Guess who's throwing a first anniversary party... and you are invited. The Bluffton Icon, Bluffton's free on-line news source, celebrates its first anniversary with a party at Common Grounds.

The event, open to the public, is from 6 to 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 22, the actually anniversary date that the website went live in 2009.

Guests will be treated to free Bluffton Icon coffee, a birthday cake, cupcakes and the unveiling of a special Bluffton Icon-flavored Shirley's Gourmet Popcorn. The event will also include a ribbon cutting.

The Bluffton Icon, LLC, is owned by Fred and Mary Pannabecker Steiner. Ryan Lowry is the technical director.

"We are very pleased to hold this event," said Fred Steiner. "We never dreamed that after launching The Icon that it would have over 125,000 views in its first year."

He added that the advertising support from the community has been tremendous.

"From the very beginning we wanted to create an affordable news and advertising opportunity for Bluffton. Our goal was to create an internet site that would allow Bluffton businesses to advertise at a fair rate and reach as many potential local customers as we could provide them," said Steiner.

Among those special advertising features include free classified advertising.

At the moment The Icon has 22 long-term advertisers. Several more will be joining soon. Viewership continues to increase as the word about The Icon gets around. Over the past 30 days, according to Google Analytics, The Icon has averaged between 450 and 500 individual viewers each day.

While not ever viewer checks The Icon daily, Steiners estimate that over a 30-day period The Icon has between 1,000 and 1,700 individual viewers. Nearly 85 percent of the viewers live in the Bluffton school district or within a 20-mile radius of Bluffton.

"With our first 365 days behind us, we have many new plans for 2010-11," said Steiner. "We plan to launch several new features on The Icon, which will increase viewership even greater than it is now."

"We appreciate the encouragement from countless persons we've talked with over the past year. Without this support and encouragement we could never be where we are today," said Steiner. "We hope as many viewers as possible visit with us on our anniversary party on Sept. 22."