I just spent a week in Lancaster County, and enjoyed some wonderful spring weather. It’s been a little while since I visited at this time of year. With the flowering trees at peak-level, or near it, it’s truly beautiful right now. I wanted to share a grab bag of photos from my visit with you today. First off, mamma and foal. I came a little…
An Ohio Amish teenager was robbed at gunpoint yesterday evening, and deputies are now seeking the suspect. This happened in Jackson County in the area of Beaver. From the Scioto Post: Jackson County Sheriff’s Deputies are actively investigating an armed robbery incident that occurred on Thursday evening, involving an Amish teenager traveling on Cove Road. Dispatchers received a report just after 5:30 p.m. indicating that…
In the past week, court documents were unsealed that revealed new details in the Rebekah Byler murder case. Much of it concerns the behavior of the man charged with the crimes, Shawn C. Cranston, as well as relevant evidence (and what he may have done with it). There are also new details on Cranston’s prior contact with the Amish – both with other members of…
This may have been my favorite video to put together. In it, I show Ben several Amish-themed memes and get his reaction. And by reaction, I mean not only whether he finds them funny. But we also hear from Ben how plausible or true-to-life each one is. I’m not going to put a lot of screen shots in this post so as not to spoil…
Last month we heard from Marlene Lehman, who belongs to an Amish church in Shipshewana, Indiana. In that post, she shared what her typical day looks like in a video excerpt from our longer conversation. Here in Part 2 with Marlene, we start by discussing the importance of the Amish tourist industry in her area. Then she shares a fun anecdote about tourists (Marlene used…
Of the ten people involved in the Amish van accident last week, only one survived – an approximately two-year-old Amish boy named Micah Schrock. Not long after, an account emerged of how the boy made it through the catastrophic wreck in west-central Wisconsin. A former Marine named Nathaniel Jahn was fortunately on the scene right as the accident happened. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: The…
Some very sad news following a road accident in Wisconsin Friday. A vanload of Amish people was struck by a semi in Clark County (west-central Wisconsin) while on a trip to visit family. From the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: As many as 7 of the 9 people killed in the second-deadliest crash in state history Friday are members of an Amish community from Burke’s Garden in…
What is a typical “Amish” first name? Well the answer to that question, at least in some communities, seems to change – a lot – over time. Jim Halverson shares an interesting feature in Die Blatt, an Amish publication out of the large northern Indiana settlement. They’ve compiled and published the first names Amish parents gave their babies in 1983, 2003, and 2023. Looking at…
News is just coming out that police have made an arrest in the Rebekah Byler murder case. This comes five days after Rebekah’s body was discovered at home by her husband. From Yourerie.com: Spartansburg, Pa. (WJET/WFXP) — State police have announced the arrest of 52-year-old Shawn Cranston of Corry, PA in the killing of 23-year-old Rebekah Byler. Cranston is being charged with Criminal Homicide,…
After a heavy news week, I just wanted to leave you with a story which – while I’m not quite sure you can call it “good” news – it’s at the least a count-your-blessings type of story. There’s not a ton to this, but it’s been reported that an Amish family was able to escape a house fire in a community in upstate New York….