The Philadelphia Inquirer ran a long piece over the weekend on competitive Amish volleyball, reported from a tournament at Intercourse Community Park in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania back in June. I spoke to reporter Jason Nark on the Amish sports topic; his full report is here. A few things stood out to me – here are four. 1. Volleyball Holds A Special Function In Amish Culture…
Amish born-and-raised Lovina Hershberger Zook has been getting a lot of media attention beyond her own success online. And for good reason – she now has around six million followers across social media, where she posts Amish recipes and stories about the culture she left. That culture is a conservative Amish community – to my eye and ear she seems she is likely from a…
We often hear and read about accidents in Amish settings – whether on the farm, in recreational settings like hunting, or on the road. The Lewistown Sentinel reports on how one community has tried to address a gap in emergency skills in rural Amish-heavy areas. Forty-two people turned out for a free Rural Response and Rescuer Training program at the Central Pennsylvania Clinic for Special…
Iowa is home to America’s ninth-largest Amish population, spread across about 25 settlements. The oldest dates to 1846; the newest on this list, to 2011. The following communities are the largest in Iowa, based on the most current Amish population estimates. Population numbers via Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College (source link at bottom). 1. Bloomfield Bloomfield (Davis County) Community founded:…
I hate to share this news, but it’s being reported that a farm accident claimed the life of another Amish child Friday. An eight-year-old boy was pronounced dead this morning at a home in Mercer County, Pennsylvania. More from the CBS Pittsburgh report: An 8-year-old died after an accident involving farm equipment in Mercer County on Friday morning, authorities said. In a public information release…
An Amish woman has been hospitalized after a wreck yesterday afternoon (Aug. 13) in Stark County, Ohio. This one resulted from a common and potentially dangerous situation that doesn’t get talked about enough. First, the key details from the Canton Repository: Trooper A. Burch said the Amish woman, who lives in the Navarre area, was riding her buggy south on Navarre Road SW. A man…
Two days after ordering Amish Acres closed, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security has released a new report stating that no violations were found at the Nappanee, Indiana property. The owner, Brad Juneau, says the shutdown came down to missing paperwork rather than anything unsafe at the site. The IDHS abruptly shut down the business on Tuesday, citing violations identified during a reinspection. The violations…
An Iowa health facility run by a former Amish man has been shut down by court order. A judge has ruled that those operating it are “a danger to the public.” We’ve looked at this case already on two occasions – once when the story of charges against clinic operator Eddie R. Gingerich broke back in May, and later when further details emerged on his…
Daryl Heller, the Lancaster County businessman whose ATM investment network drew money from Amish and Mennonites across the Lancaster County area, among others, pleaded guilty to securities fraud on Monday, August 10. However, no one has yet established how much his investors actually lost – with his attorney even claiming to the court that the figure could be zero. Charged In September 2025 This is…
Judy Stavisky, author of In Plain View: The Daily Lives of Amish Women, shares her recent visit to an Amish community on Prince Edward Island, Canada, with us today. All photos in this post by Judy Stavisky. “Would you like to join us for a bowl of ice cream? We churned it ourselves.” A soft voice from behind a thin blue curtain invited us inside—a…
Six people were ejected from a horse-drawn buggy in Bedford County, Pennsylvania on Sunday evening when a car struck it from behind. This is in the same Pennsylvania county where a proposed steel wheel buggy ban failed just days earlier. The crash happened in the early evening on August 9 along William Penn Road, near the intersection with Younts Road, in East St. Clair Township….
The Bedford Township ordinance we’ve been following for the past three weeks is not happening. And in contrast to the last township meeting, where residents spoke out passionately against the steel wheel ban and manure ordinance, there was no more drama to it. Supervisors have simply scrapped it. Residents arriving for the August 4th meeting found a sign posted on the door telling them the matter…
So here’s something you don’t see every day – an Amish benefit auction held at over 7,500 feet, in country with vast views as far as the eye can see. Reader Alan LaFon checks in from an Amish part of America we don’t often hear too much from. These photos come from the annual La Jara Amish School Consignment Auction, held each July in Conejos…
Some in Michigan are concerned that the Amish won’t be able to vote if the state adopts a photo ID requirement. WWMT reports that a bill which “mirrors the federal SAVE America Act” has already been approved by the Michigan House. But it doesn’t currently have the votes to pass in the Michigan Senate. It might get there, though – if the balance of power…
Just like your car, Amish buggies – not to mention their horses – need the occasional wash too. That’s the idea behind an upcoming event in the Shipshewana, Indiana area, passed along to us by Jim Halverson. This is the ad for a benefit buggy wash to be held about two weeks from now, on Saturday August 15: BENEFIT BUGGY WASH to be on Saturday,…
Grocery prices are on a lot of people’s minds lately, and for good reason. The USDA’s moderate-cost food plan has a family of four at around $1,385 a month as of this writing. Scale that up to a household of ten mouths to feed, and you’re well past $2,500. Why do I say ten? Well, that’s an average-sized Amish family – two parents and eight…
Looking at its name alone, the Amish Black Box Phone has an air of secrecy or mystery to it. Is it some sort of clandestine Amish spy-ops device? A tool meant for conveying bad news? Of course, many of us will connect “black box” with the recording devices used to record communication in plane crashes, another morbid association. But it’s none of those things. Rather,…
This Amish home listing in Frazeysburg, Ohio contains the description “some of the most beautiful farm ground you can imagine.” Hard to argue after seeing these lovely photos. The property is 25 acres with the Wakatomika Creek running right along its western edge (visible in the photo below). The presence of an icehouse building (we’ll see that farther down) suggests this is an Amish group…
It appears the Amish are putting down roots in a state that they have rarely settled in the past — Mississippi. In fact, for the past three decades, the Magnolia State has had just one small Amish community. But a second is now arising in Prentiss County in northeast Mississippi, according to a new report. At least one family, and possibly more, has already moved…
So I couldn’t resist commenting on this one. You may have come across slideshow-style “listicle” posts on mass media sites like MSN or AOL. I’ve been seeing a lot of them lately about the Amish (sometimes they link to this website as a source, so no complaints there). Things like “10 surprising technologies the Amish use” or “The 15 largest Amish communities”. Often enough, the…
Nora Kurtz is a member of a Geauga County, Ohio Amish church. Today she shares some favorite dishes from her childhood – and some she still loves today, including bread soup and more. Anyone who lives in or around a large Amish community is probably going to be at least somewhat familiar with “Amish food”. Fried chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, creamed vegetables, pies and puddings…
Reader Shawn has been visiting the Amish community at Pearisburg, Virginia for over a decade now. The first visit of Shawn’s we saw here was back in 2014, followed by a return in 2016 to check on the newly opened Walker Valley Market. I’ve made a couple of visits myself – one on a rainy February day in 2020, and another in December 2020 when…
Amish Acres, an iconic Amish-themed destination in Nappanee, Indiana, has been shut down by the state until fire safety violations are corrected, following a reinspection of the facility. Several safety-related violations, according to the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, have led the agency to issue an emergency order requiring all to leave the property and prohibiting anyone from entering. Sold, Rebranded, Then Sold Again Amish…