Joe L. Goodman, 82, of Bluffton, died at 7:55 am March 22, 2014, at St. Rita's Medical Center, Lima. Arrangements are incomplete at Chiles-Laman Funeral and Cremation Services, Bluffton.
By Mary Pannabecker Steiner
What can you buy with a quarter?
A gumball or a handful of M&Ms from a candy machine, air for your bike tires, six minutes of drying time at the local Laundromat, one hour of parking on (some) city streets, or a secondhand mug at a thrift shop.
Area county fair dates for 2014 are now set. They follow:
• Allen County Fair: Aug. 25 to 23
• Hancock County Fair: Aug. 27 to Sept. 1
• Hardin County Fair: Sept. 2 to 7
• Paulding County Fair: June 9 to 14
• Putnam County Fair: June 23 to 28
• Van Wert County Fair: Aug. 27 to Sept. 1
Eight Mennonite high school Bible teachers from across the nation spent March 17 and 18 at Bluffton University to learn about its curriculum and to attend seminars led by Bluffton religion department faculty.
Seminar topics included religion curriculum, adolescent development and youth ministry, and church history.
Dr. Randy Keeler, an associate professor of religion at Bluffton, led the religion curriculum seminar, where he shared the department’s mission for Bluffton students pursuing a degree in biblical and theological studies or in youth ministries.
Bluffton University’s Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR), an educational program for retirees, is offering nine courses on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays this spring, beginning March 31.
Each course costs $35; the cost to take three or more is $100. Registration and, if applicable, course fees are due at the time of registration. Most classes will meet in the ILR classroom, located in Shultz Hall of Riley Court on campus.
St. John's United Church of Christ will hold a beef and noodle dinner from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., Friday, April 25, at the church, 223 W. College Ave., Bluffton.
The menu includes homegrown beef, noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, cole slaw, roll, homemade pies and beverages.
Tickets are $8 for adults; $5 for sixth graders through college age; and $4 for elementary students. Admission is free for pre-kindergartners.
The Beaverdam-Richland Township Fire and EMS Departments will hold its annual chicken barbecue/rib dinner at 4 p.m., Saturday, March 22, at the fire station in Beaverdam.
Tickets are pre-sale and are available from any member. The chicken dinners are $7 each and rib dinners $10 each.
Meals are available for drive-thru carryout or eat in the station.
Ruth Naylor, Bluffton author and poet, will hold a book signing and reading at Book ReViews from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday, March 22.
In her book, "A Family Affair," she gathered together a collection of her poems that traverse the rough terrain of family life, pain of loss, the difficult beauty of human love.
She writes, “I do not know understand / How love can dwell so close to hurt.” A reader shared, “Your self-disclosure somehow puts my own life in perspective. Your struggles move me to a quicker understanding, deeper contentment, and brighter hope.”
The Ohio Northern University Center for Democratic Governance and Rule of Law presents a panel discussion on “The Crisis in Ukraine: What is Happening and What Does it Mean?” in the Celebrezze Moot Court Room on Tuesday, March 25, at 7 p.m.
