February 2014

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For Bluffton University students who performed in the Ohio Private College Instrumental Conductors Association honors band on Feb. 2, the setting, the music and the musicians combined to create a memorable experience.

Representing Bluffton at the OPCICA honors festival closing concert in Cleveland’s Severance Hall were Bethany Babcock and Samuel Black, both from Deshler, Ohio; Aaron Johnson, a first-year student from Goshen, Ind.; and Brittney Ries, a sophomore from Freeman, S.D. They rehearsed with the honors band for two days before the performance.

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1934
• John Dillinger breaks out of jail using a wooden pistol
• Shirley Temple appears in her first movie
• TWA begins commercial air service
• Donald Duck’s first cartoon appears
• Babe Ruth hits home run number 700
• “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” first heard on Eddie Cantor’s radio show
• Theologian Karl Barth surrenders to Nazis
• Bluffton Lions Club organizes as a local service club

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The American Red Cross of Hancock County is helping a Bluffton resident following a fire at her home on State Route 103 Tuesday evening.  The resident received help with food, clothing and personal hygiene items.   

Red Cross Disaster Responders Phyllis Davis, Bill Davis and Jim Beach responded to the call for help. 

The Red Cross will continue to aid the resident as needed and assist in long term recovery planning with resources, information, and referrals to partner agencies.

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Icon viewers:

I would like to know if anyone has a copy of the old Richland Township Hall that was located in Beaverdam.  The only picture that I have does not have the bell tower.

I would appreciate any help that you or anyone else might be able to give me
on this.

Roberta Beemer,
Beaverdam mayor
[email protected]

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Gerald D. Seem, 81, of Bluffton, died February 18, 2014 at his residence. He was born November 29, 1932, in Bradner, to the late Howard Samuel and Mae Swartz Seem Sr. On October 27, 1953 he married Ruth Hottenstein and she survives.

Gerald retired from the Lima Ford Engine Plant.  He was a member of the Gospel Fellowship Church, Rawson.

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The Pandora United Methodist Church will be hosting a free community meal on Wednesday, February 26, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. in the church fellowship hall, 108 E. Washington Street, Pandora. The meal this month is provided by Growing Pains and Promises mothers club. The menu will be a baked potato bar, chili, cake and beverage.

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Nineteen degrees below zero.

Remember to tell your grandchildren this story some day. Perhaps they will believe you. The low temperature reading for Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2014. in the Bluffton-Ada area reached 19 degrees below zero, according to Guy Verhoff, Pandora weather observer.

And, it was one of seven of out eight days in a row with a minimum daily temperature of below zero.

The maximum temperatures during that eight-day stretch weren't much to brag about either. The high was only 30 on Wednesday, Feb. 13.

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Rev. Lyle Francis Steiner, 91, a resident of Royal Oak, Mich., since 1969, died Feb. 14, 2014 at McLaren Macomb Medical Center in Mount Clemens, Mich.

Rev. Steiner resided at Medilodge Nursing Home of Richmond, Mich., since 2010. He was born Sept. 18, 1922, in Lima. He was a graduate of Ft. Wayne Bible College. Rev. Steiner was a pastor at missionary churches in Decatur, Ind., Midland, Mich., Cleveland, Augusta, Mich., and Lima.

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On the heels of another memorable United States-Russia meeting in Olympic hockey, a Findlay, Ohio, resident who faced the Soviet Union on Olympic ice will share his experiences Tuesday, Feb. 18, at Bluffton University.

Weldon Olson, a member of U.S. hockey teams that won a silver medal in 1956 and a gold medal in 1960, will speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Stutzman Lecture Hall in Bluffton’s Centennial Hall.

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The Concert Choir of Michigan Lutheran Seminary, Saginaw, Michigan, will present a concert of sacred songs at Trinity  Lutheran Church in Jenera on Sunday, February 23 at 8:00 & 10:30 a.m.

The thirty-five voice traveling singers, under the direction of Professor Leonard A. Proeber, have toured annually since 1955, with appearances in more than 30 states, Canada and Europe. This choir, which will sing over 30 concerts during the 2013-2014 season, regularly visits congregations of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Michigan and adjoining states.

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