On Saturday my brother and I paid another visit to the Swartzentruber Amish settlement in western NC (the area of Polkville & Ellenboro). I am happy to report that the community is up to 22 households, up from around 14 in late 2019. At that time I had been informed a couple of families had moved away, and wondered if that signaled a declining trend….
“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ~John 3:3 (KJV) This question has come up a lot over the years and has been addressed here before (see this post from 11 years ago titled Are Swartzentruber Amish “saved”?), so I did a video on it as well….
I collected some images from the recent week I spent in Lancaster County. Presented with some comments below, I hope you enjoy. First, a few signs. Eggs 4 Sale. Amish Road. And yes, Amish people live on it. There is also an Amishtown Road in the county. This motel is located in Denver. Maybe you didn’t know Denver is in Pennsylvania. This photo combines two…
The two sponsors of the new Ohio horse-drawn transport lighting law, state representatives Scott Wiggam and Darrell Kick, recently addressed the new stipulation that all horse-drawn transport have flashing lights affixed to the top of the vehicle: “The bottom line is, we believe fully that this will save lives,” Wiggam said. “The speed differential is just too great.” Kick agreed. “The objective is to reduce…
Realtor Amy Burns recently alerted me to this Amish home in the Geauga County community which just sold for $1,050,000. Now as we look inside you’ll see this is probably the most “un-Amish”-looking home we’ve covered here, and I suspect this home is going to surprise some people as being Amish-inhabited given its interior appearance in particular. A lot of the design aspects you’ll see…
While in Lancaster County last week, I took Amish friends out to run some errands. We made it to four stores in three hours, in addition to a stop at the bank and another brief stop. I made a video describing the trip and the places we went (at bottom). I’ll also list the places here. Here they are in order. Have you ever visited…
An unusual buggy accident happened last week in Missouri, involving an Amish woman and boy (via KTVO): ADAIR COUNTY, Mo. — A northeast Missouri woman and boy were injured Sunday evening in a terrifying accident. It was reported around 8 p.m. on Apache Way, about six miles southeast of Greentop. First responders told KTVO an Amish horse and buggy carrying a 28-year-old woman from Greentop…
Lindsay Ems has a new book out called Virtually Amish: Preserving Community at the Internet’s Margins. A portion was adapted for an article in Wired magazine. I’m looking forward to reading this book, but for now I’ll share a couple of excerpts. This first one suggests the etiquette of using higher tech like smartphones within the community. “If you’re going to use it, don’t rub…
I just returned from a week in the Lancaster County Amish community. While there I attended the 2022 Amish conference at Elizabethtown College, and spent a lot of time with Amish friends. I’ll have a post sharing some favorite images from the trip coming soon. I also recorded a short video from inside the buggy of a teenage son of one of my friends. It…
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine made the bill a law last week: COLUMBUS, Ohio — Gov. Mike DeWine has signed a bill requiring Amish buggies and other animal-drawn vehicles to display a yellow flashing light while driving on public streets. House Bill 30, co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Darrell Kick of Loudonville, and Scott Wiggam, of Wooster, is intended to reduce the crashes between Amish buggies and…