Amish in the News: Amish Runner, Amish Population Growth, "He's Not Amish", Cream Cheese Brownies and More!

By Kevin Willimas

This is an interesting story making the newswires over the weekend: an Amish marathon runner. Except this runner didn't dress in a pair of shorts and T-shirt, he ran the whole thing in traditional Amish clothing.  As a runner myself, I find this rather amazing.   The more clothes you wear, the more they become weighed down by sweat, so I am sure by the end he was heaving a bit of weight.

Leroy Stolzfus, 22, runs a marathon.

AMISH RUNNER: Click here to read the story of the Amish marathon runner.   Being part of an organized race is uncommon, but not unheard of and as the Amish population grows (see below), more "offbeat" stuff like this will become more common.

PLAIN POPULATION GROWING:   The Amish population in the United States continues to grow and grow, fueled in no small part by families that have 8, 9, and 10 children, although there is some evidence that Amish may be employing natural family planning methods as family sizes in the 4, 5 and 6 children range seem to be more common.  Anyway, read the latest about the Amish population explosion here.

"He's Not Amish!"  Webster County, Missori is home to a large "Swiss Amish" community with close ties to the Berne, Indiana settlement.  When a man recently got into a car wreck in Webster County and the local paper identified him as an "Amish man", local Amish were quick to call the CRpaper and point out that he is no longer Amish.  That just sort of interested me because usually the Amish don't read newspapers a lot and when they do, they don't usually make it a point to call the paper and complain about a story. Click here to read more.

HUTTERITES GOING GREEN:  The Hutterites resemble the Amish in many ways, but they are much more forward-thinking when it comes to their embracing of technology.  Read about the solar-powered Hutterites.

SOME MENNONITES LEAVING MEXICO:  Water is a valuable commodity in the parched deserts of northern Mexico.  And for some Mennonites there battle over securing enough water is too much, they are packing up and leaving. Click here to read.

MILLIE OTTO'S CREAM CHEESE BROWNIES:  I think we'll all have our fill of sweets this week, but what's one more? Check out Amish writer Millie Otto's recipe for homemade cream cheese brownies. Yum! Click here for the recipe.