June 2016 rainfall was nothing – nothing – like June 2015.
This June Guy Verhoff, Pandora weather observer, reports 4.36 inches of rain fell. Most of that came over the two-day period of June 22-23 when 1.04 inches fell on the 22nd and 2.32 inches fell on the 23rd.
Compared June 2016’s 4.36 total inches to a two-day spread of June 15-16, 2015, when 3.34 inches fell, flooding much of Bluffton’s flood plain area.
June 2015 rainfall was slightly over 10 inches. June’s normal average rainfall is 4.15 inches.
James and Marlene Baumgartner of Bluffton will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary this month.
James and the former Marlene Berry were married Aug. 9, 1951, at First United Methodist Church by Rev. Paul Cramer.
They are the parents of Gregg (Deb) Baumgartner, Findlay, Michelle (Rick) Fennell,
North Baltimore, and Michael ( Amie) Baumgartner, Medina. They have nine
grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.
Here's Bluffton on a warm summer night. In fact, it's the first summer night of 2016. Denny Edinger took this photo of the full moon over the Bluffton University campus from Elm Street.
Rachael E. Lewis, strings teacher and orchestra director in Bluffton Schools, recently competed in a fiddlers' contest and won the adult fiddling division.
The contest also included youth fiddling, banjo and harmonica contests.
The events were held July 2, at Van Wert County Fairgrounds during the Old Fashioned Farmers Days.
Rachael played: "Possum Up a Gum Stump," "Lonesome Moonlight Waltz" and "Angeline the Baker."
Provided to The Icon by Kevin King
Bluffton High School students along with Spanish teacher Profe King traveled to Costa Rica for 11 days in June.
They traveled with EF (Education First) tours on an immersion-style tour.
Students were encouraged and often forced to speak and communicate solely on Spanish while learning about sustainability practices, a variety of foods, and cultural differences.
There were six Bluffton High School students joined with groups from North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin for a total of 19 students.
Can pigs fly? Ask Evan Osting of Bluffton and he'll tell you pigs can swim. He is pictured at the Bluffton-Ada swim meet on Thursday in Ada. (Monty Siekerman photo)