15 minutes with Autumn Steiner
Year you graduated from Bluffton HS: 2005

What is your current job and how did you obtain it?
Development Manager for the Humane Society of Sarasota County in Sarasota, Florida.

After graduating from Ohio Northern in 2009 and relocating to Florida in 2011, I worked in the for-profit sector, most recently for the American subsidiary of a French ventilation manufacturer.

I made the switch to non-profit work in 2016 and haven’t looked back. Last year, HSSC found homes for 1,521 dogs and cats. It takes a lot of fundraising to keep the operations going, but it’s very rewarding.

It sounds interesting. What’s the best part about it?
I get to bring my dog, Penny, to work with me everyday. All the staff pets have titles. Hers is “Chief Happiness Officer” because she loves everyone, especially the people who give her treats.

How many pets have you adopted thanks to your job?
So far, none. I had my dog before I started there, but I have definitely come close to taking home a few dogs. I have a particular weakness for miniature dachshunds.

Do you ever run into anyone from Bluffton while you are in Florida?
I-75 runs right along the area where I live, so I see Ohio plates all the time. Just last week, I was taking a cooking class at Sur la Table in Tampa and the ladies next to me had family in Pandora, and the people sitting next to them were from Bellefontaine. Not quite from Bluffton, but still a small world.

Do you have any good TP stories from middle school?
I remember the flag corps tried to TP Mr. Sycks and failed horribly. We were drawing crossed flags in the grass with silly string when he opened his front door and caught us. That would have been about 2002. Maisie Wright, Cinnamon Luma, Megan Dunlap, Candace Kent, Heather Woessner, Jessica Pneuman, Heather Carmack and Erin Badertscher. I think they were all in on it.

Do you remember your fourth grade turkey?
I think I used elbow macaroni. That one is hazy, but I very clearly remember my third-grade log cabin from the Little House on the Prairie unit: pretzel rods and wood glue on a shoe box. I went through a whole Little House phase on my own—complete with bonnet wearing—so that unit really resonated with me.

How about your eighth grade science project?
My project was called “Beach Erosion: A Study of Endless Change.” My dad helped me assemble this glass tank with a little fan-blade to create waves. We kept it in the basement, and every day I would measure the depth of the sand on the “ocean” floor and periodically move rock walls around to see how that affected the beach erosion.

We sealed the tank with tar, which was a sticky mess the day of the local science fair. There was tar all over my hands, my clothes, the Cafetorium floor (sorry!). But we got smarter and switched to a plastic tank for districts and states.

I ended up winning quite a bit of prize money at the district or state level, and – being a 13-year-old girl – I spent it on clothes at the Lima Mall.

Have you seen any really good movies lately?
I just saw Lady Bird. It was everything I like in a movie: funny but not silly, heartwarming but not cheesy, and it had really relatable characters. I think it should have won the Oscar for Best Picture. Then again, I didn’t see any of the other nominated films, so I may be biased.

When you tell someone you are from Bluffton, Ohio, how do you describe it?
I tell people it's the idyllic small town. This part of Florida is really beautiful because it’s on the Gulf of Mexico, but it’s all relentless growth. New housing developments, new shopping plazas, then the more cosmopolitan downtown areas.

There’s nothing that compares to driving down Main Street in Bluffton, with its historic houses, tree canopies, musty-in-a-good-way post office, high school that my dad and grandma both attended, one-show movie theatre, and all the other small-town trappings. But that’s a lot to explain to people, so I usually end up saying, “It’s about an hour south of Toledo and an hour north of Dayton."

What’s your favorite Florida restaurant?
I love this little place that’s right before the drawbridge to Anna Maria Island. It’s a family-owned pizza buffet called Fire & Stone. They make all the pizzas in front of you and let you choose the toppings. The soups are homemade. The salads are fresh. Everything is spotless, and they give you soft serve ice cream at the end. It’s not gourmet by any means, but there’s something so cozy about it. And the pizza is crispy and delicious. There are so many good restaurants in this area, but there’s no Kewpee!

Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?
I met the comedian and actor Larry Miller at a work function. We hired him as the main act for our gala. If you’re saying, “Who is Larry Miller?”, Google him. When his picture pops up, I guarantee you’ll say, “Oh, that guy!” He is the quintessential “that guy.” He was very nice, but he had had a pretty serious head injury not long before the performance and it was apparent when he got on stage.

Let’s just say he was definitely not well enough to be doing stand-up. It was pretty cringeworthy, especially since we had paid him a lot to be there! But he ended up refunding us, so he was a stand-up guy after all (pun intended!).