A Roundup of News on the Amish & COVID-19 Some news from different states on how the coronavirus situation is affecting the Amish. Ohio Earlier in the week we learned how church was continuing while school had been called off by the Amish in Lancaster County. There had been speculation that church would be halted in Holmes County, Ohio. An Amish friend in that community…
I have mixed feelings about drones. I’m generally not a fan of these flying cameras, but admit that they can capture some amazing footage. One example would be this two-minute video flying over Amish farms in Lancaster County. Someone recently did a drone video in Amish Ohio and shared it to YouTube. The machine does capture some beautiful aerial images. About 100 seconds in, you’ll…
Monroe Yoder is an Amish bishop in the Shipshewana area of northern Indiana. In 2018, he invited a tour group into his home and spent time answering their questions, along with his wife Susie. This was written up on a blog called Midwest Wanderer by someone who attended the occasion. The post was just brought to my attention by a relative of Monroe. I pulled…
SI Live has published photos of Amish visitors to Staten Island, NYC in a nice slice-of-life look at Amish tourism. Of course “Amish tourism” usually means non-Amish people visiting places like Lancaster County. But as these images show, tourism goes the other way too. It seems that reporter Jan Somma-Hammel was at a Staten Island beach when a vanload of Amish happened to pull up….
I’ll be visiting Amish communities again over the next couple of weeks. Two of these are places I visited in the autumn, one is a community I last visited ten years ago (Ethridge), and two will be completely new for me. Jan. 30: Ethridge, TN Jan 31: Pontotoc County, MS Feb 1: Ellenboro, NC Feb 5-7: Holmes County, OH Feb 8: Pearisburg, VA This is…
If you’ve ever wondered why some Amish ride scooters, but not bikes, you’re not alone. It’s a common question. Until now, I’d never really come across a definitive answer – though had hit upon a theory or two over the years. Just why do some Amish communities permit bicycles – but in others, only scooters are used? Well, I have good news. In an…
Millie Otto is an Amish woman living in the Arthur, Illinois settlement. I’ve mentioned her here before, including in the “3 Amish Columnists You Might Enjoy” post. From time to time I read her column, which is carried in several news outlets, including the Champaign, IL News-Gazette. She is one of several Amish columnists printed in non-Amish newspapers (others include Lovina Eicher and Gloria Yoder)….
I’m back now from my multi-week Amish journey, spanning five states. This trip took in everything from palm trees and short sleeves in Florida to a layer of snow on the ground yesterday morning in Pennsylvania. After logging around 3000 road miles, I am ready to kick my feet up for a bit! I planned to visit just 5, but ended up visiting 7 communities:…
Yesterday in Holmes County, my friend Myron shared the following poem with Rich Stevick and me. Later in the day we shared it with a few more Amish friends, who seemed to like it. I hope you do too. Happy Thanksgiving. I Am Thankful – Poem Of Thanksgiving I am thankful: For the wife Who says it’s hot dogs tonight Because she is home with…
In a post last month, I wondered if recently-legalized industrial hemp would become a new Amish cash crop – perhaps replacing controversial tobacco, most often seen grown by farmers in the Lancaster County Amish community. Another article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has shed more light on Amish involvement in hemp cultivation, now essentially in its first year being legally raised like any other crop. Industrial…