The Knights of Columbus, the men’s group from St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bluffton, wanted to put up a second “Right to Life” billboard in Wells County.
The first billboard is on SR 1, just south of the Catholic Church. Mike Lautzenheiser Sr. was the chairman for the project and contacted Dean Stephens, the Scout Leader of local Troop 149. The billboard soon became the Eagle Scout project for Scout Logan Zoll.
The first step was to obtain a site for the billboard. With the assistance of Jeff Lemler of Bluffton Cemeteries, Inc. and Fr. David Viola of St. Joseph Catholic Church, a site was made available just to the east of the old Elm Grove Cemetery on SR 124. The next step involved getting two variances from the Wells County Board of Zoning Appeals for the placement of the billboard on the site. Zoll, with Lautzenheiser’s assistance, prepared the necessary drawings and petitions, and appeared before the BZA, and obtained the variances and building permits.
Zoll, along with help from fellow scouts, scout leaders, and family, put in 140 man hours in preparing the site, building the frame and inserting the banners in the billboard. The project was completed July 26 and can be seen when driving on SR 124.
Others who worked on the billboard project were: Adam Zoll, Noah Zoll, Holly Zoll, Hunter Zoll, Grant Reifsteck, Dean Stephens, Shawn Velasquez, Craig Cavanaugh, Miles Velasquez, Reid Cavanaugh, Ben Stephens, Blake Johnson, Ben Decker, Noah Vancamp, Joe Kozlowski, Nick Stephens, Elisan Benlez, Eric Benlez, and Brad Vancamp.
