Vol. 2 No. 5
{AMISH COMMUNIT Y NEWS}
The Tornado
Summer Memories
June 30, 2010
Submitted by Barbara Detweiler It was May 31, 1985, and it started off like any other day. I washed clothes, and I remember thinking it was very muggy and humid. It was hard to breathe. At 3:30, I went to our neighbors’ to babysit. I took brother Steven (almost 7) along and was going to send him home with brother John when he walked past on his way home from work. I started supper at 4:30. The children were downstairs playing, and I made them come upstairs because it was thundering and lightening. I closed all the windows. I saw John go past at 5 and decided Steven could just stay, so I yelled out to tell John to let mom know. (If I had sent Steven home, they would have been in the direct path of the tornado.) I went back to the stove when suddenly I heard this roar, and it got really windy. Windows flew open and leaves came flying in through the roof. When I finally got my brain to think, I yelled, “Run for the basement!” and I grabbed the two youngest children and ran. Of course by then, it was over. A huge tree had fallen on the house and damaged it. When a neighbor came running to see if we were okay, it finally really registered in my mind what it was. I looked up toward the east, and there went this pure white funnel. The children were screaming and crying, and I had to control myself for their sakes. Then I thought of John, who had been walking at that time. Just then dad and the others came running up and said John was okay. He had hurled himself into the ditch when he saw the tornado coming, and he watched the neighbor’s shop go. We looked up toward Aunt Betty and Uncle John’s place and dad said, “Their house isn’t there anymore.” Dad and mom went up to John’s, and I took the children down to our place. Brother Wally had been at our grandparents’ house along with Betty and children, and they had run for the back bedroom because the basement was full of water. Wally got a gash in his head and had to go to emergency. (Dad brought Wally’s hat home; it was all bloody.) Uncle Dan’s wife, Mary Ann, was also at grandpa’s, and she had to go to emergency, too. She got 15 stitches in her leg, and Wally had stitches in the back of his head, in his shoulder and in his lips. This was all because of flying glass in the bedroom. Uncle John and Aunt Betty had to rebuild, and people showed up by the hundreds to help with the cleanup, etc. Three weeks after the tornado, their house was up, sided and drywalled, and they moved into the basement.
One-day Trips
Submitted by Donnie Miller Our summer memories were that mom and dad always tried to take the family for a one-day trip after the corn was planted and before the start of putting up hay. Often they would take us on a picnic and fishing, often to Mosquito Lake. One time we had planned to go to Punderson Lake, but I had to stay at home because I had the MUMPS! One time we made a one-day trip to Niagara Falls, which I can barely remember.
Water Fights
Submitted by Susan Yoder Probably one of my favorite childhood memories is the water fights we’d have. When mom would let us, we’d fill up fivegallon buckets with water (usually cold) and use glasses and have ourselves a blast! I think our feet barely touched the ground as we literally flew to get away from each other. I must say mom had tons of patience with us tracking in wet grass, etc., but there was nothing like it to cool off on a hot summer day!
Wanted for our next issue: Surviving and Enjoying Summer
Share your tips or hints about how to survive hot weather … Share your memories of summers …Share your favorite summer recipes … Please send them to The Plain Country, P.O. Box 626, Middlefield no later than July 5.
Our next issue of Plain Country is July 21. Deadline for submissions is Monday, July 5. Advertising deadline is Monday, July 12. Please send the information that you’d like to share with
Plain Country to P.O. Box 626, Middlefield, OH 44062. You may also call 440-632-0782 or fax to 440-834-8933.