Business

By Mark Badertscher and Randall Reeder

Don’t miss this year’s Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference March 11-12, 2025, (Tuesday-Wednesday) at Ohio Northern University, Ada, Ohio. Connect with other great farmers and CCAs, experience new ideas, and increase your net income. 

The theme is “Getting More from Less.” Cutting costs is key following a year where corn and soybean yields were reduced for many farmers. And crop prices are barely breakeven. We don’t know what the weather will be in 2025, but commodity prices are projected to stay low.

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Through March 16, area Girl Scout entrepreneurs will be out and about the community at local businesses, holding drive-through cookie booths, setting up cookie stands in their neighborhood, and taking online orders to ensure cookie lovers can enjoy all their favorite Girl Scout Cookies®.

Saturday, Feb. 22 - Bluffton Community Markets and Wendy's on SR 103
Tuesday, Feb. 25 -  Wendy's on SR 103
Saturday, Mar. 1 - Cory-Rawson High School
Saturday, Mar. 8 - Bluffton Community Markets

This year’s lineup includes the perennially popular Thin Mints®, Caramel deLites®, Peanut Butter Sandwiches, and the Lemonades® — and for the last time, the Toast-Yay!® variety, which will be retired after 2025.

Customers can plan their cookie shopping excursion by visiting www.gswo.org/findcookies and entering their ZIP code to find upcoming booths.

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Ten Thousand Villages welcomes Haitian artist Jean François Frisnel as the February 2025 Artist of the Month. His paintings will be on display in the Ten Thousand Villages store during the month of February. The public is invited to come to a reception to meet the artist at 2 pm, Saturday, February 22.

In 1979 Frisnel was born in Carrefour, Port-au-Prince, Haiti. He now resides in Lima, Ohio. He says this of his art career:

The Village of Bluffton Parks and Recreation, in partnership with the Bluffton Soccer Club and The Bluffton Lions Club, has initiated a community project to develop a new recreational space. This project will include seven soccer fields, thanks in part to land donated by SRK, an inclusive playground for children of all abilities, a one-mile walking path, and a shelter house.

The new park will also address the community's desire for more open green spaces, as indicated in the Village's recent survey. The yet-to-be-named park is located on Snider Road, adjacent to SRK and behind Bluffton Community Church. 

The community is invited to submit name suggestions for the new park as part of this initiative. Suggestions can be submitted online and will be reviewed by a committee consisting of members from the village, the Bluffton Soccer Club and The Bluffton Lions Club. Submissions will be accepted from February 10-23 by clicking HERE.

“This project is a perfect example of how Bluffton finds a way to bring big ideas to life," says Jesse Blackburn, Village Administrator. “This truly is a community effort, so it is fitting that the community get to help name the park."

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By Liz Gordon-Hancock

The following six land transfers took place in the Bluffton Exempted Village School District for the month of January 2025 as reported on the websites of Allen County Auditor Rachael S. Gilroy and Hancock County Auditor Charity A. Rauschenberg.

Address - Sale Date - Sale Price - Land Use - Owner - From/To

Agricultural

24.12 ACRES on N NAPOLEON RD – 1/17/2025 – $807,000 – Agricultural vacant land From Robert Ernest to BLACK HEART DEVELOPMENT LLC

Residential

207 PARKVIEW DR – 1/6/2025 – $45,000 – Residential vacant land – From THREE S DEVELOPMENT GROUP LLC to Mark Delisle & Jessica Armstrong

358 CHERRY ST – 1/17/2025 – $101,000 – Single family dwelling – From Timothy & Patricia Evans to WIECHART INVESTMENT PROPERTIES LLC

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All-Inclusive Playground capital campaign detailed

UPCOMING EVENTS:

  • February 4: Club meeting – Town Hall – 6:30 PM Board to meet at 6:00 PM
  • Induction of new members. District Governor, Sue Davis, will be the speaker.
  • February 13: NorthWest Eye Care Foundation meet by Zoom.
  • February 18 : Club meeting – Town Hall – Noon. 50/50 charity raffle draw. Induction of new members. Lunch sandwiches available. Speaker will be Kathryn “Ryn” Farmer, Deputy Director, Crime Victim Services.

January Charity Raffle:

  • $100 Lauren Averesch ticket sold by Lion Greg Averesch
  • $50 Elizabeth Bourassa ticket sold by Lion Mark Bourassa
  • $30 Luke Denecker ticket sold by Lion Greg Denecker
  • $20 Swiss Community Historical Society ticket donated by Lion Ed Yeager

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