By Kevin Williams
We have an interesting mix of stories in this week's Amish in the News, so let's check it out!
HORSE SAGA CONTINUES: This is something we've talked quite a bit about on Amish365. Why Auburn, Kentucky has an issue with horse droppings from Amish buggies when towns all across the midwest seem to be able to deal with the issue without drama is beyond me....read the latest here.
MENNONITES IN TEXAS: We've discussed the Mennonite communities in Texas before. There's a large, very conservative community near Seminole and the local news station decided to do a story about them, but it is a very thin story...they could have done much more with it. Click here for this light read and video.
RUNAWAY MENNONITE TEEN BIKES 500 MILES: There's a lot of information missing from this article also, but to preserve the family's privacy, I won't try to dig for more....but it's rather extraordinary that this teenager biked so far....click here to read.
VISIT TO MENNONITES IN KENTUCKY: This article started out pretty lame, I thought, but really blossomed as it went along. For a tiny paper (I had never heard of Wilson, Tennessee), they did a pretty decent job. A reporter headed for the large Mennonite settlement in Allen County, Kentucky. I'm quite unfamiliar with this community, so it was interesting for me to read. The various Plain groups in western Kentucky can be confusing to sort out, even for the Plain people themselves. So I can't be 100 percent confident the article is accurate in saying this community is Mennonite. One name in the article - Brubaker -is far more common in the Brethren church than among the Mennonites. So, sounds like an unusual settlement. Click here to read more.
MILLIE OTTO'S COCONUT CREAM PIE - Check out Amish columnist Millie Otto's decadent recipe for this favorite. Yum! Click here.
Hans
Interesting article on the Allen County, KY Hoover Mennonites. I have many relatives with this group; Thomas Brubaker is a cousin of mine. This group probably has the strictest ordnung of any Amish or Mennonite group in existence. No internal combustion engines of any kind and very strict ordnung guidelines in every area of their lives. In spite of this strict ordnung, they have managed to have attracted a good number of "English" converts, which is why they will preach in English in church. Some related communities are Delano, TN, Rich Hill, MO, and Winchester, OH. They also have a number of settlements in Belize, Central America.
Kevin
Hans, thank you for that fascinating post....I'm familiar with Rich Hill, Missouri, so what you are saying makes it all fit...Winchester is near me and I'm not familiar with Hoover Mennonites near there..there are Amish, do you mean the Winchester in Adams County, Ohio?
Hans
Yes, the Winchester in Adams County, OH. The small community of Hoover Mennonites is actually between Winchester and Hillsboro. They write in Die Botschaft under the heading of Sugar Tree Ridge, OH.
Hans
Better Off: Flipping the Switch on Technology, by Eric Brende is about Eric's experience of living among the Hoover Mennonites. It is an interesting book you should read.
Kevin
Thanks, Han, I had not heard of that book, I'll definitely check it out!
Hans
Yes, the Winchester in Adams County, OH. The community is actually between Winchester and Hillsboro. They write in Die Botschaft under the heading of Sugar Tree Ridge, OH.
Kevin
Interesting...I have driven very, very close to there before...I'll need to go back, are there any HM-owned businesses in that community that you are aware of?
Hans
I don't know of any HM-owned businesses there, but I'm not that familiar with the community.