Those interested in attending the presentation should register by contacting the Bluffton Public Library at 419-358-5016.

“Before we were Pirates,” the story of Bluffton sports teams and fans before 1929 is the topic of a presentation by Fred Steiner at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 23, at the Bluffton Public Library, 145 S. Main St.

The Pirate did not become the school mascot until 1929. Prior to that the school had no mascot. This presentation is about the earliest teams in the history of the. The origin of the mascot will also be explained. 

“If you can imagine in 1893 jumping on a railroad box car, riding to Lima and back to watch a Bluffton baseball team play a Lima team, then this lecture is for you,” says Steiner. 

“You do not need to be a sports fan to appreciate this presentation,” he notes. “The talk will include many stories like the railroad box ride to Lima.” 

The presentation includes stories about Bluffton teams as early as 1893 and photos of both girls and boys athletic teams as early as 1900. 

CONTINUES

Stories about the teams and their fans demonstrate that community pride was just as important 125-plus years ago as it is today.

 “In 1896 Bluffton sports fan were very interested in receiving game results. Arrangements were made to display scores of games played out of town on a board outside a Bluffton business by 7:30 each evening of the game,” says Steiner. 

And, many people today don’t realize that Bluffton High School had girls basketball teams as early as 1913. Several of those teams won Allen County tournament titles. Bluffton’s first girls track team was in 1925. 

The following stories of “base ball” games from 1893 Bluffton News issues, indicate the attitude presented locally about Bluffton’s opponents:

 Aug. 3, 1893 -

The charge has been made that the Bluffton Reds did not treat the Findlay Club, which played them last Friday, in a fair manner.

The Findlay boys claim they were to have all the gate receipts if they won and half if they lost. They lost and got nothing.

The Bluffton boys claim this was according to a later agreement that they did just as they agreed to do.

 The Findlay boys were in a pitiable plight as for a time they were unable to scare up enough collateral to get their horses out of the livery barn.

Additional photos and the conclusion of this features is at www.blufftonforever.com/post/before-we-were-pirates