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The curse of the Mother's Day plant

Pot attacked by squirrel

By Mary Pannabecker Steiner

Last Sunday, the rain let up just enough that I decided it was time to do some planting. Despite a hankering for a new high-rise raised bed, I'd decided instead to do mostly container gardening.

Read more of Mary's blogs by clicking here.

Having done this successfully several years ago, and bolstered by an article posted on the Stratton Greenhouses Facebook page, I headed out to the playhouse.

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Life lessons learned from Scoutmaster Dan Groman

The Icon intended to write a column about Dan Groman, who is stepping down as the Bluffton Scoutmaster. Today we received this letter from a Scout family. It states much better what we had planned to say.

Our son, Taylor Jay, started in the Scouting World in the 7th grade. We thought, "Great, he will receive a few badges, go to camp and have fun."

Yes, this did happen, but there was so much more. Scoutmaster Dan Groman was no ordinary Scoutmaster; his passion for each and every boy was felt by all and was seen through his actions.

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Congratulations Bluffton Police Department

Word is getting out about Bluffton's police department. The word is something that village residents already knew: We have a excellent police force.

An American Red Cross Award now hangs on the wall in the Bluffton Police Department.

Rick Skillier, police chief, informed Bluffton council on Monday that the department was recently recognized by the Allen County Chapter of the American Red Cross.

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You want to know about culture shock - let me tell you

Kirstie Runion is completing her semester as an Icon intern. We invited her to offer a comparison between Bluffton and her hometown - suburban Cincinnati. Here are some of her observations:

By Kirstie Runion, Bluffton Icon university Intern

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I think the Mets are winning

As I write this column on Thursday evening (8:55 p.m.) the Mets and Rockies are hitting foul balls about a quarter of a mile to my east. I can see the lights of the field and a bit of the scoreboard from where I sit.

No, I'm not in Bluffton or anywhere even close to the 45817 zip code. I'm not watching the TV screen. Thanks to the World Wide Web, the posting of this column is coming from LaGuardia International Airport, NYC.

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1861 carries several meanings for Bluffton

Casting a long shadow is this Civil War veteran's gravestone in Bluffton's Maple Grove.

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The year 1861 was a significant one for this community for several reasons. First, the unincorporated village of Shannon was renamed Bluffton. The name change was because another Shannon also existed in Ohio and the United States Post Office asked the younger of the two locations with the same name (us) to change it.

This, of course, took place in 1861, 150 years ago, thus we celebrate our sesquicentennial this year.

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