Help wanted: for a once-a-year writing project
HELP WANTED: Viewer participants requested. No experience required.
The first day of April beckons. Wisely, or otherwisely, The Icon invites viewers to offer April Fool's stories for this online news source.
Quite honestly, my April Fool's well is as dry as Bluffton during Prohibition. Can't think of anything worthy of print. Oh, there's the usuals...
A flock of 1,000 or more turkey vultures are headed to Bluffton. Last seen in Gomer flying this direction.
Mineral rights to several farms south of Bluffton are selling to foreign oil companies, based upon new technology of sucking oil from shale. Could be a new oil boom.
A map revealing the location of five Swiss gold coin burial sites from the 1890s in Richland Township, Ohio, was recently sold on E-bay. Each location could have up to $2,500 (face value) coins, worth hundreds of thousands on the open market.
The Ohio Tea Party plans its summer convention in Bluffton, coinciding with the Northwest Ohio Volunteer Fire Deparement's annual convention here also. Newt Gingerich may be the keynote speaker.
U.S. Route 30 is designated as the extension of Interstate 90. Modifications will begin in 2013 with no interchanges planned between Cario and Jenera.
The Ottawa National Indian Tribe Council, based in Enid, Oklahoma, plans to open a gambling casino in un-zoned Orange Township near the airport.
Bluffton High School plans to join a new athletic league based entirely on schools in Allen County. Other possible league members are Lima Senior, Shawnee, Elida, Bath, Allen East, and possibly Liberty-Benton.
See what I mean? These just don't work.
The requirements for a fantastic April Fool's story, in my opinion, follow:
1 - Each requires one second of: "Oh, my gosh, this can't be true!"
2 - Once the shock wears off, the viewer can't wait to try it on someone else.
3 - The initial paragraph or headline requires a "call to action," like: "I'll never allow this to happen," or "I better buy some of that oil stock before the price goes up."
This is where viewers enter the story. I invite viewers to submit story ideas. You may either send them as responses to this story (but the whole world will be watching), or e-mail them privately to: [email protected].
No promises, but if I use your's, it may be worth a free cup of coffee at the corner of Main and Cherry.
Stories Posted This Week
Saturday, August 23, 2025
Friday, August 22, 2025
Thursday, August 21, 2025
- Cheryl Anise Pingle worked at Dayspring Church
- Lima Highway Patrol OVI checkpoint August 22
- Pirate VB sweeps Rockets
- Pirate boys drop golf tri
- Bluffton Board of Education hears neighbor comments on practice field, approves Lawn Ave. plan
- United Way of Greater Lima holds 9th annual Day of Caring on Sept. 5
- Village of Beaverdam announces committee meetings
- An amazing sign of fall 2025
- August 23 Bluffton Cars & Coffee
- If You Could Read My Mind: GLP-1s and memory
Wednesday, August 20, 2025
Tuesday, August 19, 2025
- Village of Bluffton reminder of electric aggregation provider, solicitor permit requirements
- Previews of Bluffton Senior Center trips for 2026
- English Lutheran Church to provide Community Meal, August 21
- Welcome back to Bluffton Beavers
- Pirate football reloads for run at NWC crown
- Pirate volleyball swept by Shawnee
- Pirate girls golf loss to Fort Loramie
- Pirate girls tennis edged by Spartans
- Made In Ada Wilson Football Festival kicks of season August 23