Holmes County Road 77
Thanks to Mary for sharing the above photo of County Road 77 in Holmes County, Ohio. You might recall CR-77 mentioned in the comments section of the Amish buggy safety post of a couple weeks ago. Hurst and McConnell remind us that CR-77 is known locally as the “Amish roller coaster”, for its series of rolling hills. You can kind of get a sense of that here from this photo.
CR-77 runs from Highway 39 near Berlin through Bunker Hill and on up to Mount Hope. Heading north along CR-77, you pass a number of interesting landmarks. The large building of the Amish and Mennonite Heritage Center, home to the Behalt cyclorama, lies on the right. Heini’s Cheese Chalet, with its distinctive Swiss-inspired design, is hard to miss near the Bunker Hill crossroads. Kauffman’s Bakery lies across the street. I recommend their pies.
Heading onwards, you come to the Amish-owned Time and Optics business, selling clocks and a wide variety of other items including binoculars and scopes. Quite a few Amish businesses are found along CR-77, for that matter, including a buggy shop and a shoe store.
While they’re not too visible from the road, a few Amish cemeteries lie on farms adjacent to CR-77. Memory Park features a baseball diamond where Amish youth play in the summer. CR-77 finally ends at the little post office in Mount Hope. The village is well-known for the Mount Hope Auction (hosting the Haiti auction and many other events), Mrs. Yoder’s kitchen (popular among Amish and non-Amish alike), and garage door manufacturer Wayne-Dalton (where many Amish work).
CR-77 is used heavily by Amish. You typically pass many bicycles, buggies, and other horse-drawn vehicles along its five miles.
But as mentioned before, CR-77 is not the safest road in the county, because of its relatively high speed limit and low visibility due to the hills. Speed limits have recently been dropped on the road, though.
We know Route 39 very well. This one looks familiar too. Speaking of bicycles, are there differences among the Amish about the use of bicycles? It seems to me we see more of them in Holmes, not so many in Knox.
good morning everyone….. i think in the short time i was in ohio, i was on that road. my fav spot in holmes county was in the Berlin area because of all those hills it has.even though that area had the largest population of amish at that time, i remember saying to myself “wheres are all the amish”. and as ive read on this site, penn is now home to the largest amish community in the world, for now anyway………… richard,penn
good morning forsythia…. in penn, i see mostly amish scooters as they call them being used, not so much bikes, i have seen skates as well……… richard
I live in Berlin, Ohio. The State is now widening CR 77 to allow for a buggy lane. It is indeed a highly traveled road with semi’s, delivery trucks, autos as well as the buggies. This will be helpful to the buggy traffic.
Good morning everyone!!
Very interesting as I have never been to the Ohio Amish settlements but would love to go.
They use some bicycles and tricycles down in Arthur, IL as well as the horse and buggies. Actually, I am not sure if it might be the Mennonites that use the bicycles and tricycles down there, truthfully I have not paid enough attention to determine the difference.
One thing I have noticed in Arthur and perhaps this is something Erik can get into some time, is, there seems to be a lot of Mennonites in business, trying to pass themselves off as Amish to cash in on the “Amish Tourisim” lately. A particular place in mind was a bakery called, “Amish Country Bakery” they were open for one tourist season a couple of years ago. I bought some bread from them and while there got into a conversation with one of the ladies. I noticed her “plain clothing” was not as plain as women that I knew were Amish and so I asked her about it and she said they were actually Mennonite. She even went so far as to say, tourist won’t buy from Mennonites here but if they think we are Amish then they will buy. Then she said, obvioulsy you are not a tourist because you could tell the difference in our clothes.
I was kind of blown away by that. To me that is being a decietful. Perhaps others realized that too and that is why they are no longer in business? I have seen it in a few other shops since then as well.
Blessings, Alice
Speaking of cemetery’s my wife and I both have gg grandparents buried in an Amish cemetery along 77. If you know where to look you can see it from hieni’s cheese.You can see the fence once you know where it is.There is A covered wagon at the Mennonite Heritage, That my g granfather Christian Yoder and his sister came to the holmes county area in the 1870’s, along 77
I cannot believe how there is not more car vs buggy accidents.
When we get the chance my wife and I take our kids to the area, eat and site see.
On a recent trip and after a meal at the Der Dutchman in Walnut Creek we went on a drive on some back roads. The roads were lightly dusted with the falling snow and I cannot believe how many idiots were flying and I mean flying on the roads. They must have been all locals. Now, Now, before you go thinking I’m grandpa putting along…I’m in my early forties and am a police officer. Anyway it made the sight seeing unenjoyable and I cant see how the poor Amish do it. I’m glad they’re widening some of the roads.
Alice,
I was thinking that it’s kind of sad that Mennonites can’t just go about business as usual. That tourism dictates who is “good enough” to buy from. How judgemental of us Engishers to put our noses up at Mennonite bussiness as they are not Amish enough. I am willing to bet any one of those Mennonite gals could whoop me in the Iron Chef kitchen challenge, lol. I do see your point but just thinking of how this scenario came to be.
Tania, I agree with you. I felt like the Mennonites were taking advantage of the Amish and yet, why should they have to in the first place? Do not people realize the Amish were once Mennonite? I think it goes along with many people “romantisizing” the Amish way of life and not even bothering to find out the history of the Amish/Mennonite communities.
Buck, we see that here all the time. People speeding down country roads without a thought as to who or what they might run into. I don’t drive like grandma but I do drive with caution and care, especially on country roads were I might expect to come up on a buggy or other slow moving vehicle.
People don’t seem to use the common sense God gave them, especially when driving.
Blessings, Alice
That’s a very pretty picture of CR 77 in Holmes County. I have been over it many times when visiting there. You have to be ever so careful driving over it any many other roads not knowing what is going to be there when you top a knoll.
Beautiful area to visit. Would love to retire there. Keep up the excellent work on this website, Erik. Lots of interesting info. Love to read and learn from it!
I noticed LaVonne made a commet. I have been on some of her tours and they are wonderful. If any of you folks ever get to visit Holmes County, be sure to take one of her tours. Very knowledgeable drivers with lots of facts and tidbits to entertain you.
I was wondering if anyone knows the Amish “take” on FOOTBALL (American, not to be confused with soccer)?
I’ve read that the Amish enjoy baseball/softball, volleyball and shuffleboard perhaps even horseshoes but nothing about football.
Thanks-
Michelle
good early evening folks….. i should be getting some snow flakes my way in lebanon,pa. i know amish kids love baseball because ive seen them play it alot. shuffleboard is very big in pinecraft florida, infact its a way of life down there so everyone pretty much does it. come to think of it, ive never seen any of the ladys play it, strange. maybe in time i can exchange pictures with some of the folks on here of some of thier amish communitys, if they live in or near any. i think that would be pretty neat……. good night folks….. Richard, pa
Richard, I hope you have a wonderful night my dear friend and hopefully not too much snow, LOL. I would like to exchange pictures with you any time, that is a cool idea.
I’m hoping to get down to Arthur again soon if the weather holds out and after I get adjusted to these new meds. I will be certain to take my camera with me.
Have a great night everyone!
Blessings, Alice
hey alice, thought id pop on here before i shut the computer down, which i will in a min. yes id love to see the amish community in arthur, i do have a pretty good book about different amish communitys in america. its a pricey book, but the photos are very good. ive seen a few pics of arthur from it, looks pretty nice, and im not used to seeing amish community like arthur thats so flat. when i get my digital camera ill let you know alice. i do have a digital camera, so ill put a few videos on you tube to share as well. i can see your trying to get used to your new meds, you will, rest-up and ill see ya on sun alice. good night folks………… richard from the amish community of lebanon,pa
Richard, you just make me smile. 😀 Illinois is very flat for the most part. There are some little hills here and there and I do mean little, LOL. I have both a cam corder and the digital camera. I will take both on my next trip to Arthur. Maybe I can get some shots of the shop I plan on selling in this year. It is in downtown Arthur, right where they hold a lot of festivals.
Last time I was through I did not have time to stop but I saw that Yoder’s Lamp Shop moved in next door. Can’t wait to poke in there and see what they have. I would like to get a couple of oil lamps that hang on the wall and have reflectors attached to them.
What is the name of that book Richard? I would like to see if I can either get it at the library or perhaps find it online. Our library can get books in from any library in the state so if they don’t have it they might be able to get it. 🙂
Have an awesome night Richard and everyone! See you tomorrow Richard. 😀
Blessings, Alice
Marcus Yoder, that is pretty cool about your great grandfather and his sister. Could you tell us where they started their journey?
Bikes or scooters? An Amish mystery
Hi Forsythia, good question on bicycles.
I have tried to get to the bottom of why some groups permit bikes and others limit themselves to scooters, for instance. Lancaster Amish are the most visible example of a group that only permits (in most church districts) scooters. And as Richard mentions the Amish in his area are going to be Lancaster-spinoff group which would have similar Ordnung.
I have heard it said that scooters in their operation (stand up, push with one foot) are closer to walking, but I’m not sure that is entirely the reason. An Amish friend and I have discussed this at some length and as for the Lancaster Amish, there may have been different reasons for only allowing scooters in the past, but as for today, bikes are not being accepted by Lancaster churches (even though in the past couple decades much other technology has been) probably for the simple reason that there is no pressing economic necessity pushing for that specific change.
Often when you get changes in Ordnung they are driven by economic need; those types of changes tend to be seen as more acceptable (ie bulk milk tanks/agitators in the 1960s, inverters to run cash registers, etc). There is simply no compelling economic benefit to get off the scooter in favor of the bike. Cell phones on the other hand have become tacitly accepted b/c there is (arguably) a need for (some) businesses (ie, builders) to be accessible by phone and have one available to contact clients, builders, suppliers, etc, while on the road.
As to Knox v. Holmes, I would say that this reflects the general level of conservatism between these two areas. Many more “mainstream-to-progressive” type Amish in Holmes, while in Knox you have more conservative Amish. Conservative groups may see less reason to permit bikes and especially not fancy ones. Some Amish bicycles, for that matter, can get pretty expensive. If you’re going to use it a lot, it’s worth splurging for better comfort and safety features.
The leaning-back recumbent bikes, which also aren’t the cheapest, are popular with some Amish. Other communities where you see big use of bikes, and subsequently some very nice models, are Arthur, Illinois, and Elkhart/Lagrange counties in northern Indiana. Paved, flat roads in these communities also promote bike use. And again, these are generally more mainstream-to-progressive Amish.
Might have gotten carried away with the answer here but I hope that is of some use!
Lancaster-larger Amish population than Holmes County
Lot of good topics on this comment thread. Richard as to population size that is right, the Young Center revised their population estimates and both PA and Lancaster County came out slightly ahead of OH and Holmes County this year; for practical purposes though I view those as being basically the same size.
I was frankly a bit surprised by Lancaster dropping behind Holmes County, but church districts are larger in Lancaster and they took that into account (though Holmes has about 40-50 more districts total than Lancaster).
Lavonne always glad to hear your Holmes County insider info, thanks for sharing on this one. I did not know the buggy lane on 77 was in the works. Good point on the semi traffic, especially with all the furniture businesses in the area.
Short of steamrolling all the hills out of the county, I guess buggy lanes will have to do!
Mennonite bakery pretending to be Amish?
Alice, Tania, that is an interesting anecdote and good discussion on Mennonites v. Amish. As your example shows I think a good chunk of people aren’t going to know the difference. If they did I wonder how many would be bothered by it. Some probably would (“authenticity” being important, and if you want the “Amish experience”, well the Mennonite shop is almost but not quite there).
What surprises me a bit is that she was so frank about it, and comfortable telling a stranger outright that “if they think we are Amish then they will buy.” Though I would fully expect her to be aware of that (and that is a pretty honest answer, to her credit!). I think all people that are involved in tourist related businesses in Amish areas realize this.
“Amish Country” is ideal for businesses wishing to tap into the Amish appeal but which might not have a direct connection to Amish. If we want to challenge the language “Amish Country” is really technically a geographical region, whereas using “Amish” alone probably means you would need to be selling Amish products or have Amish owner, employees etc (at least to be using it “honestly”).
“Amish Country” gets used a lot b/c it occupies that “sweet spot” where you tap into the attraction but technically your argument holds up in court 😉 (not that anyone is going to sue you). If I had an Amish business I don’t know whether I’d be comfortable using the label “Amish Country”, but I can certainly understand why it is used. And I don’t know if I can blame plain Mennonites for doing it, to be honest. I am sure they wouldn’t say outright they are Amish were they to be asked (as in your example); they are just using this magic “Amish Country” tag like so many others, and their appearance is “exotic” enough that people form their own conclusions.
Obviously they could call it “Mennonite Baking” I suppose, but I don’t think they’d do as well. Especially since the areas they are in are promoted everywhere as “Amish Country” and not “Mennonite Country”. I’ve sometimes wondered if plain Mennonites ever find this whole issue annoying, or don’t care.
Of course, if Amish did not exist, Horse-and-buggy Mennonites would get all the attention (though less of it, since their numbers are significantly lower). We would have “Mennonite Country Tours” and so on.
Buck, have had the same experience many times. What always gets me are the passing decisions people make. I can understand the impatience, but going for it on a blind curve is just not a good call. Which you have probably seen as well.
Football fans in the Amish community
Kathy I am always thrilled when I hear someone enjoys the site; am very glad you take the time to visit, read and share with us 🙂
Michelle V, a good question as well. Football, football, everyone has football on the mind this time of year 🙂 (I’ll be watching some today too, I admit). This is by far America’s #1 spectator sport as I recently learned (apparently it dwarfs NBA, Major League Baseball,etc). But you are right, you don’t see it nearly as much as other sports with Amish, though some youth do play. Does the fact that it’s not as popular have to do with the aggressive nature of the sport? Mainly due to tradition? That I do not know. But it does get played, just not to the same degree. I have an Amish football photo sent in by our reader Rick that I might need to post.
Sports like softball and volleyball are also probably more popular because they are played by both sexes, and are a part of the school experience as well as common at youth singings (volleyball).
On the other hand, you definitely have football fans among Amish. I don’t know how many are going to be watching the playoffs today (my guess: some youth will catch games, but very few if any adults) but some Amish do follow NFL teams (and other sports, for that matter) in the newspaper.
Bunker Hill, which is located at the intersection of SR 62 and CR 77, is a notorious spot for auto accidents. When I was young my cousin (who lived in Bunker Hill at the time) and I were among the first on the scene of a particularly horrific buggy/truck accident there. The two roads intersect at the crest of a very steep hill with blind spots in both directions and to this day you literally take your life in your hands crossing over SR 62 at that intersection. Just imagine doing it in a buggy.
Football is not much a part of Amish life in Holmes County, Ohio. Football is considered a violent sport and violence is discouraged. I graduated from Hiland High School outside Berlin and to this day that school does not have a football team. Mennonites, on the other hand, are huge pro and college football fans and are among the most ardent hard core Browns and OSU Buckeye fans anywhere. The Amish do love basketball and many barns are rigged with hoops on the main floor due to the harsh winters. Having played many times in barn basketball games I can tell you that Amish boys take the game very seriously and I have bounced off the rough hewn support beams of many barns as a result of a great body block delivered by an Amish boy.
Dangerous intersection at Bunker Hill, Holmes County
Greg, you are of course right Bunker Hill is a nightmare. Seems there out to be school crossing speeds there. Would not want to cross in a buggy as crossing in a car I feel like I could see a semi appear at any second.
In Poland, roads are generally terrible, with a very high casualty/mortality rate. At particularly bad spots they post large menacing road signs reading “Czarny Punkt” (Black Point) listing the number of accidents and deaths for that location. Don’t know if it has any effect on people’s behavior but maybe.
Football, hockey popularity among Amish
It’s funny, I’d say hockey is just a notch down from football on the violence scale but quite popular in Lancaster (not sure about Holmes but I never got a sense that it was nearly as common). Football might be more popular in Lancaster as well, am not sure. I recently read an article on ESPN.com in which the author tracked down some Amish fans/players before a big Eagles game. They were all youth, though.
For that matter I would love to see a comprehensive study on Amish and sports. It has been addressed in other books (Stevick’s Growing Up Amish, and Hurst and McConnell’s Amish Paradox are two recent ones) but never as a book or really even an academic paper, as far as I’m aware.
Hey Richard, That book you mentioned you have about the Amish all over the country sounds like one I might like to get. Can you let me know the name of it or ISBN number? If you don’t want to send me that info on here, you can email me at TNWF@aol.com.
Thanks!
I forgot to mention, I have America’s Amish Country II, which is a photo collection book by Doyle Yoder and Leslie Kelly (Doyle Yoder is a Holmes County native).
As far as images of the Amish it is the best I’ve ever seen. Maybe this is the one Richard is talking about. Even if it isn’t, I recommend it.
its funny Erik…….. i dropped by the site this morning and read all the comments on the last topic, and saw that someone was asking about the book that i talked about . after i had read Kathy’s comment asking me about that book, i did alittle checking while you were answering her question as well,lol. and your right about the title, so thats the second book that has come out since i bought the first book. i looked up my orig book “Americas amish country” and its out of print, i didn’t realize i bought that book around 1990ish, im starting to feel alittle old now, thanks Erik,lol. that book it seems is out of print, but amazon.com has a few copies starting at 74.85 and up. bare with me because im getting to my point Kathy . as Erik has said the new book is called” Americas amish country ll ” the cost is 24.95 plus shipping, Doyle Yoder took the pictures, and Leslie Kelly wrote the content. Doyle Yoder is pretty famous in the Ohio area for his pictures of the amish, and the new book covers over 20 states with pictures, just like my orig book. the price is right, and if you keep it long enough like i did, it will increase in value when it gets out of print. the company to order from is called Americas amish publication, and their web site is….. http//ohioamish.com……… they also sell a great looking calendar and the pictures are by Doyle Yoder. and just to top Erik, their goes my ego again,lol,heres Doyle yoders web site to look at some of his pictures for free……….. http://www.dypinc.com………….. looks like my work here is done, good morning folks, and ill drop by alittle later………… Richard from lebanon,pa
Erik, I doubt she would have just volunteer that she were Mennonite. But during the conversation I asked her. We also have some Baptist Brethren floating around this area. I know the family, they travel to Indiana for church. They intentionally will try to pass themselves off as Amish. They used to sell at the farmers market here. When I heard a lady call them Amish I watched her bold face lie to the customer. Now that was wrong!!
I give this Mennonite lady a lot of credit for being open and honest. I’m sure she doesn’t walk around all day going, “I’m Mennonite” but at the same token she will not lie if you ask her a direct question and I admire that.
Richard, good morning,, I was the somebody who asked about the book, LOL. Thanks for all the helpful information in your post. I will check it out later today.
They are calling for all kinds of crazy weather here tomorrow, snow, rain, freezing rain, sleet,,, yuk! I am going to have to run to the grocery store this afternoon as a couple of items go on a really good sale that I want to get for my pantry. I won’t go out in that weather tomorrow.
Have a good day everyone!
Blessings, Alice
I have travelled this road many times when visiting holmes county. It is very pretty and hilly. In the fall weather its gets very dark at night early and can make for a tricky drive back to our hotel, Zinck’s inn (nicest place to stay) from Mrs. Yoder’s kitchen(the best meals in the area)but you just have to take your time and be very aware of your surroundings. If you get a chance to travel the CR-77, take the time to do so, and stop at some of the neat little cottage shops and tourist attraction (Behalt, will take your breathe away) Enjoy and happy travelling to all. I will be there Easter weekend and can hardly wait.
Good morning SHOM. My gg grandfather Daniel c. Yoder sent my G grandfather Christian,and his sister Barbara to Holmes county,Ohio to get Barbara away from A liberal boyfriend. A jacob Eash owned the wagon.They came from Somerset county Pa. All of my ancestors that I have traced came from Switzerland,Germany, and France to Philadelphia and settled in Berks county Pa., and migrated To Somerset, to Holmes to Arthur Illinois and other places.
good morning alice…….. hope you didnt think i was ignoring ya about that book, since kathys comment was the last one , i thought id answer it. and yes, you were the first to ask about the book, my bad…………….. richard
Good morning Richard, No you are not bad and I did not think you were ignorning me. Sometimes we read something but can not remember where we read it, LOL.
Hope you are well today my friend. I had a very rough night, pain killers did not do the job right and I was up until about 5am this morning. I think the storm we have coming in might have something to do with it. They are calling for snow, rain, freezing rain and sleet tomorrow and I feel it in every muscle of my body, LOL. Oh well, this too shall pass.
Blessings, Alice
hi alice……… its richs ego, id like to say good morning as well……..lol……. Richard
Umm, hi Rich’s ego, LOL. Your too cute, you make me smile a lot. 😀 Thank you Rich, Richard, Ego, LOL
Want some coffee? [_]? Just put a fresh pot on. ;-D
Thanks for the info, Erik and Richard. I appreciate it!
Creating an impression with the Amish name
Alice it is a good question and a weird gray area. “Is this Amish?” “Is it okay to sort of use the Amish name/impression that something is authentically “Amish”, if it really isn’t?” I don’t have the answer but it is an interesting topic.
When I was doing my business book I had some good conversations with Amish who observed how their name was used. Some were very against it, some sort of neutral, and others seemed not to mind.
Erik,,,, I go back to my basic biblical principles, Jesus said, “do not lie”. He did not say, except if it helps you in some way, such as business, then it is OK. I would think whether it be Mennonite, Baptist Brethren or any other practicing Christain, being decietful is lying and lying is wrong, period.
But that is just how I look at things.
Blessings, Alice
i just saw in a weekly Lancaster pa newspaper today that a 16 year old amish youth hit a parked car while driving his buggy. im not making this up folks. it says that he took off from the seen, but was found later. he said that he left because “he was scared”. richard, lebanon,pa
Just read some sad news… Ed Gingerich who suffered from schizophrenia has passed on. A book titled “Crimson Stain” was written about him. It was stated that he will be buried in an Amish cemetery. My question is will it be inside or outside the fence?
Is "Amish Country bakery" authentic?
Hey Alice, I don’t think I have to say that you and I are 100% in agreement on “do not lie”.
I am just not ready to say this woman was being deceitful. “Amish Country” is widely used and an accurate descriptor of a place, it is what many people use to refer to areas where Amish live. Her bakery is actually located in “Amish Country” I assume.
Of course not everyone is comfortable using it. But just because it has the name of the religious group in it I don’t think makes the Mennonite lady guilty of something like lying. That name has taken on the meaning of the place as well as the people, ie, “let’s go visit Amish Country this weekend.” It does have a positive association of course, that many benefit from (including her it sounds like), simply thanks to the Amish being there.
If she were saying something was “Amish made” or explicitly claiming to be Amish, I think that would be a different story. But it sounds like she is simply aware of what attracts people to her business. I don’t think it’s necessarily her duty to label herself or her business as “Mennonite”, or even to make sure everyone who sets foot in her store knows she is not Amish (she probably has a lot of other duties on her plate as is, I imagine).
As another example, occasionally people who visit this blog think it is written/managed by Amish. Of course if you read the “About” link (or a few posts, for that matter) you will quickly find that’s not the case, but I also don’t feel an obligation to have it in flashing lights by the title that I myself am not Amish 😉
Anyway, a good discussion, and maybe I’m misreading this (I was not there and you were!) but that is just the way I see it 🙂
Richard, yikes, I wonder if alcohol was involved. That could have been why he was scared.
Michelle V, I read that as well, a sad tale. Gingerich was a pretty ill individual from what I understand.
Richard–forgot to add–you win this round! 🙂 Thanks for sharing the useful info on the book and site. I have never seen edition 1 but I wonder how it differs from 2.
This blog is not "Amish-run"
Alice I should probably add one thing–my blog example is probably not a perfect one–I have never really thought that anyone visiting here would think this is “Amish-run” (which is why it still surprises me on the rare occasions someone thinks that) mainly because web sites and blogs are not really something the Amish are seen to be involved in.
So my case is different as I don’t think that I am incurring some sort of “authenticity” benefit from mistakenly being perceived as Amish, which the Mennonite lady likely is. But I would still hesitate to give her a hard time on this one for the reasons above.
The other folks you mention who were intentionally trying to pose as Amish, yes, I see that as a much different deal and not OK.
Eric, just to let everyone know, the intersection of 77 & 62 is in the process of being “straightened out”. All of the buildings at the 4 corners of the intersection have been bought up by the State/County and have since been torn down (this past fall). The road is going to swing to the east coming from each direction up and down 77 and will be “turned” so that traffic on 77 will cross 62 at a 90 degree angle instead of the quirky angle it does now… we all will be thankful when it is done!
Good evenin’ Marcus Yoder. I looked those two counties up on the internet and that looks like a fair hike even though the two states are next to each other. Did they have faith based issue with trains, out of curiosity, or was it just easier/cheaper to take a horse and carriage?
I agree with what Erik is saying in his previous post. I will add that sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish between a Mennonite and an Amish without asking. Depending on where one might be, an Amish and a Mennonite can be indistinguishable, depending on their strictness of faith on dress, etc. Of course depending on where you are, the tourism industry and “regular industries” might draw more attention to the bigger Mennonite community, just because they’re there.
This also makes me think of the interesting and varied products and companies that identify themselves as “Quaker”, even though they may never have been run by or employed practicing Quakers. Although there are famous businesses that where started and ran by Quakers, the chocolate makers Cadbury were Quakers when the family started the business, so I’ve heard.
SHOM I don’t know, but it probably had A lot to do with it. I do know Jacob Eash hauled A lot of Amish people to Ohio,Indiana,and Michigan. It was A conestoga wagon. You can google Yoder-Eash wagon, and find some history on it. Wayne Weaver A 3rd cousin of mine helped to secure the wagon and restoration. They had A barn raising, and built A bank barn A the Mennonite Heritage center. The sister Barbara Was Wayne Weaver,s g grandmother. Marcus Yoder London,Ohio
Erik, I guess I should have gone into more detail and was not thinking. During our discussion she said she oftens hears customers say things like, “Oh, I am so glad I found this Amish bakery as I love the way the Amish bake”, or “I only buy from the Amish” and she did not correct them and tell them the truth. She said, “why should I care if they think I am something I am not, so long as they buy from me.”
Anyhow, its really not up to me to judge her. I just find it odd that she would allow that to happen and not step forward and that she would feel a need to in the first place.
And another point to ponder, why would anyone, especially “outsiders” or “Englishers” automatically assume Amish can bake and cook better than Mennonites or anyone else for that matter? Goes back to the point of “romantisizing” who and what the Amish are.
Nothing wrong with the name of the bakery in my opinion either. It was indeed in the heart of “Amish Country”. I think the main reason this lady opened up to me is because I asked her straight out if she was Mennonite, after I made my purchase. She wanted to know how I knew and I said the Amish wear different clothes. Not colorful, no buttons or snaps, etc. Then she was very open to talk. Also there was no one else in the shop at the time.
Funny thing about this site, it never occured to me it was run by Amish, LOL. I never read the “about me” page either.
Blessings, Alice
Normaly when it is advertised as Amish, it usually isn’t Amish. Amish shops are usually named by there last name, like Beachy’s noodles, yoder’s furniture. I’am sure there are exeptions. Marcus Yoder London,Ohio
Correction I should say the people selling may not be Amish. The products usually are. Marcus Yoder