Bluffton EMS Chief Jan Basinger reports June was a very busy month with 60 calls, 20 above the monthly average.

BLUFFTON EMS DOCKET JUNE 2011

This sign was spotted in Roger and Sandy Hoffman front yard on Geiger Street for Bluffton's sesquicentennial celebration, which began over the June 24 weekend.

The sign even has some history as Roger mentioned that this sign was originally purchased from Fultz's Sign Co. back in 1986 for Bluffton's 125th Birthday.

The 2011 Festival of Wheels named this 1967 Oldsmobile Cutlass the best of show. Toom Selhorst of Columbus Grove is the vehicle owner.

Area teachers have just one month left to apply for a McDonald's MAC Grant, which offers financial support to help teachers Make Activities Count for their students.

MAC Grant applications for grants of up to $400 for teachers in kindergarten through eighth grade must be submitted by July 31, 2011.

July 4th celebrations often include cook-outs, picnics, boating, time spent with family and friends and, of course, fireworks. But for too many Americans, the nation's annual celebration is filled with tragedy, as it is one of the deadliest holidays of the year when it comes to alcohol-impaired traffic fatalities.

That's why the Hancock County Sheriff's Office will be out in force during the Fourth of July holiday weekend, cracking down on impaired drivers with aggressive Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest enforcement.

When Matt Ferguson was a high school sophomore in 2004, a group of his friends left a Christmas present on his doorstep-a life-size, cardboard cutout of President George W. Bush.

Ferguson had volunteered with the Miami County, Ohio, Republican Party during Bush's re-election campaign earlier that year. "That's when I started building the relationships that have really helped me out," says the 2010 Bluffton University alumnus, who met a number of local officials, including his U.S. Rep., and now Speaker of the House, John Boehner.

Watch a video preview of Bluffton's Brand of Broadway" - click here.

Two days remain - but they might be the best two! Bluffton's sesquicentennial celebration has a full weekend of activities planned Friday and Saturday, July 1 and 2.

Here's Friday's schedule:

Byron "Milton" McDowell, 84, of Bluffton and formerly Columbus Grove, died Thursday, June 30, 2011, at 11:30 a.m. at Mennonite Memorial Home, Bluffton.

He was born June 27, 1927, in Columbus Grove, Ohio, to Byron Lee and Neva (McKanna) McDowell. On July 9, 1948, he married Mary Jane Roberts who survives.

Mr. McDowell retired from Baldwin-Lima Hamilton/Clark Equipment, Lima, and from Bluffton University. He was a member and elder of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Columbus Grove.

Watch a video by clicking here.

Second video here.

A couple dozen volunteers from the UAW 1219 ramp crew made life a lot more comfortable for a Bluffton family.

The crew constructed a wheelchair ramp free of charge on Thursday, June 30.

The ramp crew consists of retired Ford Motor Company employees of Lima. The members volunteer their time to construct wheelchair ramps for persons in the Lima and surrounding area.