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Um...Crisis in Amish Country?
Okay, the New York Times has an article on tomorrow's FRONT PAGE entitled "Crisis in Amish Country." The content of the article itself is okay, even interesting/revealing. But the headline? It implies that there is a "crisis" roiling the Amish and in reality this is one sick man in one isolated Amish community in Missouri. The man's background is actually quite atypical of the Amish. Do sex crimes happen among the Amish? Of course! The Amish, as fallible humans, are the same as everyone else....there are sinners among them, some very bad ones....but I wouldn't say sexual crimes are running rampant among the Amish as the headline implies. In fact, the story itself says the opposite, the Amish community was quite disgusted and troubled by the sins of one of their own. As noted the article itself was interesting...but if one lone Baptist somewhere was convicted of a sex crime would there be a story saying "Baptists in Crisis." Probably not. To read the article, click here.
A Review of Our 20-Year Anniversary Book
My stockpile of anniversary books has just come in, so those who ordered them from me directly will get theirs in the week ahead. Anyone else can order them from Amazon, I just had a limited supply of my own to sell.
Meanwhile, I ran across a nice review of our 20-year anniversary book in the St. Joseph, Michigan newspaper. Really, I'm not trying to be mean by not giving out Lovina's address to reporters (or anyone else for that matter). It's just that Lovina really values her privacy, family-life time, etc, we are lucky she takes the time to share through her column. Most Amish wouldn't even do that. If Lovina made time for everyone that wanted to stop by, she'd be greeting readers all day, instead of taking care of the "home fires." We have had readers figure out where she lived and stop by unannounced, wanting a tour of the house, wanting to meet the kids, wanting a slice of pie..Most of the readers have been perfectly friendly, but that isn't the point. I know how I would feel if someone just dropped by without warning...I mean, if it's Mom or something that is fine (most of the time) but a total stranger? If I was in the middle of something important it could be quite disruptive. But this was a fun article by a reporter who reviewed our book and sorta tried to find Lovina's place (I won't say whether she was close or not). The bakery in the photo looks so small, but the food is probably wonderful!
Update: Barbara Raber Files An Appeal
People who have received their copy of the Amish Cook's Everything But the Kitchen Sink book may have read the signficant section about the Barbara Weaver murder. This was a murder that occurred in Holmes County last year that received shockingly little media coverage. Homicide is extremely rare among the Amish so I'm just surprised that the case didn't generate more coverage. The local paper, the Wooster Daily Record, barely touched upon the Amish aspect. In a nutshell Eli Weaver's Mennonite lover - Barbara Raber - shot and killed his wife (Barbara Weaver) while she slept. The Weavers had five children who were home sleeping at the time of the killings. Weaver and Raber were both found guilty and are serving jail time. Raber, however, is now appealing her conviction. For those of you who really want to dig into the meat of this case, I am posting the full appeal here.
Follow-Up: Amish Seek An Alternative
This is a story that really, I think, explains a lot of the allure of the Amish. In our world if someone cheats us or if a Bernie Madoff destroys fortunes the reflexive response is vitriolic and vengeful. In a capitalist society, cash is king. Mess with our money and there will be consequences. And I'm not saying their shouldn't be, but the Amish are showing remarkable resolve and forgiveness through a terrible situation in Ohio. I do want to clarify: the Amish are VERY much a capitalistic culture. The Hutterites are a communal society of Anabaptists. The Old Order Amish are clearly not, they are capitalist through and through. But when one of their own turned out to be a bit of a huckster recently and many Old Order Amish and Mennonites lost everything they had, they decided to find a different sort of recourse. The Amish are wishing to reject the involvement of the courts and handle the situation themselves. I think the forgiveness displayed by the Amish in this story is awe-inspiring. Believe me, I'm not saying Bernie Madoff shouldn't have gone to prison, but....sheesh, his victims are still waiting for their money....I can almost guarantee you that if the Amish are allowed to handle this themselves, victims will be made whole much faster than through the courts. It really is a touching story, click here to read. Well, the part about the Amish huckster isn't touching, but the community reaction is.....
Want Eggs? Go to Montana!
So how is everyone weathering the big egg scare of 2010? Certainly Lovina doesn't have to worry about contaminated eggs, she - like most Amish homemakers - have a steady and ready supply of eggs from their hen house. But there is another place that the salmonella scare appears to have bypassed: Montana. Why? Most of the major chains there use eggs supplied by a network of Hutterite farms which are well-known for humane and efficient farming. Rachel and I are lucky enough to have a local farmer that drops fresh off eggs at her Dad's family business. Anyway, click here to read more about the Hutterites and their Montana egg operations. Have more of you been avoiding eggs during this salmonella scare? Where do you get your eggs?
Amish Bakery Article....
Okay, today there was another article in anoher newspaper about an Amish bakery. Unlike yesterday's dreadful Amish bakery article in the Denver Post, the one in today's Wilkes-Barre Times Leader was more to my liking. By the way, as a side note, I believe Wilkes-Barre is the smalllest US city that still lays claim to two competing daily newspapers. They have the Citizens Voice newspaper in the evening and the Times Leader newspaper in the the morning. Very unusual. Someone can correct me if I am wrong on this.
Anyway, an article in today's paper talks about an Amish bakery that brings baked goods to sell at area farmer's markets. Whoopie pies filled with pudding? A bacon and cheese bread? Blueberry cookies?? All of this sounds wonderful! Enough to maybe make me head out that way to sample for myself!
Click here to read about this bakery. Has anyone been to either the bakery or the farmers markets where they sell their goods? If so, tell us about it! By the way, I also this article illustrates the differing views on photography within the Amish church itself. Clearly these people knew they were being photographed and they must not have minded.
Sheesh....
A woman was ticketed in Adams County, Indiana with driving a vehicle with SEVENTEEN unrestrained Amish children. Click here to read.
In my experience, Amish moms are quite amenable to child-restraint seats as required by law in most places. Sheesh, you know, I can understand a drive to the corner or something an unbelted child perhaps....but SEVENTEEN children in the bed of a pick-up truck???? That just shows very poor judgment on the part of the driver, in my opinion....Not surprised this story took place in the Berne area...just not my favorite settlement, for a variety of reasons.
Amish in the Rockies....
Colorado has been welcoming Amish families to the state for several years now. Recently, the Denver Post decided to do an article or two about the state's growing "plain presence." One article in particular intrigued me because it was about a new bakery that opened recently in one of the communities. The article is here. It's an OK article but for the love of...Pete...couldn't the reporter have delved a bit more into - even a sentence or two - detailing what the bakery SELLS??? Sheesh, that is what I really want to know. Other than a passing reference to pies in the photo caption, we have no clue...we don't even know what kind of pies. Apple? Cherry? Pecan? .Do they make andRp sell whoopie pies? If so, what flavor? Do they sell cookies? If so, what kinds? Do they sell homemade bread? If so, what kind? Brownies? Bars? Anything using or incorporating regional flavors? Coffeecakes? Rolls? Arrrgggh!! The article left me with so many questions I almost want to go there myself and see. What the heck is the point of doing an article about a bakery if you are going to say NOTHING about the baked goods. Sheesh! Do we have any Colorodans who have been to this bakery that might tell us about the bakery? A companion piece which ran is a bit more thorough, detailing how the Amish are weaving themselves into the fabic of the Colorado life. Check out that article here. This is a trend that - I believe - will accelerate. As the Amish areas in the east and Midwest get more saturated, Amish seeking a less congested lifestyle will head west in greater and greater numbers.
The Amish Cook column, by the way, does not appear anywhere in Colorado. It had run in the Canon City paper from about 2002 - 2006 before they dropped it....
Gathering of Scribes....
I talked about this story in the "Amish in the News" broadcast. Usually every few years the Amish "scribes" who contribute material to The Budget - The Amish newspaper - gather at its headquarters in Sugarcreek, Ohio for fellowship and writing workshops. NPR did a great piece on the gathering this week. You can read - and listen - to the report here.
Monroe Beachy, Amish Bernie Madoff?
BERNIE MADOFF - US DEPT OF JUSTICE PHOTO
Hundreds of Amish and Mennonite investors may have lost millions in an investment scheme run by one of their own. Monroe Beachy ran A & M Investments (we'll assume it stands for Amish & Mennonite Investments) and members of NE Ohio's Amish settlements trusted him to invest their money for a fair rate of return. This story illustrates how, especially in larger Amish areas, practices that once would have been unacceptable have slowly been gaining ground. Thirty years ago I doubt you would have had many Amish or Mennonites ponying up to invest money, it would have resembled gambling too much. It's doubtful Monroe Beachy would have been able to launch his business in the first place since he probably wouldn't have found too many takers. But with a shaky economy and some accumulated wealth in Holmes County, this made for a ripe audience. Now it appears many have been taken. Seeing how difficult it has been for Bernie Madoff's victims to recover their money, I don't have high hopes that this will turn out any better. Truly a tragedy. Click here to read more.
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