David Marvitz, who took the ice harvest photos we saw here last month, recently shared how he got permission to photograph Amish in Hazleton, Iowa. More on that below. I was also in touch with David after that post went up. He passed along another nice set of photos, this time of a young Amish fellow training a Belgian breed horse. First, on how he…
We learned the sad news of Lovina Eicher’s daughter Susan’s husband being killed in a car accident in December, along with his driver. Mose Bontrager was only 30 and married just three years. In this week’s Amish Kitchen column, Lovina turns it over to Susan to share an update three months after her loss. Here’s an excerpt from her heartfelt column, which you can read…
These near-perfect photos by David Marvitz almost look like something staged or taken from a film. Actually, the scenes remind me of some of Bill Coleman’s masterpiece photos taken in the Big Valley of central PA, which have a similar quality. But these are real Amish at work – cutting and collecting ice in the Hazleton, Iowa community. The ice will be used for cooling…
We’re not told where this singing video takes place, but the dress is Midwestern Amish. We see numerous Amish young people sitting around the table at what looks to be a youth gathering. This is a relatively new video, posted this past November. You can see a wringer washer – are we in a basement, or some kind of utility room? I see some board…
Here’s a remarkable feel-good story about a team of audiologists helping Amish children with hearing and ear issues. In one plain Amish community in southern Michigan, medical professionals saw an uptick of children losing their hearing (untreated or repeated ear infections can cause hearing loss). From the Michigan Health blog: In 2019, Winters and her colleagues noticed that a large group of parents within an…
This is not your typical Amish singing video. What we see here is something called the Sail & Sing Christian Cruise. It’s a tour company based out of New Holland, PA. So what are Amish doing on a cruise ship, you might be wondering? For those who wish to visit Europe (or anywhere overseas), ship travel is the only option sanctioned by many Amish churches…
From the Spooner, Wisconsin Advocate: Five children were injured when an allegedly drunk driver crashed into their horse and buggy on Monday afternoon, Dec. 7. The accident occurred on Cty. Hwy. M near Church Road, west of Birchwood. The horse and buggy was northbound on Hwy. M and was rear ended by a pick-up truck. All five children were injured, and two of them were…
Putting a bow on the topic of the Amish and the 2020 election, Lancaster Online asks “Was 2020 a breakout year for Amish voters? Here’s what the numbers show“. While exact numbers on Amish voters are not available, they analyzed the township data and found that it suggested that “the multi-year effort to register these communities was successful”: President Trump easily won Lancaster County in…
WKYC’s 88 Counties in 88 Days series stopped in Geauga County following an earlier visit to Holmes County. They spoke with Chester Kurtz, an Amishman associated with the Geauga Amish Historical Library, on how his community is handling the pandemic. I find Kurtz an exceptional spokesman for his people, which you can judge in the video below. Chester Kurtz. Images: WKYC This video was actually posted…
How have Amish women’s lives changed in the last 50 years? Fran Handrick recently completed a PhD entitled “Amish women: work and change – an investigation into the lives of Amish women in Pennsylvania and Ohio” at the University of Birmingham. Fran is here to share some things she learned with us today – specifically nine areas where she discovered Amish women’s lives have changed,…