RISING FROM THE ASHES: Â A couple of Amish-owned businesses burned to the ground last week in Berks County, Pennsylvania an true to Amish form a mere two or three days later the businesses are on the verge of being rebuilt. Â A couple of things jumped out at me from the article. One, this is just vintage Amish and what makes them so endearing to outsiders. Â People just literally drop everything to help their neighbors in need. No questions asked. They just do what needs to be done. Â A secondary thing that jumped out at me is an Amish man living in a stone house built in 1775. Â Holy cow! Â That would be amazing to be living in a home older than the Revolution. Â Oh, and another thing that jumped out at me: while admirable, running into a burning building to save some clocks is.....of questionable wisdom. Â But, again, that's the Amish selflessness coming to the fore. Â Click here to read the whole article.
AMISH FICTION: Â This genre just seems to keep going and going. But for how long? I think eventually the market will saturate itself. There are simply too many people, in my opinion, writing Amish fiction (heck, even I've taken a crack at it). Â Someday the market will sort itself out. Â Click here to read another piece about the popularity of Amish fiction.
SWISS MAID: As someone who studies Amish and Plain culture I found this article about a Mennonite market near Columbus, Indiana interesting. Be sure to click through the accompanying photo gallery  While the article never specifically says I'm guessing this is a Beachy Amish Mennonite church this family is a part of and this story probably is similar in tone to one of my favorites - The Home Place - in Georgetown, Ohio.  Click here to read about this Mennonite market in Columbus.
WELL, GOOD.......I'm tired of this story, maybe a jury finally made it go away. Click here.
MY AMISH HOME: Â There are two Illinois papers that carry Millie Otto's column. Â I'll be candid, Millie is not my favorite writer. Â I just think she goes all over the place, but I share it because I think she offers decent cultural insight into the Arthur, Illinois community. Â One of the newspapers that carries her labels the column as by "Melinda Strawn"...drive s me batty because they do it week after week, even though the column is by Millie Otto (Melinda works for the paper). Â Â Anyway, if you can overlook the incorrect byline, click here to read Millie this week and get a recipe for Sausage, Potato and Corn Pie! Click here.
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