Submitted by Phil Kingsley
Swiss Day, held on Sunday, June 27, this year celebrated both the 50th anniversary of the Bluffton-Pandora Swiss Community Historical Society and the completion of restoration work on its historic Schumacher House at the Swiss Homestead on Bixel Road.
Saturday's Open House, the day before Swiss Day, saw well over 100 visitors touring the house and grounds and inspecting the completed work on the house, which includes a restored back porch and upper story front porch, as well as interior walls, stairways and fireplace restored to their original 1840's configuration and outfitted with historic furnishings from the local community.
Sunday's gathering at the Ebenezer Church was the 60th anniversary of the annual Swiss Day event, first held in 1950. This year's Swiss Day included the traditional potluck dinner featuring old-fashioned farm fare of the Swiss Settlement. Judith Hilty Kingsley, Ron Lora, and Phil Kingsley presented a slide-show depicting 60 years of Swiss Days and 50 years of the Historical Society's activities, including the acquisition of the Schumacher House in 1968 and the remainder of the farmstead in 2004, and the extensive restoration work that has taken place there in the last five years.
Photos of the founders and early leaders of the Historical Society were also seen. A 23-voice Swiss Community choir, directed by Gary Lora and accompanied by Donna Lora, sang, in German and English, some of the old favorites, including Ich Weiss Einen Strom, Grosser Gott Wir Loben Dich, and the Schweitzer Psalm, Switzerland's national anthem.
The women of the choir sang the beautiful Swiss folksong Swiss Mountains Farewell, followed by Marlyce Gundy and Jeff Boehr's humorous rendition of O Vreneli. A men's quartet consisting of Jeff Boehr, Ivan Friesen, Doug Luginbill, and Brent Zimmerman sang as a benediction, So Nimm Denn Meine H"ande.
After the Swiss Day gathering at the Ebenezer Church, a ribbon-cutting and house dedication ceremony has held at the Bixel Road Homestead.
Society President Phil Kingsley thanked the many people who had donated time, money, labor, and special skills to the house restoration project, including five individuals who left bequests for this purpose: Clem Suter, Richard Bixel, Ann Hilty, Dorothy Schumacher, and Eugene Schwab. On behalf of the Historical Society he also presented special certificates of "leadership and extraordinary service" to Board Members Seth Bixel, Restoration Project Manager, and Jeff Althaus, Assistant Project Manager.
In his remarks which followed, Charles Niswander noted the inspiring example of caring for their cultural heritage set by Eugene and Harriet Schwab through their bequest to the Society, which made it possible to embark on the restoration of the Homestead.
A prayer of dedication by Charles Niswander was followed by the cutting of the ribbon by honorees Seth Bixel and Jeff Althaus. During the rest of the afternoon attendees strolled through the four floors of the restored house and ate home-made ice cream on the porch or lawn.
