So far: Seeing the Christian Aid meatpacking operation in action. A mobile canning station in a converted tractor trailer travels across North America (13 states and 2 provinces, I was told) stopping in communities (often Plain) where volunteers contribute labor and supplies to prepare and can meat for humanitarian aid purposes. The program has heavy Amish involvement in places like Lancaster and Holmes Counties. Yesterday…
The horse and buggy is the obvious transportation icon of the Amish but the scooter must be the runner up. Though not all Amish use them they are the classic horseless vehicle among the Amish in Lancaster County (where bikes are not really seen) and a number of other communities. Scooters were big a few years back when a scootering craze seemed to hit English…
Amish-Owned Discount Grocery Stores Some photos of BB’s, a PA Amish bent-n-dent grocery. These photos are from the store’s Lebanon County location (Myerstown area; addresses at end of post). BB’s in fact has 4 locations across southeastern PA, including in Lancaster County, Berks County, and Cumberland County (see below for addresses). The reader who took these photos says it reminds him of an “Amish Costco”, and that…
If you’ve been following the Kentucky Amish SMV case, you know that some people still do. Jacob Gingerich of Graves County, Kentucky recently wrote 138 letters to KY legislators explaining the Swartzentruber Amish position on the safety triangle. Thanks in part to Gingerich’s efforts, a compromise bill acceptable to his people has quickly passed the KY Senate and is now moving through the House with…
We have a guest post today from Emma Miller. Though most people raised Amish end up joining an Amish church, a certain percentage for one reason or another do not. Here’s Emma writing about a new organization she’s started for former Amish: I grew up Amish in a small town in Missouri, the 6th child out of 12. I have many fond memories of summer…
Over the weekend, it was reported Dan Allgyer had been formally blocked from selling raw milk outside PA: Judge Lawrence Stengel issued a permanent injunction Feb. 2 barring Amish dairyman Daniel Allgyer from sending the unpasteurized beverage across state lines to Grassfed on The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-area buying club. “Permanent injunction” sounds like they mean business. Raw milk has been a raw issue, with…
Amish are known to be avid birders. As an outdoors activity you can do with family, I suppose that shouldn’t come as a surprise. This might be the wrong analogy, but I’ve always imagined it as hunting without the guns. I don’t have any statistics but it seems like it is particularly popular among Amish in Ohio. There is even an Amish Bird Symposium next…
Wrapping up a week in which it seems I can’t stop talking about Amish food (Amish bulk food stores, Amish canning, Amish maple syrup) I was happily surprised to find a new article on Indiana Amish food markets in the Chicago Tribune (see Indiana Amish food markets). When I hear “Amish markets” I tend to think of the PA Dutch farmers’ markets you see in…
Tom continues his New York Amish coverage with some photos of an Amish maple syrup operation in the Randolph, NY area (Conewango Valley Amish community). Says Tom: “I have been in the sugar shack when Eli’s kids and grands are watching and the women are making pancakes and drawing hot syrup out of the pan to pour on the pancakes. The hard work does…
The area of Hicksville, Ohio (Defiance County, is home to an Amish community of just one congregation in size. What makes it interesting is that it is also quite old, being founded in 1914 (making it the 3rd or 4th-oldest Ohio Amish community). Amish settlements come and go. There are over 400 Amish communities today. But there have probably been 150+ which were founded and…