Attention green-thumbers–here are some photos from an Amish greenhouse near Summerhill, New York (Cayuga County): “It is getting so the Amish are all over the place,” Â observes Tom. Â On this trip he traveled through Amish communities including “Romulus, Marathon, Summerhill, the Swiss in Clyde and finally North Rose”–just a few of the 40+ Amish settlements in New York. About these photos: “The folks that run…
It’s become a near-weekly thing to hear from our Empire State correspondent Tom about some Amish corner of New York. This week he checks in with photos of an Amish relief auction in New York’s Conewango Valley, the most heavily-settled Amish area in the state. This auction took place in Cherry Creek, NY. Below, the livestock barn. Amish quilts are a big seller. Amish furniture…
The Amish smoke alarm issue has been ongoing for a number of years in New York state. David Belton, who made the PBS Amish documentary, has written an article on the topic for BBC. Swartzentruber Amish in northern New York have violated building codes by not installing smoke alarms in their homes, leading to fines and court cases. The core of the objection appears similar…
We have another nice batch of photos today from Tom in NY, though I hesitated to post them at first. Â Not because they are controversial, but because the weather depicted in them is so different from what I have been enjoying the past few days–a perfect 70-75 degrees and sunny as anything. Â But in the end I’m hardly superstitious, so why not. Tom took these…
Today Tom has some photos for us of an Amish tarp shop in Conewango Valley in New York. Though we just had a look at odd Amish jobs, I wouldn’t place tarp shops on that list, as they aren’t that unusual, and can be found in many communities. If you didn’t know better you might find yourself impressed by this Amishman’s taste in recreational vehicles… …and his boat…
Amos Hertzler is a one-year-old Amish boy who was born with a rare esophageal condition. Â His story came to public attention last October as his parents were having difficulties raising the funds for the expensive procedure Amos needed. Thankfully, Amos has since had his surgery and now the family is trying to pay off the remaining $60,000 in debt (having already covered $175,000). Last Saturday…
Four youth of the Chautauqua County, NY Amish community were arrested for illegal alcohol possession last Sunday. Normally I don’t find the mundane “Amish behaving badly” stories all that post-worthy, but this one has been getting so much coverage I think it’s worth mentioning. Scouring the web I’ve found reactions usually land in a few categories: 1) If they weren’t Amish, this wouldn’t be a…
A controversy has erupted in a small New York Amish community (near Marathon in Cortland County, 1 hr S. of Syracuse) over busing of Amish schoolchildren. New York state law requires busing to be provided to private school students as well as those attending public schools. This would include the local Amish community. The issue has to do with Amish kids mixing with non-Amish children….
Reader Roberta shares a photo of a barn raising she attended a couple weeks ago in a New York Amish community: This took place in the vicinity of Newport, which is in Herkimer County.  Roberta adds: They started on Wednesday morning. There are about a hundred men involved. Most came in buggies but a few got rides. Since they don’t want their pictures taken, we…
The twelve Amish children left orphaned after the accident in upstate NY will be adopted. Â An Amish uncle and aunt from Ohio will be moving into the children’s home. Â From the report: The Ohio couple must sell a large home they built plus land in Fredericktown before they can relocate to Jasper, the patriarch said: he hopes the couple, who are in their early 30s…