By Kevin Williams
The Amish are a fascinating culture for many "across the pond." British TV networks have produced several shows about the Amish in recent years (of varying quality, some have been superb, others not so much). Today, I stumbled across an article which just ran in one of the largest newspapers in the United Kingdom: The Daily Mail. The article is about Ohio's Amish country and it has to be one of the worst articles I've read about Amish country unless I'm missing something. I'm trying to view the article through the eyes of an Englisher who had never heard of the Amish and just had a passing interest. The article is an attempt to offer up Ohio's Amish country as an interesting tourism destination and it is,but you'd never know it from the Daily Mail piece. In the Holmes County area, there are some wonderful restaurants where one can sample Amish-inspired cuisine, there's Lehman's, there's the bulk food store in Berlin, there's the Behalt Amish-Mennonite interpretative center, beautiful scenery, bakeries, impromptu Amish-English softball games, I could go on and on....so why in Heaven's name did the Daily Mail bother to send a reporter to Ohio's Amish country just to interview a 12-year-old girl with a lame pony but really not talk about much else??? Anyone else find this baffling? Click here to read it. I'm almost hoping the travel writer was here on other business and just decided to do a quick breeze through Amish country. If they sent the writer to Ohio specifically for that story, wow, did they waste some money! What do you think?
Darlene Kistler-Alvord
I agree with you Kevin, I certainly hope the paper didn't send him for a story on the Amish, he sure didn't do much research.
Elizabeth Dovey
As a native of England I was intrigued to see that the Daily Mail had written an article about the Amish. I never read this particular tabloid and having now read the article online I have reaffirmed my belief that the Mail is not worth reading. Amish culture does have some interest over here, we have nothing like it in the UK. There have been some programmes on the telly about the Amish; I actually enjoyed 'Living with the Amish', and it was this programme that sparked my interest in Amish. It is such a shame that the article in the Mail didn't explore the Amish culture some more.
Kevin
Elizabeth, thanks for your insight. "Living with the Amish" was SUPERB, probably one of the best shows I've ever watched about the Amish. Yes, the Daily Mail piece just didn't do a trip to Amish country justice!
SueAnn
It seems to me...it is a very short article..and they were passing thru...they did not say specifically that they were passing thru..but the impression is there....they saw...only what one would see, in a day and night...I think it is great that they cared enough to even write about it...don't be so critical..they said nothing wrong.....they just did'nt say what YOU would say....It struck me as a no big deal paper and a no big deal article.
Wendy P
Yep. Pretty lame.
Julie Howson-Reinhart
Kevin,
I'm British but have lived in the US (VA) for 17 years now. The Daily Mail is a complete rag! I haven't read the article but I can imagine what it must be like. Just returned yesterday from visiting my in-laws in Geauga County, OH. My husband and I enjoyed a visit to Middlefield nearby. We hadn't been there for a while. I was surprised at how (relatively!) densely populated it was. We drove down one road off the main road and passed so many buggies, kids out on scooters, wagons, etc. Gorgeous views, horses and farmhouses but I never take photos!