Lynn Carmack, Jim Szabo and Warren Eastman. What did these three men have in common? They were members of the First Methodist Church. In this 1961 centennial photo, they participated in a centennial pageant in Founders Hall. The pageant includes the story of early Bluffton.
The three were part of a scene depicting the Methodist Church movement arriving in Bluffton. Leland Gerber took the photo. (From the collection of Fred Steiner.)
Here's an interesting photo set taken in either 1955 or 1956. The location: town hall second floor (Legion Hall). The event: Bluffton Business Men's Association welcome dinner meeting for the Ex-Cell-O Corporation. That building today is owned by Colonial Surface Solutions.
Who do you recognize in the photo?
Is that Clarence or Hiram Diller looking at the camera? Two seats down is Paul Steiner, then Harold Klinger, and Charles Hankish, Sr.
Here's an ink blotter advertisement from Andrew Hauenstein and Son drug store, Bluffton. The wording reads: "The Old Bookkkeeper's verdict after all, no ink like Carter's. The card is copyrighted 1903.
Christmas in downtown Bluffton in 1950. There's Santa with a Santa Halloween mask. Our guess is that Bob Crow and Paul Steiner on working the PA system.
We don't know the identity of Santa, but we are going to make a stab on the ID of the kids on the platform. On the far left, it looks like Dan Lehman, then Francis Harkness, Judy Harness and Donna McClure. That's as far as we can go.
This scene must have been from a Bluffton Business Men's holiday promotion.
Here is a beautiful photo of Bluffton's Main Street sometime after 1906. We know that because the Western Ohio Railway tracks are in the center of Main Street.
There are several things to examine closely in this photo, which we would guess was taken by Will Triplett. The original photo measures 8 by 6 inches and was probably a contact print from the negative.
This was the Mennonite Memorial Home before any additions were added to the building. From a picture post card, the message on the back side reads "Mennonite Memorial Home," Home for the Aged, Bluffton, Ohio, Sponsored by Eight General Conference Churches in Ohio. This photo was taken in the mid 1950s.
