Jim Halverson shares a visit he made back in the fall to the Wakarusa area of northern Indiana. This town lying north of Nappanee is in the vicinity of a small Old Order Mennonite community. Jim made two interesting stops while in the area, as you’ll see below. Instead of trick-or-treating on Halloween, I attended the Wakarusa Driving Horse Auction. Wakarusa is about 15 miles…
Writing in to the Finger Lakes Times in early December, a reader made the following claim as part of a review of communism and socialism through history: The only form of communism today that is the same from several hundred years ago is the Amish. Yes, they practice a true form of communism right here in the USA! Last week a reader named Ivan Martin…
I came across a police report about an Amish man being harassed in the community of Sherman, Maine. The Amish are targets of harassment in some places. In some cases the harassment goes well beyond what we might think of as a simple prank. The topic has been the subject of an academic paper, as well as several posts here on serious incidents – cases…
I am sure some of you are going to recognize this sign today. I would even call it semi-famous at this point by virtue of it being photographed so much due to its location. The sign is an advertisement for a long-running root beer business at an Amish farm just outside Intercourse, Pennsylvania, the heart of tourism in the country’s most-visited Amish settlement. If you’ve…
Reader Jerry brought to my attention a silent auction concluding today in Millersburg, PA, of an Amish-owned organic dairy farm. They’ve provided quite a few photos from inside the home, and of the property, which you can see below. These are some of the better photos I’ve seen of an Amish home and property. Jerry writes that “These Amish are a spin off of the…
Spence’s Bazaar is a flea market/farmer’s market in Dover, Delaware. The market has a significant Amish presence including some popular food outlets. This is a nice account of the place, which has an 85+ year history. Image: Spence’s Bazaar Delaware State News now reports that they have been shut down temporarily, and you get one guess what it has to do with: DOVER — The…
Today we have part 3 of 4 in Elam Stoltzfus’ series on the Ausbund. If you missed them, here are parts 1 and 2. 2017 was the 500 year anniversary of the start of the Reformation. The anniversary commemorated Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses on the church doors in Wittenberg in 1517, which was one of many actions that led to the formation of…
Someone is hoping a funny photo gets roads repaired in Geauga County, Ohio. The Geauga Maple Leaf shared this photo on their Facebook page. In it we see a pair of Amish trousers upside down in what appears to be a deep pothole puddle. Completing the picture, an Amish straw hat and a couple items including a lunch cooler lie by the side of the…
This morning I came across a pair of ads from an Amish builder named Junior Weaver on Craigslist. It’s always interesting to see the ways Amish companies, in this case construction outfits, promote themselves. Some do so with full-fledged websites, like my friend John Smucker in Lancaster County. Others rely primarily on word-of-mouth. The approach a business owner selects will in part reflect his church’s…
On the morning of Christmas Eve, I visited an Amish community in Summers County, West Virginia. This is near the Virginia border, about a half hour’s drive from the Pearisburg, VA settlement. The town is Forest Hill. The first place we came across was this double-business – Shady Hillside Variety Store and Kountry Crust Bakery. Inside. Keeping things toasty. On completing my purchase, I…