The Bluffton news. [volume], May 04, 1950, Image 1

About The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current

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A Good Place to Live
VOLUME LXXV
243 Ballots Cast Out of Esti
mated Total Vote Here
of 1,300
Lack of Contests and Pre
Primary Campaign Finds
Voters Apathetic
About one Bluffton resident out of
five took the trouble to go to the polls
and cast a ballot at Tuesday’s pri
mary election, it was disclosed fol
lowing a count of the vote.
There were 243 votes cast in Bluff
ton’s four precincts, according to a
complete unofficial tabulation as
posted by precinct counting boards
which finished their work early in the
evening. It is estimated that
Bluff-
ton has a total of 1,300 votes.
Vote cast by precincts:
Rep. Dem. Total
Bluffton A 32 34 66
Bluffton 56 30 86
Bluffton 28 16 44
Bluffton 26 21 47
Total 142 101 243
Correspondingly light was the vote
in Richland North precinct where
farmers attempting to make up for
time lost in spring work took little
interest in primary election affairs.
The tally sheet showed a total of 34
votes cast, divided equally between
Republicans and Democrats.
Precinct election boards had little
to do during the day which passed
virtually unnoticed as far as election
and politics was concerned.
With no local contests and com
paratively few contests in county and
state tickets, together with general
lack of pre-primary campaigns by
candidates, there was little to at
tract attention of the average voter.
Repubicans, with a total vote of
142 in Bluffton’s four precincts did
better than the Democrats which
polled only 101 votes. Observers
pointed out in this connection that
there were no county contests for
nominations on the Democratic ticket.
One contest on the Republican ticket
for state representative may have
accounted for the larger number of
votes.
Funeral Rites For
William J. Lugibihl
Funeral services were held Tues
day afternoon in the First Mennon
ite church for William J. Lugibihl,
68, local shoe repair shop operator,
who died in his home at 259 N.
Lawn avenue at 3 a. m. last Friday.
Death was due to a complication
of diseases, and followed illness of
five weeks.
Son of Abraham and Anna (Loch
er) Lugibihl, he was bom April 23,
1882, in Riley township, and spent
his entire life in the Bluffton com
munity.
Survivors include his widow, the
former Zelma Amstutz, whom he
married in 1908 seven children: Mrs.
Cora Younkman, Cleveland Mrs.
Elva Montgomery, Ft. Recovery
Mrs. Marie Zerbe, Toledo Mrs. Dor
othy Musser, Lima Francis Lugi
bihl, Bluffton Wayne Lugibihl, En
glewood, Calif. and Norman Lugi
bihl, Los Angeles, Calif. Mr. and
Mrs. Wayne Lugibihl and Mr. and
Mrs. Norman Lugibihl were here for
the funeral.
Also surviving are three sisters,
Mrs. Sarah Amstutz and Mrs. Noah
Steiner, Pandora and Mrs. J. J.
Suter, Lima.
Rev. J. N. Smucker officiated at
the funeral rites Tuesday. Burial
was in Pleasant Ridge cemetery, near
Pandora.
Film And Discussion
At Church On Sunday
Showing of the film “Prejudice”
followed by a panel discussion at the
Church of Christ here Sunday night
at 7:30 is announced by the Pastor
Lev. O. Merrill Boggs.
The picture is produced under co
operation of the Protestant Film
commission and Anti-Defamation
league and is brought here by the
Christian Youth Fellowship of Bluff
ton-Beaverdam parish.
Participating in the discussion will
be Carl Smucker of Bluffton college,
Rev. V. C. Oppermann, pastor of the
Reformed churches here and Rabbi
Myron Movsky of Lima. Rev. Boggs
will serve as chairman.
High School Glee
Club Wins Honor
Bluffton High school girls’ glee
club received top rating in State
Class competition held in Spring
field, last Saturday, by placing in
the No. 1 division of the meet.
Bluffton band and orchestra re
ceived No. 2 ratings.
One Out of lluffton
Votes at me y Her e Tuesday
A massed band of 200 members
and an 80-member orchestra com
posed of high school musicians from
Ada, Mt. Cory-Rawson, Pandora,
Columbus Grove, and Bluffton high
schools will present a concert at Har
mon Field Wednesday evening, May
10, at 8 o’clock.
The bands from the five schools
will march through Bluffton at 4:30
in the afternoon. Orchestra practice
will start at 1:30 p. m. and band
rehearsal at 3:00 p. -m.
Bluffton’s first Junior Chamber of
Commerce will be organized at a
meeting in the hall above the Bluff
ton News office, Friday night at 8
o’clock.
Announcement to this effect was
made following a preliminary meet
ing last Thursday night when the
proposal to organize was endorsed
by a good sized group interested in
the project.
Assisting in the organizaion on
Friday night will be four members
of the Lima Junior Chamber of Com
merce, when committees will be ap
pointed to draft constitution and by
laws and take care of other organi
zational details.
Membership in the organization is
open to farmers, students and pro
fessional men between ages of 21 and
35, as well as business men. Aims
of the organization are to aid in
civic projects and to provide leader
ship and to promote civic aims.
Everyone within the age group in
terested in objectives of the organi
zation is invited to join.
Auxiliary Sponsors
Poppy Poster Contest
A Poppy Day poster contest is
beig sponsored by the American Le
gion auxiliary here with grade school
pupils of Miss Theola Steiner’s art
class competing for prize.
The contest will close May 12.
Judges are Mrs. F. T. Lauriat, Mrs.
R. Rammel and Miss Joan Harmon,
it is announced by Mrs. James Ben
roth and Mrs. Harry Triplehorn, co
chairmen of the auxiliary.
Religious Education
Program On May 14
Bluffon’s monthly Sunday night
union church service will be held in
the First Mennonite church, Sunday
night, May 14 at which time pupils
of the week day religious education
classes of the grade schools will pre
sent a program, it is announced by
the Bluffton Ministerial association.
This will mark the 25th anniver
sary of he inauguration of week day
religious instruction in the schools
here.
Bands An I Orchestra From Five Schools
In Concert On Harmon Field May 10
The music directors of the dif­
Junior Chamber Of Commerce To
Be Organized Here Friday Night
Clean nests mean fewer dirty eggs.
Bluffton’s concentrated spring
Clean-up, Paint-up, Fix-up campaign
will come to a close this Saturday
following a nine-day period of com
munity cooperation to make the city
a cleaner, healthier and more at
tractive place to live.
Clearing weather the first of this
week gave local householders a
chance to complete the cleanup of
their premises, and although the
drive has another three days to go
the bulk of work planned for this
spring already has been completed.
Joint community participation in
the cleanup campaign marked the
kickoff last Thursday when business
men sw pt streets and sidewalks in
the downtown area firemen washed
down the streets with the fire hose,
and a large crew of volunteer work
men completed the cleanup of Sports
men’s park at Buckeye lake.
A regular April rubbish collection,
postponed because of the cleanup
driye, was started at midweek, and
in its rounds of the town this time
the truck will pick up rubbish from
both patrons and non-patrons of the
service.
Bluffton retail stores are cooper
ating in promoting the cleanup drive
by advertising special items and em
phasizing the advantages of united
community-wide effort to assure suc
cess of the program.
Bluffton Cooperates In Townwide
Cleanup Campaign Ending Saturday
ferent schools are Orlo Sprunger,
Ada Raymond Zuercher, Mt. Cory
Rawson Roberta Manges, Pandora
William Steiner, Columbus Grove
and Earl Lehman, Bluffton.
Laurence Burkhalter, from Bluffton
college will conduct the orchestra,
and Director Ecker from Bowling
Green university will conduct the
band.
Kay Berry, president of the Bluff
ton band, is overall chairman. Other
chairmen are John Bauman, equip
ment Louise Reichenbach, tickets,
and Jane Risser, publicity.
ROBBERY ATTEMPT
IS FOILED AGAIN
AT FARM BUREAU
Third Attempt in I^ast Five
Months Fails at Warehouse
South of Town
Tear Gas Bomb on Safe Routs
Burglars Office is Found
Disarranged
Persistence has failed to “pay off”
for burglars who three times in the
last five months have made unsuccess
ful attempts to loot the office safe
at the Allen County Farm Bureau
Coop warehouse, two miles south of
Bluffton on the Dixie highway.
Automatic locking device of the
safe and an exploding tear gas bomb
blocked the third burglary attempt
a week ago last Friday night, the
third time since last December that
burglary attempts have met with
failure.
In most respects the latest
burglary attempt followed the pat
tern of its predecessors. Burglars
broke into the warehouse from the
rear, and after gaining entrance to
the office knocked off the handle and
combination of the safe.
Tear Gas Boinb
As'iH- the two previous attempts,
the attempt to force the safe was a
failure, because of an automatic
locking device, plus setting off of a
tear gas bomb when the handle was
knocked loose.
Records and office furniture were
disarranged, but the only loss re
ported was the theft of approximate
ly $1.50 from a soft drink vending
machine.
First attempt to loot the office
came late last December and was
followed by a second burglary at
tempt early in February. In all
Cases the attempts to crack the safe
were not discovered until employes
reported for work the following
morning.
Sunday School
Convention May 7
Five Orange township Sunday
schools will hold their semi-annual
convention at Olive Branch church
next Sunday afternoon and evening.
Rev. Earl Leist of Mt. Cory E. U.
B. church will be the principal speak
er at the afternoon session opening
at 2:30. Rev. Pummell of Riley
Creek Baptist church will lead de
votions and Rev. Purdy of Bluffton
E ,U. B. charge will pronounce the
benediction.
The film “Now I See” will be
shown at the evening session at 7:45
presented by Ralph Stager of Riley
Creek Baptist church. Rev. Bate
man of Bethel Church of Christ will
lead devotions.
Musical selections will be given by
the five participating schools.
Russian Authority
Is Lions9 Speaker
Conditions in Russia today were
described at a dinner meeting of the
Bluffton Lions club Tuesday night
by John D. Shiraef II, lecturer and
world traveler. The teeting was
held in the Walnut Grill.
TH'• 3LUFFTON NEWS
PER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO, THURSDAY, MAY I, 1950
MAIL DELIVERED
ONCE DAILY ON
BLUFFTON ROUTES
Trial Run Last Friday is Put
on Regular Basis Here
This Week
City Mail Carriers to Start on
Rounds in Morning at
8 O’clock
Bluffton’s one-trip-a-day postal de
livery service in residential and busi
ness districts was being continued
this week, after a trial last Friday
indicated it w’as the best readjust
ment possible under the post office
department’s national curtailment
program.
Under the new city delivery sched
ule, aything mailed in Bluffton for
the day’s delivery must be in the
post office before 7:30 a. m., and the
same is true of mail from outside
coming into the town.
City carriers are going to work
earlier in the morning to sort the
preceding day’s arrival of mail, plus
what is brought in on the morning
train. Anything received at the post
office later will not be delivered until
the following day.
Begin
at
8:00 A. M.
Regular rounds are started by the
city carriers about 8 a. m., and the
day’s work schedule is completed at
approximately 3:30 p. m., after al
lowing 30 minutes for lunch hour
at noon. On Saturday carriers will
deliver only first-class mail and
newspapers, and will complete their
rounds at noon.
Postmaster Ed R. Reichenbach
said that a system of relays is being
put into effect which should improve
delivery service under the new pro
gram, especially for magazines and
periodicals.
No immediate changes are con
templated in window service at the
local post office, which for the pres
ent will remain open daily until 6
p. m. Monday thru Friday and until
1 p. m. on Saturday.
No Cut
in
Force
Postmaster Reichenbach said there
would be no layoffs in post office
personnel here as i result of the
I new program, although there may
be some reduction in working hours.
Nation-wide readjustment ordered
by the post office department to
bring operations within operating
revenue are necessitating curtilments
that will offect virtually every pa
tron of the office, it was announced
by national heads of the department.
Permanent schedules embodying
drastic cuts must be in effect by
next July 1, but every local post
master has time to work out the
final details.
Accepts Call To
Mennonite Church
Rev. Alvin Beachy, student in
Hartford Theological seminary, Hart
ford, Conn., has accepted a call to
the pastorate of the First Mennonite
church here, it was announced by
local church officials this week.
He will succeed Rev. J. N. Smuck
er who resigned the pastorate to be
come editor of The Mennonite, a
leading church publication. His res
ignation becomes effective the first
of June
Rev. Beachy, who is pastor of a
church in Manchester, Conn., in ad
dition to his seminary studies will
arrive here late in the summer, ac
cording to present plans.
Rev. Smucker and family will con
tinue to live in Bluffton, having
purchased the Fred Martin property
on West Elm street. They will va
cate the church parsonage on North
Jackson street and move into their
property next month.
Summer Camp Of
Church Of Christ
The Church of Christ denomina
tion will operate a youth camp near
Magnetic Springs, Ohio, this sum
mer it was announced by Rev. O.
Merrill Boggs, pastor of the Bluff
ton-Beaverdam parish .following his
return from a meeting held Monday
at the new camp site.
The camp will accommodate about
200 youths according to present
plans, with a new group arriving
each week. It is located in a wooded
area with stream at one side. Fa
cilities of the camp include base
ball field, tennis courts, gymnasium,
and large concrete swimming pool,
he said. Rev. Boggs will be a mem
ber of the camp staff.
Church Supper
Family potluck supper will be
held at the Presbyterian church,
Thursday night at 6:30 o’clock, spon
sored by the Young Adults. All
members of the congregation are in
vited.
Middle District Conference of Men
nonites, including four churches in
this area, has purchased a 40-acre
frontage on Shavehead lake in In
diana, and plans to develop the
grounds as a summer retreat loca
tion.
Announcement of the lake develop
ment came this week following the
61st Middle Districtn conference
meeting in Wadsworth, last weekend.
Grounds for the retreat site have
extensive frontage on the 300-acre
Shavehead lake, about 25 miles north
of Goshen. Price of the site was
$3,500.
Near the retreat grounds and on a
one-half mile peninsula extending
into the lake is a site for 500 build
ing lots, sale of which will be limit
ed to Mennonites interested in the
retreat project.
At last week’s Middle District con
ference meeting, Rev. E. J. Bohn,
of Pandora, was re-elected president
Rev. Irvin Rickert, Dalton, vice
president G. T. Soldner, Bluffton,
secretary N. N. Soldner, Pandora,
treasurer and D. W. Bixler, Bluff
ton, a trustee for three years.
Churches in this area affilii ted
with the conference include Bluff son
First and Ebenezer and Pandora
Grace and St. John.
National hospital day next Monday
highlights interest in Bluffton’s Com
munity hospital which serves an
ever-widening area.
The present structure on Garau
street built in 1936 as a WPA pro
ject, replaced a former building at
South Main street and College
avenue.
The Community Hospital associa
tion owns the furniture and equip
ment and leases the building for $1
a year.
Anyone contributing $50 receives
one share of non-profit stock and has
one vote at the association’s annual
business meeting. There are at
present 110 stockholders holding 275
voting shares who elect the board of
directors. The directors, in turri
choose the superintendent who is in
charge of operation of the institution
Present superintendent is Miss Sylvia
Biederman, who has been head of
the hospital for the past eight years.
Middle District Mennonites Buy
Lakefront Summer Retreat Site
The present hospital, including
building, lots and equipment is
valued at $80,000, hospital officials
said, Tuesday. Of this sum $50,000
was allotted by WPA, $12,000 raised
by canvass in the community and
$18,000 realized from sale of the
former building and reserve funds.
Deed for the real estate is held
by the town council and the board
of public affairs furnished free heat
and electricity during the period
from 1936 to 1944. At present the
town provides nothing towai*d its up
keep or operation.
Hospital Day Next Monday Centers
Interest In Bluffton Institution
Among recent additions to the
Genevieve Burkholder and Joan
Montgomery, Bluffton High school
juniors, received their F. H. A. State
Homemaker degree at the annual
Future Homemakers of America
state meeting held on the Ohio State
university campus, last Friday and
Saturday.
Both girls are completing their
third year in home economics at the
local school. Miss Burkholder is
president of the local chapter and
Miss Montgomery is parliamentarian.
The two girls have completed their
junior and chapter degrees and were
well qualified to receive the Home
maker degree, highest honor con
ferred by the state organization.
The State Homemaker degree is the
highest degree granted to F. H. A.
girls, next to the American Home
maker degree, which up to the pres
ent has been conferred on only three
girls.
In honoring the two local students
at the state meeting las week, they
were guests at a formal banquet,
feauring an elaborate ceremony.
At last Saturday’s meeting Miss
Burkholder gave a speech on the
fourth purpose in the F. H. A. in
stitution, “To work for good home
and family life for all.”
Others attending the state meet
ing last week included Marilyn Ober
ly, Marian Bell, Janice Henry and
Shirley Derringer. The Bluffton
group acted as voting delegates for
the local chapter.
Louise Reichenbach ,who is vice
president of the state organization,
presided during the two-day meeting.
Mrs. Ray Reichenbach, club mother,
and Miss Jean Vore, chapter advisor,
accompanied the girls.
Two Bluffton Girls Receive High
State F. H. A. Degree At Columbus
Merchants Offer
Weekend Bargains
Promoting Bluffton as a trading
center, merchants here are offering a
wide selection of extra special week
end bargains to Friday and Satur
day shoppers. The first of these
week end features appears on Page
5 of this issue. Shoppers will find
many real money saving values list
ed each week and will find it well
worth while to plan shopping in
Bluffton to take advantage of these
outstanding bargains.
Limit Trout Derby
Catch To Two Daily
A limit of two fish daily in Bluff
ton’s trout derby was announced by
the Sportsmen’s club Wednesday
noon. The announcement came after
fishermen who thronged the banks
of Buckeye lake beginning at dawn
Wednesday reported catches far
larger than had been anticipated.
One angler, Ross McDonald of Ada,
had five large trout weighing up
wards of three pounds by 10 a. m.
hospital equipment are laundry
equipment representing an invest
ment of $1,500 a heating plant
$8,000 and $1,000 in laboratory
equipment donated by Mrs. Bertha
Roethlisberger Newman of Washing
ton, Bluffton native, in memory or
the late Mr. and Mrs. S. V. Hecka
thorn, former residents.
The Ladies Hospital Auxiliary
furnishes linens and has donated
equipment for the kitchen and
nurses’ dining room.
Mid-Ohio Tennis
Tournament Here
Bluffton college will be host to
other Mid-Ohio league schools in the
circuit tennis tournament on the lo
cal campus Friday and Saturday.
Competing in play here will be
Bluffton, Ashland, Findlay, Defiance,
Cedarville and Ohio Northern.
Bluffton’s golf team will meet
Ohio Northern in a match on the
Kenton links next Tuesday.
Rites Held Thursday
For Main Infant
Graveside services were held last
Thursday in Maple Grove cemetery
for Infant Main, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Charles Main, North Main
street, who died one hour following
his birth in Community hospital on
the same day.
Surviving, in addition to the par
ents, is a sister, Charlene Rae.
High School Junior
Goes To Girls9 State
Genevieve Burkholder, the daugh
ter of Mrs. Edith Burkholder of
Bluffton, has been elected by the
Bluffton American Legion auxiliary
to represent them at Buckeye Girls’
State this summer. The conference
will be held on the campus of Capi
tal University, Columbus, from June
18 to 25.
Miss Burkholder, a junior at Bluff
ton high school, is president of the
Senior Future Homemakers of Amer
ica and also is on a national re
creation committee of the FHA. She
is the secretary-treasurer of the
junior class, and is active in GAA,
Y-Teens, Glee club and mixed chorus.
She has also been a cheerleader for
three years.
Margaret Stratton, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Stratton of
Bluffton, was chosen as alernate for
Buckeye Girls* State.
Mrs. Elgar Eaton
Dies In California
Mrs. Jeanette Phelps Eaton, 64,
widow of Elgar Eaton, died suddenly
at her home in Berkeley, Calif., last
Wednesday according to word re
ceived here. Funeral services were
held in Berkeley, Friday.
She had not been ill and her death
came within three weeks after the
death of her husband who succumbed
to a heart attack. Mr. Eaton was a
former Bluffton resident and brother
of Mrs. Mabel Bogart of this place.
......................
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Trade
NUMBER 3
FARMERS ADANDON
OATS SOWING PLAN
AS MAY ARRIVES
Lateness of Season Makes it
Impractical to Sow Oats
This Year
Many Farmers Hold That
Weather Cycle is Changing
Here in Ohio
Uncertain weather this spring pre
vented virtually all traditional April
planting of oats in the Bluffton area,
and farmers report they cannot recall
a spring season in which nature has
remained at a standstill for so long
a time.
Weatherwise, April was a repeti
tion of March and February—wet
and chilly—keeping farm work at a
standstill and also retarding the bud
ding of trees and other evidences of
advancing spring.
April showers which came Bluff
ton's way in frequent doses pushed
the rainfall for the month to a total
of 4.52 inches, nearly an inch and
one-half more than the 16-year aver
age.
Wet Year
Aggregate rainfall for the first
four months of this year is 23.23
inches, 12.94 more than normal.
Rainfall over the weekend again
kept farmers out of their fields as
May bowed in on Monday, and most
local farmers regretfully junked
their plans for oats planting and be
gan seeking a substitute crop for the
acreage they had tentatively ear
marked for April seeding.
Adding to discussion of this
spring’s unusual weather conditions
is the claim from many farm observ
ers that there is evidence the weath
er cycle for this part of Ohio is ex
periencing a revolution.
Seasons Changing?
Although meteorologists may not
agree, many farmers will tell you the
seasons are changing. For a matter
of seven years since 1942, springs
in this area have been later. Win
ter has lingered into late March or
April.
Summers, arriving tardily, have
run rather true to form, although
the customary summer droughts have
been more prolonged. Although
rainfall records indicate precipita
tion for the years involved have been
about as normal, observers say the
pattern is different—more rain in
winter and spring, less in summer.
But it all comes back to the fact
that this year is perhaps the most
unusual in the seven-year cycle. Altho
there have been other springs in
which wet weather has delayed oats
planting, and even the seeding of
corn, virtually everyone is agreed
that nothing like this spring ever
has happened to us within the mem
ory of the oldest residenter.
Beaverdam Pre-School
Clinic Next Tuesday
A pre-school clinic will be held at
Beaverdam next Tuesday for child
ren entering the first grade of school
next fall. The clinic will be held in
the school building beginning at 9
a. m. Each child is to be accompan
ied by a parent or guardian.
Real Estate Deal
Howard Stager has sold his resi
dence property at Grove street and
College road to Morris Triplett of
East Kibler street and will give pos
session in the fall. Stager expects
to build a home this summer on his
lot facing East College avenue at
the rear of the Sinclair service sta
tion.
Noted Clergyman
To Speak May 11
Du George Buttrick, pastor of
Madison Avenue church, New York,
prominent clergyman and author will
speaker in the First Mennonite
church Thursday night, May 11 at
8:15 o’clock. His subject: “Our
Shaken World.” He comes here un
der auspices of Bluffton college.
Births
Following births at Bluffton hos
pital
Mr. and Mrs. Warren Briden
baugh, Pandora, a boy, Daiyl Jay,
Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Darrel Fellers, Bluff
ton, a girl, Kathleen Anne, Thurs
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hearne,
Bluffton, a girl, Pamela Sue, Thurs
day.
Rev. and Mrs. Robert Weber, Ko
komo, Ind., a girl, Mary Jean,
Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Myron L. Ripley,
Sr., Mt. Cory, a boy, Myron Lozelle,
Jr., Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Watkins, Pan
dora, a boy, Roger Dale, Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Fett, Beaver
dam, a girl, Rosemarie, Tuesday.