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Forgotten Bluffton's "firsts"

The first motorized vehicle, radio, airplane, piped water and electricity in a house
Posted by Fred Steiner on December 20, 2020 - 2:47pm

Ever wonder who owned the first motorized vehicle in Bluffton? Or, who had the first radio?

How about, who had the first running water hookup, electicity in a house? And, when was the first airplane spotted over Bluffton?

These obscure fact have answers. For the record, here goes:
• Frank Scott, a Bluffton banker, owned the first automobile in Bluffton. The exact date of the purchase is not known, but when he traded it in on his second car in 1904, it was mention in the Bluffton News of his having owned a car for “sometime now."

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Seven songs for your pandemic playlist

Icon music reviewer outdoes himself with this column
Posted by Fred Steiner on December 17, 2020 - 4:27pm

Reviewed by Craig Hoffman
“I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.”- Fannie Lou Hamer 

Aren’t we all in 2020?

Hopefully, you are doing your best to avoid catching or are recovering from the coronavirus. Here’s a list of songs related to life, masks, quarantine and social distancing. They were written long before the events of modern day, but their lyrics offer timely advice in the present. 

Do you agree? Let the Icon know what tunes are on your pandemic playlist while sitting at home.

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Durs and Elizabeth Neuenschwander Amstutz

Our Swiss connection - part 6
Posted by Fred Steiner on December 17, 2020 - 8:55am

This is the sixth installment in this series. Click here for the previous installment.

Ursus, also called Durs or Dorsey, was born March 8, 1805, to Christian and Katherina (Nussbaumer) Amstutz in Sigriswil Canton Bern, Switzerland.

His wife, Elizabeth, was born July 24, 1808, to Michael and Barbara (Fuhriman) Neuenschwander in Soncoboz, Canton Bern, Switzerland.

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Icon book review: Skipping Christmas

The story ends with an example of the true Christmas spirit, and a heartwarming gesture showing a new and caring light
Posted by Fred Steiner on December 15, 2020 - 3:32pm

Reviewed by Robet McCool
It's a simple idea – take what you normally spend for Christmas, or even less, and go on a Caribbean cruise. In John Grisham's 2001's Skipping Christmas (Doubleday ISBN 0-385-50583-3) that is the premise, and how horrible it could be.

Luther and Nora Krank see their twenty-three year old daughter Blair off for a two year tour with the Peace Tour, and Luther goes home with a new idea. With Blair gone he totals up what they spent last Christmas, and how much chaos and frenzy the holiday brings to his life.

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Forgotten Bluffton: Why does it read Bluffton Richland High School?

Isn't it just Bluffton High School?
Posted by Fred Steiner on December 13, 2020 - 2:07pm

Why does the sign read: Bluffton Richland High School above the school building as it faces Main Street?

Isn’t it just “Bluffton High School?”

Here’s the background: From 1921 to 1929 Bluffton High School was maintained as a joint high school of the Village of Bluffton and Richland Township, under the charter name of the Bluffton-Richland High School.

Now it gets rather complicated, and this is the short version:

In 1943, the Ohio legislature passed legislation “providing for recodification and revision of the laws of Ohio pertaining to public schools.”

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I blame this all on Becky Reineke Boblitt

Posted by Fred Steiner on December 10, 2020 - 2:33pm

I blame this all on Becky Reineke Boblitt.

She convinced me to go out for the eighth grade girls' basketball team. Let me be blunt, this was not a good fit...one game we were winning something lilke 86 to 6. We ran one play in the fourth quarter.

I was to get to the top of the key, someone would pass me the ball, and I would try - try is the optimal word here - to shoot a basket.

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