Amish and Mennonites are known for putting on a series of Haiti benefit auctions throughout the year in various locations. These auctions are meant to support mission work in the impoverished country. Today Tom serves up photos from a Mennonite-run Haiti auction held this past Friday-Saturday in Penn Yann, NY. This is in Yates County in the “Finger Lakes” region of west-central New York. The…
Can you be Amish, and also a gay person? A reader writes: I am sure there must be some Amish kids that are gay. I wonder how their parents and church handle this, as well as how the gay kids deal with it. Any idea where I might find this info? The short answer is that Amish view homosexual behavior as a sin. And like…
The news came yesterday that Monroe Beachy, Ohio Amishman and investment fund manager, received a 6-and-a-half year sentence for fraud. Investors in Beachy’s popular fund lost around $17 million, around half of its total value. U.S. Attorney Steven Dettelbach described it as “fraud on a massive scale.” Beachy, 78, requested to serve his sentence at home, but this was rejected, and he will be going…
A recent news item looks at a new Colorado Amish furniture and variety store which has opened in Fremont County (central CO). Partners Joe Nissley and Paul Schmucker of the P & J Hitching Post have sourced all their goods to Amish producers, with furniture, quilts, and “denim-works” coming from both local and Midwestern sources. They’re also doing food, with bread, cookies and baked goods, plus…
Do you remember the controversy over busing Amish students in New York back in January? By a 6-0 vote, the Marathon school board has elected to offer the Amish “special busing”, which will apparently do enough to alleviate Amish concerns. To recap the Amish side: The Old Order Amish community in the hill towns around Marathon had sought separate busing for their children on a schedule…
Last week Anne shared her experience as a parent of a son who joined the Amish. Anne shared some of the wonderful things, as well as the difficulties of her son Ed becoming a member and marrying in an Amish church. Today we hear about another challenge her family has faced. This is an issue any family of an Amish convert would encounter…but as you’ll…
Attention green-thumbers–here are some photos from an Amish greenhouse near Summerhill, New York (Cayuga County): “It is getting so the Amish are all over the place,” observes Tom. On this trip he traveled through Amish communities including “Romulus, Marathon, Summerhill, the Swiss in Clyde and finally North Rose”–just a few of the 40+ Amish settlements in New York. About these photos: “The folks that run…
The Hutterites of Montana’s King Colony The National Geographic Channel is on a roll with programs about Anabaptist groups. The popular Amish: Out of Order program is entering its final weeks, while last week a new series called American Colony: Meet the Hutterites premiered on the network. This series examines the lesser-known communal group found in Canada and the United States. The Hutterites are a…
Welcome to the not-so-scenic side of Amish country. The Amish of Hardin County, Ohio (aka Kenton Amish) are in the news for violating waste disposal rules. Local officials warned Amish some months back that new outhouses will need a sealed concrete tank, and that they’ll need to pay for a waste removal service. A local news outlet caught up with bishop Elmer Bontrager on…
One of our readers, Anne, has a son, Ed*, who was fairly recently baptized in the Amish church. I’ve been corresponding with Anne for some time on the subject, and hope to share more with you in future. Anne and her husband have had an experience unlike most, in watching a college-educated son with a modern upbringing join one of the more closed religious societies…