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January 16, 2023 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day

In honor of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., January 16, 2023 is a national holiday. The Bluffton Icon and Ada Icon are closed on this day and will pause content except for breaking news.

BHS girls basketball grounds Rockets

By Cort Reynolds

Playing at home, the Bluffton High School girls basketball team got off to a big lead and defeated non-conference foe Pandora-Gilboa easily 59-27 Saturday afternoon, January 14.

Bluffton improved to 10-5 overall with the win as they increased their home record to 8-1. 

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BHS boys basketball edged by Carey

By Cort Reynolds

The Bluffton High School boys basketball team lost to visiting Carey 47-43 in a close non-league bout Saturday night, January 14.

The Blue Devils trailed 26-21 at halftime, but turned the game around with a 17-8 third period. Five Carey players hit baskets in the momentum-changing quarter.

The teams played to a taut 9-9 tie in the fourth quarter. 

The combatants were tied 13-13 after the first period, but Bluffton spurted to a five-point intermission lead behind a 13-8 second quarter. 

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American playwright’s unproduced work to be explored during Bluffton Colloquium

Dr. Melissa Friesen will present the Colloquium “Tina Howe’s Unproduced Plays” at 4:00 p.m. on January 20 in Centennial Hall’s Stutzman Lecture Hall on the campus of Bluffton University.

During the presentation, Friesen will share discoveries from the collection of contemporary American playwright Tina Howe archived at Harvard University. Evidence from Howe’s writing notes, unpublished plays, letters and essays illuminate Howe’s writing process and her understanding of playwrights as “strip-tease artists of the soul.”   

This event is free and open to the public.

Main Street safety for pedestrians and drivers in 2023

Should Bluffton install a traffic light at Main and College? Do you yield to pedestrians?

A January 10 accident on Main St. near College Ave. has village residents talking about long-standing concerns regarding traffic and pedestrian safety at this location. The police report has not yet been released, but preliminary information indicates that a youth was struck by a vehicle and then transported by EMS to Lima Memorial Hospital. It is expected to take several days for a report to be filed by the Bluffton Police Department.

The incident has reheated anxiety that has simmered since the traffic signal at Main St. and College was removed in 2009. Those most affected are the children who attend the schools on one side of Main and use the Bluffton Public Library and school sports facilities on the other side.

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Steiner to present "Before we were Pirates"

Those interested in attending the presentation should register by contacting the Bluffton Public Library at 419-358-5016.

“Before we were Pirates,” the story of Bluffton sports teams and fans before 1929 is the topic of a presentation by Fred Steiner at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23, at the Bluffton Public Library, 145 S. Main St.

The Pirate did not become the school mascot until 1929. Prior to that the school had no mascot. This presentation is about the earliest teams in the history of the. The origin of the mascot will also be explained. 

“If you can imagine in 1893 jumping on a railroad box car, riding to Lima and back to watch a Bluffton baseball team play a Lima team, then this lecture is for you,” says Steiner. 

“You do not need to be a sports fan to appreciate this presentation,” he notes. “The talk will include many stories like the railroad box ride to Lima.” 

The presentation includes stories about Bluffton teams as early as 1893 and photos of both girls and boys athletic teams as early as 1900. 

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