This column introduces a new writer for the Icon, Bill Herr, who will be providing monthly articles about Bluffton athletes.
Who is the greatest of all time (GOAT) among female athletes at Bluffton High School (BHS)? It is Juleen Matter (track)? Or Ann Stechschulte (track)? Or Caity Matter (basketball)? Or Bonnie Stratton (track)?
Another candidate is Janet Shelly. Janet (Shelly) Donigan was a good student in my mathematics classes at Bluffton High School. She graduated in 1979. Her father was Bruce Shelly, a Nationwide insurance agent. After retirement Bruce and Marilyn Shelly moved to Florida. Janet has owned her own business, Health Care Financial Group, for 32 years in Florida. She is a CPA and is a consultant to hospitals. She and her husband, Jim Donigan, have three adult children.
The Icon recently asked readers to date the Bluffton Post Office at 132 S. Main, which has been serving the community for over eighty years. In a recent post, ForeverBluffton.com goes well beyond that time frame:
"The six Bluffton postmasters in this portrait taken by Will Triplett represent 66 years of postal history in Bluffton. The eras these men served extend from 1868 to 1934. They are, standing from left, Russell Day, M.M. Murray and Gibson Locher. Seated from left are Henry L. Romey, Andrew Hauenstein and George W. Lewis."
We've probably all driven down Tom Fett Rd. Have you ever wondered who Tom was? The Icon wonders why this road includes a first name and not just a last name, like so many others. The answer to the first question is provided by BlufftonForever.com, which provides this introduction to the topic:
Many country roads in Richland Township have familiar local family names. These include Augsburger, Bixel, Bentley, Grismore, Huber, Lugabill, Phillips, Shifferly, Snider and Zurflugh. One township road with two names, Tom Fett Road, is also among those. To discover how Tom Fett Road was named read the story in Swiss Connections at https://www.blufftonforever.com/post/thomas-and-catherine-hilti-fett
Bluffton Icon founder Fred Steiner has a story about Forgotten Bluffton that reveals the Diller country school at 7370 Grismore Road had some exceptional graduates.
"The Diller country school in northwest Richland Township had two rooms, which was unusual for country schools. But, it was most famous for the fact that from six to 10 of its graduates entered the medical profession."
This photo could easily be one of Bluffton’s top 10 mysterious locations. This doorway no longer exists and you have to be in your seventh, eighth or older decade to recognize its location. It was once the entrance to a cave used by a brewery near Thurman and Washington streets. The story is at www.blufftonforever.com/post/one-of-bluffton-s-most-mysterious-locations
The Icon dipped into www.BlufftonForever.com in search of Christmas-themed content and discovered that Santa once lived in Bluffton:
"Lazarus 'Lotzy' Basinger, (also known as Santa Claus) [was] a familiar face in the Bluffton crowd over his 90-year life span. Here is his story pieced together by the Bluffton Forever staff.
