Let's get the grim news out of the way first. Last year, we covered the tragic disappearance of Amish teenager Linda Stoltzfoos in Lancaster County. She disappeared on her way home from church and, eventually, local resident Justo Smoker was arrested in her abduction, but her body never was recovered.
Two weeks ago, Linda's body was found. And last week, the Amish community finally got to lay her to rest. Click here to read more. Sad story.
COVID
Everyone is sick of hearing about COVID and the Amish are no different, but the virus continues to rage and many Amish are abstaining from the vaccine. An excerpt from the article: Health officials in Indiana and Pennsylvania — which, combined with Ohio account for the largest Amish communities — also are ramping up outreach in heavily Amish areas. Local health departments in Pennsylvania's Lancaster County, home to the largest Amish population in the country, are connecting with Amish bishops to try to spread the word about the vaccines. Click here to read more
And an Old Colony Mennonite church in Ontario is running afoul of the law by continuing to hold unmasked gatherings in the hard hit province. Click here.
NEW AMISH DAIRY
This is pretty cool: new Amish dairy selling premium, high-grade milk! Here is an excerpt of the article: Shipshewana dairy farmer Harry Stutzman Jr., along with Goshen dairy farmer Leon Miller, Lamar Kuhn and John Schwartz, both of Bremen, created Amish County Dairy LLC, a farmstead dairy bottling company that markets and sells its own brand of natural premium milk. The four found more than 30 local investors and spent around $750,000 building their new dairy plant.
Read more about how this new dairy came about and where you can get some of this milk here.
Plain Voices
Millie Otto: Let's check in with this Amish columnist who lives in Arthur, Illinois. Here's an excerpt of her missive this week:
It is now afternoon and very windy, kind of getting cloudy. I believe thunderstorms are in the forecast. It is pleasantly warm, just unpleasantly windy. Maybe if it storms, it will clear the air and the weather will settle down and be nice. Kind of like we humans, when we get into a disagreement, it sometimes takes somewhat of a storm to clear the air, then we can be friendly again.
Always fun to hear from Millie. This week her recipe is for homemade banana pudding! Click here to read the whole column.
Roseann Zimmerman: Check in with Roseann Zimmerman, an Old Order Mennonite writer. An excerpt: Like a see-saw ride, April gave us heart-sinking thumps and breath-taking heights last week. In the first exhilarating days we planted potatoes as the purple martins cheered us on. Mrs. Killdeer kept an eye on me, when I declared war on weeds close to her nest. Click here for the whole column.
Carolyn
I have followed the abduction of Linda, how very tragic and sad, so glad they have found a suspected offender.
Kevin Williams
Agreed, such a sad and senseless crime....