Provided by Scott Little, Bluffton Ohio Historical Society secretary

The January meeting of the Bluffton Ohio Historical Society will be Wednesday, January 8, 2025 in the History Room on the main floor of the Bluffton Public Library at 7:00 p.m. 

Agenda items include our first Show & Tell, Part 1 set for Wednesday, January 15, in the basement Community Room at the library at 6:00 p.m, and goal setting for 2025 and beyond. 

The meeting is open to the public and all are encouraged to attend.

Provided by Chief Jon Kinn, Bluffton Fire Department

The Bluffton Fire Department received 159 calls for service in 2024. This is higher than usual and shows an increase of 48 calls compared to 2023.  In 2022, the calls received were 117 and 93 calls for service in 2021. (See chart below.)

The increased call volume was a result of an increase in false alarm calls at various facilities and an increase in motor vehicle crashes.  There was also an increase in grass/field fires and also heavy equipment (i.e. combine and tractor) fires.

The Bluffton Fire Department covers an area of forty square miles.  The department is responsible for all of the Village of Bluffton and also portions of Richland and Orange Townships.

The entirely volunteer department also recorded a total of 149 of in-house training hours by the members of the department.  Additionally, many hours were spent maintaining vehicles, special events and regular business meetings monthly.  

Thank you to the residents of the Village of Bluffton and the surrounding areas for their continued support of the fire department and all of Bluffton’s Safety Services.

The Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce will host its monthly breakfast meeting at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, January 10.

Director Jim Enneking has announced that Circle U Waffle Co. will be catering the breakfast.

The 7:30 a.m. program will feature Jesse Blackburn and company, who will provide an update on 202 projects including a new roundabout on SR 103 and transitioning village EMS from a volunteer staff to a paid staff.

For more information, visit www.ExploreBluffton.com/

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By Cort Reynolds

VAN BUREN – The visiting Bluffton High School boys basketball team methodically whipped non-league foe Van Buren 58-40 on January 4.

The Pirates improved to 8-1 with the convincing road win. Van Buren fell to 4-5 after their second tough defeat in as many nights.

Pirate Blake Sommers scored 17 points to lead three Pirates in double figures. He canned five two-point goals and one triple, and sank four of six foul shots.

Terron Boblitt contributed 13 points with two triples. 

Grandey scores 1,000th

By Cort Reynolds

BLUFFTON – The Bluffton High School girls basketball team stymied non-conference local rival Pandora-Gilboa 51-29 on January 4.

The Bluffton defense limited the Rocket girls to just 14 points over the final three quarters to pave the way to victory. The hosts outscored P-G 26-5 over the middle periods to pull away and build a comfortable 18-point lead going into the fourth period. 

Pirate senior post Ayla Grandey surpassed a career milestone when she scored her 1,000th point early in the third period.

Bluffton improved to 7-4 overall after the convincing win. Pandora-Gilboa dropped to 5-5 after the defeat.

The Pirates trailed 15-12 after the opening quarter as Rocket Savannah Knueven bombed in three of her four triples. But a 16-3 second period put Bluffton ahead 28-18 at the half. 

Bluffton stymied P-G 10-2 in the third quarter to build a 38-20 lead heading into the final period. The Pirates won the fourth stanza, 13-9.

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By Brittany Grider, MD, Pediatric Hospitalist

It’s always a joyful moment when a new baby is born. Everyone in the family wants to come meet the new addition. A few days later, this precious little baby is struggling to breathe and needs to be in the intensive care unit (ICU) with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis. 

RSV is a virus generally present in the winter, usually at its worst in January and February each year. We are starting to see cases of RSV in our community. 

By Cort Reynolds

BLUFFTON – The Bluffton High School boys basketball team built a huge edge over the middle quarters to blow out non-league visitor Kenton 82-40 on January 3.

The Pirates outscored the Wildcats 48-18 in the second and third periods to pull away and win big.

Bluffton’s Kain Wright tallied a game-high 20 points. Pirate Blake Sommers scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half.

The Pirates improved to 7-1 with their win. Kenton fell to 1-6 after suffering their sixth straight loss.

Guard Marek Donaldson contributed nine of his 11 points in the first half with the aid of two triples. Senior Terron Boblitt netted seven of his 10 markers in the third quarter.

Bluffton led 22-16 after a high-scoring first period. The Pirates stretched the lead to 49-24 at halftime by authoring a 27-8 second stanza. Bluffton canned four triples and five deuces plus five foul shots in the second period outburst.

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