o What was Bluffton like on Saturday nights in the 1950s?
o Did Elbert Dubenion really rush for 300 yards in the first half against a very good ONU football team?
o Is it true that engineers from Triplett actually tossed meters out of airplanes to test them?
o You say that John Dillinger filled up his gas tank at Dick Habegger's filling station before he robbed Citizens National Bank?
o And...how did street painting begin on College Avenue in front of Bluffton High School?
These questions plus lots more have their moment in the sun in the book titled "A Good Place To Miss - Bluffton Stories 1900-1975." Fred Steiner, collector of Bluffton stories, has amassed a 184-page collection of lots of Bluffton tales, each too good to miss, which are part of the book. Each chapter covers a decade between 1900 and 1975.
"Bev Amstutz asked me to put a book together for Bluffton's sesquicentennial," said Steiner, about the project. "This is the result of her request. We've aimed it for a fall release in time for the Blaze of Lights and as a great Christmas present."
Orders for the book are being accepted through the Icon's e-store. The e-store link shows the book's table of contents and provides sample pages. Orders are accepted on the e-store through Pay Pal using major credit cards. Visit the e-store now.
A book-signing launch party is planned at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 8, at Common Grounds. The party celebrates The Icon's second anniversary, which also features free Icon coffee and cookies. Copies of the book, signed by Steiner, will be available for sale at the party, which is open to the public.
The book will also be available in some downtown Bluffton businesses after Oct. 8. If you miss the October event, a second release party is at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 1, at the Bluffton Public Library. Details of that program are still underway.
Contributors include "Spike" Berry, Richard Boehr, Sam Diller, Charles Hilty, Richard Jordan, Mary Pannabecker Steiner, Darvin Luginbuhl, Robert Kreider and many other persons with great Bluffton stories to tell.
The book also includes a never-before-published list of every Bluffton High School graduate by class from 1881 to 1930 - the first 50 classes of BHS graduates.
"That list includes several hundred names and is almost as interesting to review as are the stories in the book," said Steiner.
Andre' Swartley of Workplay Publishing, Bluffton, is the book publisher. Alison King of Bluffton, designed the book cover, which shows a colorized photograph of the old Bluffton grade school.
The book costs $13.95 plus 6 1/2 percent tax for Allen County purchasers.
Mail orders are accepted by sending check payments to:
Bluffton Icon
226 Grove St.
Bluffton, OH 45817
(For mail orders: Allen County residents pay $18, which includes county tax and shipping and handling. Outside Allen County mail order copies are $17, which includes shipping and handling.)
The book will soon be available on Amazon in printed form and eBook format. Persons may also contact Steiner at his home (419-889-3065) to buy copies of the book.
The following comments by persons who have read proof copies of the book are published on the book's back cover:
"After listening to and swapping stories with Fred over the past years we ask ourselves, "What has taken so long?" - Everett Collier
"If Thornton Wilder were to visit Bluffton to gather material to write a second Our Town, this is where he would start." - Don Pannabecker
"Now you can understand why it is hard to leave Bluffton." - Phil Zimmerly
"This collection truly demonstrates why Bluffton is a good place to miss." - Brendon Matthews
