South Georgia April 6, 2005 edition

Cotton Queens Visit Governor
Recently the Georgia Cotton Queens, and their parents went to Atlanta and met with, and had lunch with Gov. Sonny Perdue and other state officers. Little Miss Georgia Cotton, Haley Ray Warren of Adel, and Tiny Miss Georgia Cotton, Marlie Brooke Croft or Hahira were among the queens. The queens presented Gov. Perdue and Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin golf towels to support cotton.

The Cotton queens for 2005 are, Miss Amy Bartley, Teen Miss Jamie Kay Ireland, Junior Miss Erica Tucker, Little Miss Haley Warren, Tiny Miss Marlie Croft, and Teeny Miss Grace Palmer.

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From the Headlines

 
Plot to kill officer had vicious side
The Chicago Tribune, September 20

Some phone psychics provide useless, erroneous information
Staten Island Sunday Advance, September 15

Iowa move back to Pittsburgh
The Flint Journal, August 15

Infertility unlikely to be passed on
Montgomery Advertiser, May 11

Study Finds Sex, Pregnancy Link
Cornell Daily Sun, December 7, 1995

Whatever Their motives, Moms Who Kill Kids still Shock Us
Holland Sentinal, date unknown. (Sent to me by Steven Hansen.)


Survey Finds Dirtier Subways After Cleaning Jobs Were Cut
The New York Times, November 22

Larger Kangaroos Leap Farther, Researchers Find
The Los Angeles Times, November 2

`Light' meals are lower in fat, calories
Huntington Herald-Dispatch, November 30

Alcohol ads promote drinking
The Hartford Courant, November 18

Malls try to attract shoppers
The Baltimore Sun, October 22

Official: Only rain will cure drought
The Herald-News, Westpost, Massachusetts

Teen-age girls often have babies fathered by men
The Sunday Oregonian, September 24

Low Wages Said Key to Poverty
Newsday, July 11

Man shoots neighbor with machete
The Miami Herald, July 3


 

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Quotes

Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes. After that, who cares? ...He's a mile away and you've got his shoes. unknown

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.--Will Rogers

Sometimes I need what only you can provide - Your absence.--Ashleigh Brilliant

If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.--Quentin Crisp

We're not lost. We're locationaly challenged.--John M. Ford

I phoned my dad to tell him I had stopped smoking. He called me a quitter.--Steven Pearl
If your parents never had children, chances are you won't either.--Dick Cavett

The trick to flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.--Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

People who are late are often happier than those who have to wait for them.--Chinese Fortune Cookie

Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something.--Pancho Villa-Last Words

I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally.--W.C.Fields.

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My Powerful Memory

by John R. Taylor
john@ucan.us

Once again my cousins have questioned my memory. Because they have puny memories they are awed by my great recollection. I guess I should say that they are 'recall challenged", not possessors of puny memories; you know, political correctness and everything. But they do have puny memories. After much brilliant debate on my part I have finally got them to concede that I do have a superior memory. In fact, they now say my memory is so mighty that I can actually remember things which did not even happen. It's about time they came around.

For those of you who aren't fortunate enough to possess such awe inspiring great memory as yours truly, don't be too dismayed. It is not all fun and games. There is a marked down side to this great divine gift. For example, I bet most of you can't remember going to your parents wedding, but I can. Now wait! My parents were married twice. I wasn't around for the first one, but I remember well the second time they got hitched. The ceremony was at a friend's home in Tuscaloosa Alabama. I was three or four. It was torture. They had my shirt buttoned all the way up and I had on a tie that had elastic straps which went around my neck. They should not have been surprised if I had chocked to death and died right there. They made me set on this lady's big brown couch. They made me set back and said, "set up straight now." My knees of course would not reach the edge of the couch so there I sat with my legs out straight, my head about to pop right off form the torturous tie, and they would not even let me play with the two little dolls on the cake. Now I being a very masculine, tough little boy, I never played with dolls, but if my parents, being full grown grownups could have these little dolls, then I thought I might make an exception. But no. The blasted little dolls had to just set up there on top of the blasted cake and do exactly what I was doing - nothing! Being bored!

Well I lived though my parents wedding. I also can remember my third birthday. In truth, it may have not been my birthday. At that time in my life I didn't have a watch with a calendar on it. I didn't have a watch atall, but you get my point. It was the day they had my birthday party, and I believe they said it was my birthday, but if it wasn't, it was around my third birthday.

We got up that morning and got dressed. I remember Daddy putting his pants on. He mostly wore kakis but this morning he put on a pair of green pants. They were not dress trousers, but work clothes. When Daddy dressed up he always wore a black suite, so I guess he didn't dress up for my birthday. My pants were red corduroys with elastic in the waste. It was the first time I noticed they didn't have a fly or a zipper, I complained to Daddy about this and he said, " don't worry son, we'll get you some pants with a zipper." And sure enough, I don't remember the first pair of pants I had with a zipper, but pretty much all my pants have had zippers. Well there was that wind suite the crew form Weyerhaeuser got me for Christmas that time. It didn't have a zipper. Of course I didn't ware that suit many times. I wore the coat; it was kinda cool; no, no, I don't mean it wouldn't keep you warm. It kept you warm enough, well if it wasn't too cold, I mean dang, it was a thin coat, but if it wasn't real cold it kept you warm, but it looked cool. My kids said cool wasn't the way it made me look. They said something about having a little extra sugar in my coffee. Don't know what they meant by that, I don't even drink coffee. But I wore the coat, but those pants without zippers, they just would not do. You couldn't tell the back from the front.

Anyway, the morning of my third birthday we got up and went into the dinning room. At the time we lived with my Aunt Bonnie. Her husband, Uncle Felton had been killed in a car wreck a year before I was born. It is strange, but I don't remember Uncle Felton at all. Aunt Bonnie was also killed in a car wreck before I turned four, but I remember her well. She was pretty and smelled nice. She was nice to me and since Uncle Felton was deceased anyway, and she was alone, I tried hard to impress her. She was my aunt, but at the age of two or three I was not aware of the inbreeding taboo.

It was apparent that Aunt Bonnie reciprocated my affection and infatuation. When we got to the dinning room there was a huge chocolate cake. It was almost as tall as I was, of course I wasn't as tall as I am now, but it was a big cake. It had beautiful chocolate icing with pecan halves all around. When Aunt Bonnie cut it, it was too good to be true. You see at that early age I understood that there was a balance in the universe. A ying and yang. Good and evil. God and the devil. To me the cake was the punishment one must endure to keep the eternal balance of the universe to have the joy of eating the icing. This cake was almost all icing! There were two layers of chocolate cake of about normal size separated by a monstrous layer of chocolate icing. The top and the sides had equally generous portions of icing.

Some time before my third birthday I had another curious experience. I had been playing or otherwise occupying my time as two year olds occupy their time, and I got up to walk across the living room floor and I could not remember how to hold my hands when I walked. I stood there in the middle of the living room trying different positions for my hands. I clinched my fists and held my arms straight by my sides, but that just didn't feel right. I tried holding my fingers straight and together and then straight and apart. In the end I decided that my fingers straight and together and my arms straight and stiffly swinging as I walked was the way to do it. Walking across the floor, I caught Aunt Bonnie's attention. "What is he doing?" she asked my daddy. "I don't know. I guess he is just playing. He has a good imagination." My father answered.

Sensing by their comments, and later comments that were made, that I was doing it wrong, I clinched my fists and held my arms tightly by my side. Every time someone said something to me or about me I'd try a new way. For sometime, I must have looked quite peculiar. In due time, I forgot I didn't know how to hold my hands and began walking naturally.

I said at first that there was some bad to go along with the good about my memories, but that is not true. It is all good. It is so good that I would take nothing for even one of these memories. It Bill Gates offered an even swap, his Microsoft shares for my memories, I'd laugh in his face. My memories are of far greater value that all his wealth. And when we lay down in death, his earthly wealth, like everyone else's, will not go with him, but my memories, and yours, will.
 

Lancing Boils and Working Medicine or Physician Heal Thyself

by John R. Taylor
john@ucan.us

Watching my children raise their families, I have noticed that they carry their children to the doctor much more frequently than I did them. And as I think back, my parents used physicians much less than even I did. Now I, in no way, am implying or suggesting that my children use doctors too much or that my parents use them too little. But this has made me think about my childhood, and how things were way back then.

Growing up I was cursed with chronic lesions or boils. The things old folks back then called rasens. More often than not, I had one of these painful and embarrassing sores someplace on my body. Daddy took me to the doctor a time or two about them, but all we ever got from him was a bill, so Daddy and Mama treated me themselves.

Mama's idea about the cause of my affliction was that I had poison in my system and it needed to come out. I just needed a "good working". Her approach to getting it out was straight forward enough. She give me large doses of an archaic laxative called Syrup of Black Drouph; I, nor my computer can spell it, and it may have been drought, or something else, but this black, sweet tasting liquid had an effect I remember all too well. I think this stuff must have been invented back during the Spanish Inquisition for torturing heretics. I have read about some of the instruments used for that purpose and this tonic would have fit right in.

It tasted about a billion times better than most of the other medicines of the time. The first time I had a spoonful of it in my mouth I thought it was my favorite medicine. But about an hour after you take it, it starts doing its thing. You stomach starts rolling and growling. It feels like there is a pair of giant hamsters chasing each other on a wheel in you gut, and sounds like there is a grizzle bear trying to scare them off. All this increases in ferocity until the hamsters tune into angry, panicked, house cats with their tails afire. If you look down, you can even see there heads as jump and claw to escape. You can feel them bouncing off you ribcage and backbone and their claws ripping your stomach walls. The grizzle bear is still growling, but now he is joined with what sounds like buckets of water being poured back and forth and being sloshed about. When you think that your stomach is hurting about as much as a stomach can hurt, the cramps start.

Though they don't look like it, these cramps feel very much like being drawn and quartered. After two or three hours of the most ghastly pain, you get the instantaneous urge to go to the bathroom, and you have to go right now! For the next eight to twelve hours you cannot be more than three steps from the toilet. Well you can, but you'll wish you weren't.

Whether the ordeal helped my boils or not, I can't say. But if there was poison in my system, it most assuredly got it out. It got everything out. There were two or three times that I am sure I turned completely wrong-side-out. Later Phenamint and Exlax took the place of Syrup of Black Drouph. One was gum and the other disguised as chocolate candy. There is a funny story about Exlax and cousin Buie. Buie didn't know what Exlax was. And the story wasn't funny to him, but we all thought it was very funny. You can probably guess the general idea. I'll give you the particulars at another time.

As bad as Mama's cure for my boils were, I actually sought her out when I had one. The reason for this is simple - I wanted her to cure me before Daddy found out. You see, Daddy had a very similar notion about what cause my boils. I had poison in my system. It had to come out. Sound familiar? He too utilized a good working medicine. And he thought it perfectly logical that if a teaspoon of a remedy was good, then three or four tablespoons would be great. So I'd get a super dose of "working medicine", but that was not all. Daddy felt that only part of my poison could be removed by the torturous laxative. The rest had to be removed by lancing the sore. For those of you too young and fortunate enough to know what lancing is, it is cutting open the wound. If this sounds painful, that's because it is, very. Now if you are among the blessed lucky ones who have never had a boil, let me explain. These things hurt. They are like the biggest, nastiest, most inflamed pimple - on steroids. I had one on my left elbow that was so tender that if you lightly touch my right knee I cringed.

In truth, lancing these things may actually have relieved some pressure and lessen the pain, but it was horrible to me. The only thing that I remember that was worst than having a boil lanced was the time Daddy made me lance an infected ingrown hair on his neck. I was very young, maybe only seven or eight. Daddy had an exceptionally thick and heavy beard. There were times when a hair would turn and grow into his skin. This would of course cause and infection. This particular time he had an ingrown hair about level with his Adam's apple and a couple of inches to the side. He had been in the bathroom trying to see about it, but it was in such a place that he really couldn't see it well. He had been severely wounded in World War II and had lost his right hand. This further compounded his problem because he could not pull the skin over to see better. Finally he came and told me to lance his neck. Now I never augured when Daddy told me what to do, but this time I did plead and beg that I not have to do this. He explained how to do it, and assured me it would be alright. All the time I am saying, "No,no,no!" He was patient with me, but there came a time when I had nothing to do but comply. He had carefully wrapped a washcloth on one side of a double-edged razor blade and handed it to me. I held the blade with the cloth. I knew nothing of razor blades; I had not idea how sharp they were. I had the blade about halfway down its length. Daddy had taught me that a bad thing was better it you did it quick. He had often stanched off a Band-Aid and I had remembered how it was better than the time I pulled one slowly off. With this in mind, I stabbed at the sore on my Daddy's neck with the razor blade.

I felt Daddy's neck touch my fingers as the blade went deep into his neck. Immediately, blood squirted from the cut. I jumped back. Daddy jumped back. He slapped his hand over the cut and blood shot between his fingers and I felt and heard it spatter on my face and neck. "Son, you've cut my jugular vain!" he shouted. I stood in shock as he attempted to stop the bleeding. Blood was going everywhere! I thought for sure he was going to die. "Get me a rag," he told me, mostly just to give me something to do I think.

Having his throat cut did not kill my Daddy, but a heart-attack did less than a decade later.
 

Know Religion
 

While many of the humanists and atheists would have us believe that religion is outdated and irrelevant in today's world, the fact is that the overwhelming majority of the world's inhabitants have very strong religious views. Most of the good actions, and sadly, many of the bad, are done for religious reason. In this country we as a nation have strayed far from our religious roots. Views & News will present an essay on a different religion each week.

We will be as subjective, opened minded, factual, and fair as possible. Nothing in any essay is in anyway intended as an endorsement of any particular religion. If you would like to dispute, correct, or add to anything presented, please submit these to us. Christian and non-Christian religions will both be covered and we will select their order by what we deem as relevant and interesting at the present time. Religions that are very well known, will be presented after those we know little of as a matter of course.

If you have missed any of our past essays on Islam, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Presbyterians, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or the Anglican Church, you can read them online at viewsandnews.ucan.us.
On any Sunday you will find Mennonites gathered for worship in about 60 countries around the world. With over one million members, the Mennonite church has been in existence for more than 475 years, expressing their faith in various ways and including a wide variety of people: from a Midwest farmer, to an European architect; from the African chieftain, to the South American sociologist. Although they speak dozens of languages, the thousands of different Mennonite congregations count themselves as one family of faith--one of many faith families in the Christian church.

The Mennonite (Anabaptist) faith movement began in Europe in the 16th Century when a small group of believers challenged the reforms of Martin Luther and others during the Protestant Reformation, saying they were not radical enough and calling for adult rather than infant baptism. In 1525, several members set themselves apart from the official church by publicly declaring their faith in Jesus Christ and re-baptizing each other.

Church-state structures did not tolerate these Anabaptists or "Anabaptizers," meaning re-baptizers. Over the course of two generations, thousands were persecuted. Many met death as martyrs. In order to preserve the movement, the survivors went into hiding. From 1575 to 1850, membership grew primarily when adults passed their faith to their children.

Mennonite Church USA is one of nearly 20 formally organized groups of Mennonites in North America that vary in lifestyle and religious practice but all stem from the Anabaptist movement. Though their streams of faith may differ, Mennonite groups hold common beliefs: Jesus Christ is central to worship and to everyday living. Behavior is to follow Christ's example. The Bible is considered the inspired word of God. Membership continues to be voluntary, with adult baptism upon declaration of faith.

Mennonites are known for their peace stand, taken because they believe Jesus Christ taught the way of peace. Many members choose not to participate in military service. Some take their belief further by objecting to government military expenditure; a few choose not to pay the percentage of their annual income tax that would go for military purposes.

Mennonites are also known for their strong commitment to community; interest in social issues; voluntary service to those who have experienced hardship and loss in floods, tornadoes and other disasters; and mission outreach.

You're welcome to attend any Mennonite congregation!

Who are the Amish? Are they the same as the Pennsylvania Dutch?

The Amish are a religious group who live in settlements in 22 states and Ontario, Canada. The oldest group of Old Order Amish, about 16-18,000 people live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Amish stress humility, family and community, and separation from the world.

Although Lancaster Amish are Pennsylvania Dutch, all Pennsylvania Dutch are not Amish. The Pennsylvania Dutch are natives of Central Pennsylvania, particularly Lancaster and its surrounding counties. Unlike the Amish, they are not all one religion. Instead, their common bond is a mainly German background (Pennsylvania Dutch is actually Pennsylvania Deutsch, or German). They also have Welsh, English, Scottish, Swiss, and French ancestry.

What is the history of the Amish?
The Amish have their roots in the Mennonite community. Both were part of the early Anabaptist movement in Europe, which took place at the time of the Reformation. The Anabaptists believed that only adults who had confessed their faith should be baptized, and that they should remain separate from the larger society. Many early Anabaptists were put to death as heretics by both Catholics and Protestants, and many others fled to the mountains of Switzerland and southern Germany. Here began the Amish tradition of farming and holding their worship services in homes rather than churches.

In 1536, a young Catholic priest from Holland named Menno Simons joined the Anabaptist movement. His writings and leadership united many of the Anabaptist groups, who were nicknamed "Mennonites." In 1693, a Swiss bishop named Jacob Amman broke from the Mennonite church. His followers were called the "Amish." Although the two groups have split several times, the Amish and Mennonite churches still share the same beliefs concerning baptism, non-resistance, and basic Bible doctrines. They differ in matters of dress, technology, language, form of worship, and interpretation of the Bible.

The Amish and Mennonites both settled in Pennsylvania as part of William Penn's "holy experiment" of religious tolerance. The first sizable group of Amish arrived in Lancaster County in the 1720's or 1730's.
The Amish seem stuck in history. Why don't they accept modern ideas and innovations?
Although the Amish look like they stepped out of the rural nineteenth century, in fact they do change. Their lives move more slowly than ours, but they definitely are not stuck anywhere. They choose to examine change carefully before they accept it. If the new idea or gadget does not assist in keeping their lives simple and their families together, they probably will reject it. Each church district decides for itself what it will and will not accept; there is no single governing body for the entire Old Order population, but all follow a literal interpretation of the Bible and an unwritten set of rules called the Ordnung.

Old Order groups all drive horses and buggies rather than cars, do not have electricity in their homes, and send their children to private, one-room schoolhouses. Children attend only through the eighth grade. After that, they work on their family's farm or business until they marry. The Amish feel that their children do not need more formal education than this. Although they pay school taxes, the Amish have fought to keep their children out of public schools. In 1972, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark unanimous decision which exempted the Old Order Amish and related groups from state compulsory attendance laws beyond the eighth grade. Many Mennonites and progressive Amish do attend high school and even college.

Do they speak English?
Most Amish are trilingual. They speak a dialect of German called Pennsylvania Dutch at home; they use High German at their worship services; and they learn English at school. They speak English when they deal with anyone who is not Amish. They pronounce Amish with a broad "a" (Ah-mish).

The Amish are a private people who believe God has kept them together despite pressure to change from the modern world. They are not perfect, but they are a strong example of a community that supports and cares for its members. They are a people apart; they are also a people together.

Why do they dress that way?
Old Order Amish women and girls wear modest dresses made from solid-colored fabric with long sleeves and a full skirt (not shorter than half-way between knee and floor). These dresses are covered with a cape and apron and are fastened with straight pins or snaps. They never cut their hair, which they wear in a bun on the back of the head. On their heads they wear a white prayer covering if they are married and a black one if they are single. Amish women do not wear jewelry.

Men and boys wear dark-colored suits, straight-cut coats without lapels, broadfall trousers, suspenders, solid-colored shirts, black socks and shoes, and black or straw broad-brimmed hats. Their shirts fasten with conventional buttons, but their suit coats and vests fasten with hooks and eyes. They do not have mustaches, but they grow beards after they marry.

The Amish feel these distinctive clothes encourage humility and separation from the world. Their clothing is not a costume; it is an expression of their faith.

What's an Amish wedding like?
Family is the core element in the Amish church, and choosing a mate is the most important decision in an Amishman's life. Boys and girls begin their search for a spouse when they turn sixteen. By the time a young woman turns twenty or a young man is in his early twenties, he or she is probably looking forward to the wedding day. But several definite steps must be taken by a couple before they may marry.

Both must join the Amish church. They are baptized into the Amish faith and are responsible for following the Ordnung. The Ordnung is a written and unwritten set of rules for daily living. Joining the church prepares the young people for the seriousness of setting up their own home.

The young man asks his girl to marry him, but he does not give her a diamond. He may give her china or a clock. The couple keeps their intentions secret until July or August. At this time the young woman tells her family about her plans to marry.

A whirlwind of activity begins after Fast Day on October 11. Fall communion takes place the following church Sunday. After communion, proper certification of membership is requested, and is given by the second Sunday after communion. This is a major day in the life of the church because all the couples who plan to marry are "published." At the end of the service, the deacon announces the names of the girls and who they plan to marry. The fathers then announce the date and time of the wedding and invite the members to attend. The betrothed couple does not attend the church service on the Sunday they are published. Instead, the young woman prepares a meal for her fiancé and they enjoy dinner alone at her home. When the girl's family returns from church, the daughter formally introduces her fiance to her parents.

After being published, the young people have just a few days before the ceremony. They are permitted to go to one last singing with their old group of friends. The girl also helps her mother prepare for the wedding and feast which takes place in her parents' home. The boy is busy extending personal invitations to members of his church district.

And the bride wore...blue. Blue may not be the most traditional color for a bridal gown, but in one instance it is actually the most popular color choice. Blue is a typical color chosen for weddings by young Amish women. Navy blue, sky blue and shades of purple are the most popular colors donning Amish brides in any year. An Amish bride's wedding attire is always new. She usually makes her own dress and also those of her attendants, known as newehockers, (Pennsylvania Dutch for sidesitters). The style of the dresses are a plain cut and are mid-calf length. They are unadorned, there is no fancy trim or lace and there is never a train. Most non-Amish brides wear their bridal dress once, but an Amish bride's practical dress will serve her for more than just her wedding day. Her wedding outfit will become her Sunday church attire after she is married. She will also be buried in the same dress when she dies. The bride and her attendants also wear capes and aprons over their dresses. Instead of a veil, the bride wears a black prayer covering to differentiate from the white cap she wears daily. And, the bride must wear black high-topped shoes. No one in the bridal party carries flowers.

The groom and his newehockers wear black suits. All coats and vests fasten with hooks and eyes, not buttons. Their shirts are white, and shoes and stockings are black. Normally, Amish men do not wear ties, but for the wedding they will don bow ties. The groom also wears high-topped black shoes, and a black hat with a three and a half inch brim.

All of the attendants in the wedding party play a vital role in the events of the day. But there is no best man or maid of honor; all are of equal importance.

Wedding dates for the Amish are limited to November and part of December, when the harvest has been completed and severe winter weather has not yet arrived. A full day is needed to prepare for the wedding. Most are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays are used as days to prepare for or to clean-up after. Saturdays are not used as wedding days because it would be sacrilegious to work or clean-up on the following day, Sunday.

A typical Amish wedding day begins at 4 o'clock in the morning. After all, the cows must still be milked and all the other daily farm chores need to be done. There are also many last minute preparations to take care of before the wedding guests arrive. Helpers begin to arrive by 6:30 a.m. to take care of last minute details. By 7:00 a.m., the people in the wedding party have usually eaten breakfast, changed into their wedding clothes, and are waiting in the kitchen to greet the guests. Some 200 to 400 relatives, friends and church members are invited to the ceremony, which is held in the bride's home.

The Forgeher, or ushers, (usually four married couples), will make sure each guest has a place on one of the long wooden benches in the meeting or church room of the home. At 8:30 a.m., the three-hour long service begins. The congregation will sing hymns, (without instrumental accompaniment), while the minister counsels the bride and groom in another part of the house. After the minister and the young couple return to the church room, a prayer, Scripture reading and sermon takes place. Typically, the sermon is a very long one.
After the sermon is concluded, the minister asks the bride and groom to step forward from their seat with the rest of the congregation. Then he questions them about their marriage to be, which is similar to taking wedding vows. The minister then blesses the couple. After the blessing, other ordained men and the fathers of the couple may give testimony about marriage to the congregation. A final prayer draws the ceremony to a close.

That's when the festivities begin. In a flurry of activity, the women rush to the kitchen to get ready to serve dinner while the men set up tables in a U-shape around the walls of the living room. A corner of the table will be reserved for the bride and groom and the bridal party. This is an honored place called the "Eck," meaning corner. The tables are set at least twice during the meal, depending on how many guests were invited. The tables are laden with the "roast," (roast chicken with bread stuffing), mashed potatoes, gravy, creamed celery, coleslaw, applesauce, cherry pie, donuts, fruit salad, tapioca pudding and bread, butter and jelly.
The bride sits on the groom's left, in the corner, the same way they will sit as man and wife in their buggy. The single women sit on the same side as the bride and the single men on that of the groom. The immediate family members sit at a long table in the kitchen, with both fathers seated at the head.

After dinner, the afternoon is spent visiting, playing games and matchmaking. Sometimes the bride will match unmarried boys and girls, who are over 16 years old, to sit together at the evening meal. The evening meal starts at 5:00 p.m. The parents of the bride and groom, and the older guests are now seated at the main table and are the first to be served. The supper varies from the traditional noon meal. A typical menu might consist of stewed chicken, fried sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese, peas, cold-cuts, pumpkin and lemon sponge pies, and cookies. The day usually winds to a close around 10:30 p.m.

The couple's first night together is spent at the bride's home because they must get up early the next day to help clean the house. Their honeymoon is spent visiting all their new relatives on the weekends throughout the winter months ahead. This is when they collect the majority of their wedding gifts. Usually, they receive useful items such as dishware, cookware, canned food, tools and household items. Typically, when the newlyweds go visiting, they will go to one place Friday night and stay overnight for breakfast the following day. They'll visit a second place in the afternoon and stay for the noon meal and go to a third place for supper. Saturday night is spent at a fourth place, where they have Sunday breakfast. A fifth place is visited for Sunday dinner and a sixth for Sunday supper before they return to the bride's parents home. The couple lives at the home of the bride's parents until they can set up their own home the following spring.

Do Amish children go to school?
Yes...for the many Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonite children living in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, the ringing school bell signals a time to shift attention from field work to school work, a time to drop the hoe and pick up a pencil.

Old Order children attend one-room schools through the eighth grade and are usually taught by a young, unmarried Christian woman. As a result of the County's growing Old Order population, enrollment in their one-room schools is surging. During recent years Old Order leaders have been over-seeing the construction of new one-room school buildings at the rate of about five per year.

A 1972 Supreme Court ruling exempted the Old Order sects from compulsory attendance laws beyond the eighth grade. The one-room schools restrict worldly influences and stress the basics such as reading, writing and arithmetic. The importance of the community and cooperation among its members are also emphasized.

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