{ AMISH COMMUNITY NEWS } Vol. 3 No. 8
July 13, 2011
My Mom’s Diary, 1950
From Grandpa’s Diary
Submitted by Donnie Miller
Submitted by Rachel Miller
Friday, Feb. 21, 1941 18 degrees at 7:10 a.m. Dr Barton is here to give Pa a treatment, also Anna Mary. She stayed for dinner. Thursday, March 6, 1941 18 degrees at 6:35 p.m. A little girl was born to Ellis. The fan plant had a flower. Friday, March 7, 1941 16 degrees at 6 a.m., 38 at 4 p.m. Dr. Baxter was here to give Pa a treatment. Eli went to Meadville. Saturday, March 8, 1941 27 degrees at 5:30 a.m., 29 at 4 p.m. The fan plant had a flower. Urie H. Byler and wife came here this evening. Snowing and blowing.
A Postcard. 1928 Submitted by Donnie Miller
From a postcard sent home from Kansas by Enos Miller (my Dad) June 20, 1928: “Yoder Kan. June 20 We got to Reno last night and were at Shem Yoders last night and he promised us all jobs thrashing and Dan and I have jobs partly promised to drive tractors for combines before thrashing ?????. Reno County sure is beautiful, regular oceans of wheat. I am not settled yet, but if you want to write me in care of Shem Yoders, Yoder, Kansas, it will reach me for the present. Eastern Kansas is very wet. We waited 1 1/2 hours yesterday for water to go down between El Dorando and Wichita.
Enos”
A Miracle at the Mine
Submitted by Ellen Hershberger It was about midnight, summer of 2002, and Lori’s foot was hurting from her recent surgery. Next to her was her husband, Bill, sleeping soundly after another day of hard work in the heat on their organic farm. They had run out of money; it hadn’t rained in about two months and they were carrying hay out of the barn to feed the cows. And then the dog started to bark and bark and bark. After 15 minutes, Lori shook her husband awake. “Oh, why would you wake me because the dog barks?” asked an exhausted Bill. “Because he’s been barking so long,” replied Lori. So Bill got up and looked out the window. Seeing men and flashlights, he thought they were being robbed! He had tools and valuable things in the big shed. He threw on is clothes, raced down the steps with Lori hobbling not far behind. Their four children were sound asleep in their own rooms. What they found outside changed their lives for the good. They were told that nine miners were trapped and believed to be somewhere under their farm.
July 20 We went to Niagara Falls. Had a good time. All went. Rain in evening. July 21 We slept nearly all day. Enos went to Warren. July 22 Went to town in forenoon. Levi and Clara here for dinner. Nice. July 23 Girls had wiener roast. Were to church at Freeman Bylers. July 24 Rain this morning. All day rain. We sewed. July 25 We washed and ironed. Enos started cutting oats.
Three days before this, Bill and Lori had finished the rest rooms in another large shed they had built. These would prove to come in handy for the next 3 1/2 days. There are many stories about how each man knew about something that would help such as who to call to get the cage to bring the miners up trucked to the site, how to get the best digger in the state (they ended up with more than one), what bits to use and how to find exactly where those miners were. By 5:30 a.m., Lori wondered how she was going to feed all the men who were coming to help. After a few phone calls, by 7 a.m. there were 30 dozen donuts plus coffee delivered to the shed. Later in the day 100 pizzas were delivered. This continued every day until the miners were rescued. And there were a lot of other foods and drinks from the nearby grocery stores and fast food restaurants, and other people. They used two different gadgets to pinpoint where the miners were and came to within six inches of them. A pipe was put in the center of this six inches and soon those up on the ground rejoiced to hear nine taps!
(Continued on pg. 3)
Our next issue of Plain Country is August 3. Deadline for submissions is Monday, July 18. Advertising deadline is Monday, July 25. Please send the information that you’d like to share to Plain Country, P.O. Box 626, Middlefield, OH 44062. You may also call 440-632-0782 or fax to 440-834-8933.