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Flyer feature: MHCO Easter Egg Hunt

Posted by Staff on March 20, 2023 - 8:18am

Mennonite Memorial Home of Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio is hosting an Easter Egg Hunt on April 1 at 10:00-10:30 a.m. sharp! (FLYER)

Sponsored by Lewis Family McDonald's, families can

  • Get pictures with the Easty Bunny
  • For kids 8 years old and under accompanied by an adult
  • Bring your Easter Basket

The event will be held in the backyard of the Mennonite Memorial Home, 410 W. Elm. The main building and restrooms will be closed.

Share your organization's flyer with the Icon by email or tag @blufftonicon on Facebook!

Section: 
Events
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March 22 Lenten service at Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church

Posted by Staff on March 20, 2023 - 7:16am

Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, 301 North Main Street, Jenera, will hold a Lenten service on Wednesday, March 22, at 7:00 p.m.

Pastor Kurtis Feimuth from Peace Lutheran Church in Deshler will lead the service following the theme: "His Final Steps Led to His Enemies" based on Luke 20:9-19. 

Section: 
Worship
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Preview of Bluffton ballots for May 2 election

Posted by Paula Scott on March 20, 2023 - 6:00am

Voting for military and overseas Ohioans has begun for the May 2 election. On Friday, March 17, Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) ballots were sent to men and women in the military who are stationed abroad and to Ohioans working overseas by county boards of elections. 

Section: 
Regional news
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Letter: Searching for Bluffton's basement barbers

Posted by Staff on March 20, 2023 - 5:30am

A letter to Icon readers from Liz Gordon-Hancock:

I’ve been told that the basement barber shop at 125 N. Main St. Lower (currently Stoney’s Barber Shop) has been a barber shop in continuous operation for over 100 years. I’ve also heard rumors that this is one of the few remaining basement barber shops in the state of Ohio. 

Ever since I purchased this building (125 N. Main St and down the right side of Vine St.) from Richard Boehr in 2020, I’ve been trying to piece together all the different barbers which have used the basement premises, as a way of confirming its 100-year tenure and preserving the history of the place.

But I’ve found a lot of holes in my information, and wondered whether the community could help me fill in the gaps in my knowledge.  

According to the inimitable fount of knowledge Richard Boehr, the first barber at this location was "Curly" Basinger's great-grandfather. According to a quote in the Bluffton Icon, “The shop was later headquarters for a Mr. Day, Bob Lewis, Dick Smith and later Jerry Marshall.” I’ve been able to confirm some, but not all, of this. My research doesn’t seem to stretch much before 1921, and I still have a few gaps between then and 2011. 

Section: 
Letters
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One day it's winter, the next day it's spring

Posted by Paula Scott on March 19, 2023 - 2:59pm

On the last day of winter (March 19), the Icon spied a dozen robins foraging in a moment of sunshine. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources busts the myth that robins are the harbinger of spring.

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The Great Flood of 1913

Posted by Staff on March 19, 2023 - 6:00am

By Fred Steiner
www.BlufftonForever.com

This flood became so devastating that it had a name: The Great Flood of 1913. It’s also called Ohio’s greatest natural disaster. And, Bluffton experienced it on March 23-26, 110 years ago this month.

Here’s a photo (at right, click to enlarge) of the swollen Riley Creek on Cherry Street at the height of the flood. How was this photo taken? In a boat? We don’t know.

The building slightly visible on the left today is Village Cut ‘N’ Curl, 207 Cherry Street. In 1913 the Cut ‘N’ Curl building and the building connected to it was the Ed Jones Furniture Store. 

The center building was the Phillip Wilch buggy shop. The two-story building on the far right was a Triplett storage building. 

Believe it or not, a fire occurred in the storage building during the height of the flood, believed to be caused by a short circuit. The Bluffton fire department somehow put out the fire.

The complete story and more photos are HERE.

Section: 
Historical Bluffton
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