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On January 23, 15 spellers from grades 6-8 competed in the Bluffton Middle School spelling bee. An 8th grade student, Marissa Dennis, survived round after round, winning with the word “salvageable.” She qualified to represent Bluffton in the Allen County Spelling Bee. The second runner up, Elijah Lewis, will represent Bluffton if Dennis is unavailable.

Three teachers teamed up to run the bee: pronouncer Hailey Coliigan and judges Natalie Armstrong and Becky Boblitt.

Students who participated in the spelling bee were

6th Grade                

Simon Phillips
Brielle Picker
Zach Lehmkuhle
Haddy Glick

 

 

7th Grade

Colton Kelly
Alenah Gordon-Hancock
Lila Brown
Cameron Cox
Anna Schedler
 

 

8th Grade                   

Aubrey Maag
Elijah Lewis
Gabe Foster
Ciara Keysor
Marissa Dennis
Amelia Haley

   

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PHOTOS by Kathy Dickson and Jamie Nygaard. Click to enlarge and view at your own pace.

By Benji Bergstrand

Each fall for nearly eight decades, Dick Boehr has reached for his Messiah song book to begin preparations to sing George Frideric Handel’s venerated oratorio performed annually at Bluffton College/Bluffton University. It never gets old for him. “As soon as you touch that Messiah book and feel how worn it is, you kind of get an emotional high,” Boehr said. “Things start to come back to you about the whole story of Christ’s birth and resurrection.” 

The plain black book, well-worn and clearly well-loved, isn’t even Boehr’s first Messiah book. During his incredible over three-quarters of a century run, Boehr estimates that he has worn out three previous Messiah song books. His first book would have come from his father John or his Aunt Elizabeth.

 It was Elizabeth who first led the family to Bluffton when she moved to become a professor at Bluffton College in 1918, and she started the family tradition of singing in the Messiah. Boehr recalls his aunt’s musical interests fondly. “If there would’ve been singing, she would’ve sung it,” he said.

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Nathaniel (Nate) Rayle recently earned his Class A CDL (commercial drivers license). Rayle is a senior in the Construction Equipment program at Apollo Career Center.

He is the son of Kaydrie and Eric Rayle of Bluffton.

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Provided by Bluffton High School

Bluffton High School proudly recognizes Aubrey Reiman as the December 2024 Student of the Month. Aubrey is a junior with a 3.809 GPA and is the daughter of Jennifer and James Rieman of Bluffton. 

Aubrey is a member of the National Honor Society and participates in drama club, choir and show choir. 

She is active in her church youth group and helps to lead children’s church services at Bluffton Community. In addition to her work with the church, Rieman volunteers at the area women’s shelter and is an employee at Bluffton Dari Freeze. In her spare time, she enjoys surrounding herself with family and friends. 

After graduation, Aubrey would like to attend Ohio Northern University majoring in nursing or children’s services. Her strong work ethic and commitment to community service are commendable, and we are proud to honor her as the BHS student of the month for December.

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Bluffton author Bur Shilling has been busy in retirement, penning five books that draw from his career of teaching and ministry work. Shilling was the featured speaker at 2024 Memorial Day ceremonies in Bluffton.

Q. What are the "stepping stones" of your adult life in reverse chronological order?

BGSU faculty – taught and online advisor for all online students

Winebrenner Seminary – taught New Testament/evangelism/discipleship, created and first director of Doctor of Ministry degree, began teaching in Israel (have continued that for past 32 years)

Bluffton University – Campus Pastor and Church Relations

Youth for Christ – Director of 12 staff and three ministry divisions

Q. How does the little boy Bur resemble the adult Bur?

As the oldest of five children, I often was “in charge.” I still like to create itineraries for my trips, plan the hotels and restaurants for meals, and teach at the sites we visit. 

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PHOTOS provided by Trevor Bassitt. Click gallery to enlarge and view at your own pace.

Part 2 HERE

By Benji Bergstrand

After Trevor Bassitt failed to advance out of the preliminary heat in the 400m hurdles at the Paris Olympics, there were no alarm bells going off, no panic setting in. He had been there before. The 2024 season had tested and taught him. Adversity didn’t scare him. 

Trevor had experienced a hamstring injury in late March that had nagged at him through the rest of the season. “I had bounced back pretty quickly,” Bassitt said. “But it never really got back to full strength so I was kind of operating with my left leg at 85-90% the rest of the season.”

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