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The December student of the month at Bluffton High School is Cole Bowers, a senior with a 4.000 GPA. Cole is the son of John and Amanda Bowers of Bluffton.

Cole is very active at school, participating in drama club, choir (symphonic, chamber and show choirs), band (concert, marching and jazz bands), string orchestra, Academic Team, National Honor Society, the Four Guys and a Gal quartet and the BHS Gaming club.

He received multiple awards in Esports for: Smash Bros. MVP 2023, Smash Bros. Playmaker 2022, Valorant Most Improved in 2023 and Smash Bros. Coaches choice in 2022.

Cole is also a member of the Boy Scouts of America Troop #256 where he received an Eagle Scout award. 

He currently takes CCP courses through Rhodes State College for Algebra and Trigonometry and at Findlay University he is in College Writing (via Bluffton High School),  General Psychology, and Healthcare Ethics. 

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Jan Basinger, Chief of Bluffton Emergency Medical Services, has reported the following call for service statistics for December 2023: 31 Medical, 9 Transports, 10 Fire Calls, 1 Mutual Aid; 51 total calls for services. 2023 totals: 782 calls and 525 patients transported.

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The Mennonite Home Communities of Ohio (MHCO) Board of Directors has announced that "after much thoughtful consideration, discussion, and prayer," it plans to close the Hilty Preschool and Child Care Center in Pandora, Ohio at the end of January 2024.

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Peggy Ann Ruggley, 74, passed away December 31, 2023 at the Meadows of Delphos. Peggy was born May 13, 1949 in Bluffton to the late Harold and Mildred (Grismore) Ruggley.  

Peggy was a graduate of Bluffton High School and worked at Marbeck Center in the food service department at Bluffton College for many years. She enjoyed gardening and needlework.

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EasternWoods Outpatient Center, a division of Blanchard Valley Health System, has acquired a new Siemens Sola 1.5 T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner.

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The Ohio State Highway Patrol is reporting six fatal crashes resulting in seven fatalities on Ohio’s roadways during the 2023-2024 New Year’s holiday according to provisional statistics. Of the seven fatalities, five of those killed were not wearing an available safety belt.

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ALLEN COUNTY__ Ohio State University Extension Allen County will host the 4th Annual Allen County Ag Outlook and Agronomy Day on Tuesday, February 6, 2024. The day will include presentations on the latest in Ag economics, agronomy and agriculture technology.

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What’s coming up at the Bluffton Senior Citizen Center in January? Look no further than the Happenings newsletter, a compilation of announcements, previews and membership information.

Daily happenings at 132 N. Main St. are listed–including exercise, games, music and social events–as well as opportunities to travel the state and the country. A January 30 presentation will give details on Best of Alaska and Blue Ridge Country trips.

The Center welcomes 25 new members, listed in the newsletter, from Bluffton and seven other communities.

The newsletter also features 28 advertisers–including the Bluffton Icon–who support mailing the newsletter to over 700 members.

Click HERE to read the January 2024 Happenings newsletter.

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The Village cemetery board meets at 2:00 p.m. on January 3 at Bluffton Town Hall.

By Andy Chappell-Dick

Maple Grove Cemetery may be the quietest place in Blufton, but it's also pretty crowded. Only about 65 plots remain. How is the Village planning for its future?

Awash in a sea of year-end financial legislation, Village Council took a few minutes at Monday's meeting to also talk about Maple Grove Cemetery. They voted to accept the resignation of sexton Bernie Ludwig, passed the first reading of a fee increase, and set a meeting of the Cemetery board to plan next steps.

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The Village of Bluffton Cemetery Board meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 3 has been moved to 2:00 p.m.

The meeting will still be at the Bluffton Town Hall.

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