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The Amish were originally a much persecuted European protestant sect. Because of their beliefs in separation of church and state, adult baptisms, and pacifism, the Amish found themselves unwelcome in both Catholic and Protestant states throughout Europe. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries they immigrated to America in search of religious freedom. Many settled in Pennsylvania where, thanks to William Penn's bold experiment in religious freedom, they found a welcome home.

A deeply devout people, they believe their faith is strengthened by a lifestyle that stresses plainness and simplicity. As a result, they reject many of the trappings of modern society such as electricity and cars. They travel by horse and buggy and farm using horse drawn plows.

Although the Amish can speak English, they speak a German dialect amongst themselves. Their plain style of dress further distinguishes them from modern society. They wear only black and other solid colors. Their social life centers around the church and their large extended families.

Traditionally, the Amish have been farmers, but skyrocketing land prices, less available farmland, and a growing population have forced them to turn to other vocations. Many have turned to crafts and other cottage industries to earn a living. This allows them to work at home, makes the business a family affair, and helps preserve their way of life.

Other "plain" sects that are closely related to the Amish in beliefs are the Mennonites, Brethren, and Dunkards. They produce quilts and crafts very similar to those of the Amish so we also carry their products.

Be sure to attend our free talk on Amish life given each show day at 2p.m. Each talk last 30-45 minutes and includes a question and answer period at the end. Seating is limited. This year's subject is Amish Weddings. This is an encore presentation of one of our most popular subjects.

If you've missed the previous talks, here is a sampling of some of the things we've covered.

One of the easiest ways to identify an Amish home is to look for the electric power lines running into the house; if you don't see them, you are probably looking at an Amish home. Living without electricity is something most Americans would find very difficult to do. Imagine cooking your meals without a microwave, blender, or electric mixer. Or even worse, imagine spending your evenings with no electric lights, TV, VCR, or stereo. As difficult as it seems, the Amish do this every day of their life. They cook using gas stoves, light their homes with gas lamps, and read instead of watching TV.

When it comes to making their crafts, the Amish again get by without electricity. When they piece a quilt, they do so on a treadle or compressed air powered sewing machine. All quilting is done by hand.Wood crafts and furniture are generally made using tools powered by compressed air. The work shops usually have a lot of sky lights and operate only during the day to take advantage of natural lighting (and to avoid having to use gas lamps around highly combustible saw dust).

It all started with the milk coolers. According to new government regulations, dairy farmers were required to refrigerate their milk while it was being stored on the farm. This posed a problem for Amish dairy farmers since the Amish church prohibited the use of standard electricity.

This was a crisis. Without electricity, the Amish couldn't store milk, and the church was adamant that Amish were not going connect to the local electric company. Finally a solution was found. It was decided that diesel generators could be used to power the refrigerators. This decision allowed the Amish to continue their tradition as dairy farmers without having to use public electricity.

Eventually someone had a bright idea to get double duty from the generators. While a generator was running to cool the milk, they also used it to compress air which was then stored in a tank. This compressed air was then used to power a water pump, so the Amish were no longer reliant on windmills or gas powered pumps to get water. From this point, it was only a matter of time until other adaptations were made.

Today Amish are using compressed air to run washers, sewing machines, and kitchen appliances such as mixers and blenders. Compressed air is also powering the current boom in Amish wood shops as Amish crafts people use it to run their power tools.

The diesel generators are also being used to charge car batteries. These batteries are then used to power lights on their buggies as required by state law. Today they are also being used to run glue guns, cash registers, small fans and other small appliances that didn't adapt well to compressed air.

Despite all the added conveniences that compressed air and batteries have bought, the Amish life is still one of deep-rooted simplicity. Their homes still lack TV's and electric lights, they still travel by horse drawn buggies, and on wash day, their clothes are still hung on a clothes lines to dry just as they've always been. In the end, the core values are still firmly in place.

Something unusual is going on at the Amish neighbors. Last year, like every other year in the past, they planted 100 stalks of celery. This year they planted 400 stalks! They didn't plant all that celery because they developed a sudden craving for celery. That extra celery is a big clue that there's going to be a wedding there this fall. Celery is such an important ingredient at an Amish wedding that your neighbors needed to plant hundreds of extra stalks just to make sure they had enough.

Some of that extra celery will be used in Amish casserole, the main meal at every wedding dinner. Amish casserole is a mixture of chicken and stuffing, with celery being one of the main ingredients in the stuffing. A lot more celery will be used to make creamed celery, one of the standard side dishes served at every Amish wedding dinner. The final use of celery is particularly unique. Instead of flowers, the Amish will use vases or jars filled with stalks of celery to decorate the dinner tables!

All these uses for celery require that a lot more celery be grown any time a wedding is being planned. Since most Amish couples tend to be very secretive about their wedding plans, (they usually won't even admit that they're getting married until it has been formally announced at church in mid October) all this extra celery being grown will probably be your first clue that an Amish wedding is on its way.

The first Tuesday in November is the big day. That's the day Jonathan marries Ruth Ann. The wedding will be held at Ruth Ann's home since all Amish weddings are traditionally held at the bride's home. Like most weddings there are hundreds of details to be taken care of.

First the house must be cleaned, painted and repaired if needed. It must be in A-1 condition by the day of the wedding since their entire church and all their friends and family will be there. Since there aren't any caterers or other outside help at an Amish wedding, they will need a lot of help from the Amish community.

People will be needed to prepare the two meals served on the wedding day to over 200 guests. Other helpers will be needed to set and clear tables and wash dishes. They will also need ushers and people to care for all the horses that bought the guests. Fortunately Ruth Ann and Jonathan have an older Amish couple who are helping them with all these details.

Since tradition dictates most of the day's events, most of these helpers know what to do from past experience. As soon as the 3-½ hour service is over, the area where the wedding was held is quickly cleared and tables are set up and prepared for the noon meal which has been cooking through the service.

With over 200 guests, it will take several sittings to feed everyone so dinner is eaten quickly. As soon as one sitting is finished, the tables are cleared and the dishwashers go to work. They must quickly wash and dry the dishes so the table can be set for the next group. Then entire process will then be repeated later that evening for a second meal.

The helpers will continue to work together all day and into the night so that Jonathan and Ruth Ann can have a proper Amish wedding. Many of them will also return the next day to help finish the clean up and help put the house back in order.

It was 10:30 on the night of Jonathan and Ruth Ann's wedding, a Tuesday this past November. Like all Amish weddings, it had been an all day affair starting when the first guest arrived at 8:30 that morning and was only now ending as the last of the more than 200 guests left. At this point, most newlyweds would be eagerly anticipating the romantic honeymoon ahead. Unfortunately for Jonathan and Ruth Ann, romantic honeymoons are not part of the Amish way.

Instead of hot tubbing in Cancun, Jonathan and Ruth Ann will spend their wedding night and most of the following days at her parents house. Since the wedding was also held there, the newlyweds will start the first day of their married life by getting up bright and early and helping her family clean up.

Following Amish tradition, Jonathan and Ruth Ann will not move to a home of their own until early spring. Until then they will most likely continue to live with her family. During this time they will visit each Amish family that came to their wedding. During these visits the newlyweds are traditionally given their wedding gifts although it is becoming common for many families to bring their gifts to the wedding. Whether they've received a gift already or not, Jonathan and Ruth Ann are still expected to make a visit. Since Amish weddings are huge, Jonathan and Ruth Ann will have over a hundred families to visit. These visits will occupy their weekends throughout the winter months.

It's time! The contractions are coming every 5 minutes and her water just broke. Katie's husband David hurriedly hitches the horses to the carriage and the Amish couple start the five-mile journey to the Birth Center. David cast a concerned glance in Katie's direction. Since this is Katie's fifth baby, labor could move along quickly. He hopes they still have enough time.

Meanwhile at the Birth Center, the midwife and her staff, having been alerted by phone that Katie's on her way, await her arrival. Finally the carriage pulls up and Katie is ushered into the birthing room which looks like a comfortable bedroom. Katie is settled in and checked carefully. She doesn't have much time to spare. Forty minutes later Rebecca makes a noisy entrance into the world. All is OK with Katie and Rebecca, so in about four hours David will take them home. Tomorrow the midwife will make a home visit to check up on them.

Like Katie and David, many Amish chose not to have their baby in a hospital. Instead they chose to deliver at home or at a Birth Center. Amish chose these nontraditional birth methods for a variety of reasons. First, they prefer the more comfortable environment of a Birth Center or their own home to that of a hospital. Second and perhaps even more important is the issue of cost. Since Amish do not own health insurance, they have to pay all birth expenses out of their own pocket. Midwife assisted births at home or at a Birth Center costs much less than at a hospital. This difference in price becomes even more significant when you consider that most Amish have large families with four or more children.

For Katie, the services offered by a Birth Center extended far beyond the birthday. She went there for all her prenatal care. During the entire time, she was assisted by a nurse midwife working under the direction of a physician. If any problems had arisen, she would have been referred to a doctor or sent to the hospital. After the birth, she will continue to visit the Center for routine health care including immunizations and checkups for her children and herself.

There are a number of other web sites that offer more information on the Amish and the Mennonites. The two that we recommend the most are www.mennoniteinfoctr.com and www.padutch.com. The first is the web site for the Mennonite Information Center. In addition to a lot of information on the Mennonites, it also includes information on the Amish who share the same origins as the Mennonite faith (in fact the Amish started as a group that splintered off from the Mennonite faith.) The second is the web site for the Pennsylvania Dutch Welcome Center, the main visitor center in Lancaster County. This site has lots of information on the Amish plus material on the attractions of the area.