Amish Corner
Winter came back.
Hello from Geauga County Amish Country,
Winter came back. I suppose the maple syrup folks are glad it got colder again, but I see some trees have buds already.
Saturday, March 10 was the blood drive at Joe’s Window Shop. The donor numbers have been down some and I’m not sure why. Kaytlin, 16, gave for the first time. Good job, Kaytlin.
Daylight Saving Time has come. I for one wish they would keep it like it used to be – April to October would be fine.
My company the evening of March 6 was Reuben and Irene Byler, Jake and Mary Byler, Melvin and Ida Miller and Lester and Alta Detweiler. They brought snacks and we had a good time visiting.
My company the evening of March 17 was nephew Menno and Dora Hershberger, of Cashton, Wis. They came for the funeral of their cousin, Dan Linda Miller, whose funeral was on Saturday. Also, my overnight guests the evening of March 18 were my sister-in-law Menno Malinda and daughter Ellen Mullet, also from Cashton. They left for home the morning of March 19.
There is still some sickness going around with some children missing in church on Sunday. Grandson Wayne Jr. spent four days in the hospital with a virus.
Born to granddaughter Mae and Al Kauffman on March 18 a son, Allen Ray. Grandparents are Joe and Saloma Miller and Joe and Sara Kauffman.
I wonder if it warms up again if there will be another sap run or if the season is over. Speaking of sugaring, I’ll print a letter my brother Crist Hershberger sent me concerning his role in the building of the log cabin in Burton. He lived on Jug Road when it was built, but later they moved to Cashton, Wis., in 1967.
He wrote, “It was the only municipally owned and operated sugar camp in the world. After the board of trustees in Burton Village decided the time was ripe to build a new sugar house, it was decided to build a larger one with a connected processing and sales room.
John Hershberger, my brother-in-law, was approached and accepted the job of building it. ‘He was a carpenter.’ The white oak logs, some as huge as two feet in diameter, were hauled to the site where much lifting and grunting was done in erecting the building.
The small original building was left standing where the processing and canning of the maple syrup was done.
When the first operator, Otto Herring, felt the need to retire, I was asked if I would be interested in taking over the task. With a growing family, I needed steady income so I accepted. Brother-in-law Monroe A. Miller and my son Menno helped with the tapping of the trees in the park and along all the streets leading into town. They also gathered the sap.
A restaurant on the west side of town and later Parkside Freeze on the east side eliminated the chore of packing my lunch bucket, but it also helped deplete the funds in my purse!
While boiling sap, there were many school buses that brought pupils to see how that good Ohio maple syrup was made. Tourists, even from foreign countries, helped make my job more fulfilling. This was in the early 1960s.
Years later, I was fishing in the lake at the north-west corner of 422 and Mumford Road when a car coming from the south lost control and crashed into the utility pole. I was the first on at the scene and who should it be but Otto Herring and his wife, both killed. Such a sad feeling.”
This letter was sent to me in 2004. Brother Crist has since passed on. There are probably not many who remember when this took place.
Chuckles: Growing Old
For the first half of your life, people tell you what to do; for the second half, they tell you what you should have done.
In youth, we run into difficulties; in old age, difficulties run into us.
You know you are getting old when the candles cost more than the cake.
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.
You know you’re old if your walker has an airbag.
The best way to get rid of kitchen odors is to eat out.
Remember, marry a man your own age. As your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.
Thought for the Day
If you lighten the way for others, you’ll never be in the da
