When Santa lived in Bluffton
The Icon dipped into www.BlufftonForever.com in search of Christmas-themed content and discovered that Santa once lived in Bluffton:
"Lazarus 'Lotzy' Basinger, (also known as Santa Claus) [was] a familiar face in the Bluffton crowd over his 90-year life span. Here is his story pieced together by the Bluffton Forever staff.
Lazarus was probably one of the last people in Bluffton who experience way of life of the earliest Swiss immigrants. He was raised on his father’s farm near Pandora, Riley Township, Putnam County, Ohio.
Lazarus “Lotzy” Basinger was the great-grandson Christian Riesenbach Böesiger (1770-1844), of one of the original Swiss immigrants to the Bluffton community.
Find the full article at https://www.blufftonforever.com/post/when-santa-lived-in-bluffton
Stories Posted This Week
Tuesday, June 16, 2026
Monday, June 15, 2026
Sunday, June 14, 2026
Saturday, June 13, 2026
Friday, June 12, 2026
- Ada Icon headlines, June 12
- Blanchard River Watershed Partnership hosts 5K trail run on July 25
- Beaverdam to begin water treatment plant repairs
- Save the date: Declaration of Independence reading, July 8
- Bluffton Police answer 630 calls for service in May 2026
- Great wealth disparity and our eroding democracy