You can go home again
You can go home again. Many did on Saturday.
If you are - or are related to - a Schumacher, Diller, Suter, Basinger, Zimmerly, Amstutz, Neuenschwander (and its spelling variations), Hilty, Bixel, Suter, Moser, Luginbuhl (and its spelling variations), Burkholder, Steiner, Badertscher, Gratz, Bucher, Augsburger, Geiger, Althaus, Gerber… you get the idea.
MORE PHOTOS AT BOTTOM OF STORY -
Descendants of Swiss immigrants to Bluffton-Pandora have a homestead where they and all their friends can view rural life in the 1840s.
Home is at 8350 Bixel Road between Bluffton and Pandora, on the edge of Riley Creek as it flows toward the Blanchard. The homestead is owned and cared for by the Swiss Community Historical Society.
The Swiss homestead is open to the public several times each year. One of those is on the last Saturday in September during the Bluffton Fall Festival.
Hundreds of visitors check out the grounds, the out buildings, the garden, the house and the fixtures.
Here are some views of this year’s open house.
Stories Posted This Week
Monday, September 28, 2026
Sunday, September 27, 2026
Saturday, September 26, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, September 26
- September 26 Bluffton Schools athletics lineup, streaming
- State Patrol investigates serious injury crash involving ambulance
- Weekend Doctor: What is a DO?
- Distance runner Chappell-Dick to be inducted in EMU Hall of Honor
- October Business Collective with Bluffton Food Pantry
Friday, September 25, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, September 25
- Clay, community, and the classroom
- Pirate volleyball loss vs. Crestview
- Pirate girls soccer win vs. Allen East
- Janine Elizabeth (Minnich) Millager, 87, was a lab technician
- Send October 2026 calendar events to the Icon
- New time for Planning and Bluffton Beyond Tomorrow meetings, Sept 29
- Pirate boys golf 10th at sectionals
- Fall Festival activities are all over Bluffton, Sept. 26
Thursday, September 24, 2026
- Marilyn Florence (Brunn) Osting, 94, was a nurse
- Paul Richard Wingate Jr., 79, worked for the Lima Ford Engine Plant
- Ada Icon headlines, Sept. 24
- Roundabouts celebrated for crash reduction
- Scarecrow competition for Bluffton businesses
- Hello, Goodbye: Diphenhydramine for allergies
- 5th Annual MHCO Gala will Roll Out the Red Carpet
- Funeral notice for Mary Louise Reddick
- ODNR urges caution during fall wildfire season
- Nursing student to share clinical research at First Tuesday in the Library