Four Amishmen have asked the highest court in the land to consider their case, in a long-running dispute over “gray water” disposal. Attorney Brian Lipford filed the petition on behalf of Amish members of a Minnesota Swartzentruber community. Via the Rochester Post-Bulletin: In a petition filed on Jan. 20, 2021, by attorney Brian Lipford, Ammon Swartzentruber, Menno Mast, Amos Mast and Sam Miller ask the…
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…
Sometimes a photo is worth a thousand words – and this photo shows better than any words the damage a car can do to a buggy. Photo by Ashland County Pictures You’re not really seeing much of a buggy here, just two wheels, axle and some of the undercarriage. The buggy, in other words, was annihilated by the impact. The crash occurred Saturday in Ashland…
Next Friday, March 19th, will be a big day for the Alvin and Wilma Borntrager family of Vestaburg, Michigan. That’s when their 80-acre farm – house, equipment, 105 cows – goes up for auction. Jim Halverson alerted me to this sale listing, which opens with a simple description: “Haveing [sic] decided to move Alvin and his family will be selling the Real Estate, Farm Equipment…
I mentioned this idea of Amish “supercounties” in a recent post. This is the term I came up with to describe counties containing a large number of individual Amish communities. For one reason or another, these are counties which have just drawn Amish to settle in them, repeatedly. An alternate term might be “Amish-friendly counties”. There is something about these counties that makes them attractive…
That’s one of the interesting things I learned from a recent article in Banking Dive on how banks work with Amish customers. The Bank of Bird-in-Hand has tried to make banking more convenient for its horse-and-buggy customers with an investment in four mobile banks: “Anytime you have to hitch the horse up and get in the buggy and drive it, it’s a production,” said Lori…
Sadly, I feel like I’m reading/writing the same story every week. Another Amish teen has died in a car-buggy accident, the third in the past several weeks: A 14-year-old Amish boy died three days after suffering serious injuries when he was thrown from the horse-and-buggy he was riding in along U.S. 11 in Shippensburg on March 3. Pennsylvania State Police spokeswoman Trooper Megan Ammerman confirmed…
Since yesterday, several people have reached out to let me know about this new video (including one Amish friend). This is by YouTube filmmaker Peter Santenello (new to me), who makes videos about different cultures in the US and around the world. In this two-part series, Peter walks around Pinecraft speaking with Amish people, as someone knowing relatively little about the Amish. He is given…
I notice that people are wondering lately if the Amish are going to vaccinate for COVID-19. A recent study showed that 75% of Amish in one large community would reject the COVID vaccine. So you see why it is a concern for the people paid to worry about these things. Image: David Arment Here’s one report from CBS21 on how that is playing out in…
Justo Smoker’s preliminary hearing was held Friday, to determine if the homicide case against him would go to trial. After an hour-and-twenty minute hearing, District Judge Denise Commins ruled that prosecutors had met the burden to proceed. They needed to provide sufficient evidence that a crime was committed in the case of Linda Stoltzfoos’ disappearance last summer, and that the defendant is likely responsible. These…