Christmas Day in New Wilmington, PA
Courtesy of Rick!
Cornhole
Cornhole is a game popular among Amish in some communities. I played it once in Ohio at an Amish birthday cookout. I’d say it’s got elements of horseshoes and shuffleboard to it. If you’re not familiar with cornhole, it’s pretty simple. You’ve got two slightly elevated boards with a medium-sized hole towards one end of each board. You place them some distance apart and take…
Amish Ceiling Fan
We recently looked at how Amish use turbines to harness the wind and create power. Â But what about when they need to do the reverse–generate a little wind of their own, say to keep cool in the hot summer months (remember those)? You may have seen Amish-engineered ceiling fans before. Â They are common in Amish shops. Â You can see one in action here (no longer…
Meet Amishman Elias King, Chester County, PA’s “Farmer of the Year”
I had the pleasure to speak with Michaelle Bond of philly.com last week on an article on Amish farmer Elias King. King is in the news because he was chosen as Chester County, Pennsylvania’s “Farmer of the Year” (Chester County is a part of the Lancaster County Amish settlement). He is the first Amish farmer selected for the honor since the award came into being…
do they really live this way i met a person playing checkers on the pc that said they were Amish but i am shocked by some of the things they say they do …not like what i read here
Hi Rick,
Thanks for sharing XMAS in New Wilmington Amish Country. Was wondering if you may have some travel hints for this area? Happy New Year
Hi Rick,
Thanks for sharing XMAS in New Wilmington Amish Country. Was wondering if you may have some travel hints for this area? Happy New Year
Cleone:
I think what you may have is some people (liely youth) who have an Amish bloodline, taking the liberty to call themselves Amish. But you probably will not find very many Amish who are true to their faith on the PC playing checkers. MIke
I happened to have been to this community a couple of times, but the last time was probably in the Spring of 1983. At that time they were pretty much a farming community and were not really set up to deal with tourists; selling quilts, baked goods, shop made items etc were all pretty rare. Does anyone know if this is still the case?
As OldKat said, the New Wilmington Amish community is primarily a farming community and there’s plenty of produce and baked goods to be had in season. If you’re willing to explore a bit you will find signs by the roadside and on the backroads offering quilts, woven rugs, bentwood rockers, woodcraft items, etc. Respect for privacy and good manners would suggest not approaching the homes of those offering these various items unless you are seriously considering buying something.
The town of Volant has shops to browse and the Grove City Prime Outlets are about 10 miles away. There are also plenty of outdoor opportunities in nearby state parks.
Hope this helps some.
Happy New Year!
A little tidbit from New wilmington.
Here’s a link to an article I saw in my local paper a few days ago. I don’t mean to bring light to this mishap in any demeaning way. The article below involving a horse and buggy and alcohol just shows teenagers will be teenagers no matter the culture. Luckily everyone escaped serious harm except the horse.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09002/939170-100.stm
I was glad to see the writer didn’t use “Amish” once in the article but simply reported a 19 year old was involved in an accident.
Hi Erik. Don’t know how pervasive drinking is among the Amish youth in New Wilmington but it is a college town. I wouldn’t call Westminster a “party” school but I know a graduate who told me some Amish teens/young adults would come to town, change their clothes, party with them, then change back and head home at the end of the night.
I like the New Wilmington area. A very nice community of friendly and hardworking people.
Bill, interesting to see they omitted ‘Amish’. I guess horse-and-buggy basically covers that anyway. Some communities struggle more than others with teenage drinking, and NW may be included in that group.
Morinne (& Bill):
Sorry for not getting back to you on the NW question, Morinne. I’m pretty new to Amish America and wasn’t thinking that people may have comments/questions to my pix. Bill’s answer covers it well. Certainly not the commercial interaction like Lancaster, but plenty of produce and furniture type items for sale, and at much cheaper prices for furniture than Lancaster. There are 2 auction events (quilts, furniture, etc) each year I believe. There are small bunches of Amish in several areas surrounding NW. Geographically, NW is ridiculously hilly, and it simply amazes me that they can get around in winter; I pity the driving horses all year!
I didn’t learn of the accident Bill mentioned until after I left NW. There was another just after Xmas – man, wife, 6 kids hit from behind – no injuries except maybe the horse.
Bill, you must be in the area?
Rick,
I live about an hour away in the Pittsburgh area. I make the drive up to the NW area (friends nearby) at least a few times a year.
Bill:
Thx. I am originally from Grove City, probably the exit you get off the interstate at, but now live in VA. My sister just moved to NW last year.
I went to an auction 2 years ago that was mostly amish folk there in New wilmington. I think they said it is held the 1st Saturday in June. They had lots of wringer washers, buggies, tools, homemade donuts, and quilts. Non amish people were welcome but not to many were there. I would like to go this year. Does anyone know if it is this Saturday? Also, what road it is held on, or the direction from the center of town.