The Icons have new opportunities for local creators of audio and video content about the Bluffton community. Organizations and individuals can now share videos via YouTube links or provide audio and video files as part of media releases.
The Icon is also looking for content creators to take video assignments or provide podcasts about the Bluffton, Ohio area.
The Icon has new formats for displaying video and audio clips within the news page, allowing us to highlight them more effectively.
For more information, call me at 567-400-4266. When calling after business hours, please leave a message. Or email [email protected].
MEDIA RELEASE__Bluffton University has announced the launch of a Pre-Occupational Therapy (Pre-OT) major, expanding its offerings in the health sciences to prepare students for careers dedicated to helping individuals live independently and meaningfully.
BLUFFTON, OH – Bluffton University welcomed alumnus Eric Frey Martin '08, director of constituent engagement for Mennonite Mission Network, as the featured speaker for the Nov. 5 Forum presentation, "Moving at the Speed of Love: Finding Purpose in Mission and Service."
Frey Martin invited students to slow down and rediscover meaning through curiosity, patience and service.
Elaine K. Marquart, 83, went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on November 18, 2025 at her home surrounded by her family. Elaine was born February 2, 1942 in Benton Ridge to the late Kurt and Ruth (Oman) Radabaugh. On June 16, 1990 she married Jay Marquart.
Elaine was a 1960 graduate of Liberty-Benton High School and worked as a computer programmer, a preschool teacher at Bluffton Community Preschool and as a medical records clerk at Dr. Hotmire's office in Bluffton.
UPDATE Interruptions to the Icon websites ended at about 9:00 a.m.
By Paula Pyzik Scott
Ada Icon and Bluffton Icon editor
Both Icons have experience intermittent server problems beginning on the morning of Tuesday, November 18, due to a widespread outage impacting many online services.
MEDIA RELEASE__"Battling for Bikes" from Bluffton Elementary School earned first place in the Health Action Council Healthy Kids Fall Step It Up Challenge. Team members Jaime Combs, Heidi Steiner and Ryan Dunlap won $1,500 for their school and averaged 808,262 steps.
MEDIA RELEASE__Laurel Neufeld Weaver, assistant professor of social work and MSW field education co-director at Bluffton University, will present the Colloquium, "Activating Resilience: Creating the Trauma-Informed Classroom," at 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 21, in Centennial Hall's Stutzman Lecture Hall.
Neufeld Weaver will explore classroom strategies rooted in trauma-informed practices designed to foster resilience, equity and healing-centered learning environments for all students.
During my time as chaplain at Mennonite Memorial Home for 24 years, I met a number of residents who were veterans, mostly from World War II. I don't remember all their names, but I remember their stories.
Twenty-five to thirty Bluffton early birds strike while the peanut brittle is hot on Monday mornings in November. Volunteers fill the Bluffton Senior Center kitchen to make some 150 pounds per week as a fundraiser.
There are five stations: 1) the molten brittle boilers, 2) the hot brittle spreaders, 3) brittle breakers, 4) the brittle coolers and 5) brittle weighers and baggers. The video below shows the extremely hot sugar and peanut mixture being poured, turned and spread on trays.
