The Bluffton news. [volume], April 18, 1946, Image 1

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BUY
VMITM
IUTM
VOLUME NO. LXX
BUILDING BOOM IS
LAUNCHED TO BEAT
HOUSING SHORTAGE
New Homes, Garages for Resi
dential Use, Prefabricated
Units in Program
Building Boom of Many Phases
Comes As Answer to Living
Accommodation Needs
Residential building in boom pro
portions is under way in Bluffton this
spring, in spite of post-war material
shortages.
In fhe flourishing building program
to provide sorely needed living ac
commodations for the town’s bulging
population, construction activity runs
the gamut from regular permanent
residences through prefabricated
houses, garages used as temporary
dwellings, moving houses to town for
remodeling and conversion of build
ings that formerly were used for
other purposes.
New houses completed or nearing
completion will accomodate five fami
lies three prefabricated units will
provide quarters for five more family
groups garages will temporarily
house three families one house is
being moved to town, and a former
projects bulding on the Bluffton col
lege campus has been revamped into
a two-family apartment.
Three new houses completed this
spring now are occupied by families.
Mr. and Mrs. William Lahman, who
came here from Findlay last fall and
lived in a house trailer, now are in
their new home on South Main street.
New Homes Occupied
The Clifford Houtz family has
moved into their new home in the
Garmatter addition, north of Elm
(Continued on Page 8)
Pastor Here Named
To Presbytery Office
Rev. E. N. Bigelow, pastor of the
Bluffton and Rockport Presbyterian
•churches was named vice-moderator
of Lima Presbytery at its spring
meeting held at Van Wert, Monday.
He "was appointed to the position
by Major Robert B. Harriman, Army
•chaplain who was elected moderator
of the Presbytery for the coming
year. Major Harriman will receive
his discharge from the service short
ly after which he will resume his
former position as pastor of the
Rockford Presbyterian church.
Rev. Bigelow, former overseas
Army chaplain with rank of captain
was released from the service this
spring. His office as vice-moderator
of Lima Presbytery will be for one
year.
With Service Men
James Gratz, son of Mr. and Mrs.
Leonard Gratz has received his dis
charge from naval service at Great
Lakes, III., and returned to his home
here.
Sgt. LeRoy Lugibihl who spent six
months in Guam is spending a 30
day furlough with his parents, Mr.
and Mrs. Isaac Lugibihl west of
Bluffton.
Capt. and Mrs. Woodrow Barclay
returned from Porto Rico the first
of the week and will make their
home for the summer with her
mother, Mrs. Edith Powell of Orange
township. Capt. Barclay will receive
his Army ^discharge at Camp Atter
bury this week. He has been sta
tioned at Porto Rico for the past
three years while Mrs. Barclay has
been at that place since last August.
T. Sgt. Howard Diller who was
stationed at Manila will arrive at
the home of his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Dennis Diller on a 60 day fur
lough.
Robert Ewing former Bluffton
Grade school teacher who served in
Europe has received his Army dis
charge and joined his wife here.
Halsey Hutchinson who served in
Germany has been discharged by the
Army and returned to his home in
Beaverdam.
S. Sgt. John Johnson, son of Mr.
and Mrs. M. B. Johnson of South
Main street was discharged from the
Army at Camp Atterbury, Saturday.
Collect Fats For
Making Relief Soap
Bluffton College students during
the coming week will make 150
pounds of soap to be sent to Europe
for relief in war stricken districts.
Anyone having fats to donate for this
purpose should telephone the College
business office or Miss Edna Ram
seyer at Ropp hall by Thursday, when
students will make rounds collecting
all donations.
Easter Week Brings
Spring Wardrobes 1
Easter Egg Hunt For
Kiddies On Saturday
Bluffton kiddies will scatter cut
thru Harmon field in the wake of
the Easter rabbit at 2 p. m. Satur
day afternoon in a community East
er Egg hunt sponsored by the Amer
ican Legion Auxiliary.
In case of rain, the event will be
held in the Legion hall, but child
ren of grade school age and younger
are hoping for fair weather in order
that they may enjoy all the thrills
that come from an outdoor hunt.
Bluffton Boy Scouts will assist the
Auxiliary in hiding eggs and help
ing to conduct the hunt.
Each member of the Legion and
Auxiliary is providing two dozen
colored eggs. Contributions of eggs
from others in the community are
welcomed. All eggs are to be left
at the Clark Hat Shoppe before 1
p. m. Saturday.
NEW GYMNASIUM^
AUDITORIUM ON
COLLEGE CAMPUS
Committee Named by Trustees
to Launch Campaign This
Summer
Plan Large Auditorium Which
Could Be Used for Athletic
Events
Campaign to raise funds for a new
building to house a gymnasium and
auditorium for Bluffton college will
be launched early this summer it was
announced Tuesday by Dr. L. L. Ram
seyer .president of the institution.
President Rasmeyer’s statement
amplified action taken by the college
board of trutees at its semi-annual
meeting last week when a committee
of board members was appointed to
employ an architect to draft plans
for the proposed structure and begin
solicitation of funds.
Members of the committee are Wm.
Mohr of Bethlehem, Pa. D. W. Bixler
of Bluffton and R. J. Rich of Wash
ington, Ill. The committee will meet
next month to outline a plan of pre
liminary action.
Seating Capacity 1,500 to 1,800
The new building will include an
auditorium with a seating capacity of
between 1,500 and 1,800 which could
be converted into a gymnasium floor
for basketball and other athletic
events.
Construction, iU is planned, would
be started after the building situa
tion returns to normal.
As a gymnasium the new’ building
would replace the college “barn” a
frame structure erected nearly 30
years ago principally by student vol
unteer labor and used since for stag
ing of athletic events. As an audi
torium it would supplement the
chapel in the Main building which has
only a limited seating capacity.
Driver Escapes In
Produce Truck Crash
Roger Berky, of Wooster, former
Bluffton college student now working
for the K. and M. Produce Co., of this
place, escaped with minor injuries at
4:30 a. m. last Wednesday when a
K and Produce company’s truck he
wTas driving was w’recked three miles
south of Larue.
The mishap occurred on Route 37
w’est of Marion when Berky lost con
trol of a light pickup truck, and the
vehicle was demolished when it struck
a tree beside the highway. Berky was
unconscious for about an hour, until
a passing motorist revived him.
A load of empty egg cases was
almost completely destroyed in the
crash. Berky was enroute home from
Newark.
The K. and M. Produce Co. is own
ed and operated by Robert Murray
and Charles Kinsinger, of this place.
Beaverdam Graduation
Exercises On May 15
Commencement exercises for Beav
erdam High school seniors will be
held at 8 p. m., Wednesday, May
15, in the school. Albert H. Crom
bie, of Columbus, will be the class
speaker.
Baccalaureate services are sched
uled for Sunday, May 12, W’ith Rev.
Ernest Bigelow, of the Bluffton
Rockport Presbyterian churches
preaching the sermon.
The senior class play, “People Are
Funny,” will be presented in the
high school auditorium at 8 p. m.,
Friday, April 26.
Church Activity,
md Eggs For Kiddies
Special Services Sunday and
Union Good Friday Program
Mark Season
Bluffton Public Schools and
Bluffton College Will Have
Easter Vacations
Easter will be observed here next
Sunday in its traditional role as one
of the outstanding events on th£
church calendar.
Approach of the holiday is seen
in the pre-Easter activities absorb
ing in the interest of the community
th'is w’eek, against a background of
considerable significance the event
customarily brings in mercantile cir
circles.
Special services in churches, new’
Easter wardrobes, and a rekindling
interest in home gardening springing
from the holiday’s traditional rela
tionship to the advent of spring all
are linked with the town’s observ
ance of the season.
Good Friday Service
Union Good Friday services, with
Bluffton ministers filling the pulpit
for a series of 30-minute w’orship
periods, will be conducted in the
Presbyterian church from 1 to 3:30
P. M.
Business generally will be sus
pended in the town during the Good
Friday services. A decision to close,
as in past years, was reached at the
last meeting of the Bluffton Busi
ness Men’s association.
Easter holiday recesses have been
announced for Bluffton public school
and Bluffton college students. Grade
and High schools will be closed all
day Friday, and the college vacation
will start at noon Friday and con
tinue until Monday morning.
An Easter sunrise service will be
held Sunday morning at 6:30 o’clock
in the First Mennonite church. The
service is sponsored by the Bluffton
Youth Federation.
Plenty
of
Colored Eggs
For the kiddies, Easter this year
will mean very few chocolate eggs,
but dyes are plentiful to assure an
abundant supply of home colored
eggs.
Egg supplies will be “more than
ample” for the first time since the
war began, trade sources said, and
dye-makers promise plenty of bright
coloring. For the first time since
the war, there will be jelly beans in
a limited quantity.
Good Friday Pageant
At Methodist Church
“Challenge of the Cross,,’ a Holy
w’eek pageant will be presented at
the Methodist chuxch on Good Fri
day night at 8 o’clock by a cast of
young people. Music will be fur
nished by a mixed quartet.
The cast: Evangel, Glenna Swick
1st disciple, Virginia Augsburger
2nd disciple, Harriet Cooney 3rd
disciple, Mary Alice Farnsworth 4th
disciple, Marjean Todd 5th disciple,
Annabel Weed 6th disciple, Hildred
Eversole.
Pre-School Clinic At
Beaverdam On Friday
Free smallpox vaccination and
diphtheria immunization will be pro
vided for children starting to school
next fall at a pre-school clinic in
the Beaverdam school, Friday.
Pre-School Clinic
Here Friday,May 10
Preschool clinic for Bluffton child
ren will be held Friday, May 10, at
which children who will enter school
next fall will receive vaccinations
for small pox. immunization for
diphtheria and physical examina
tions.
The work will be done by Dr.
Gail Miller, Allen county health
commissioner, and County Health
Nurse Agnes Lovett, and in some
cases local doctors.
Brothers With Relief
Shipments To Europe
Two brothers, Otto and Herbert
Klassen, sons of Prof, and Mrs.
John Klassen of South Jackson
street are engaged in trans-Atlantic
trips caring for livestock shipments
of UNRA.
Otto, who recently returned from
a trip to Trieste, Yugoslavia, where
he was sent as one of the custodians
of a shipload of cattle has resumed
his studies in Bluffton college, but
may resume his connection with
UNRA this summer.
Herbert is now on his first trip to
Danzig, Germany, with a boatload of
horses sent for relief purposes.
rHE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO THURSDAY, APR 18, 1946
EXPANSION NEEDS
ARE FACING BOARD
OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Growth of Town’s Electrical
Current Consumption Re
quires New Boiler
Three-fold Problems Discussed
by Board Members at Coun
cil Meeting
Bluffton’s continued residential
growth and expansion of the town as
a flourishing industrial community
has forced three new problems on
the Board of Public Affairs in plan
ning a continuation of adequate ser
vices offered by the municipal water
works and light plant.
At a meeting Monday night with
the town council, the board pointed
out pressing demands for:
1—Expanded electrical genera
tion facilities at the light plant
to assure uninterrupted service
at peak loads, in the form of re
quirements for installation of a
new boiler.
2—Repairs to the town’s 50
year-old water tank—plus the
fact that the State Bohrd has re
commended erection of a new,
larger tank in a more central lo
cation in the village.
3—F u u e consideration of
chlorination treatment of the vil
lage’s public. water supply, a
recently reiterated recommenda
tion of the State Board.
Boiler Major Need
Major problem facing the board at
this time is the immediate need of a
new boiler, installation of which was
recommended in May, 1945, by the
Toledo engineering firm of Froehlich
and Emery, engineering consultants
for the board of public affairs.
Plant requirements are for addi
tion of a 37,500 pounds per hour boil
er, according to the engineering sur
vey. Largest of the three boilers
w’ith which the plant now is equipped,
a 20,000 pound per hour unit, would
then be retained fdri'Stkndby use.
General details of the proposed ex
pansion program were discussed with
the council, and permission was asked
to proceed with an investigation of
costs, availability of materials, etc.
(Continued on Page 8)
Church Of Christ
Calls New Pastor
Rev. A*. S. Lenhart of Fostoria has
been called to the pastorate of the
Church of Christ here. He will con
tinue his residence in Fostoria and
fill the pulpit of the Bluffton church
on alternate Sundays, according to
present arrangements.
Doris Garmatter New
Assistant At Hospital
___
Miss Doris Garmatter, registered
nurse, has been appointed assistant
superintendent of the Bluffton Com
munity hospital.
She is a graduate of Bluffton
High school and the nurse’s training
school at Bloomington, Ill., and has
been serving as night supervisor at
the local hospital.
At present the hospital also has
openings for two registered nurses
and an office girl, it was announced
by officials. The plan of continuing
one year’s training in practical
nursing also is being continued for
high school graduates. Applications
now are being received for the class
starting in June.
Report of Superintendent Sylvia
Biederman showed that in March
the average number of patients in
the hospital per day was 26.6. the
highest in history. Normal capacity
of the institution is 29, altho the
number reached a mark of 32 dur
ing the month, and some were
turned away.
Births
The following births at Bluffton
hospital:
Mr. and Mrs. Coie Russell Swick,
Lima, a boy, Steven Bennett last
Wednesday.
Mr. and Mrs. John Beach, Jenera,
a boy, SundAy.
Mr. and Mrs. Paul Joseph Peter
son, Rt. 5, Lima, a girl, Rosemary
Ho, Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Dale Marriott,
Ottawa, a boy, Robert Lee, Monday.
Mr. and Mrs. John Carl Phillips,
Ottawa, a boy, Ralph Dean, Tues
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Keifer, Lima,
a girl, Jean Ann, Tuesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Lester W’ilch, Je
nera, a boy, this Wednesday morn
ing.
The wife of a Bluffton officer sta
tioned in Germany will sail this
week from New York city to join
her husband overseas, under Army
provisions for permitting service
men's families to live with them
during foreign service.
First Lt. Wayne E. Yoakam, son
of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Yoakam,
and his wife, the former Luella
Smith, of Jenera, are the first cou
ple from this area to be reunited
overseas as the result of the
Army program, providing free trans
portation for servicemen’s families.
They will live in a five-room du
plex apartment in Kitzingen, Ger
many, where Lt. Yoakam is sta
tioned. The Bluffton officer is in
the electrical laboratory of the army
air orces occupation troops and has
signed for a two year period over
seas.
Both Lt. and Mrs. Yoakam form
erly worked at The Triplett Elec
trical Instrument Co. here.
45-Year-Old Sawmill Gives Way
To Need for Additional
Homesites Here
Building Lots Will Be Laid Out
Along Mound Street in Old
Sawmill Grounds
One of Bluffton’s oldest industrial
landmarks, the Cal Balmer saw
mill, is being razed this week, to
permit plotting a portion of the
four-acre sawmill tract at South
Mound street and East College ave
nue into building lots.
Built 45 years ago by Moses
Steiner, the lumber mill for many
years was one of the town’s sub
stantial industries, employing in peak
seasons as many as 22 men.
It was operated for many years as
a partnership by the late Cal Balm
er and his son, James, who closed it
after his father’s death, four years
ago.
Calvary Jordan, of Orange town
ship, present owner of the mill and
grounds, plans to lay out. building
sites this spring on land facing
Mound street. No decision has been
announced yet relative to disposition
of the rest of the grounds, facing
College avenue and adjacent to the
Nickel Plate raidroad.
A. O. Badertscher, Bluffton build
ing contractor, is razing the old saw
mill. Equipment was sold by Balm
er before he disposed of the grounds.
Lions Minstrels
In Two Night Run
Final rehearsals are under way for
staging of the Georgia Jubilee min
strels by the Bluffton Lions club in
a two night •run at the high school
auditorium on Tuesday and Wednes
day nights of next week at 8:30 o’
clock.
The cast is made up of well known
Bluffton men who will appear in
black-face comedy benefit perfor
mance for the high school band uni
form fund and the Harmon field re
creation program.
The production is directed by Prof.
R. A. Lantz of the College depart
ment of music assisted by the high
school band.
Special Drive Here
For Cancer Control
Special collections to finance a
nation-wide campaign for cancer
control will be made all next week
at The Star theatre In Bluffton, un
der auspices of the Red Cross. The
drive is being conducted in all thea
tres throughout the country during
the week.
Triplett Record Cited
At Safety Congress
Safety record of employes of The
Triplett Electrical Instrument Co.,
who won the 19th Allen County In
dustrial Safety campaign ending la^t
January 1, was lauded Tuesday at
the annual All-Ohio Safety Con
gress in Columbus.
Special recognition of the local
firm's outstanding safety attainment
was accorded at the Conference ban
quet Tuesday night, and the plaque
presented for winning the campaign
was featured in a conference dis
play.
Triplett employes closed 1945 with
out a lost-time accident, the second
time they have won in the county
campaign.
Wife Sails From New York To Join
Bluffton Army Officer In Germany
Razing Of Sawmill Marks Passing
Of Old Industrial Landmark Here
May 24 Best Time
for Corn Planting
Here, Expert Says
XT AY 24 is the best time to
1 plant corn in Allen and ad
joining counties.
You have this on authority of
D. F. Beard, extension agrono
mist at Ohio State university
who names this date as the one
determined as the result of years
of field tests by the school’s ex
periment station.
Farmers, he said should delay
corn planting until danger of cold
soil and corn borer damage have
passed.. Altho unusual weather
conditions have permitted farm
ers to prepare the ground for
planting, the seed should not be
sown yet, Beard stated.
Corn planting dates announced
by Beard range from May 12 in
southern Ohio to May 24 in the
northern district.
Hold Union Services
During Holy Week
Union services are being held this
week in Bluffton churches sponsored
by the Bluffton Ministerial associa
tion. Remaining services are:
Wednesday, 8 p. m.—St. John’s
Reformed church, Rev. Arthur Ro
mig, Lima, speaker.
Thursday, 8 p. m.—Methodist
church, union communion service.
Friday, 1 to 3:30 p. m.—Presby
terian church, Good Friday service,
Bluffton ministers speaking. 1 p. m.,
The Cross and Forgiveness, V. C.
Oppermann 1:30 p. m., The Cross
and the Christian’s Hope, Paul
Shelly 1:50 p. m., The Cross and
Human Relations, E. N. Bigelow
2:10 p. m., The Cross and Suffering,
Eli Steiner 2:30 p. m., The Cross
and Our Need, L. L. Ramseyer
2:50 p. m., The Cross and Redemp
tion, J. A. Weed 3:30 p. m., The
Cross and Self-surrender, J. N.
Smucker.
Sunday, 6:30 a. m.—First Men
nonite church, Easter sunrise serv
ice sponsored by Bluffton Youth Fed
eration, speaker Rev. Oppermann.
Sunday, 7:30 p. m.—St. John’s Re
formed church. Easter musical pro
gram by union community choir di
rected by Mrs. H. P. Mann.
Last Rites Tuesday
For Mrs. Dudgeon
Last rites were held Tuesday
afternoon in the Presbyterian church
for Mrs. Susan Jane Dudgeon, 60,
of Cherry street, wife of Otha E.
Dudgeon, who died Sunday in the
Bluffton Community hospital follow
ing an operation, on Tuesday.
Born in Grover Hill on June 28,
1885, Mrs. Dudgeon came to this
community in November, 1920.
In addition to her husband she is
survived by three children: E. C.
Dudgeon, Dayton and Melvin Dud
geon and Mrs. Lloyd McCarty, both
of Bluffton. Tw’o sons, Larry and
Calvin, are deceased.
Also surviving are five sisters,
Mrs. Viletta Michael, Miss Mary
Taylor, Mrs. Ida Krohn, all of
Grover Hill Mrs. Manelvia Ve’-
milya and Mrs. Clara Scherwinski,
of Dayton and one brother, Thomas
E. Taylor.
Mrs. Dudgeon was a member of
the Red Cross organization, the
American Legion Auxiliary, Social
club of the Presbyterian church and
the Allen County Historical Society.
Rev. E. N. Bigelow, pastor of the
Presbyterian church, officiated at the
funeral service Tuesday. Burial was
in Maple Grove cemetery.
Business Men Will
Meet Next Wednesday
Closing hours for Bluffton busi
ness houses during the coming sum
mer months will be considered at a
meeting of the Bluffton Business
Men’s association, at 8:30’ p. m.
Wednesday of next week in the Wal
nut Grill.
Announcement of the meeting wa§
made by Silas Diller, president of
the association.
Advance In Charges
For Grave Digging
New schedule of charges for open
ing and closing graves at Maple
Grove cemetery, recommended by the
cemetery board of trustees, was
adopted Monday night at a meeting
of the municipal council.
In the future the charges to resi
dents of the town will be $20, an ad
vance of $5 from the previous rate.
Out-of-town residents will pay $25.
unit**
NUMBER 52
TWO FROM HERE
ARE INDUCTED IN
APRIL DRAFT CALL
Men from Bluffton and Colum
bus Grove in Group of Nine
Inductees
Another Bluffton Registrant
Included in 15 Taking Phys
ical Exams
Two Bluffton area men were in a
group of nine Allen County Draft
Board No. 3 registrants inducted into
the armed forces in the April call, it
was announced Tuesday.
Inducted from here were Paul F.
Reichenbach, of Route 1, Bluffton,
and Melvin H. Lammers, of Route 2,
Columbus Grove.
One Bluffton registrant David
Stearns, 108 S. Spring street, also
was in a group of 15 who took pre
induction physical examinations this
month.
Inductees in addition to the two
Bluffton area men included William
Parlette, Harrod Jack Lytle, Arthur
Orchard, Robert Price and Walter
Miller, all of Lima Glenn Shaffer,
Spencerville, and Norman Knippen,
Delphos.
The group forwarded for preinduc
tion physical examinations included
Merlin Herring, Willis Wright, Leo
Fray, Edmund Conrad, Wayne
Strawn, Norbert Stippich, Billy Hous
ton, Thomas Williams, Charles Hen
non and Billy Line, all of Lima
Harold Cray and Advas Prichard,
Harrod Robert Jones, Gomer and
Lester Foust, Delphos.
Richard Mumma To
Be Ordained Here
Richard Mumma, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Ray Mumma will be ordained
to the ministry at services to be
held in the Presbyterian church
here Sunday night, May 26. An
nouncement to this effect was made
after he had appeared for pre
ordination examination before a
meeting of Lima Presbytery at Van
Wert, Monday.
Mumma will be graduated from
McCormick Theological seminary in
Chicago on May 18.
Last month he was awarded a
seminary fellowship in the sum of
$1,500 for scholastic excellence
which will be used for two years of
graduate study at Columbia uni
versity and Union Theological sem
inary in New’ York city. He will
also serve a Presbyterian church in
that area.
He and his wife, the former
Wilma Nonnamaker and their daugh
ter expect to go to New York thia
summer where they will establish a
residence.
College Is Given
House Near Campus
Gift to Bluffton college of a resi
dence property near the campus was
announced Tuesday by Dr. L. L. Ram
seyer, president of the institution.
The property formerly ow’ned by
the late Jacob Hochstettler and lo
cated on High street near Ropp hall,
girl’s dormitory, was purchased from
Frank Stalter, the present owner and
presented to the college by Rev. Jerry
Sauder of Grabill, Ind., a member of
the institution’s board of trustees.
The residence will be occupied by
Rev. Harry Yoder, new fieldman for
the college and assistant to the presi
dent. Rev. Yoder is moving here June
1 from Carlock, Ill. The Stalters will
move to Ft. Wayne.
fl
Week To Get Tickets
For Alumni Dance
Plans for a dance in connection
with the Bluffton high school alumni
reunion May 24 will depend upon
advance sale of tickets during the
coming week, it is stated by the
committee in charge.
If a sufficient number of tickets
are sold by April 26, the committee
will proceed to engage an orchestra
otherwise recorded music will be
provided for dancing.
In order to have time for booking
an orchestra it will be necessary to
complete the advance-ticket sales by
Friday of next week. Those inter
ested in obtaining an orchestra
should purchase tickets before that
time from any of the following com
mittee: Eileen Moser, Carolyn
Romey, Joan Buckland, Donna Hag
erman, Don Patterson, Ned Schultz,
Roger Howe, Wade Mumma, Wilford
Geiger, Wm. Mericle, James StonehiH
or C. A. Biery.