The Bluffton news. [volume], October 08, 1959, Image 1

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

Image provided by: Ohio History Connection, Columbus, OH

                
Yoakam, Vernon
Bt. #2
Bluffton, Ohio
Jan.60
BLUFFTON
A Good Place to Live
84 YEAR NO. 26
The wrappings were removed
last week end at Homecoming
from plans of Bluffton college
trustees for a new campus de
velopment program involving the
expenditure of nearly a million
dollars on new buildings and
facilities.
The 10-year plan was unfolded
before an enthusiastic alumni
audience at the Homecoming
banquet last Saturday evening
by Dr. Lloyd L. Ramseyer, presi
dent of the college. It is aimed
at an ultimate enrollment of 500
students.
Ground breaking for a new
$180,000 music hall Saturday
morning was the first phase of
the program, Prexy told his audi
ence. He added that $145,000 of
the amount is already on hand
through special gifts. By the
time the contractors complete the
new building, it is expected that
there will be sufficient funds to
pay for it.
At the ground breaking Presi
dent Ramseyer declared that the
plans are in the hands of the con
tractors. Contracts will be let
this month, and it is hoped that
the first building in the new ex
pansion program will be com
pleted for use next fall.
Other improvements included
In the $900,000 objective will be
an addition to the library and
equipment at a sst of. about
$100,000 a women’s and men’s
dormitory, each providing space
for 60 occupants and each esti
mated to cost $250,000.
Provision would also be made
to spend approximately $120,000
to remodel many of the existing
facilities, either to adapt them
tor more efficient use or to
modernize them to meet the de
mands of a contemporary educa
tional program.
Named to head the corflmittee
charged with raising funds for
the program was James West,
executive vice president of the
Citizens Bank, Bluffton. Howard
Baumgartner, Berne,. Ind., ►at
torney, will be national church
chairman for the drive and
Ralph Locher, director of law
for the City of Cleveland, is
national alumni chairman.
Other members of the develop
ment committee are L. L. Ram
seyer, Elmer Baumgartner,
Berne, Ind., chairman of the
board of trustees Don Gundy,
Grabill, Ind., president of the
is*-, (See ‘WrW’ p. 12)
w
JAMES WEST, executive
vice president of Citizens
National Bank, has been
named chairman of the Bluff
ton College Development
Committee with sights set on
$900,000 worth of new' build
ings and equipment in the
next 10 ytars.
Fractures Both
Knees in Crash
Karl Gable, Bluffton painting
contractor, suffered two frac
tured knees last Friday morn
ing at 7:50 in an auto accident at
old Route 25 and the Allen-Han
cock County Line road. He faces
a seven-week siege, in.leg casts
until the fractures knit.
Mr. Gable was driving north on
the old Dixie when car driven
by Mrs. Harry Burkholder
crossed in- front of him, headed
south on the county line road.
She was on her way to work at
the Triplett Electrical Instrument
Co.
The Gable car struck the
Burkholder auto in the middle.
Both autos are total wrecks.
The impact struck Mr. Gable’s
knees against his dash causing
the fracture which was not dis
severed until early this week in
X-rays.
Mrs. Burkholder was treated
I by bar physician.
Unfold Plan for $900,000
College Development Program
I
I
I
i
FC
I
I
I
“Bluffton college’s new Music
hall, for which ground w as brok
en last Saturday morning, will
stand as a memorial to Russell
A. Lantz, Mrs. Harl Mann and
other consecrated teachers who
have shown that there are more
important things in life than ma
terial things.”
Thus Elmer W. Baumgartner,
chairman of the Bluffton college
board of trustees, addressed an
audience at the ground breaking
ceremony just across the campus
drive from College hall.
Mr. Baumgartner said that the
closeness of the new building to
the college’s first edifice is sym
bolic of the fact that the college
has not lost its original vision.
The Bible is often quoted that
sins of the parents are visited on
the third and fourth generations,
Two possible well sites for the
proposed Beaverdam water sys
tem were suggested at Monday
evening’s Beaverdam council
meeting.
One site is open ground owned
by Stanley Vertner at the north
east corner of the village. A far
corner of the school recreation
grounds is the other spot which
may be available, mayor Robert
Snodgrass said.
Any site selected must have a
300 foot safety margin free from
possible sources of pollution, al
though the actual site does not
have to be that large.
A 50 by 50 foot section can be
purchased from the school board
for about $100, tyfr. Snodgrass
said. Allen county prosecutor An
thony Bowers has advised Bea
verdam school officials that the
land cannot be donated.
Consulting engineer Francis
Connors is preparing contracts
for customers of the proposed
water system. Attempts will be
made to get a guaranteed -list
of subscribers before selmg
bonds to finance the system^
After consultihg with several
bonding companies tty? engineer
has advised the mayor that ‘/t
may be necessary to hh\fe fed-
Local AviatHx
Sixth in Race
Dorothy Anderson, instructor at
Bluffton Flying Service, placed
sixth last Saturday in the Fourth
Annual Southern Michigan All
Lady’s Lark air race.
She flew a Piper PA-24 180
The course was from Bay City
over Fowlersville and then to
Benton Harbor, a distance of 187
miles. There were 34 planes i
the race
it
n
WITH COLLEGE HALL in the background, official ground
breakers for the new Bluffton college Music hall pose for a
photo on the site of the proposed new building. Man with the
shovel and happy smile is Prof Russell A. Lantz, director of
the music department. Others left to right: Ebner Baumgartner,
chairman of the board of trustees Mrs. Harl Man, music de
partment Don Gundy, .Alumni president, and Dr. L. L. Ram
seyer, College president.
New Music Hall “Memorial”
To Consecrated Teachers
but it should also be remembered
that good goes forth into thous
ands of generations, he said.
In a time when so much em
phasis is being placed on sci
ence, it is important that music
and other studies, which provide
the balances in life, not be smoth
ered, the speaker continued.
He challenged present day mu
sic students to produce new mu
sic to match the message of the
great oratorios.
Following his talk, Mr. Baum
gartner broke the ground with
the first spade of earth, followed
by Russell Lantz and Mrs. Harl
Mann of the music department,
Don Gundy of the alumni asso
ciation, James Miller represent
ing the music students, and Pres
ident L. L. Ramseyer, represent
ing the administration.
Two Well Sites Suggested Dumping
Law Passed by Beaverdam Council
eral assistance in selling the
bonds to construct the water
plant.
If plans for the system are ap
proved by the government it will
also guarantee to submit a bid
when Beaverdam sells the bonds
to build the system.
Crackdown on unauthorized
persons using the village dump
was also authorized by the coun
cil.
Permission must bj obtained
from the village refuse collector
before removing or dumping junk
in the junkyard. Violation of the
new law carries a maximum of
$50 fine.
A number of non-residents have
been using the dump. Careless
dumping by residents and non
residents has become a problem
and the council hopes to control
this with the new law.
Tea To Honor
Hospital Head
An official welcoming recep
tion and tea in honor of Mrs.
Carl Stuckey, new superintendent
.of the Bluffton Community hos
pital, wiU be held Tuesday, Oc
tober 13, at the annual fall meet
ing of the Bluffton Hospital Auxi
liary.
The tea, which is open to the
public, will be held from 2 until
4 o'clock.
Because the Auxiliary has be
come a part of the United Fund
no membership drive will be
made next year, but officers
have expressed the hope that in
dividuals will indicate their will
ingness to become members at
the auxiliary when the UF solic
itor calls for the commitment.
THE BLUFFTON NEWS
A NEWSPAPER DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF BLUFFTON AND VICINITY
BLUFFTON, OHIO THURSDAY, OCT. 8, 1959
Plan UF Drive
For $8,119
October 19-22
Plans were drafted at a meet
ing of Bluffton Richland United
Fund directors Monday evening
at the Ex-Cell-O company of
fices for the annual four day
campaign to meet a goal of
$8,119.
The kick-off meeting has been
set for the opening day of the
drive, October 19, at a place to
be announced later, UF Presi
dent Harold Klingler said.
Although the 1960 goal has been
set at $8,119, part of this will be
made up from surplus left from
last year’s campaign, and it will
be necessary to raise only $7,
392, he added.
The single drive is aimed at
raising funds for 10 participating
UF agencies. These are the USO,
Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, YMCA,
Heart Fund, Salvation Army, Red
Cross, CROP, Bluffton Hospital
auxiliary and the Medical Re
search program. Richard Cook
son is campaign chairman.
Attending the Monday evening
planning session were Mr. Klin
gler^ Mr. Cookson, Ralph Steams
William Edwards, Miss M’Della
Moon, Robert Logan, Garnette
Foltz, Darrell Huber, Don Lytle,
Mrs. Wilbur Neuenschwander,
Woodrow Little, Harold Balmer,
Mrs. Robert Simcox, Mrs. Nel
son Diller, Mrs. Burdell Huber
and Mrs. Merlin Zimmerly.
Passenger
Service Ends
October 17
Local railroad passenger serv
ice will become an item for the
Swiss Community Historical so
iety after October 17.
The Ohio Public Utilities com
mission has ended a year and a
half of hearings and studies by
granting permission for the Nick
el Plate railroad to discontinue
passenger service between Cleve
land and the Indiana line.
Application to discontinue the
trains was filed in the summer
of 1958 but a strong protest move
ment organized by Bluffton and
other communities and the rail
road unions delayed the action
for a year.
In the first hearing the PUCO
disapproved the request for a
continuance but after Indiana and
Illinois allowed the trains on the
same line to be dropped Ohio
fell into line.
Train number nine, the eve
ning train from Cleveland to
Coldwater, and number ten, the
morning train from Coldwater to
Cleveland will both be discon
tinued after October 17.
This marks the end of nearly
a century of passenger service
for Bluffton on the line.
The first trains on the Nickel
Plate, then known as the Lake
Erie and Louisville, came in the
late fall of 1872 and the commun
ity has had passenger service for
the past 87 years. The AC&Y pro
vided passenger service from
1883 to 1951.
PTA Opens New
Season Oct 13
Classroom meetings of parents
and their chl^ren’s teachers
have beeh« arranged as part of
the program for the opening
meeting of the Bluffton Parent
Teacher association next Tues
day evening, October 13, in the
elementary building at 8:00 p. m.
After a general meeting in the
all-purpose room, parents will
assemble in the rooms of their
children to discuss problems
with the teachers. A question
and-answer period will be con
ducted in each room.
Parents of high school stu
dents will meet with their home
room teachers in rooms assigned
in the elementary building.
Mr. and Mrs. Ropp Triplett are
co-chairmen of the meeting.
BUS HITS AUTO
An account in last week’s
Bluffton News on the auto-school
bus accident Monday of last
week at Route 30-S and the
County Line road stated that the
Ezra Amstutz auto shoved the
bus from the road. This was in
correct, according to Mr. Am
stutz, who reports that his car
went through the stop in front of
the bus when his brakes failed to
hold. The bus struck the front of
his car, but neither bus nor car
were shoved from the highway
by the impact.
HOMECOMING ROYALTY
BEVERLY BENROTH, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene
Benroth, 319 Jackson street, was elected 1959 Homecoming
queen by the student body Monday. She will be crowned at the
Pandora-Gilboa game Friday evening and will reign at the
Homecoming dance afterwards.
Her attendants are Karen Mumma, (right) daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. M. M. Mumma, 103 Riley street, and Betty Stratton,
(left) daughter of Mrs. Helen Stratton, 116 Thurman street.
Bluffton Faces P-G
In Homecoming Tilt
Only one touchdown from a
winning season, the Pandora-Gil
boa Rockets will bring their best
team in several seasons to Bluff
ton’s Homecoming Friday night
at Harmon field.
A last minute touchdown gave
Spencerville a 20-14 win over the
Rockets in the opener, then P-G
bounced back to hand Grand Rap
ids a 30-0 lacing. Leipsic, still
unbeaten, evened out the spiral
by clipping the Rockets 22-0 last
week.
In the McComb preview, and
again in their early games, the
Rockets showed a more coordi
nated attack than in the past two
years, when they have haunted
the basement of the Northwest
conference.
Perhaps their most effective
runner is Rol Etter, an elusive
halfback who can mean much
trouble for the Pirate defense if
he can make his way around the
Bluffton ends.
Bluffton’s 14-0 win over Elida
last Friday made them one of
the strong favorites to cap
ture the NWC title and also boost
ed them to the front as the maj
or target for each club for the
rest of the season.
Improved backfield perform
ance was the major factor in the
Pirates’ victory. Sluggish in their
first two games, all three Pirate
starters benefited from intense
work by coaches Frank Osborne
and Joe Harris last week. Re
sults were immediately apparent,
as Marshall, Marshall and Logan
hit the holes with speed and pre
cision.
Bluffton will be near their full
strength for the first time since
the opener against Lafayette.
Rudy Steiner will still be some
what hobbled by a crushed toe
and Cal Oppermann is still on
the doubtful list but the other
members of the cast are in good
shape.
Pandora Gilboa is classed as
Keith Baker
Semifinalist
In Merit Exams
Keith Baker, Bluffton high
school senior and son of Mr. and
Mri. A. R. Baker, West Kibler
street, has been named a semi
finalist in the 1959-60 National
Merit Scholarship competition.
Announcement was made this
week by Roy E. Schmunk, prin
cipal of Bluffton high school.
Keith is among 10,000 of the
highest scorers on the National
Merit Scholarship Qualifying
Test. The test was given in over
14,500 high schools last spring.
The semifinalists outscored
over 550,000 classmates, and are
the highest scorers in each state,
prorated according to state popu
lation.
Baker and the other semi
finalists now face another rigor
ous three-hour examination, the
Scholastic Aptitude Test of the
College Entrance Examination
Board, which will further confirm
their high scores on the NWSQT.
This test will be given in testing
centers throughout the U. S. on
December 5, 1959. Those who re
peat their high scores on this
second test will become finalists
in the competition. It is esti
mated that 95 per cent will get
over this hurdle.
(See “Baker” p. 12)
/ir '.
I fWwl
one of the lighter games on the
Pirate slate and Osborne may
finally get a chance to throw
some developing sophomores in
for some varsity experience.
The truck then returns from
Findlay office, leaving there at
7 a. m. and returning to Lima by
way of Benton Ridge, Rawson,
Mt. Cory and Bluffton. It ar
rives at the Bluffton office at 8
a. m. and then continues on to
Lima. This provides an extra
dispatch of mail each day bound
for Lima distribution.
The evening truck route has
been readjusted to serve the
smaller post offices also. It
leaves Lima at 4:15 p. m., stop
ping at Bluffton at approximately
5:10 and arriving at Findlay at
6:10, where the mail will again
be distributed and transferred to
routes out of there.
The truck will leave Findlay
at 8 p. m. on a return trip to
Lima, stopping enroute at Bluff
ton at 8:45 p. m. before going
on to the Lima Post Office where
the mail it conveys will be trans
ferred to star routes, trains and
Births
The following births were re
corded at Bluffton Community
hospital during the past week:
Mr. and Mrs. Ellis Cardwell,
Col. Grove, a boy, Philip Leroy,
bom Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. James Kimber
ly, Rawson, a boy, Keith Alan,
born Thursday.
Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Dukes,
Bluffton, a boy, Thomas Jay
bom Friday.
Mr. and Mrs. Leland Wilkins,
Mt. Cory, a girl, Kay Ann, bom
Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Parish,
Bluffton, a boy, Stephen Lynn,
bom Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. John Castello,
Rawson, a girl, bom Sunday.
Mr. and Mrs. Damon L. Bow
man, Mt. Cory, a girl, Debrah
Lyn, bom Tuesday.
Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Um
phress (Janice Wingate), Ada, a
girl, Laura Jean, bom Wednes
day.
Mr. and Mrs. Tom Stacy,
Bluffton, a girl, bom Wednesday.
WASTE COLLECTION
The next village waste collec
tion has been set for Monday
afternoon, October 12, according
to Street Commissioner Wiliam
Gaiffe. Covered containers are
to be placed at the regular pick
up points by noon of the day of
collection.
SINGLE COPY 8c
The unusually, high ceiling of
Bluffton's old municipal light
and power plant has made it
uniquely adaptable for the assem
bly of certain parts for atomic
power equipment by the build
ing’s lessee, the Ex-Cell-O cor
poration, it was learned this
week.
The old building, used for
several years by Ex-Cell-O for
storage purposes only, is now
being used in the erection of
banks of control rods used in the
nuclear equipment. The equip
ment consists of a bank of
10 control rods some 25 feet
long actuated by a device which
travels them 30 inches up and
down at slow and rapid rates of
speed.
The rods are in a verticle posi
tion and workmanship of the
components must be such that, in
spite of radiation, they will not
fail.
The verticle erection and test
ing of these control rods is what
determined Ex-Cell-Os decision
to do the work at the Harmon
road building. A high ceiling and
an opening into the cellar below
gives ample operating room.
In a manager’s report to em
ployes, Bluffton plant people
were told that the field of atomic
equipment is a promising one
“inasmuch as the use of atomic
power for peaceful purposes as
well as defense weapons is ac
celerating daily. It is also one
which demands the best in qual
ity from the supplier.”
Bluffton Gets Outgoing Mail
Service Sundays, Holidays
The discontinuance of passenger trains on tlie Nickel
Plate railroad effective October 17, has already resulted
in improved Bluffton mail service.
Postmaster Ralph Stearns has announced that a new
truck route has been set up by the Post Office department
to replace the train service. For the first time in the com
munity’s history, Bluffton hast....
outgoing mail service on Sun
days.
The mail truck leaves Lima at
4:15 a. m., arriving in Bluffton
at approximately 5:30 a. m. After
unloading mail here, the truck
continues to Findlay, arriving
there at 6 a. m.
bus service out of all post offices
in Allen county. The Findlay
office services in the same capa
city for Hancock county.
Closing time for mail at the
Bluffton post office will be as
follows: 7:30 a. m. for mail en
route to Lima 4:30 p. m. for
mail enroute to Findlay and
6:30 p. m. for mail enroute to
Lima.
Outgoing mail service will also
be given to Lima two times on
Sunday and holidays with closing
time at 7:30 a. m. and 6:30 p. m.
This is the first time that Bluff
ton has had outgoing mail serv
ice on Sundays.
BLUFFTON*
A Good Place to Trade
S?nLail
Old Light Plant Used For
Assembly Of Atomic Equip.
is1L.“c*UIT'*N
Employes were challenged to
seek more economical methods in
order to meet strong competition.
The order in tne nuclear field
was described as a small assem
bly, erection and try-out order.
Men’sCongress
Meets Sunday
At St. John’s^
The Key. Charles Hartman,
pastor of St. John’s United
Church of Christ in Fort Wayne,
Ind., will be the principal speak
er at the Sunday afternoon ses
sion of the denomination’s Men’s
Congress for Western Ohio being
held at Bluffton’s St John
church.
A graduate of Franklin and
Marshall college and Yale uni
versity Divinity school, he re
ceived his master's degree from
John Hopkins university.
Rev. Mr. Hartman has served
on several national boards of the
church and is active in Fort
Wayne church and civic affairs,
serving as a director of the
Child Guidance Center and is
one of a staff of four ministers
heard on the Pastor’s Study pro
gram over WOWO on Sunday
evenings.
W. O. Geiger, of the Bluffton
high school faculty, is president
of the Men’s Congress and will
preside at afternoon and evening
sessions.
The program will begin at 3
p. m. after registration. Supper
will be served from 5 to 6, and
the program will resume at 6:30.
L. F. Warbington, Sidney, will
deliver the principal address of
the evening.
Approximately 200 laymen ar
expected to attend the event.
WHERE’S THE FIRE?
$
4m
$
THESE AUBURN HAIRED candidates for the title, “Miss
Flame”, are publicizing Jaycee-sponsored Fire Prevention Week
in Bluffton and the need for ridding the community of fire
hazards. One of the girls will be honored at the Bluffton-Pan
dora-Gilboa football game Friday evening.
The girls oa the ladder, top to bottom, are Deanna Beach,
Carol Sue DeVler, Marylin Dillman, Paula Greding and Carol
Schmidt. At the left, armed with a fireman’s axe, is Jayne
Barnett. They are all pupils of Bluffton school.