By Fred Steiner www.BlufftonForever.com Here's your invitation to be part of what could be the oldest continued New Year's tradition in Ohio: Singing traditional German carols composed by David Rothen, a Swiss pioneer in rural Bluffton. The event is sponsored by the Swiss Community Historical Society. New Year's Caroling, in German and English, takes place at 3 p.m. Sunday,
On a Friday afternoon in February 1853, David Rothen fell ill while teaching school in the Swiss Settlement area between Bluffton and Pandora, dismissed hi
Covid-19 curtailed this year s New Year s Eve group sing of the David Rothen carols. So, we invite you to sing them by yourself and we hope to bring back the group choir singing next year. Here s the story about the oldest tradition in Bluffton.
To best understand our community, it s helpful to appreciate the musical gene of those who carry a Bluffton or Pandora birthmark.
Growing up in a household bursting of Swiss traditions, this truth became obvious early on in the shaping of my own attitude toward events swirling around me.
A case in point is the David Rothen New Year s caroling folklore. My parents reference to this event centered on their teen years in the late 1920s.