Amish in the News: Sarasota Bonnet Rippers, Amish Wedding, Shoo-Fly Pie, Northern Indiana, Etc

By Kevin Williams

I couldn't find a ton of Amish in the News this week (which isn't necessarily a bad thing...the Amish are, after all, a pretty private people who'd rather not be in the headlines).  There were some tragic buggy-car accidents this past week, but it seems like that is pretty much an every week event.  Sadly common and I hate to focus on it too much all the time. A 17-year-old Amish boy was killed in a buggy-car crash not far from me - Wayne County, Indiana - over the past week.  Has to be a devastating loss for the family.

Samuel from Witness

On a lighter note, remember the young Amish boy- Samuel - in the movie Witness:

A California newspaper was reporting on campaign contributions from their area and :

The money comes from disparate sources. Lukas Haas, the 40-year-old actor who played an Amish boy in the 1985 movie, "Witness," gave $2,700 — the primary election maximum — to Clinton. His donation lists a Port Hueneme residence.

Sheesh, my question is: who has time to comb through stacks of campaign contributions lists?  And who'd recognize his name?  I mean it'd be one thing if you stumbled across Dustin Hoffman or Meryl Streep's name, but Lukas Haas?   I did do a little Googling and it  appears he is still an actor and he pals around with the much more famous Leonardo DiCaprio.

SHOOFLY PIE WITH WALNUTS:  The Boston Globe ran a recipe for this Amish classic with a nutty twist over the weekend. Click here for shoofly pie with walnuts.

TRAVEL - With summer travel season ramping up we have a couple of articles focused on travel in Amish country here:

LANCASTER COUNTY:  I don't usually laugh at typos, I make plenty of my own. But I did have to chuckle when I saw the article encouraging visitors here to try "Shoe Fly Pie"....a little sole food anyone?  Anyway, click here for a primer of some things to do in Lancaster County.

NORTHERN INDIANA:  This is a primer of some things to do in northern Indiana's Amish country.

WHOOPIE PIES:  A Texas newspaper posted a good recipe for Whoopie Pies over the weekend. Click here.

MILLIE READIES FOR A WEDDING AND SERVES UP ROCKY ROAD FROZEN DESSERT:   For newbies here, Millie is not associated with this website, I just like to share other Amish writers with you from time to time....Millie's style is far more pop culture than what you might expect from a typical Amish writer, but she illustrates the wide variations found among the Amish. Click here for Millie's column.

SARASOTA BONNET RIPPERS:  The Amish fiction craze marches on and a favorite thing to do is set the stories in "hyper-local" places like Pinecraft.  I did that four years ago with one of my Amish fiction novellas.   Click here to read more.