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Icon music review: Five songs people wanted to cancel 

Including “Puff The Magic Dragon” by Peter, Paul, And Mary?
Posted by Fred Steiner on April 4, 2021 - 10:35pm

Reviewed/Written by Craig Hoffman 
“Let’s cancel it!” A polarizing phrase that appears to be a product of the social climate and times in which we live.

Everything from TV shows, movies, books, and, yes, music is now under the microscope of the “woke” public eye. But in music, songs and artists meeting with criticism for their so-called lack of a moral compass is nothing new. 

Here’s a look at five iconic songs that people wanted to say sayonara to, despite the issues they sing about remaining front and center in 2021. 

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Forgotten Bluffton: Where is the earliest settled section of our village?

And, why is Main Street laid out northeast to southwest?
Posted by Fred Steiner on April 4, 2021 - 1:51pm

Where is the earliest settled section of Bluffton?

The map accompanying this story answers that question.

Bluffton was incorporated as a village in 1861, but it was 23 years prior to that, in 1838, when the first lots for the village were platted.

Joseph DeFord platted these lots. And, five years before that, in 1833, DeFord built the first home in what is now Bluffton – it was a log cabin. The mural in the Bluffton post office depicts a scene of the cabin under construction.

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You are what you eat

This saying also goes for the information that we consume
Posted by Fred Steiner on April 2, 2021 - 6:05am

By Amelia Alexander
We live in an age of information, but unfortunately, we also live in an era of misinformation. 

 Fake news spreads like wildfire. Fake news is information that is false or completely misleading that is presented as news. Fake news travels about 6 times faster than regular news on social media. This is extremely concerning.

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Peter and Verena Luginbuhl Hilty

Our Swiss connection - part 20
Posted by Fred Steiner on April 1, 2021 - 6:25am

This is the 20th  installment in this series. Click here for the previous installment.

An index to all columns in this series is attached at the bottom of this story. 

Peter Hilty (note spelling change from parent’s Hilti) was the son of Michael and Elisabeth Thüler (Americanized to Diller) Hilti.

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Icon music review opens the church hymnal

The top 5 church hymns that should be retired today
Posted by Fred Steiner on March 28, 2021 - 10:07pm

Reviewed/written by Craig Hoffman 
In another century we won’t be singing many of the hymns we’re screeching out on Sundays. While some will have lasted a week, perhaps, others even for a few years, there are several that should be retired from regular use right now! 

Do you agree with the following candidates for overdue retirement? Let the Icon know in the comments!

“Onward Christian Soldiers” (1865)  - Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould

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John F. and Barbara Habegger Steiner

Our Swiss connection - part 19
Posted by Fred Steiner on March 25, 2021 - 9:03am

This is the 19th installment in this series. Click here for the previous installment.

John F. Steiner married Barbara Habegger on March 15, 1832, in France. John was also known as “Buchwald Hans” because of the area where he was born.

Click here for a column on John's brother and sister-in-law, Peter and Barbara Schumacher Steiner.

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