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,…
Amish Cook Gloria Yoder‘s editor Kevin Williams has filled in on her column this week for an unfortunate reason: Gloria was involved in a serious accident on the road. But this wasn’t a buggy accident, as you might be thinking. Kevin describes what happened: I wanted to reach out to readers this week in place of Gloria. Gloria and two of her children were involved…
I like this video (see bottom of post) not so much for the song itself, but for the feel of sitting around in an Amish home in the evening. You’ve got the soft glow of the propane light, the water pitcher at the ready, the utilitarian folding chairs. Dinner’s been eaten, and everyone’s circled around in the kitchen. The video description is “Understand by and…
The word “Amish” is getting attached to the events in Lancaster city following an incident in which a man was shot and killed by police. Specifically, some media sources have been framing this as something like “trouble in Amish Country” – but that is a mis-framing. Lancaster city is in the middle of Lancaster County, but it’s hardly “Amish Country”. There are a good number…
I promised I would follow up if I got more information on the Go Fund Me for Millie, described as a 27-year-old woman who left her Amish community, in what looks to be Delaware. A number of you were skeptical that this was real, which I can understand. While I reached out via two different channels to the fundraiser organizer for more information, I have…
My friend, country and folk musician John Schmid, is a favorite among the Amish. John’s story, at least in part, can be found here. John is the founder of Common Ground Ministries, and has been long active in prison ministry and other mission outreach via his music. If you’ve ever wondered if Amish like music beyond strictly religious songs, some – even many – do….
A while back a reader asked if Amish obituaries are made public. I responded with a post on the topic. I see them appear in news feeds nearly daily. They are published in newspapers and find their way online. With that in mind this recent obituary caught my eye for two reasons. One is that it is from the Somerset County, Pennsylvania community. I typically…
Over 200 calves died following an explosion and fire which ravaged an Amish farmer’s barn yesterday. From WNDU: ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) – An Amish calf barn caught on fire this afternoon, killing the majority of the family’s calves. The call came in around 4:30 p.m. Crews responded to the 59000 block of State Road 13 in Middlebury. Neighboring fire departments assisted. Crews said they…
Amish Cook columnist Gloria Yoder just had a baby boy and is off for a couple of weeks. In the meantime, editor Kevin Williams chose a nice old column of Gloria’s to run while she’s on break – on how she and her husband Daniel began dating. First, Gloria describes the dating norms in her Illinois New Order Amish community: I’ll first give you a…