By Joe (“I CAN’T believe I ate that many!”) Schriner
“Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory” had nothing on “The Bluffton News & The Chocolate Buckeye Factory” during the recent Bluffton Chamber of Commerce “Chocolate Walk.”
Our office on Vine (with the new “The Bluffton News” sign, in retro-typewriter font no less), was wall-to-wall chocolate/peanut butter buckeyes “…to die for.” I, in fact, still had a sugar hangover two days after the event!
The buckeyes were provided by the new “Langan Family Finds,” also on Vine St. Each buckeye was individually shrink wrapped. *Not sure exactly how they did that. But they did!
And, okay, to be totally transparent, as any self-respecting journalist would be, there were a few complaints. Some of the Michigan fans did chafe a bit at being offered buckeyes. But after TTUN (Michigan) won the National Championship this season, most of these fans were, oh, a bit more amiable than usual.
Serving up those buckeyes, and complimentary copies of the newspaper, besides myself (when I wasn’t eating the buckeyes, of course), was Bluffton News Publisher Joe Gilroy. Besides being a quite affable sort, he is, indeed, a seasoned journalist. He has worked as a reporter/editor/et. all on newspapers throughout northern Ohio (including such publications as the Sandusky Register, Norwalk Reflector, Cleveland Plain Dealer…).
And he also did a stint with the Leelanau Times near the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where he received state-wide, prestigious awards for some of his writing.
And speaking of prestigious…
We were visited this day by the likes of former Bluffton Mayor Fred Rodabaugh and his wife; by Bluffton Square Dance King Larry Armstrong, who looks absolutely great in boots and those cowboy string ties; and Village Administration Secretary Angie Essinger, who said there was absolutely no way she was sharing her office space with a beaver in a big terrarium. *See story elsewhere in this edition.
And speaking of office space…
As is noted in some other writing on Pg. 3, our offices, while open “irregular hours” at present, are nonetheless now, again, re-established back in the village – where, indeed, they should be.
And while we can’t always offer free buckeyes, or complimentary copies of the newspaper for that matter (Have I mentioned there’s a subscription drive going on right now?), in each edition, you can count on some great stories highlighting some awful special local people, events, and news in general.