Fifty years ago this week Bluffton experienced the sound of “a thousand freight trains.”
That sound was the Palm Sunday, April 11, 1965, tornado.
At 9:45 p.m., it ripped across the rural Richland and Orange Township landscape. It was like no other natural disaster experienced prior or since then in this community.
Had the tornado’s path been one mile north it would have struck the Village of Bluffton. Had it been 600 feet farther north it would have hit 32 planes parked at the Bluffton Airport.
The Ada High School musical "Oklahoma" will be performed in April. And, to help pay for props, costumes and equipment for this and other programs, the Ada Music Boosters are holding a detergent and trash bag fundraiser. The sale runs through April 15.
Jonathan Wey of Ohio Northern University has composed a piece titled "Unless the Lord Builds the House" for the formal dedication of the Ada First United Methodist Church on Sunday, April 12.
The 6-7 minute long piece will be sung by the church's Chancel Choir and ONU University Singers accompanied by piano and French horn. We caught up with Wey for a feature in our series "15 Minutes With."
It may not be The Bahamas, but these "regulars" at McDonald's are enjoying coffee on the patio at McDonald's. Robert and Marsha Stull (left) sip a cup of joe with Lee and Connie Crouse. A week ago snow piled high on the table, making the table look like a giant ice cream cone. (Monty Siekerman)
