AMISH BUGGY NEWSLETTER

Number 2

• At the auction in Indiana in March, 137 springers were sold selling from $1,000 to $1,475

• Ohio - 2,000 pizzas were made and sold.  Proceeds of the sale went to the new school being built.

• In April, a hospital benefit auction was held in Delaware to pay the huge hospital bills of the 3 Amish teenagers (2 brothers and a sister) that were injured in December.  The buggy was demolished by a hit-and-run driver.  All three were injured.  2 very serious.

• Live near an Amish community - watch your paper for various auctions (school benefit, hospital, etc).  The summer months are the best time to catch one of these.   They are very interesting, have variety of merchandise at a reasonable price, have good food, and you help out the community. 
  

• April 29 - All Breed Horse Sale, New Wilmington Livestock Auction, Wilmington, PA

• April 28 & 29 - Bob Quick's Spring Draft Horse & Mule & Horse-drawn Equipment Consignment Sale - St. Joseph Stockyards, St. Joseph, MO

• April 29, 9 am - The Milroy Amish School 28th Semi Annual Consignment Auction and Bake Sale, Milroy, IN

• April 29, 9:30 am - 2nd Annual Honeyville Consignment Quilt Auction - Honeyville, IN

• Leftover Cornbread - Don't throw left over cornbread out.  Melt butter in a skillet, chop up onions (to taste) and crumble up cornbread in skillet.  Cook till hot.  Make's a good side dish.  Tastes like hush puppys or some call this dish poor boy.  Thanks to Kelly for this great idea.

• A Missouri Amish community makes noodles that they sell at a local stand to benefit the school fund.  They used 124 eggs in one day.

• Uses for vinegar
  Kill weeds by spraying full strength on growth until plants starve.
  Vinegar also kills grass on walks and driveways.
  Deter ants by spraying vinegar around doors and appliances.
  Eggs - add 2 tablsp. in water before boiling eggs.  Keeps them from cracking
  (more next month)

• The obituary of an Amish gentlemen listed the following details:  Abe had 55 grandchildren, 173 great-grandchildren, and 3 great-great-grandchildren.

• Ice houses were filled in Maine just in time before the weather warmed.  25 tons were collected ranging in thickness from about 15 inches to 20 inches.  Several inches of rotten ice was peeled off before they got the good ice.

• Most Amish schools will complete the school year by the end of April.        

• Some communities are now allowing the use of fiberglass buggies.  A recent accident in Michigan seems to lean toward the safety of these buggies.  A car recently hit a new fiberglass buggy.  The buggy was bent out of shape and the safety glass splintered but there were no injuries.  An Amish gentlemen commented a wooden buggy would have been splintered.

• A new married couple arrived home to hear a constant knocking sound.  After a thorough search, they ran down the guilty culprit making the noise.  It was a bird outside the basement window apparently fighting with its own image in the window.  (Is this where the term bird brain came from?)

• Ohio Accident - a vehicle hit a buggy from behind pushing the buggy up a hill into another car that was waiting to turn.  The buggy driver was then dragged a short distance by the horse which then collapsed and died a short while later.  The buggy driver was trapped under the demolished buggy and required numerous stitches.

• An Amish couple (Glick) was cleared of all child abuse charges on 3/9/00.   Their daughter died in December of a brain hemorrhage.  Authorities have acknowledged the child's injuries were caused by a rare genetic vitamin K deficiency.

• Ohio - April 10 - the bluebirds have laid eggs already

• Michigan - Buggy accident goes to trial.  The accident happened between a truck and a buggy.  They truck driver struck the buggy injuring the 17 year old buggy driver and his 11 year old brother.  The truck driver said the buggy had no lights.  People saw the buggy lanterns lit and they where still lit after the accident .  The police report stated that the buggy had no lights but this info was obtained from the truck driver.  The county magistrate dismissed the ticket against the buggy driver ruling the burden was on the policeman to prove the lights weren't on the buggy.  The truck driver did not appear in court and the Amish buggy driver and his father refused to give a sworn testimony but answered questions.  Note:  the Amish has asked county road commissioners to post buggy warning signs along country roads.   The commissioners response has been they will post the signs if the Amish will put an orange reflector sign on the back of the buggy.  The Amish has refused stating the bright orange color is against their religion.  The Amish has offered to pay for the signs and the cost of installation, but the commissions have refused.

• There were 517 migrations in 1999
• 536 in 1998
• 507 in 1997
• there were 9 new settlements started in NY, KY, MO, TX, PA, MD and 3 in WI
• 2 settlements ended - VA and KY
• 38 families moved out of Lancaster County
• there has been an estimated 8,293 migrations from 1/1/72 through 12/31/98

Reported by the area's budget scribe in March 2000 -- the Lyles TN community is going extinct and the one grave is being moved to MO.

My personal comment - In 2000, I have noticed movement out of Enon Valley settlement.   I wonder if this will be on the 2000 list.

• Kentucky - 112 acres sold for $286,000.00 in a public auction.  A new house and dairy barn was included.

• Pennsylvania near Martinsburg - an 89 acre diary farm went for $405,000.

• Wisconsin - an 80 acre farm sold for $2,000 an acre

• Michigan - an 80 acre farm mostly tillable sold for $179,000.

• New vocabulary word  you will be hearing -- Agritourism -- entertainment farming

• By the last week of March, farmers are plowing and some are discing.  A few farmers are even sowing oats.

• New York area - maple syrup seems to be darker this season, but good tasting.   One Amishman made 63 gallons from 400 taps and another one got over 100 gallons from 1,000 taps.    Indiana area - the syrup crop was only about 1/4 of normal.

• Michigan - March 30 - 105,000 pepper seeds where sowed in their greenhouse.   Plans are for more to be sowed.  The plants have been ordered by several Amish communities.

• Ohio - 6,000 pounds of seed potatoes were delivered for planting.

• Pennsylvania - Amish and Mennonite farmers have refused  their shares of a $22 million tobacco industry settlement.   Russell Redding, state deputy agriculture secretary, stated only 322 of the state's estimated 1,200 tobacco growers have applied for funds.  Most of this states tobacco farmers are either Amish or Mennonite.
  News article - http://www.pottsville.com/pub/2000/Mar/21/E410918A.htm

• Some Amish farmers have been investigating the possible switch to organic farming.   There are a lot of government restrictions with this type farming.  Few have made the switch but some adventurous farmers have purchased 300 ducks to try their hand at organically-grown ducks.  Maybe you'll see them in your store.

• In PA, average price for milk in 1999 was $14.58 c.w.t.  January 2000 it was $12.50 c.w.t.
• In WI, the 1999 average milk price was $12.22.  January 2000 price was $9.50.
  
  According to the Pa. Dairy Promotion Program:
• Advertising:   $.15 of every 100 lbs. of milk is spent for advertising by diary farmers
• Milk sales has increase by 29% since 1984.
• Per capita consumption of all dairy products has risen 11.5%

• WI - $9.50 cwt - Feb

• Gramp - cramp

• Bloder - blister

• Darichlaaf or Fludders or Leibweh or Schpringers or Summerblog - diarrhea

• Mumps - mumps

• Paper about the Amish
  http://www.loyola.edu/dept/philosophy/techne/sharp.html

• Link I found interesting.  Check out the food items.
  Amish Country Foods    http://www.amishcountryfoods.com/

• Holmes County Amish Flea Market - Ohio.  Open Apr 1 - Dec 18 (Thurs, Fri, Sat)
  http://www.fleamarkets.com/amish/index.html

• Rice's Market - New Hope - Penna.  This is a flea market type market with used & new items.  May want to check it out if you visit this part of Amish country.
  http://www.ricesmarket.com/index.html

• Pennsylvania Dutch - Calendar of Events - by month
  http://www.800padutch.com/calmain.shtml

• Ghost Tours - Here is something different to do when traveling to Pennsylvania Dutch Country - tours run from April 1 to Nov. 1   http://www.ghosttour.com/lancast.html

• Is this your family name? - Jacob Beiler-Boiler-Byler Families - genealogy info - http://homestead.juno.com/arbeiler4/Beiler_Boiler_Byler.html

• Ohio State University - Plant facts - http://www.hcs.ohio-state.edu/hcs/hcs.html

• States and Capitals - excellent site - info, song, newspapers, worksheets, etc.
  http://www.50states.com/

• The Supreme Court - new on line 4/17/00 - http://www.supremecourtus.gov/

• How to care for your Easter lily
  http://www.ext.vt.edu/departments/envirohort/factsheets/pottedplants/eastrlily.html

• Happy Easter Link Page - easter links - http://members.aol.com/Love4JULI/easter-links.html

• The odds of finding a pearl in an oyster are 1 in 12,000.

• In 1920, the average check at a diner was 28 cents.

• From school records from 1910-1920 - Manatee County
  The school term generally lasted for 16 weeks in both the fall and spring
  The teacher's salary was $45 monthly but by 1920 it had risen to $80
  Size was from 8 to 16 students

• Consider how hard it is to change yourself and you'll understand what little chance you have of trying to change others.

• There is no right way to do a wrong thing.

• There is no food value in wild oats.

• A dime goes a long way these days: you can carry it for several weeks before you can find anything it will buy.

Feel free to email me if you have something for the newsletter  -- 
news items, a link, information, recipes, etc.
Comments or suggestions on the newsletter are also welcome.
Email:   mailto:amishbuggy1@excite.com