In the heartland of America is a special place the beats to a different drum. Holmes County, Ohio is arguably home to the biggest Amish and Mennonite community in the world, and how they live is fascinating. Join me and a local (Josh) as we dive into the culture of this mysterious and special place.
Inside Largest Amish / Mennonite Community – First Impressions
♪ country music ♪
Good morning guys.
Here in beautiful Holmes County Ohio.
Home to one of the largest
Mennonite populations in the world.
Home to one of the largest
Mennonite populations in the world.
So a local reached out to me
his name is Josh.
He said, “Peter, do you want
to get into our way of thinking?
Do you want to understand
our culture better?
Do you want to cruise
the back roads with me?”
So, there is nothing
more I love in this world
than getting into someone else’s
world who is different than me.
So today we’re meeting up with Josh
who is a Mennonite
lived here his whole life.
He’s going to show us the inside scenes
of what’s going on
here in Holmes County.
♪ country music ♪
All right,
Josh said meet behind this place.
Here we go.
Josh.
-How’s it going?
-Morning.
-Morning.
Just park your car over there somewhere.
We’re gonna go out with
Josh here on his route.
I don’t know exactly what he does.
You’re a farmer Josh, right?
-Yes Sir.
-All right, all right.
-Kind of…
-It’s so nice here, Josh.
-Really?
-It’s clean.
-Everything’s buff.
-Holmes County for you.
Everyone takes pride in their property
and they really try to keep things clean.
-Yeah, I mean there’s
flower beds everywhere.
I mean this is back of the gas station.
Is that what it is, peer pressure?
-I think so.
I mean a lot of it is keep up with
everybody, you know?
Everybody does that.
-So keeping up with the
Jonses in Holmes County
is like how buff your grass is,
how nice your garden looks.
-Oh yeah.
Okay, so the first thing you need to know,
think of it in this way.
Think of it, you have liberals
and you have Republicans, right?
-Okay.
In your circles.
-Sure.
-And there is extremes
on both sides, right?
So extreme liberals,
there’s extreme conservatives.
-Okay.
-So that’s exactly the same way with the
Amish and the Mennonites.
There’s extreme conservative
ranging all the way to extreme liberal.
-Where do you fall?
I mean asking myself,
I’d say right in the middle.
-Okay, and so you’re
connecting Amish and Mennonite.
-Yes, because we call ourselves…
We actually don’t call ourselves Mennonite.
We call ourselves Beachy Amish.
-Before we get into this,
where are we going right now?
We’re going to Charm to pick
up a load of shavings for my trailer
and take it up to the
chicken barn that I was just at.
He wants two loads.
Amish or Mennonite?
-No, the owner of the chicken barn
is just an English guy.
-Okay.
And by English it means anyone
that’s not Amish or Mennonite.
-Correct, correct. right.
-And so you guys work together here?
Oh yes, we do business with anybody that
wants to do business.
In the business world a lot of
the Amish people around here
have businesses, their own businesses
but then they hire a driver.
like from the English to go work for them
or take their crews out
or if they do construction,
or whatever they do.
-Because they’re more conservative Amish…
-They don’t drive.
-therefore they can’t drive.
-They hire someone to do it.
-Right, interesting.
Tell us the difference between Mennonite
and Amish like the basic difference.
Okay, so the basic difference between
us, my Mennonite,
or beachy Amish,
we drive vehicles.
We have electricity in our houses.
We have modern homes.
-You have a truck.
-I have a truck, right.
See I’m driving.
No, I usually have a microwave
sitting on the seat where you’re at
-That’s not conservative Amish,
microwaves on the seats.
No, so I got a microwave
sitting where you’re sitting
usually and then I heat my lunch up.
-Okay.
-There’s Amish that are so conservative we
call them Swartzentruber Amish.
They live in their houses without any
electricity, without any indoor plumbing.
-And they’re out here?
-Yes.
Oh yeah,
we’ll go past a couple of their places.
Those are Swartzentruber Amish
right in there, that house.
-So they have no electricity?
-No.
-But why do they have such big houses?
-Because they have so many children.
-How many?
-Oh, how every many they can have.
They have 10, 12, 15.
-Why are we stopping, Josh?
I want to look at the Swartzentruber place.
They got the white house, traditional white
Swartzentruber house on the left.
Got the garden, they all have big gardens
’cause they have big families
and they don’t make a lot of money
and they do hard work.
So they need a big garden
to support their family.
They did all that by hand.
So you’re saying they don’t
have a lot of money but…
-No.
I’m looking at a pretty big size house
with a massive barn and a lot of land.
-They just work and it’s generational
and they…
I don’t know, they’re not…
-It’s handed down, right?
-Yes.
-It’s generational, okay.
-In their community, the Swartzentruber Amish,
the way I understand it they’re
not allowed to have a lot of money.
They’re not allowed to go get
jobs and make a lot of money.
It’s against their culture
and it’s against their tradition.
-Okay.
-More than anything.
So they raise a bunch of children
and they have to have a property
this size for all their children
to raise their garden.
They take care of that property
without any motorized equipment.
Like their lawnmower is just a
push-mower without a motor.
-Okay, what about all this laundry here?
-That’s all hand-washed with a
hand-washing machine
and in the winter it can be zero
degrees and that’s hanging outside.
Just like that.
-Bird houses,
very cool bird houses up there.
And so the kids go to school until eighth
grade and then they’re done, right?
Yes, and they work on the farm.
-And this is Swartzentruber too?
Okay, so they go to school
until eighth grade
work on the farm and this is it.
Yep, that’s their life.
-Until the end.
Yes, that’s their life until they get
married and move to their own place.
They’re moving out.
-Yeah.
-And then when their parents pass
they come back?
-Yes, it just gets handed down.
Their parents would get old.
So one of the children will move in
and take care of the parents
’till they die.
Gotcha, no nursing homes out here.
There’s no appliances in that house.
No plumbing, nothing.
Just bare necessities
-So they’re completely off the radar
like away from government, not voting.
-No.
-Have nothing to do with society
outside of this world.
-Pretty much.
-So nothing has changed for them,
say this last year?
No.
-Zero.
No, zero, nothing.
-Wow.
They base their salvation more on
works and tradition.
and just following all these rules.
-They’re not reading the Bible?
-No.
-But that’s interesting that you’re say,
more on the left side of things more open,
more liberal but you’re
more into the Bible.
-Yes, very much so…
-I would have never guessed
in a million years.
-than the Swartzentrubers.
♪ men’s choir singing ♪
♪ men’s choir singing ♪
What’s the difference,
it’s gonna sound like a rookie question
but between Mennonites, or Beach Amish,
and Catholics or Protestants?
-Well, Catholics and Protestants teach
things that we don’t agree with.
Like they would go to war,
they would fight.
-You don’t fight?
-No.
Because we feel the Bible
commands us not to fight
So we don’t.
-You come from Switzerland
originally, right?
-Correct.
-Is there something in that?
The Swiss stay neutral.
-Wow, look at the clotheslines.
-Yeah, some of the more
modern Amish have electricity
and a lot of them,
if they make their own electricity
they’re allowed to have it.
Like they’ll have solar panels.
-Interesting.
-They’ll have generators.
-That’s legitimate?
Mm-hmm, yeah, it’s fine.
-I started this video actually
focusing on Mennonite.
-Sure.
-But what I’m realizing already
is there’s going to be a lot of crossover.
-Yes.
-Like you are Mennonite but you call
yourself Beach Amish.
-Beachy.
-Beachy Amish.
-Yes.
Okay guys, so I want to make that clear.
There’s not a fine line.
It’s sort of a lot of
a lot of gray zone, right?
-Yes.
[speaking Pennsylvania Dutch]
You’re speaking Pennsylvania Dutch, right?
-That’s my first language,
you can probably hear my accent.
-So with everyone here
you’re not speeaking English all day long?
-No.
Even with English people
that live around here
they all speak Dutch.
Most of them, majority.
-Interesting.
-‘Cause a lot of them grew up
Amish of Mennonite.
So a lot of them
and a lot of them just knew it
from living in the community.
I barely spoke any English before school.
-So at home in the house?
-No, we speak all Dutch.
We’re all Dutch.
-But you call it Pennsylvania Dutch, but
it’s more of a German dialect, right?
It’s like a Swiss-German?
-Yes, it’s a mix our Dutch has
a lot of English words mixed in it.
You’ll hear when we’re talking
but it’s not German
or it’s not high German.
He’s gonna load me.
So I don’t even have to go out right now.
So anyway, back to the language.
It’s not written anywhere.
We don’t don’t write it ever.
We just learn it.
-It’s not in books?
-No, I guess you could probably find a book
with it in but…
-What about your Bible?
-Yeah, that’s in German.
-High German?
-High German.
Well, not in ours, Mennonites it’s English.
But if you go to an Amish church service
everything would be in high German.
[construction noise]
Okay guys, so sponsor of
today’s video is Cuts Clothing.
Cuts is the brand I wear on the camera
and off the camera.
Right Zaika?
You see cuts around the house all the time?
Yes, because it’s by far the most durable
doesn’t wrinkle, breathes really well
and it’s got style.
One complaint that I get is people saying,
“Peter, the shirts are a bit spendy.”
Yes, but here is the deal.
You’re not re-purchasing
after six or seven washes.
I’ve had this on and off my body
since April
and it still hasn’t peeled
they don’t wrinkle
collar is still tight.
I’ve got great news here.
There’s a five year anniversary collection
but that also means
there’s a five year sale.
25% off in my link below if you order
before September 7th.
Now, if you’re after September 7th,
you’ll still get 15% off with my link.
When you order a few t-shirts
you get a nice box like this.
Beautiful packaging
excellent quality
a t-shirt you’re not going
to have to re-purchase
after three, five, six washes.
Really love this brand.
Go down below in my link.
Get a discount.
Back to the video.
The Bible teaches us that
we’re supposed to work
by the sweat of our brow.
So when we get stimulus checks
and things of that nature
the majority, not all
but the majority of the Amish
and Mennonites
just donate those checks
because we didn’t work for it.
-Donate to where?
-To a charity.
What’s with the golf cart here?
What’s this lady doing?
Probably disabled.
Oh, it’s a Mennonite.
Just driving through town.
-So that’s legit?
-Yeah.
I guess I shouldn’t have
had this preconception
but I didn’t think it would look this good.
When I’m thinking farm country
I’m thinking it’s not going
to look like that.
-Yeah, you think more of the rednecks.
-I’m thinking you’re not planting
a garden in front of your barn.
-A lot of Amish farmers are organic.
That’s an option for them
but they don’t have to be.
So that’s just up to the farmer.
The Bible was written before
the option of being non-organic.
-So a majority, vast majority
of the Amish and Mennonites
don’t vote politically.
-Why?
Because we believe
in the Bible it talks about
our part in this society
and it’s not with the government.
We pay our taxes
because we’re commanded to.
We’re supposed to give to our
government what belongs to them.
We’re supposed to respect them
as long as they don’t go
against what the Bible teaches
but the President of the United States
or any other person in the government
doesn’t affect us.
We have Jesus Christ as our president.
-Jesus Christ for president
every four years?
No matter what.
-Yes.
He never changes and his laws never change.
So we don’t worry about that.
So Josh, we’re gonna drop this load
and then we’re gonna go to some cool
Amish, Mennonite places, right?
-Sure.
-Get some pie?
-Yeah, we can do that.
It’s not a law that we have that
we have to have a lot of children…
-Yeah, but I’m saying is it respected if
you have more children?
Yeah, it is kind of for the
very conservative Amish.
So your population is growing?
-Yes, oh yes.
-A lot?
-Yes, very fast and that’s why we’re
expanding all the way up into
we’re way up here in
Wayne County and that’s why.
-Okay,
I’m going to get a pious response obviously
but how do you guys get along with the
non-Amish, the English people?
Which English means every ethnicity,
every person outside Amish.
We don’t really deal with them
unless it’s through business
or like our neighbors…
-Or making YouTube videos…
-Right.
We don’t have a problem with them
or we don’t have any…
We just live our lives and they respect us,
and we have tons of tourists.
This is the school.
-Yes.
-Is it in session right now?
-No, summer vacation.
Oh wow, you guys, outhouse.
This is functioning right now?
Yes, you see what they’re
mowing their yard with?
Two horses.
No lawnmowers coming here.
-Nope.
They can’t use indoor toilets?
-No, they have no indoor plumbing or
power, or anything, gas, kerosene lights…
If you leave them they shun you.
The Swartzentrubers?
-Yes.
-So if you leave, you’re excommunicated
you’re out for life.
-Yes.
But this can’t be a Swartzentruber house.
-No, that’s old order house.
-That’s old order next
to a Swartzentruber field.
-Yes, correct.
-Oh wow.
And would they talk to each other?
Oh yeah, they communicate.
Oh yeah, they help each other out
and they do all that stuff.
-And they’d be speaking in
Pennsylvania Dutch?
-Yes, oh yeah.
This is Swartzentruber.
-Yes, right here.
All their houses look the same.
All their barns look the same.
Little bit confusing with the technology.
-Okay.
-There seems to be many tiers.
-Yes.
-We have the Swartzentrubers.
-They have no technology.
-No technology.
-No.
-You have a lot of technology.
-Yes.
-There’s no way I’d get in with a
Swartzentruber.
No.
But you’re not totally liberal.
-No, we have like for instance
at home we don’t have TV.
We don’t have any of that stuff.
-Social media?
-No, no social media.
I have a phone but it’s limited.
It’s blocked.
A lot of the internet stuff is blocked.
We just stay away from that.
Who is blocking it?
What do you mean it’s blocked?
-I just have an app that I block it with.
We have an app that has a
password that I can’t get on.
-Gotcha, who controls that?
-My wife has the password.
-So couples control each other’s internet.
-Right.
-Does it always stay in the family
or does the church do it?
It’s optional.
I have an account
that can block up to nine phones.
So brother just talked to me
at church the other day
and wondered if I could
add his phone to my plan.
So that’s possible, you know,
I can add his phone to my plan.
So use the same blocker that I use.
So there is a list of websites
you guys figure out
of what you block?
-Well yeah, we get together and…
So this blocker that I have blocks anything
that has anything to do with porn
or in that line of thing
and then you can really customize it too.
[phone ringing]
[speaking Pennsylvania Dutch]
It’s really a cool sounding language.
It’s singy-songy.
-Oh, okay.
-That’s how it sounds like to me.
Like Swiss-German.
-Yeah.
We got a fruit stand.
Swartzentrubers selling fruit.
Produce.
Hello.
-How you doing?
-How are you?
-Good.
What do you got that’s delicious?
Oh blackberries, nice
You grow them up here?
-Yeah.
Do you guys all live up here?
-Yep, we do.
-Yeah, okay.
-This is all one family?
-Mm-hmm.
It’s about half of us.
-About half of you?
[chuckles]
Where are the other half?
Oh, at the produce auction.
-So if you were here alone you would be
speaking Pennsylvanian Dutch, right?
-Yes
-Yeah.
-Absolutely.
[speaking Pennsylvania Dutch]
He’s six, and he’ll start
learning English this year.
-Yeah.
-Okay.
-In school.
Well last year was kindergarten but…
-Okay.
-They don’t learn that much in…
-Yeah, they don’t learn much.
He’ll be 10 in October.
He knows a lot of it.
-Oh yeah.
-And Danny here, almost eight.
-Danny, what’s going on right there?
He understands some but still not…
-So that was for you
so you didn’t understand any English
until six and then you
then you learned it in school?
-Yeah, I mean you sometimes
learn some words.
-Pick it up by…
-From down here.
-Oh, okay.
Dealing with English.
That thing is classic.
So you put bigger stuff on there huh?
-Yeah, we can.
We just weigh our produce on here.
I mean it’s honest weight.
BOY: It has no springs on it.
-No springs.
-No springs.
-I don’t know how.
I mean we’ve had it for a while now.
It’s that accurate.
-Check it out.
Not quite one pound.
BOY: It really was a ounce scale.
14 ounces.
-Gotcha, gotcha.
-It’s an ounce scale but…
We just put the pounds on it.
-Gotcha
2, 4, 6, 8 pounds.
Do you send these kids out to weed while
you guys hang out and sleep in here
or you can’t pull that off yet?
Buddy, I want the hat.
Can you make me one of those?
I have no hair.
[chuckles]
I need something.
I need something upstairs.
About 3 acres, probably.
-Okay.
-That’s all done by hand.
Just to be clear there
she gave me approval
to shoot that video.
You’re saying they’re cool with it
Yes, they do not care.
First of all, they will never see it
and
second of all if you would
have gone and asked them,
“Hey, can I take a couple pictures of you
and your stand?”
They would have said, “Yes, no problem.”
Now if you would have come in there
with a couple of guys
with huge cameras and
a TV show or something…
-Right.
-Then they would probably…
-Then it gets intimidating.
-Yes, but the way that we did it
like that we’re there to buy produce…
They don’t mind at all
if we snap pictures
and take short videos of them
while we do that.
Did you hear their accent?
-Oh wow, what a thick accent, huh?
-Yes, that’s the difference
from their schools.
That’s exactly how they sound in their
schools when they’re teaching.
How can I have a problem with their rules
if they’re all backed up by the ible?
If I’m supposed to follow the Bible.
-So you’re looking at the Bible…
Here is a book of rules…
Here is a code to live by.
-Yes.
Just black and white.
-Yep.
-Are you curious about
exploring outside of that?
Have you ever been curious
about that or no?
-Yes, growing up and you know,
and a teenager…
You know, I went through a stage where I
wanted to be rebellious
and I wanted to see what it’s like to be
out in the world
but you quickly find out that
the world has nothing to offer.
-What do you mean by that?
-In my experience.
You go out there and you try to…
You forget God and you forget…
If you believe the Bible
and Jesus’ teachings
he gives you something that no one else
can give you
and he gives you something.
The feeling of just peace, and joy, and…
and takes care of your problems.
There’s no fear.
And you don’t have that out in the world.
-No fear.
-Well, no.
You have fear out in the world.
If you live your life without Jesus
what’s going to happen?
You have…
Are you ready to die?
What’s going to happen when you die?
All of that stuff is answered in the Bible.
I have no desire to live in the world.
That doesn’t…
-Okay, to be fair too, you
I haven’t explained this yet
but Josh has traveled to Ukraine.
-Yes.
-You’ve traveled quite a bit?
-Yes.
Yeah, I’ve been to Ukraine
multiple times with my wife.
-Which you said you liked.
-Yeah, my wife is from there.
-So you have seen some things.
-Oh yes.
-And you want to have
nothing to do with that?
-No.
That brings… No.
And what I mean by that is…
Like going and traveling, yeah.
That’s fine.
Like I like to go traveling.
I’ll still go traveling.
That has nothing to do with
living a godly life.
-Yeah.
-But just by going out into the world
and just doing you know…
Doing whatever I want.
What my flesh wants.
That’s what I’m talking about
because if you’re a born-again Christian
then you give up your flesh.
You say, “Okay, God.
I’m gonna serve you.”
And he requires you to give up your flesh.
You have to serve him.
-What do you mean, “Give up your flesh.”?
-Give up my desires.
-Okay.
-If I can explain things like a worldly man
would want to go to a bar
and he would want to go to a strip club
or he’d want to go do whatever he wants to.
-Yeah, but I’ve done all that and
I don’t do any of it now.
Strip club, no.
Burnt out on that when I was 18
in Montreal.
I grew up not far from Montreal.
My buddies and I would go
all the time until we realized
this is not cool, actually.
-Yeah.
-Sort of sucks.
Waste of time.
I don’t drink anymore.
-Uh-huh, good.
As far as internet censorship,
I don’t watch any porn.
‘Cause I think it’s a dirty industry.
I want to have nothing to do with it.
-Good.
And what was the other thing?
-Anything, you name it.
Anything that the bible…
-So these bad vices…
I’m not a religious person
but I identify these things
that don’t help my life.
-That is good, very good.
-But it comes from the bible.
-Yes, that all…
-Comes from the 10 commandments.
-That all comes from the bible
but the thing…
I don’t know your religious life at all
but the thing that you don’t have
is Jesus living in you.
His spirit.
-Why?
-Because did you ask him to forgive you?
-For what?
-For your sins.
-What are my sins?
-Going to the strip club.
Living your life.
Going to…
-I look at that as exploring
the world at a younger age.
-Yeah, and that’s totally fine.
That’s you.
-So it’s my…
-Well, that’s one thing that the
old order Amish promote.
That’s something that we don’t agree with.
Rumspringa.
Rumspringa is the old Amish saying,
“Hey, go out there kid, into the world.
Go to your strip clubs.
Do whatever you want?”
Is that what they’re saying?
-Yes.
They promote that.
-Okay.
-The old order Amish do that.
-Okay, walk us through that
because they’re in this
very conservative environment
and then all of a sudden
one day they can go do that?
-Yes.
It sounds crazy, right?
-Yeah.
-Okay, that’s the old order Amish.
They grow up and again,
it’s not all of them.
-Sure.
-But vast majority, they hit an age of,
I don’t know what the age is
like 16 or 18.
And their parents encourage them to go and
leave the Amish and just
do whatever they want.
Anything they want.
-How long does that last for?
-Until they get married.
Once they get married they join the church.
-So how long is that usually,
that time period?
-It depends on the individual.
-So okay.
If I think of people…
Oh this is cool, one second.
That’s cool, doing a little…
I don’t want to put it on them.
If I think of college, right?
-Yes.
-Those kids that had the
most restrictive parents…
The kid goes to college and loses his mind.
That’s the one that’s
binge drinking usually.
-Yeah.
-You know, no limits to
whatever because they have been
suppressed in that respect.
-Sure.
-How about with Rumspringer?
Same thing?
-Yeah.
-Do a lot of these kids
just sort of like completely…
-Some of them.
-go the opposite direction?
-Some of them do.
Not nearly all of them.
Some of them do but actually a pretty big
majority of them come back.
Because in their belief they think that
if they join the church that they’re saved
and that’s all they have to
do is just be part of a church.
That’s good enough.
They base their religion off of their works
more than living a life of Christ.
Which the Bible clearly
teaches against that.
That’s why the new order even started.
-This is really interesting
because the new…
Okay, when I think old order
I’m thinking more conservative.
-Yeah and…
-But in some ways they’re not.
-Right, correct.
That’s true because….
-That’s so fascinating.
-Yeah, that’s what I want
to get into more tonight.
-Okay, we’ll talk about it at the dinner.
I don’t know if that’s
going to be in this video
or another video guys.
-Yeah, that’s fine, that’s fine.
-But there is going to be a dinner and
we’re going to get deeper
into these topics.
-The new order buggies
and the old order buggies.
-There’s a difference?
-Yeah, see these buggies
all have roll-up side doors
and the new order ones have sliding doors.
They’re a little higher class.
So you wanna go check out the buggies?
-Yeah, yeah, let’s do it.
-Here’s one I was talking about.
This has a sliding door.
-Okay.
What’s the top model, top new order buggy?
What are the best features I’d say?
These have lights, obviously.
They all have lights, right?
-No aren’t most of them
required to have lights…
-Yeah.
-by the state law.
-Yeah.
-Yeah, I think.
-Okay.
Can I take a look?
-Yeah, yeah you’re welcome to look around.
-Thank you.
Okay, so it’s just a simple seat and brake.
-And then the back an
open door as well like this.
The old order ones would have roll-up.
They’re made in Ohio?
-Yeah.
-Oh, great.
-Isn’t there one right down the road here?
-Yeah.
Here at a buggy shop.
Just like you’d have a new car dealership.
You have a buggy dealership.
-It’s the buggy barn.
-The buggy barn.
So they’re making them here.
Oh, wow.
-Check it out.
So not made in China.
-Made in the US.
I don’t see anybody right now.
See, this one would be an
old order buggy ’cause it has the
roll-down doors.
-Right, right.
Is it okay if we just look?
-Yeah.
Want to look at the buggies.
-Yeah.
-Okay, we’re just looking.
-You make them all here?
-Yeah.
You make any new order or only old order?
Yeah, we make new ones.
-Both.
-What’s the estimate
rough price on these guys right now?
-On a complete buggy?
-Complete, yeah.
Like a nice one all
decked out with everything.
All the candy.
Seven?
Not bad.
-Some of these don’t have any windshields.
Like the old order,
I’m not sure if the old order do it or not
but I know the more conservative ones like
the Swartzentrubers
they wouldn’t have any windshields.
-Are they against glass or what’s that?
-Well, just more traditional.
-Okay.
-And then they’ll pay
a lot more for their horse too.
Gotta figure that in too.
I think you can spend anywhere from 5 to
55 for a horse.
It varies so much.
-$55,000 for a horse?
-Oh yes.
-Whoa.
Old Amish schools,
they fund their own schools and everything.
So they don’t have school busses.
-Interesting, okay.
So they’re paying taxes, right?
-Yes.
Yeah, on the property and everything.
-They’re supposed to be paying.
Okay, they’re paying property tax
but why do they have their own schools?
Just they want to teach their own…
-Yes, they want their own teachers
and they don’t want because of
what’s being taught in the public schools
they don’t want that in the local schools.
So they have all their…
You’ll see a lot of
school houses like that.
They’re for all the neighborhoods.
They have hundreds of them
Basically, each church
has their own school.
-No school busses by the state?
-No.
-And so what are people scared here about
say US education?
You said the curriculum.
-Well, not necessarily just the curriculum
but they have prayer in their schools
and they have all of that stuff.
It’s a lot more…
low-key or it’s a lot more religious.
What do we got here, Josh?
Gonna go check out their pie.
Me and my brothers eat
here every Tuesday morning.
-You should be much bigger
than you are, Josh.
Can I sit here?
-Yeah, I’ll wipe this off for you.
We have an account here.
We eat here every Tuesday and
we just pay at the end of the month.
‘Cause we eat so often.
-Look at that key-lime…
or is that lemon meringue, what is that?
That looks good.
How is it?
-Don’t eat it, it’s my husbands.
[laughter]
He’s coming back.
The blueberry cream vanilla pudding
and then fresh blueberries on top
it’s one of my favorites.
-Let’s try it.
-Okay, sounds good.
So this gentleman was trying to steal your
pie and I stopped him.
[laughter]
-That’s not true.
-It’s a true story.
Thank you.
-You guys enjoy.
-Thank you.
-Thank you.
It’s got like a blueberry glaze on there.
Josh, walk us through what’s going on here.
-What’s going is right now we’re
going to enjoy some of the best pie
in Holmes County.
[unclear]
There’s just a lot of pie in this county?
-Everyone bakes pie and they’re all good.
-Okay.
-It’s all you need to know.
It’s not crust
but it’s just a different color.
I don’t know why.
And then we have…
the meringue.
-Taste it.
Very nice, very nice.
It’s basically egg yolk and sugar, right?
-This one tastes good as well.
Kind of tastes like more.
-What’s more, what do you mean?
-More pie.
Oh.
Nice crispy crust.
Is it tasting okay for you guys?
Gonna return it, I have to return it.
-Oh no, do you want
to try another pie instead?
-No, no, this is good.
This is great, thank you.
-There is the check for you guys.
You all have a good one.
-Okay, thank you.
I’ll take a bite of yours.
You can also take a bite of mine.
It’s a piemance.
You ever heard of what a bromance is?
That’s bad humor.
Almost as bad as yours, maybe worse.
-Boy, that’s good stuff.
-Yeah.
It’s got some kick to it, you know?
[phone ringing]
Little sour…
Oh, we’ll still be home, don’t you worry.
I guess Josh’s wife is saying
don’t each much pie because
she’s making pie.
Our waitress is a liberal Mennonite.
-The one on the right?
-Yes.
-Why?
No head dress?
-She has one but it’s really small.
-Oh, it’s black, yeah.
-And she’s wearing like…
We would wear traditional dresses
they would wear a skirt and blouse.
-This one right in front of us
is more conservative.
-She’s Amish.
Right in front of us.
-How can you tell, the bonnet?
-The more liberal, the smaller it is
and you can see through.
It’s just…
It’s not a…
-Just little details that you can tell.
So you can spot out
what exactly somebody is.
-If they’re from around here, yes.
-In Lancaster County Pennsylvania,
different or the same?
-The Amish, they’re different.
The coverings are a little different.
That was some damn good pie.
Can I say damn or is that a bad word?
-Well, if you’re referring to
a dam at a lake
that holds the water back
then it’s all good.
That was a delicious pie.
[chuckles]
Delicious pie with Josh
and
well guys,
hope you got something out of that.
A little bit of the Mennonite
slash Amish world.
You call yourself Mennonite
in the beginning and then
-I switched up on you.
-Beachy?
-Beachy Amish…
is the technical term for us.
-The technical term.
-But people call us Mennonites
and that’s fine.
We are kind of Mennonite.
-So it’s not an easy label.
I think that’s the main point of this video
and so guys,
we’re going to have a lot more videos
from Holmes County Ohio.
We’re doing a dinner.
Josh and I
with the family.
-Yes sir.
-Family and friends, right?
-Yes sir, family and my uncle.
-Okay.
-Yup.
-Okay, so we’re gonna get into more of
these conversations
at a deeper level
understand this culture more
beautiful place.
Thanks for making part one.
-Yes, absolutely.
-Oh, Josh is also a singer.
I’m gonna leave your
‘Till the next one guys, take care.
♪ men’s choir singing ♪