By Kevin Williams
Okay, we have a lot of Amish in the News this week, so let's dive into this fascinating selection of stories!
PENNSYLVANIA DUTCH LANGUAGE: Okay, this is tricky, because the Pennsylvania Dutch (which is a misnomer, it is a dialect of German in actuality) language among the Amish is definitely not dying out. So in that sense the language promises to be around for quite sometime. But among non-Amish? Yes, it is slowly fading and I just don't have a lot of hope that it'll stick around. The Cajuns in Louisiana have done a decent job of halting the disappearance of their language, but Pennsylvania Dutch? I'm not as hopeful. It's interesting because the article didn't even make mention of Amish speakers of PA Dutch, but I think this was focused on the non-Amish speakers of it and they are aging and dwindling. Click here to read.
AUTHOR COMPLETES AMISH TRILOGY: I hadn't heard of this Amish fiction novelist,but maybe some of you have read her books. Click here to read about the latest in her line.
RETURN TO AMISH UPDATE: Jeremiah and Carmella Raber (honestly, I have no clue who these people are and I don't really care, but a lot of people do watch this show) are apparently back together but living separately in Florida. If you watch the show, you'll want to read this.
AMISH BUGGY HEADED TO "SAFETY SCHOOL": This is awesome. A county in New York has procured an authentic Amish buggy and intends to use it as part of traffic safety training for children. The article says:
The Chautauqua Children’s Safety Education Village is located at 2695 Rt 394 in Ashville, NY (next to Ashville BOCES). It is a not-for-profit organization which was formed in 1996. The DFT Communications Educational Facility, where classes are held, is surrounded by a child-sized village, complete with a business district, paved roads, a railroad station, street signs, sidewalks and everything you would find in an actual village.
The purpose of the Safety Village is to educate children, primarily in the areas of Traffic, Bike and Fire Safety. Our goal is to decrease the number of unnecessary injuries and unfortunate fatalities of children in our community by allowing them to experience hands-on safety training that they will remember for a lifetime. The lessons they learn may one day save their life
AMISH CO-OP SUPPLIES WASHINGTON DC RESTAURANTS: This is an awesome article. The Washington Post (disclosure: I do work for them on occasion, but I had nothing to do with this piece) did a superb feature about an Amish co-op in Pennsylvania that supplies some of Washington's finest restaurants with wonderful organic produce. The article, in typical Post fashion, really dives deep into how the co-op works and delivers the veggies that some fine diners enjoy. Click here to read the piece.
The co-op is busy with rhubarb this time of year, so I thought I'd share some rhubarb recipes:
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