Amish in the News: Bolivian Mennonites, Canadian Mennonites, and Amish Iowa Implements

There are some REALLY neat stories in Amish in the News today if you are a "Plain people" junkie like me.   There are just some amazing images and audio with today's features and I really hope you get to settle back and enjoy these.  This is the type of original reporting I want to do more of on Amish365 Plus in the weeks ahead.  But for now we'll rely on others.  First:

IOWA AUCTION:   An elderly Amish farmer seeking to "downsize" his life held an auction on Wednesday, September 10 of dozens and dozens of vintage, but mint condition, farm items.  Bidders - mainly Amish - came from all over the place. Click here to read the very interesting article.

BOLIVIAN MENNONITES: I have my doubts that I'll ever get to explore the Plain communities in South America.  But today's collection of photos is the next best thing.  Since food has been my study area over the years I would find it fascinating to really explore their culinary culture, how their old-line German and Russian influenced recipes have melded with the Latina tastes.  Sitting down for supper in one of the Bolivian Mennonite homes I would think would be a fascinating culinary experience.   Click here to see a riveting selection of photos by Bolivian photographer Jordi Busqué’s from his award-winning portfolio, The Mennonites of Bolivia.

OLD ORDER MENNONITES IN NORTHERN ONTARIO: I know, I know, we're all in a hurry these days, so 90 percent of you (understandably) won't have time to delve into this, but if you are able to, you won't be disappointed.  The CBC is Canada's government-owned radio network and they do such a great job of offering indepth features at the local and national level.   SIGH, I haven't been to Canada in about 5 years.  Not that that is a big deal, but for awhile I had been going once or twice a year for business reasons and I really enjoyed getting to know our "neighbor to the north."  The Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ontario which connects to Detroit is not THAT far from me.  I could get in my car at 8 a.m. and be eating lunch in Canada easily.  That's something carefree and spontaneous that I might have actually done when I was 19 or 20.  Anyway, back to the CBC.   The local northern Ontario CBC affiliate produced a SUPERB series of on-air documentaries about the Mennonite migration to their area over the past few years.  There are three relatively short documentaries you can listen to, each about 10 minutes in length.  One covers the Mennonite local food movement, the other is an interview with the founder of the settlement, the other talks about a second community.   And if you don't have time to listen to the documentaries at least check out the 7 still photos that accompany them.  I love the first photo, here is the caption: "Alvin Yodder demonstrates a machine his son came up with to mix animal feed. It's an old butter churner hooked up to an exercise bike. Yodder says it's part of his son's interest in "going green." 

I have to think that the CBC misspelled Yoder as Yodder.  Mennonites named Yoder are rare enough (that surname is usually Amish unless someone converted, which is not uncommon), but Yodder?  Oh well, it's radio, you don't have to usually worry about spelling names right!:)   Anyway, click here for a stellar selection of photos and audio from the CBC!

If you only have time to listen to one documentary (I did listen to all three), the one with Alvin Yodder/Yoder might be the best.  Alvin does such an articulate job of explaining the Old Order Mennonite lifestyle and even addresses seeming anomalies like why they'll ride in cars but not own them.