I do believe this is the largest snowman I’ve ever seen. Amish children in Geauga County put together a towering snowman – about 5 or 6 times taller than the tallest child – over the course of several days. Via FOX8: Resident Hannah Willis said the kids used ladders, shovels, buckets and plywood to create the flat surfaces. Their creation stands more than 30 feet…
Have you ever noticed how the Amish call non-Amish people “English”? Don’t worry, they’re not mistaking you for someone from Great Britain. There’s another explanation. There are also at least a couple more terms that the Amish use for “us” (eg, non-Amish). Let’s look at three of those here. 1. “English” The practice of Amish calling non-Amish people “English” dates back to the colonial era,…
I always enjoy Lovina’s column but this was nice to see – her daughter Susan took over writing duties last week. If you recall, Susan lost her husband Mose over a year ago, leaving behind two small children. In this column, Susan writes about her niece’s school Christmas program and dealing with her loss, among other things: Last night was Abigail’s Christmas program at the…
In this video I take a look at some Amish women’s hair customs, including the difference between a bonnet and a kapp, differences in prayer covering styles, and whether Amish women cut their hair. Runtime: 4:36.
Elam Stoltzfus shares Part 1 of a four-part series on Amish Parochial schools in Pennsylvania. Elam grew up Amish, and we’ve previously seen his work here in his 4-part “Rediscovering the Ausbund” series on the Amish hymn book. This will be published in full at the Plain Values magazine Substack (linked below). In this part, Elam shares his first day of school as an Amish…
How would you like to manage the shopping, food prep, and cleanup to feed 1,000+ people? Lovina Eicher is facing this task as she prepares for the upcoming wedding of her daugher Loretta, as she writes in her latest column. She will, of course, have some help: Yesterday my three head cooks came, and we went through the recipes to see what all we need….
I don’t know if it was just coincidence, but two stories on the Amish and e-bikes came out last week on the same day – one on Amish in Ohio, and the other on Iowa (that can’t be coincidence, I’m thinking). If you’re not familiar, e-bikes are bicycles fitted with an electric motor which provide additional power when riding to provide an easier ride and…
A non-Amish farmer in Morrow County, Ohio lost his barn in a fire in July. Soon after, a local Amish friend offered help (via Morrow County Sentinel): One of the first to come after the fire was their Amish friend, David Raber. The Robinsons have sold hay to the Amish and transported them many times for their logging and other needs. They have known Amish in…
Lovina Eicher shares some happy news in her latest Lovina’s Amish Kitchen column: After church services the bishop announced the wedding dates of two girls in our church. Mary and Danny chose September 24 for their wedding date, and daughter Loretta and Dustin chose October 1st for their wedding. Congratulations to both couples! “Announcing” a wedding date, is, as it suggests, the practice of formally…
Here’s one I hadn’t seen before: an Amish farmer in Lancaster County is selling his baseball card collection via online auction. Amish play baseball and softball, and there is certainly interest in the sport in some quarters. Amish have hobbies and pastimes of course, but we tend to hear about ones like hunting. So I’d never heard of adult Amish with baseball card collections. But,…