Amish and Islands: This was an interesting press release I received by email the other day from a PR firm in Ohio:
West Union, Ohio – October 15, 2014 – “One day, I’m taking the whole family to Hawaii, grandkids and all,” dreamed Daniel Miller, owner of the authentic Amish run Miller’s Furniture in West Union, Ohio.
“I decided if we were ever going to do it, we better do it now because these grandbabies are adding up,” joked Daniel Miller.
This Christmas season, Daniel and his wife, children and grandchildren will board a train that’ll take them from Cincinnati to the west coast.
“I love going across the country by train,” Said Miller. “It is such a beautiful and relaxing times, especially through the mountains once you get to Colorado and beyond.”
From there, they will take a cruise ship and sail to five Hawaiian islands for the vacation of a lifetime.
Meanwhile, back at Miller’s Furniture, Bakery and Bulk Food stores on the family’s 300 acre farm, Daniel’s brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews and even grand nieces and nephews will be busy as usual filling holiday orders nationwide.
That was from the owner of the really neat Miller's Furniture and Bakery complex in the Wheat Ridge Amish settlement about an hour east of Cincinnati. And all I can think is "holy cow" that trip will cost a fortune! I'm not sure exactly how many children and grandchildren Daniel has, but we're probably talking about a contingent of 50 people. Wow, wow, wow. But good for them. The Millers have worked hard to build their business from scratch and traveling is a pastime among the Amish so I hope they enjoy. Also will be a looong trip...I can't imagine they could do all of that each way (train, cruise, tour of the Hawaiian islands) in less than a month, probably more like 6 weeks.
Another island that may soon see some Amish: Prince Edward Island.
I have been to all of the Canadian Maritime provinces except this one. PEI is a tiny island off of New Brunswick that is fairly out of the way and sparsely populated. PEI wouldn't appear on my radar as a likely spot for an Amish settlement, but apparently some Amish from Ontario are eyeing it. The Amish generally have close ties to kin elsewhere and there are always weddings, funerals, etc to have to travel to, it just seems like taking a ferry to the mainland and then trekking back to Ontario would be a lot of hassle. So I'm not certain this will work out, but the CBC article seems to infer that an Amish settlement might well be established. Click here to read the article.
BIRD-IN-HAND REBIRTH: This popular Pennsylvania Amish country tourist town fell on hard times last autumn when Good Enterprises went belly-up. But time and tenacity has led to a rebirth in the village's center, with other entities picking up the pieces. Click here to read more. Both Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand are charming, very "tourist-centric" towns along Old Philadelphia Pike outside of Lancaster. I usually stay off this route when I am in the area, opting instead for more rural charm, but it is nice to hear that Bird-in-Hand is recovering. Click here to read more.
"CALIFORNIA AMISH": Whenever I can offer our Golden State readers something local to read, I jump at it:) There are no Amish in California, but there are a handful of conservative Mennonite and German Baptist communities. Back in August, Rosanna wrote about "Wood Colony", the state's oldest and largest Anabaptist enclave. This article appeared recently in California Report giving really great background about California's German Baptist settlement and the development pressure they are under. Click here for an interesting read!
Leave a Reply