Amish construction workers have been on the Cleveland family farm for the past two days re-roofing an old barn. The farm, off Cleveland Road in Pembroke, is now owned by John Cleveland and his wife, Melissa. The farm has been in the family since the 1830s, according to Mike Cleveland, assessor for the Town of Batavia. John and Melissa's daughter, who is 3, is the eigtht consecutive generation of Clevelands to live on the farm.
Nice to see the traditional
Nice to see the traditional Amish workers are sticking with their values and using Hi-Lift equipment that their ancestors used!!!
Kevin, they can use the
Kevin, they can use the hi-lift as long as they aren't operating it.
I wondered when someone would say something about the hi-lift.
Well, at least the barn
Well, at least the barn wasn't designated a historic landmark,or else it never would have been fixed.It's good to see some of these barns getting a facelift to keep them standing for years to come.It seems there are more barns beyond repair than usable around here......
I ignored the lift they where
I ignored the lift they where using and I was admiring the old world craftsmanship of the hand worked aluminum siding.
Amish barn construction seems
Amish barn construction seems to have slipped to the same level of decline as Amish furniture-craft. It all started with those Amish Miracle, radiant heaters.
...Why would Historic landmark status prevent a structure from being repaired? I think you have confused alteration and repair. Landmark status is applied to buildings that have Historic/architectural significance. The point is to preserve their integrity not prevent repair.
The key to abandoned barns: round bales won't fit in a square barn.
Speaking of round hay
Speaking of round hay bales...did you hear that they're outlawed in some areas?
It seems that the cows weren't getting a square meal. (I know...groan!)
All 3 of the men on the lift
All 3 of the men on the lift are wearing Amish/Mennonite clothing and it is operated from the basket they're standing in. I don't know if it's the same crew or not but I've seen them painting a couple of houses in Castile within the past year, and they were using a Skyworks lift on site there as well. Just last week I walked past a crew going into the Silver Lake Country Market while the driver was getting fuel for their blue pick up truck. Until that day I wasn't aware the Amish drove vehicles any color but black, or that they were big Hip Hop fans.
I read something or heard
I read something or heard something a while back about how in the days before cellphones, Amish would have a neighbor install a phone, run a line out to a post that was just the other side of the property line, so the owners of businesses could take phone calls, but not on their own property.
I hear now, they have neighbors hold their mobile phones for them and take messages and/or signal them when a call comes in.
I've not take the time to research cultural practices, but I read into these instances that there are differences about what can do on one's own property and what one can do off of it.
There are slightly different
There are slightly different versions of Amish practices. Just because they are using a lift does not mean they are not keeping "kosher". Some drive cars that are painted all black and many use power tools. I learned a little about them wile doing some work in Lancaster PA years ago.
I was looking for something
I was looking for something like: Thou shall not aluminium or vinyl side thy neighbors barn but I found this instead.
http://www.800padutch.com/amishpeople.shtml
My understanding is that they
My understanding is that they are independent groups not all one big organized religion. If they decide in their own church or group that something is OK, then it is. True story, a few years ago,I was sitting in the parking lot of a Wendy's in Dover, DE listening to the radio and eating lunch when 2 young men (20-21 yrs old) carrying a 12 pack of Bud, Wendy's bags, smoking cigarettes, wearing normal clothing for a young guy (shorts, t-shirt, sneakers, sunglasses) walked up to an Amish buggy that was tied there, put the beer and Wendy's in the buggy and proceeded to untie the horse. I started to get out of my truck as I thought they were stealing it, but I saw one of them pet the horse and talk with him while the other gave him an apple, obviously their horse. They got in the buggy popped the brewskis and started chowing down and then took off. I wondered what the elders would have said about that!! Pretty funny, you can't keep 'em on the farm forever.
Dave - I read an interesting
Dave - I read an interesting article not too long ago about how young Amish adults are encouraged to venture out into the modern world and drink, smoke and all that other good stuff. the hope is that once they've had their fill, they will choose to remain in the church. It's called rumspringa:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumspringa
I came across photographer,
I came across photographer, <a href="http://www.amishphoto.com/">Bill Coleman's site</a> -- great, great Amish photos and barn photos that make me exceptionally jealous. Dang, they're good.