Business

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By Paula Pyzik Scott

The February 14 breakfast meeting of the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce spotlighted the following local businesses in addition to member announcements.

Luvu A Latte, 851 State Route 103, provided breakfast of biscuits and gravy and donut-fruit skewers.

Breakfast sponsor Stratton Greenhouses and Roots by Strattons introduced the 2025 Bluffton Beautification program, which provides and maintains flower pots and hanging baskets in the downtown area. Susie Stratton and Dan Stratton detailed the work that goes into the project, including over 200 hours of labor and 30,000 gallons of water. The Strattons explained a new wrap-around basket liner for the suspended flower that will require less watering and help deal with coconut-fiber liner delivery challenges.

Visit Roots by Strattons, 111 S Main St., for information on sponsorship opportunities or submit the sponsorship form HERE.

PROGRAM

Derek Dukes, who co-owns Southgate Lanes with Brandon Falk, provided a program on how that business has changed since they purchased it in 2020.

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By Mark Badertscher and Randall Reeder

Don’t miss this year’s Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference March 11-12, 2025, (Tuesday-Wednesday) at Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio. Connect with other great farmers and CCAs, experience new ideas, and increase your net income. 

The theme is “Getting More from Less.” Cutting costs is key following a year where corn and soybean yields were reduced for many farmers. And crop prices are barely breakeven. We don’t know what the weather will be in 2025, but commodity prices are projected to stay low.

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Through March 16, area Girl Scout entrepreneurs will be out and about the community at local businesses, holding drive-through cookie booths, setting up cookie stands in their neighborhood, and taking online orders to ensure cookie lovers can enjoy all their favorite Girl Scout Cookies®.

Saturday, Feb. 22 - Bluffton Community Markets and Wendy's on SR 103
Tuesday, Feb. 25 -  Wendy's on SR 103
Saturday, Mar. 1 - Cory-Rawson High School
Saturday, Mar. 8 - Bluffton Community Markets

This year’s lineup includes the perennially popular Thin Mints®, Caramel deLites®, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, and the Lemonades® — and for the last time, the Toast-Yay!® variety, which will be retired after 2025.

Customers can plan their cookie shopping excursion by visiting www.gswo.org/findcookies and entering their ZIP code to find upcoming booths.

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Ten Thousand Villages welcomes Haitian artist Jean François Frisnel as the February 2025 Artist of the Month. His paintings will be on display in the Ten Thousand Villages store during the month of February. The public is invited to come to a reception to meet the artist at 2 pm, Saturday, February 22.

In 1979 Frisnel was born in Carrefour, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He now resides in Lima, Ohio. He says this of his art career:

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The Village of Bluffton Parks and Recreation, in partnership with the Bluffton Soccer Club and The Bluffton Lions Club, has initiated a community project to develop a new recreational space. This project will include seven soccer fields, thanks in part to land donated by SRK, an inclusive playground for children of all abilities, a one-mile walking path, and a shelter house.

The new park will also address the community's desire for more open green spaces, as indicated in the Village's recent survey. The yet-to-be-named park is located on Snider Road, adjacent to SRK and behind Bluffton Community Church. 

The community is invited to submit name suggestions for the new park as part of this initiative. Suggestions can be submitted online and will be reviewed by a committee consisting of members from the village, the Bluffton Soccer Club and The Bluffton Lions Club. Submissions will be accepted from February 10-23 by clicking HERE.

“This project is a perfect example of how Bluffton finds a way to bring big ideas to life," says Jesse Blackburn, Village Administrator. “This truly is a community effort, so it is fitting that the community get to help name the park."

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By Liz Gordon-Hancock

The following six land transfers took place in the Bluffton Exempted Village School District for the month of January 2025 as reported on the websites of Allen County Auditor Rachael S. Gilroy and Hancock County Auditor Charity A. Rauschenberg.

Address - Sale Date - Sale Price - Land Use - Owner - From/To

Agricultural

24.12 ACRES on N NAPOLEON RD – 1/17/2025 – $807,000 – Agricultural vacant land From Robert Ernest to BLACK HEART DEVELOPMENT LLC

Residential

207 PARKVIEW DR – 1/6/2025 – $45,000 – Residential vacant land – From THREE S DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC to Mark Delisle & Jessica Armstrong

358 CHERRY ST – 1/17/2025 – $101,000 – Single family dwelling – From Timothy & Patricia Evans to WIECHART INVESTMENT PROPERTIES LLC

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