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Pirate who loved Bluffton football the most?

Posted by Staff on May 2, 2022 - 6:00am

By Bill Herr, Bluffton Icon Columnist

In all the years of Bluffton Pirate football, which person loved it the most? Was it a player? Was it a coach? Was it an administrator or teacher? 

My choice is Curtis Habegger, one of my former students. Curtis graduated from Bluffton High School in 1976. One of his classmates, Bob Herr, told me "Curtis was a great guy, had an outstanding personality." After graduation, Curtis worked for Lugibihl Spray. David Lugibihl said that Curtis was very quiet, didn't say much until you got to know him. He had a good personality. He was slow, but a good worker, very particular. Curtis told David he wanted to clean out his barn floor. He insisted on doing it by hand with a pitchfork rather than using an available tractor loader. David said it took him three days, and afterward, the barn was so clean You could have eaten a meal on it."

Section: 
Historical Bluffton
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Was Wilford Geiger your teacher?

Posted by Staff on May 1, 2022 - 6:54am

By Fred Steiner, BlufftonForever.com

If you attended Bluffton High School in the late 1950s or 1960s and took chemistry or driver’s education, Wilford Geiger was your teacher.

And, here’s an opportunity to see Mr. Geiger as a toddler.

With every hair in place, these three Geiger children pose for a portrait in 1912.

The three, from left, are Beulah Geiger Gooding, Wilford O. Geiger and Estella Geiger Pugh.

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Historical Bluffton
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What's the story of our post office mural?

Posted by Staff on April 24, 2022 - 5:47am

By Fred Steiner, www.blufftonforever.com

Have you ever stood in line for stamps at the Bluffton post office and wondered why there is a mural on the lobby’s north wall?

Who was the artist and what does the mural portray?

And, who paid for the mural?

Here’s the answer:

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Historical Bluffton
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May snowfalls in 1923 and 1883

Posted by Paula Scott on April 19, 2022 - 7:53am

Two hours spent on a snowy I-75 had the Icon editor feeling pretty sorry for herself on April 18, 2022. But this Bluffton News excerpt from Fred Steiner at www.BlufftonForever.com is a topper's club story to beat our 1.3 inches of snow that quickly melted. 

May snow storm

Wednesday morning

A winter snowstorm on a small scale swept over town for several hours Wednesday morning. The snow flurries were accompanied by rain and colder weather.

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Historical Bluffton
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1937 earthquake shook Ohio

Posted by Staff on April 17, 2022 - 6:40am

By Fred Steiner, www.blufftonforever.com

Eighty-three years ago this spring–the year was 1937–Bluffton residents felt the tremors of Ohio’s most severe earthquake. The following story is from the March 11, 1937, Bluffton News. Below the story is a summary of the earthquake, centered in Anna, where its school building was condemned and torn down.

From March 11, 1937, Bluffton News

Headline:

Bluffton is shaken by quake tremor

Shock Tuesday 

Is more severe

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Historical Bluffton
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Bluffton glue factory had a reputation of being scary

Bluffton mysterious place series
Posted by Staff on April 10, 2022 - 6:00am

By Fred Steiner, www.BlufftonForever.com

In the early 1920s a Bluffton business on Spring Street served as a depository for dead and dying livestock. Providing an important service for farmers, it was a shipping point to a Kalida glue factory. Even though the Bluffton business wasn’t a glue factory, people referred to it that way, since it was the collection point for the factory. Some animal parts contain collagen, historically used in making glue, from hooves and bones of horses, mules and cattle. The need for collagen to produce glue created a demand for dead livestock.

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Historical Bluffton
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