Levi Shetler is a member of the conservative Swartzentruber Amish. This group is known for a very low-tech lifestyle. Even other Amish comment on the austerity of their lives and aversion to technology. Last month, Shetler’s buggy was hit by a vehicle in his northeastern Ohio community, resulting in the death of a passenger. As it turns out, this is the 54-year-old Amishman’s 14th buggy accident….
On my recent trip to the Amish community in Lancaster County, I had a chance to visit with Freida Stoltzfus, creator and editor of a new publication called Rainbows and Sunshine. Today I’ll share a bit about that visit, some words from Freida, and then you’ll have a chance to enter to win a year’s subscription (to enter, simply leave a comment on this post)….
A fun culinary event enjoyed by Amish youth at Belle Center, Ohio, is the “mystery supper”. Participants receive a menu of creatively-named items to riddle through, and have a time limit in which to make their picks for each of three courses. Guess poorly, and you can end up with, for example, only utensils and water for one of your courses. A few years ago, Belle Center…
Each year, a cycle of special auctions called mud sales kicks off in the late winter/early spring months in the Lancaster County area. Mud sales have been a tradition in the community for generations. From a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article on the sales: The mud sales were started about 50 years ago, in part to give local farmers a chance to obtain new or used equipment as…
Popular Mechanics recently published an in-depth look at the Amish buggy. The main source for this story was an unidentified Amish buggy maker in Lancaster County, PA. Amish buggies have all sorts of technology built into them, from the lighting, to the brakes, to the suspension system. As article author Matthew Jancer writes: You might have thought the technology inside this 1800s method of transportation stopped progressing…
Here’s a short video of an Amish person skiing while being pulled by a buggy along the roadside. This comes from the Lowville community in upstate New York, home to two Amish churches. Looks like some young guys out enjoying the snow. A Lowville resident shot the video last week (mute your sound if you don’t want the background music). This isn’t the first time…
I arrived Thursday evening in Lancaster County, will be staying with Amish friends here for the next several days. I was out and about yesterday and snapped a few photos to share. It was a brisk, beautiful morning. Below are a few of the things I saw. I meant to post this for you yesterday, but let’s just say the internet is limited around here…
I’ve been glad to have DutchCrafters as a long-time advertiser on this site. I thought it would be nice to hear a bit about how this furniture business got started, and how it works with Plain craftsmen today. Below, DutchCrafters CEO Jim Miller shares answers to five questions about his interactions with the Amish and how his business works. I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks to Milca…
You may remember the story of Amish convert Matthew Secich of the Unity, Maine Amish community. Secich was previously a well-known chef working in upscale restaurants, before becoming a member of the Unity community last autumn, where he lives with his wife Crystal. Now Secich runs Charcuterie, a store specializing in specialty meats and cheeses. He ran into challenges earlier this year when health regulations threatened…
The Lancaster County Amish traditionally have their weddings in the autumn, following the busy season of farm work. This tradition has generally held even as it has changed in other communities (Amish in Holmes County, for instance, hold weddings in other months, including May and June). But the Amish in Lancaster County do adapt to changing needs. Jennifer Kopf shares the idea behind a recent innovation…