By Kevin Williams
AMISH SOCIAL MEDIA: Okay, first a rant...the Lancaster paper has a superb package of stories this past week about the Amish and social media. The problem? The stories are located behind a pesky paywall. SIGH. Now, I am more sympathetic than most to the plight of papers. Newspapers are hemorrhaging money and they need to recoup and be able to pay writers, etc. I think the issue I have in some situations is that people who are only going to occasionally read an article, ought to be able to do for free. And that is the whole logic behind "metered paywalls". Occasional readers get a few freebies and regulars have to pay. I think that is a good model. If I live in Lancaster County, PA and am going to be going to the newspaper's site everyday, several times a week, whatever, then I have no issue with a paywall. But I guess I must exceed the metered amount (I don't think I go to their site THAT often). Anyway, fine, they have a 99 cent "day pass" and I was happy, more than happy, to do that....but after entering my credit card # a half dozen times, I just gave up, for reasons unknown, it just wouldn't take it.......so I resorted to reading this article on a browswer on my phone which must have been under the metered amount.
Anyway, putting my rant aside, if you are under the metered limit on Lancaster - and that would be probably 95 percent of you - there are some interesting articles about the Amish and social media. One article about a 14-year-old "Amish girl" who is amassing quite a social media following on the app Tik Tok. Thing is, she isn't really Amish. On the other hand, many Amish DO have smartphones and it rankles me when non-Amish people try to tell an Amish person what they are permitted or not permitted to use. Oh, one more gripe, the Lancaster paper does SUPERB journalism, but to put a headline about an "Amish girl" finding fame on social media is misleading because their own article states that she really isn't Amish per se....okay, enough of my rants, try to read this fascinating article here.
AMOS YODER, age 102: I occasionally link to obituaries here and, wow, this is a man that lived a full life. The obit leaves a lot of unanswered questions, but apparently Amos Yoder was Amish for at least a good portion of his life and even, while still Amish, obtained college degrees. Very unusual. I'm guessing at some point he left the faith just because the church honoring his death is a Mennonite one, but, wow, what an interseting life. He, by the way, was born and raised in Custer County, Oklahoma which was home to an Amish settlement just west of Oklahoma City. That community died out in 1960 according to Amish America.
Anyway, click here to read the obituary of Amos Yoder.
JAMMIN' AMISH: Not everday you pull over a buggy with a stereo system (although interestingly, it was in this same settlement that I saw an Amish man in his buggy with a boombox (SIGH, what we used to call portable stereos), so perhaps this community just likes its music. Click here.
MILLIE'S CREAM-SWIRLED PUMPKIN BARS: Check in with Illinois Amish columnist Millie Otto and her recipe for a good cream-swirled pumpkin bar...wow, click here.
90-YEAR-OLD MAN ARRESTED FOR VANDALIZING MENNONITE CHURCH: Holy cow, this appartently is the culmination of a five decade long feud this man has had with this church....geez, all I can say is that by the time I am 90, if I am blessed to make it that long, I hope whatever grudges I may carry in my life are gone...You make it 90, in good health, as this man has, just enjoy it...just mellow out and enjoy....wow...click here.
SWEET POTATO PECAN ROLL: Okay, not an Amish recipe but I found this while searching for something else and looked too amazing not to share....wow, this looks incredible. Click here for the recipe.
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