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 First United Methodist Church, Ada, was dedicated on Sunday.
In July 2013 the congregation voted to move forward with construction of their new church building on their historic site in downtown Ada.
This $6 million, 25,000-square-foot project is supported by insurance receipts from the tragic March 2012 fire and significant gifts from members, friends, and other churches.
The Icon offers a photo series of events on Sunday below this story. Monty Siekerman is the photographer.
First United Methodist Church members and friends, some wearing yellow hard hats, gather for the beginning of the ribbon cutting ceremony on Sunday. A large number of people attended the formal dedication of the new church. The pews were full for the worship service prior to the celebratory ribbon cutting. (Monty Siekerman photo)
Ohio Northern University student Emily Ickes, a fourth-year pharmacy major from Jeromesville, Ohio, has been appointed to the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) National Student Leadership Council (SLC) for a two-year term.
Ickes will serve one year as a junior member, representing region 3, and will be elevated to a senior member in her second year. She is just one of eight pharmacy students selected from across the country to serve on the council. This marks the seventh straight year that ONU has had an ONU student named to the board. ONU has had four students represent the school over the last five years.
Jennifer Moore, assistant professor in the Department of English at Ohio Northern University, has been awarded a fellowship by the Jentel Artist Residency Program. Jentel is located in a rural setting on a working cattle ranch in the Lower Piney Creek Valley approximately 20 miles southeast of Sheridan, Wyo.
Moore will be among the award recipients focusing on their own creative projects at this working retreat for artists and writers. A panel of arts and literary professionals reviews samples of artwork and manuscripts before making final recommendations for residency awards.
