Speaker
Artist Bio: Fred Steiner, retired community journalist, is a student of history’s footnotes, best described as unforgettable stories of people living out their everyday lives in often truly remarkable situations.
He’s written five history books on the community where he spent his professional career. A history website www.BlufftonForever.com, which he created, contains over 500 photos and stories on Bluffton, Ohio. He and his wife relocated to Cincinnati (College Hill) in 2024 to be near their twin granddaughters.
Program Description: Audiences easily relate to these presentations, which include short antidotes of people accompanied by dozens of Power Point photos and illustrations. Moments of surprise, at times unbelief and often humor unfold as these stories come to life. The presenter encourages audiences to share their own experiences involving program topics.
Presentation Samples:
- Cincinnati Murals
The featured murals in this presentation include photographs of the entire mural, plus close-up views. Each mural location is identified along with the year the mural was created. The background story on each mural is also part of the presentation. - How to read a photograph
What do you see in a photograph? Using a collection of early 1900-era photographs, this presentation offers new respect of early photographers. - Interesting people I never met, but can’t forget
Stories of an unusual cast of characters who lived in Ohio between 1880 and 1930, whose situations could have easily made them themes in Mark Twain novels. - Leveled the graves of their dead
Ohio’s largest native American burial ground – over 300 bodies in a 1 ½ acre site – unearthed and destroyed in the 1850s by the building of a now-abandoned railroad. - They traveled with a pet bear
Traveling in small caravans, selling goods, entertaining crowds, often accused of thievery. Itinerant Romani people roamed Ohio in the 1890s leaving a legacy of stories. - Sleeping ghosts
Ghost stories from “Where Bluffton’s ghosts sleep,” including a woman almost buried alive, grave robbers, a UFO before Roswell, college ghosts and a dream with a message from a deceased family member. This presentation can be adjusted to meet the “fright level” requested by the audience. - Four guys walk into a bank and the rest is oral history
How John Dillinger’s 1933 bank robbery of a small Ohio town created an eventual flood of oral history, from buried treasure to stories of eye-witnesses, who were not even on the scene. - A walk in the park
Let’s take a walk in the park. We will view insects, stunning wildflowers, a host of birds, amphibians plus a muskrat or two. It’s a photo travelogue in a park that seeks out the unusual. - Personal brushes with fame
From movie stars, to presidents, scientists and army generals, ordinary people come in contact with famous persons in unusual situations. The outcome enables participants to share their own “brushes with fame.”
Equipment needed: Video projection or large-screen TV equipped to handle USB thumb drives suitable for group viewing.
Recommended for: These programs may be easily adjusted to fit the needs of any interest or age group.
Availability/schedule: Open
