The Clinic for Special Children runs a number of auctions throughout the warmer months, to support its efforts in researching and fighting rare genetic illnesses. The Lancaster County-based clinic serves the local Amish and Mennonite population, as well as individuals from beyond the community. The annual series of auctions are a primary source of funding for the clinic, which is now in its fourth decade….
In this week’s Amish Cook column, Gloria Yoder’s mother Dorcas Raber fills in, as she does from time to time. She shares an account of a recent wedding in her community – that of her niece Rhoda. She shares what kinds of foods they serve, what goes into wedding prep, and so on. An excerpt: Every one of their family pitched in to get ready…
Brad Igou is the compiler of a new book, Amish Voices Volume 2: In Their Own Words, 1993-2020. This follows up the original Amish Voices. Both volumes are based on collected writings of Amish people in the publication Family Life. While Amish Voices covers the first 25 years of that monthly, Amish Voices 2 picks up where that left off. If you’d like to know…
Earlier this week we launched a new site design. This is the first update in many years, and probably long overdue. To be frank, I usually never love when sites that I’m used to go and change their design. But in this case, I think the changes should make the site more user-friendly – and I hope more pleasant for you, the readers. The previous…
We recently heard a rendition of the song “On the Winning Side” by a New Order Amish youth group. Here’s another nice Amish singing video by P. Thomas, from that same gathering. It turns out he actually recorded a number of songs from this particular singing (which you can find on his channel). I chose this group’s rendition of “‘Tis Marvelous and Wonderful” to share…
I want to share a set of photos with you today taken by Don Burke in an Amish schoolhouse in Missouri. This great set of shots shows a lot of detail inside a school in a fairly progressive Amish community. Even though I describe the community as “fairly progressive”, much of what you’ll see here has a quite old-fashioned look about it. Amish schools tend…
From time to time I draw attention to the more eyebrow-raising comments we get here on the site, or on the YouTube channel. They might contain very strong and certain claims about the Amish, or shine a light on popular misconceptions. For example, there was “Utterly NOT an Amish Home!“, or “Why are the Amish using plastic packaging? I am so disappointed.” Today’s entry is…
I landed on the adjective “fancy” to describe this home, and I think you’ll see why once we look inside. It’s not the fanciest of all Amish homes we’ve looked at here (that would be this one). But there are a lot of things here which give the home a sumptuous feel (at least by Amish norms). This one is in the Munfordville, Kentucky settlement,…
The Journal of Plain Anabaptist Communities will soon publish its sixth issue. From time to time, we’ll be sharing interesting findings from articles published in JPAC here at Amish America. This is the first featured post, written by one of its co-editors, Joe Donnermeyer, who was recently a Snowden Fellow at the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pieties Studies at Elizabethtown College. ~Erik When No…
In a recent opinion column in the Columbus Dispatch, Cory Anderson takes a critical eye to Ohio House Bill 30, which last June became law requiring flashing lights on animal-drawn vehicles in the state. In it, he raises some interesting points – including on whether the single flashing light actually increases safety – and on how the law came about. The resulting predictable conflict with the…