Amish in the St. Ignatius community in western Montana recently chipped in to support their local ambulance service, holding an auction to raise badly-needed funds. Local Amish have not really used the service, but realize the importance of supporting it. From valleyjournal.net: One might think that because the Amish don’t drive cars that they wanted to help the ambulance service to make sure they can get…
As mentioned last week, reader Ed has a batch of photos from the latest Bart Township Fire Company Mud Sale. This first one might surprise you. Ed gives a little background: This was one of the stands set up at the sale; they were selling answering machines, cordless and cell phones. I was approached by an older Amishman (probably around my age) who with a…
In January we learned the unusual story of Amish convert Matthew Secich and his premium meats and cheeses business, Charcuterie. A former chef working in some of the country’s top restaurants, Secich had found his way to becoming a member of the Amish community at Unity, Maine. This story which achieved a national reach got him a lot of attention. Now he has issues with…
A rare February tornado wreaked havoc Wednesday evening in Lancaster County, destroying an Amish schoolhouse and damaging around 50 area homes. The schoolhouse is expected to be rebuilt within a week. Thankfully, since the storm hit in the evening, no one was in the building. From wgal.com: It happened in Salisbury Township where 30 students spanning from first through eighth grade attend school. The storm…
In today’s video Amish Cook editor Kevin Williams gives us a peek into Mary’s Bakery in the Hardin County, Ohio Amish community (we recently saw another video from Kevin here of a toy and furniture business in this same community). As Kevin notes, it is a quite small bakery, but one chock full of nice things to eat – homemade cinnamon rolls, cookies such as…
An Amish family in Lagrange County, Indiana is hoping for answers after their horse was killed in a drive-by shooting incident last week. From WSBT.com: It was a regular morning for the Miller family as they were heading outside to do their chores– that is until one of the children noticed something unusual. “I was putting on my socks and all of a sudden I…
We’ve covered the Amish at Union Grove, North Carolina several times (recently in a post on my last visit in the fall of 2014). In today’s video, Ida, host of Sweets and Beyond, takes us inside the Shiloh General Store, one of several Amish businesses in that small settlement (read more on Shiloh General store including address and hours). Shiloh General Store is just what the name suggests–a…
We’ve “visited” Amish stores selling wooden toys before – recently the Tinker Toy Shop (Ohio), and also the Raber Family Toy Shop (New York). Crafting simple toys is a niche within woodworking, perhaps the most popular Amish industry. Today’s video shows an Amishman in Shipshewana, Indiana, demonstrating the art of woodturning as he creates that classic toy of yesteryear–a wooden top. It’s an eleven minute…
A few weeks ago, a fire broke out in a home in the Harmony Amish settlement, the largest in Minnesota. A bishop and his 18-year-old-son lost their lives. Since that time, both the local Amish community, as well as English neighbors (for anyone new, “English” is the term most, but not all, Amish use to refer to non-Amish people) have come together to help the remaining family,…
Rebecca Miller belongs to the large Old Order Amish community in Holmes County, Ohio. She’s previously shared a week’s diary in the life of an Amish girl, as well as two journals from trips to Niagara Falls and Mackinac Island. Amish people, especially younger folks, often contribute to disaster relief projects via Mennonite Disaster Service or other organizations. Many Amish and Mennonite volunteers have helped rebuild in the…