With the start of early in-person voting beginning on October 7, Bluffton Icon readers have been inquiring about the status of potential candidates for Bluffton Council. The sample ballot posted on the Allen County Board of Elections website shows four open council seats and just two candidates, incumbent Phillip A. Talavinia and newcomer Liz Gordon-Hancock.
The Bluffton Exempted Village School District received an overall rating of 4.5 (out of 5), exceeds state standards in the 2024-2025 Ohio School Report Card recently issued by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce.
SEPT 17 MEDIA RELEASE__The Bluffton Schools will hold a district-wide open house on Monday evening, September 22, from 5:00-6:00 p.m. Several community organizations will have booths set up in the elementary gymnasium, and information will be available on ways to provide support to the school and community.
All parents and community members are invited to this open house to meet staff members, observe facilities, and learn more about the educational opportunities available to Bluffton students.
The downtown Bluffton scarecrow decorating contest is back. Scarecrow creations need to be up by Friday, October 3 to be included in the competition. Contact Liz Gordon-Hancock at [email protected] to enter this year's contest.
Any organization or business is encouraged to adopt a lamp post on downtown Main Street and put up a scarecrow or other three-dimensional, family-friendly, fall-themed figure.
The Village of Bluffton is adopting software for future income tax returns and past cemetery data. Details were provided at the September 8 meeting of Bluffton Council.
CityTax software is expected to be adopted in October 2025. The new system will streamline the process and save time for Income Tax Administrator Rhonda Hohenbrink.
CemSites software will be used to keep track of some 5,200 cemetery plot records in Maple Grove Cemetery. Sexton Greg Probst has begun inputting records, which can be accessed at https://bluffton.cemsites.com/ Fire Chief Jon Kinn noted that he has used the system several times already and that some records are 100 years old.
The web page provides information on scheduled burials and recent interments.
FROM FACEBOOK__Music at the Gazebo coordinator Erik Reneker has announced: "We have decided to cancel the remainder of the Gazebo Concerts for 2025. The cooler evenings have greatly reduced the number of spectators.
"We will begin looking for bands to play the Gazebo Concert series for 2026 in January. The series will be from June - August."
Two dates were remaining on the schedule, September 11 and 25.
The gazebo is located on the lawn of Bluffton Presbyterian Church, 112 N. Main St.
