brethren is not even large enough to be a village. We abide by township laws. We do have a post office, pizza place, bait shop, Mini Mart and laundromat. There is a small lake in Brethren that is just down the street from us. We are also close to the Manistee River and about 12 miles from Lake Michigan. We have never considered moving back to Ohio. We have really become true Michiganders. I think you have to visit here to see what a really great area it is.
Are you married? Kids? Grandchildren?
Yes, I am married and we have two boys, Jon and Ken. We have two lovely granddaughters.
How do you fill your days? Do you volunteer? Hobbies? Fun stuff? Do you still bowl?
I did work part time for about three years at a drug store about 12 miles from here in Bear Lake. Now I have re-retired and really enjoy just being at home. I do help with the local food bank, am on the board of our local snowmobile club and have recently joined a Relay for Life Team. I do not bowl anymore. I do Swedish weaving, crocheting, read and spend time (probably too much) on the computer. Starting in the spring I love to go to the local farms for all the fresh produce. A lot of things up here are u-pick and I do really enjoy that. I pick raspberries every year and make jam. I also like to read and work crossword puzzles.
You mentioned a group on Facebook...is that your high school class? How many are on it?
Yes, it is our high school class. There are 17 members from our class on it. That is a pretty good number considering that I think there were only 40 in our class.
What kinds of things would you like to do over the next few years? Are there certain things on your "wish list"?
I would really like to travel more than we have been able to. I don't have too much on a wish list, except maybe a trip up the east coast to Maine.
