Grange to host trip to Amish Country
East Franklin Grange will host a trip to Ohio Amish Country Aug. 23. The chartered coach will leave Waynesburg at 6:30 a.m. and return at approximately 10 p.m. Participation is open to the public. Cost is $39 per person.
“Cost has increased slightly this year because we are adding a special twist,” noted trip organizer Lonnie Brewster. “We will begin our tour in Millersburg, where we will visit an Amish farm. Our tour there will include going inside Amish homes, a 119-year-old bank barn, and a one-room Amish school. We will also take rides in Amish buggies. Tour guides will explain the Amish religion and discuss the Amish way of life. In the school, group members will meet an experienced Amish teacher and learn how the Amish parochial system is run. The school uses a copier that is run without electricity, and group members may examine textbooks written in English and in German.”
After leaving the farm, the group will stop in Berlin, where members may have lunch on their own and browse through dozens of shops that sell fudge, popcorn, baked goods, quilts, books, bulk foods, yard decorations and items for home décor.
Berlin is the oldest existing village in Holmes County. Known as the heart of Amish country, it was once a tract of government-owned military land. In 1812, John Swigert, who was from Berlin, Germany, divided it into 108 lots. He sold the lots to settlers who were migrating west from Pennsylvania. In 10 years, the lots had all been sold and the village was established. During the anti-German hate hysteria of World War I, the people of Berlin changed the emphasis from the first syllable of the town’s name to the second syllable to avoid suspicion and persecution.
After lunch and shopping, tour group members will visit Heini’s Market, where they may purchase many kinds of chees that are made on site from 100 percent Amish farm milk free of artificial growth hormones and comes from more than 250 local Amish farms.
The market also sells dips, canned goods and candy. Travelers are urged to take an ice chest for transporting snacks, drinks and perhaps lunch from home and then to re-use for bringing cheese and fudge home with them.
If time permits, the next stop on the trip will be Lehman’s Hardware, where travelers may purchase old-time soft drinks and candy, garden tools, books and hard-to-find canning and household items.
On the journey home, the group will stop at Dutch Valley Restaurant, where they may have dinner on their own. The restaurant overlooks the growing fields and pastures of productive farms and resembles a sprawling country farmhouse. The dinner buffet features roast beef, chicken, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing and numerous other items. The dessert specialty is peanut butter cream pie.
Anyone interested in joining grange members on this trip should call Dr. Lonnie Brewster or Lee Wright at 724-428-3004.