Blame it on Dick Boehr.
This fall he started cleaning out more than a half century of Bluffton collectibles from his Vine Street office.
When he came to the box with Bluffton Boehr’s basketball jersey number 55, he couldn’t resist.
MORE PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF STORY.
He sent it to the only player who ever wore the jersey, Jim Sommer, a Bluffton University athletic hall of famer.
After graduating from Bluffton in 1968, Sommer - think Sommer Center on campus - played on an amateur merchants basketball team named the Bluffton Boehrs. Dick was the team’s sponsor. Harry Klay was the team coach.
That amateur team earned back-to-back state tournament titles in the Ohio State Department of Parks and Recreation tournaments in the early 1970s. Sommer just happened to be named the MVP in both those state tournaments.
The Boehrs were the only team from the Lima league to ever win such a state title.
Other members of the team included lots of area talent (with lots of Putnam county names): Ken Khulman, Elmer Meyer, Jerry Stechschulte, Steve Turnwald, Joe Miller, Jim Wannamacher, Chuck Osting, Pat Allen, Ron Snyder and Sommer.
Back to Jersey Number 55
Boehr showed the Bluffton Boehr's jersey to the Icon as he was packaging it in the mail to send to Sommer, who now lives in Illinois. You can see Dick holding it in the photo below this story.
“Actually, I thought that would be the end of it,” said Boehr.
He was wrong. The next thing that happened to the jersey - actually the entire uniform - is that after receiving it Sommer put it on and posed with a basketball. Studying the photo you’d think he was headed to the hoop in Founders Hall.
His wife, Susan, took a photo, put it on Facebook, the Icon grabbed it (with permission) and the rest is history.
The Sommer era at Bluffton was golden for Bluffton basketball fans. Here’s a summary of some of his outstanding play as a Beaver, taken from the Bluffton University Athletic Hall of Fame.
A graduate of Pekin (Illinois) High School, Sommer earned four letters in basketball and two in football. He holds school records in basketball and earned postseason honors in both sports.
In basketball, Sommer holds the single-game mark for rebounds (29) and career records for most rebounds (1,030) and best rebound average (12.4). He led the team in rebounding three years and in scoring once.
Sommer was first-team All-Mid-Ohio Conference twice in basketball and a second-team selection once, and was first-team All-NAIA District 22 once.
He led the football team in receiving twice and was the first non-back ever to lead the Beavers in scoring (50 points in 1967). Sommer had eight touchdown receptions that year. He was All-MOC twice in football and earned first-team all-district honors once.
