We’ve got two winners of Marlene Miller’s Grace Leads Me Home today. First, a note from Cathy: Hi, I’m Cathy, Marlene’s friend who helped her write her book,Grace Leads Me Home. I just got off the phone with Marlene and she is just thrilled with all the comments from everyone on this site. It’s wonderful to her that out of her conviction that God…
Michigan Mary attended the Horse Progress Days event this past weekend, held at Clare, Michigan (home to a small Amish community). Horse Progress Days bills itself as “the showcase event for newly manufactured and modified horse drawn equipment”. This annual event started in 1994 in Lancaster County and rotates among locations including Leola, Pennsylvania, Arthur, Illinois, Mt. Hope, Ohio, Clare, Michigan, southern and northern Indiana, and…
I rarely get ill, but when I do, it’s more often than not in the summertime. I put this down to the constant temperature swings of modern life–going from a scorching 100+ degrees outside to the frigid air conditioned interiors of the car, work, home or store. I try to be proactive about this. If I’m going to, say, the supermarket to do some shopping,…
Not all Amish vaccinate their children, with concerns over safety, money and thwarting God’s will. Amish apparently also vaccinate their horses at a lower rate. Human vaccination has been a hot issue for many years. We don’t really think as much about animal vaccinations. However animal-borne diseases are a potential danger, and not just to a farmer’s bottom line. Officials in New York are trying…
Marlene Miller is a convert to the Amish and author of Grace Leads Me Home, a memoir of becoming Amish and her life in the 45 years since. I read Marlene’s book a couple of months ago and quite enjoyed it. Here is how I described my overall impression: I liked the book. We’ve seen a few accounts of individuals leaving the Amish lately (see Ira…
Three weeks ago Amish outhouse troubles made local news in Ohio. The story seems to be repeating itself in Kansas, but this one is being picked up by national media. Bourbon County officials have asked Amish near Fort Scott to comply with outhouse regulations. These include installing a $1,000 holding tank, and paying to have them pumped out every 1-2 years. The Fort Scott settlement…
There has been some discussion over whether an Amish community exists at Verdigre in Nebraska. Here’s what I wrote a year ago in the Nebraska Amish state guide: The Verdigre area (Knox County) was home to another Amish settlement founded by Amish from Michigan in 2003. The pioneer couple, Eddie and Mattie Petersheim, were profiled in a newspaper article shortly after arriving in Nebraska. The Petersheims sought…
M.L. Shetler, Watchmaker 7676 Route 62 South Dayton, NY 14138 Among the many Amish cabinet makers, quilters, and contractors, you occasionally come across specialist businesses which fulfill a niche need or focus on some throwback trade which relatively few in society handle. Taxidermists or shoe repair shops come to mind as examples. Today we have a look at an Amish clock and watch restoration shop,…
Unfortunately harassing the Amish happens often enough that it even goes by a few colorful terms such as “Amo-bashing”. It can range from petty vandalism to verbal abuse to even assault. A pair of recent incidents go a step further into felony criminal territory. Two Amish couples in Geauga County, Ohio were held up a week ago in separate incidents on the same road. The…
Brenda shares some photos from Carroll County, Tennessee, taken on a recent laundry day. We’ve had a lot of posts on the Ethridge, TN Amish, but not much from the other communities in the Volunteer State. There are only a few other Amish in Tennessee, and they are quite small settlements, so nice to hear from a lesser-known corner of Amish America. On to the…