The Amish Cook from Oasis Newsfeatures

The Amish presence in Minnesota is increasing and the Fargo, North Dakota newspaper took note of that today.  The Fargo newspaper's circulation goes almost equally into Minnesota as it does North Dakota because the city is right on the border.  I remember being in Fargo once to give a talk at the public library, it was about 8 degrees with 12 inches of snow on the ground from a recent storm. Weather conditions like that in Ohio would have shut down cities here, but people in Fargo were milling about like it was a balmy summer day (I saw someone in the parking of Target in short sleeves).  The crowd at the library for my talk was pretty sizable, people seemed to think 8 degrees and sunny.  Anyway, back to the article in today's Forum....it was a pretty good read, giving some insight into the growing Amish presence in the area.  I expect to see the increase continue in the years ahead. Click here to enjoy.

By the way, Minnesota's largest Amish settlement is in the SE part of the state near the town of Harmony, about 45 minutes south of Rochester. I've visited that Amish community and, as the name implies, it's a very pleasant one!

I just thought I'd share this photo submitted to me by Barb Wesley, one of our site regulars in northern Indiana.  This is a gorgeous hand-made quilt by an Amish friend of hers in the Middlebury area.  My understanding is that this is her own quilt, not made for tourist consumption, so this might be a closer reflection of the plainer style of Amish quilts that are made for home use.  Thanks for sharing this, Barb!

This is a story that really, I think, explains a lot of the allure of the Amish.  In our world if someone cheats us or if a Bernie Madoff destroys fortunes the reflexive response is vitriolic and vengeful.  In a capitalist society, cash is king.  Mess with our money and there will be consequences.  And I'm not saying their shouldn't be, but the Amish are showing remarkable resolve and forgiveness through a terrible situation in Ohio.  I do want to clarify: the Amish are VERY much a capitalistic culture.  The Hutterites are a communal society of Anabaptists.  The Old Order Amish are clearly not, they are capitalist through and through.  But when one of their own turned out to be a bit of a huckster recently and many Old Order Amish and Mennonites lost everything they had, they decided to find a different sort of recourse.   The Amish are wishing to reject the involvement of the courts and handle the situation themselves.  I think the forgiveness displayed by the Amish in this story is awe-inspiring.  Believe me, I'm not saying Bernie Madoff shouldn't have gone to prison, but....sheesh, his victims are still waiting for their money....I can almost guarantee you that if the Amish are allowed to handle this themselves, victims will be made whole much faster than through the courts.  It really is a touching story, click here to read.  Well, the part about the Amish huckster isn't touching, but the community reaction is.....

This is a discussion we'll be having later today on Facebook, so I wanted to have it here also.  The first newspaper to ever sign up for The Amish Cook was the Quincy Herald-Whig, in Quincy, Illinois.  The Quincy paper still carries The Amish Cook to this day.  The Amish Cook hasn't signed on many new papers in recent years.  Relatively recent subscribers are - for some reason - almost all in Indiana:  South Whitley, Anderson, and Washington, Indiana papers.  I've come to the kind of sad conclusion that The Amish Cook will probably never grow much beyond where it is now in its newspaper readership.  BUT,  I think the column will continue to grow overall in its readership and this presents some exciting possibilities. It used to be that if I wanted to have readers of the column in San Antonio, Texas my only, only, only hope would be to persuade the local paper, The Express-News, to subscribe.  Like most big cities San Antionio used to have two papers but The San Antonio Light burned out years ago.  Now, however, Lovina gets reader mail from Australia, Canada, England, San Antonio, New Brunswick, Canada; and all sort of other places that we never, ever dreamed of reaching...I think it's a choppy transition to this new era, but where as I used to view the column's fortunes as being tied just to newspapers, I think its future could well be bright online.  It's amazing the speed it has brought in delivering the column.  For instance,  I get Lovina's column on Mondays and send it to newspapers on Mondays.  Some newspapers - like the South Bend Tribune and Battle Creek Enquirer - run it a week later.  Yet I post that same column right away online so many of you read it that day a week before some newspaper audiences read it!  I hope I am wrong, but I fear newspapers are dying a slow death and that 20 years from now there won't be many left, they'll be a retro luxury.  So, what do you think?  Are newspapers dying a slow death or will they persevere and be going strong 20 years from now?

The Amish Cook column has appeared in the Sunbury Daily Item for years, so I am fairly familiar with the area.  The broad, rural expanse between Sunbury and Harrisburg in Central Pennsylvania has seen an increase in its Amish population over the past decade or so.  I'm not really sure what the news angle is to this story, but it is really a fun, interesting read, especially if you want to learn more about the Amish in this area. Click here to read more.