Amish Life

Amish Praised For Battling Devastating Fire

Amish Praised For Battling Devastating Fire

Last week, a “historic fire” left a “massive trail of damage” in the upstate New York village of Ovid (Seneca County). These photos from a variety of sources show the size of the blaze and extent of the damage. When I saw the name Ovid, I immediately recognized it as the location of a long-standing Amish settlement. Amish people have lived in this area of…

New Song From Amish Couple Ben & Rose: “The Little Mountain Church House”

New Song From Amish Couple Ben & Rose: “The Little Mountain Church House”

Right after I got caught up this week with a post on their cover of Dolly Parton’s “Circle of Love”, Amish country music couple Ben & Rose have released another video. The song is “Little Mountain Church House”, and we immediately see (or rather, hear) a couple of differences in this one. For one, Ben has the more prominent singing voice in this one, with…

Amish Country Music Couple Perform Dolly Parton’s “Circle Of Love” (Video)

Amish Country Music Couple Perform Dolly Parton’s “Circle Of Love” (Video)

Ben and Rose, the “Amish Country Music Couple”, put out another video a few weeks after their cover of country classic “Slowly But Surely”. This tune is called “Circle of Love”, and it is a Christmas song written by Dolly Parton. I missed it at the time of release a week before Christmas. But since I am sure at least a few of you still…

Sheriff Seeks Driver in (Another) Michigan Buggy Hit & Run

Sheriff Seeks Driver in (Another) Michigan Buggy Hit & Run

Yet another hit-and-run accident on an Amish buggy has occurred. This one was in Clare County, Michigan, an area which we cover here on the site fairly frequently. From ABC 12 News: CLARE COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) – Police are looking for a full-size Ford pickup truck involved in a hit-and-run crash with an Amish buggy in eastern Clare County on Monday. The Clare County Sheriff’s…

Titus Wagler: 1958 – 2024

Titus Wagler: 1958 – 2024

Randy Evans writes about the passing of Titus Wagler, of Bloomfield, Iowa. Titus was brother to Ira Wagler, and son to David Wagler, both well-known writers with Amish roots. From Randy’s recent column “Never put off what you might regret”: This lesson arrived the week before Christmas when I spotted a small obituary in the Bloomfield Democrat. Seven succinct paragraphs informed readers of the death…

Favorite Posts of 2024

Favorite Posts of 2024

We are about to turn the page on another year. How time flies. As we always do this time of year, a look back at some favorite posts from the past 365 days. Some of these posts were highly-viewed. Others generated good discussion and responses from you. They’re not all necessarily about happy topics (for example, the Rebekah Byler case, which is due to finally…

Amish Family Performs “Auld Lang Syne”

Amish Family Performs “Auld Lang Syne”

Here’s one for your New Year. Following the Amish Country Music Video post, some of you brought back to my attention videos by the Brandenberger family of northern Indiana. I had come across these some years ago but forgotten about them. I think at the time I wasn’t 100% sure if this was an Amish family – or more an “Amish-esque” one (eg, keeping Amish cultural…

A Snowy Visit To Amish In Michigan (12 Photos)

A Snowy Visit To Amish In Michigan (12 Photos)

Jim Halverson has checked in with another visit to Amish in Clare County, Michigan. This visit took place a few days before Christmas. There are two Amish communities in the county, one much larger than the other, and a third partially in the county. In addition to the snow-covered landscape you can see Jim also encountered some fresh snow on his visit. Like in this…

Goot Essa Cheese Winner & John’s 10 Favorite Pairings

Goot Essa Cheese Winner & John’s 10 Favorite Pairings

We’ve got a winner in the Goot Essa Cheese Assortment Giveaway. Before I share that, I just want to say a big thank you from both me and John, for all the wonderful comments that you left about the cheese, cheese cave post, and this site/email newsletter. We got about 200 comments on that post, and I tried to respond to as many as I…

11-Year-Old Amish Boy Killed While Chipmunk Hunting

11-Year-Old Amish Boy Killed While Chipmunk Hunting

A sad story out of northwest PA. An 11-year-old Amish boy was lethally shot on Saturday while hunting for chipmunks. From the Erie Times-News: MEADVILLE — Three young members of a Crawford County Amish community were hunting chipmunks over the weekend when a shot fired from a .22-caliber rifle struck an 11-year-old boy in the head, causing his death, according to the Pennsylvania State Police….