It’s Friday, and I think we’re due for another roundup post. Here we go: The Plain Side Loren Beachy writes a column for The Goshen News called “The Plain Side”. Loren is a school teacher and auctioneer living in the Elkhart-Lagrange Amish community. I’ve been reading some of Loren’s archives lately, including one on preserving the PA Dutch dialect and a funny tale about his…
My friend Katie Troyer was featured in a pair of bonus videos for the recent PBS film The Amish: Shunned. You may already know Katie from her excellent photos and blog focusing on life in the Pinecraft community in Florida. On the PBS website, The Amish: Shunned creator Callie Wiser comments on the people whom she met “whose stories I did not get to tell”. Callie…
A reader shares some photos taken over the weekend in the Shipshewana area. As you can see in these photos, there’s a good bit of snow on the ground. Apparently it is piling up. Another friend in Indiana suggests that could mean serious spring flood danger, at least in his neck of the woods. Update: Here’s a bonus photo that was taken northeast of Shipshewana…
Ervin R. Stutzman is the author of a just-released work of historical fiction called Jacob’s Choice, the first in a three-novel series called Return to Northkill. The book is based on the story of 18th-century Amish pioneer Jacob Hochstetler, whose example of non-resistance in the face of violence has inspired generations of his descendants. From the press release: Based on actual events, Jacob’s Choice, Book…
The copyright for an Amish-created quilt design has been acquired by a Lancaster County retailer called Almost Amish, and they are enforcing it. From the Lancaster Online article: From now on, Light in the Valley, a quilt pattern that creates an optical illusion that lends it a three-dimensional effect, can no longer be quilted. That particular pattern has been copyrighted, and Almost Amish, the company…
Our contributor Ed shares some photos from last week in Lancaster County (note: these photos date to 2013), where local versions of the Winter Olympics are happening all around the community. Ice hockey is a popular winter activity among Lancaster County Amish. These first two shots were taken by the Strasburg Railroad Yards: Amish children, teens, and sometimes adults play ice hockey. Natural frozen surfaces…
Delaware’s lone Amish community is experiencing a whooping cough outbreak, at least the third significant occurrence in the community in the last 30 years. This Delaware Online article reports that eighty percent of the four dozen cases are in children under the age of eleven. The outbreak has so far been restricted to the Amish community, located west of state capital Dover. Whooping cough is…
A few weeks back one of our contributors shared a photo of his buggy-shaped bird feeder, which got comments from a number of you. That feeder was made by Green Meadow Houses and Feeders, an Amish-owned business located near Shipshewana in northern Indiana. We have some photos of the Green Meadow shop and products today, as well as some comments from the business owner, John…
If you’ve ever wondered how Amish circle letters work, Amish Heartland has a nice piece featuring input from an Amish man who writes them. And if you’re just wondering what a circle letter is, it is a low-tech way by which Amish people with common connections keep in touch. In a nutshell, each person in a circle letter group writes a letter, which is added…
Callie Wiser wrote, directed, and produced PBS’ new film The Amish: Shunned, which airs for the first time tonight. Callie has produced other programs for the American Experience series, including two episodes of God in America and 2012’s The Amish. For today’s post, I asked Callie five questions about The Amish: Shunned. I think she gives some very interesting insight into the filmmaking process and on the…