You may remember hearing a while back from Anne, whose son Ed joined the Amish. Â Anne has just returned from a visit to see Ed and her new grandson in Minnesota. Â She also spent some time recently in Pennsylvania. Â I think you’ll enjoy this update in which she sheds light on how others, both Amish and non-Amish, have responded to her son’s decision. Two recent…
I’ll admit it’s a little odd to see an Amishman plant a kiss on his neighbor. But it’s a common-enough sight, one you’ll see before Amish church service. What is the Holy Kiss? The holy kiss is a practice with Scriptural basis (more on that below). As with other Amish practices, the way it is done varies. In some groups just the ministers exchange the…
This is another installment in the 10 views series, featuring photos from my recent visit to the Holmes County, Ohio Amish community. Â I’ve included a few comments and links to relevant posts that you might enjoy. Sugarcreek is technically in Tuscarawas County. Â It’s often the first little town visitors to the area pass through. Â Many of the buildings in Sugarcreek’s “Swiss Village” downtown area…
From the editor’s notes of a recent issue (August 2012) of The Diary: The Diary has something this month that it has not had for nineteen years! Under BIRTHS this month, you will see that the very first entry is quadruplets! These four girls were born to Amos Masts of Granton, WI. Â Congratulations. Â And good luck. Nineteen years ago, Amos Eshs of Lancaster County also…
Over the past weekend a driver apparently purposely drove his car into a horse pulling a buggy full of Nappanee, Indiana -area Amish teenagers. Francisco Gonzalez was captured on a Wal-Mart parking lot camera turning around and returning to the road to run into the buggy horse, which was killed instantly. Â The boys were shaken but unhurt; what the driver left behind was described as…
Country Style Deli @ The Markets at Shrewsbury 12025 Susquehanna Trail Glen Rock, PA 17327 (717) 235-6611 How about a few photos today from Country Style Deli at the Markets at Shrewsbury (York County, PA). This deli is run by the Riehl family, friends of mine from Lancaster County. Amish markets are typically open for business 3 days per week (Thurs-Sat), though some stand owners…
You have probably heard by now that the Bergholz beard-cutters were convicted in the federal hate crimes trial last week. They will have to wait four months for sentencing, however, until January 24 (appeal remains a possibility as well). Now attention has shifted to whether some of the convicts should remain free or be imprisoned leading up to sentencing. According to the lead of this…
Mary Ann Kinsinger grew up Amish in Somerset County, Pennsylvania.  Mary Ann has teamed with Suzanne Woods Fisher on a series of children’s books, the first of which is called Life with Lily. The four-book series is based in part on her Amish childhood. I’m not the target market for this series, but it looks like a wholesome and fun read if you have children….
News came earlier this week that the long-running dispute between Amish and authorities in Morristown, New York, has come to an end.  You might remember a post last spring on the Amish smoke alarm issue; if you viewed the PBS documentary The Amish you would have seen this case discussed. To review, Amish had refused to follow local building codes (updated by the town in 2006), arguing…
This one has been fun to ponder.  The above is not something you’re supposed to see in Swiss Amish communities like those of Adams County or Allen County, Indiana.  The Swiss Amish churches are known for a number of characteristic practices, including using only open carriages.  This photo was taken in the Adams County settlement not too far from Berne.  So what is going on? A…