Heritage Days In Amish Country Pt 1

On Saturday we went to the tiny farming town

of Yoder Kansas where they were celebrating

'Heritage Days'.

This is a small rural town that has a large

Amish community

in the surrounding country side.

You can always tell an Amish

homestead by the lack 

of electrical lines

leading from the roadside

to the farm and there is 

usually a buggy or two

in sight.

You are pretty much guaranteed to

see a horse and buggy trotting

along the country roads

the closer you get to

the town.

Above is a typical sight when you drive

through Yoder.

On this day we were greeted by this

friendly fellow.

He was the traffic controller

as people came from all over to watch the

parade and catch the buggy races

and other fun events that were on that day.

Now how many towns have you been to

where the roads are scared up from

horse and buggies???

We arrived about half way through the

parade....for a small town they have a 

VERY large turnout as people enter

from all over the State and some even 

come from other States. 

Here are a few of the sights we enjoyed.

This lady was riding a huge mule!

I've always been very careful about taking

photo's of the Amish as I know many of 

them don't appreciate you photographing

their faces. 

There are two groups of Amish

in this area...one group is more

conservative than the other.

I was surprised by all the Amish who 

took part in the parade and other

activities where people 

were snapping pictures all over the place.

They didn't seem to mind at all.

Once I saw that I felt it was ok to snap away.

This little Amish girl enjoyed riding on 

grandpa's tractor in the parade.

See the tractor below?

It's MUCH larger than the photo shows.

Look at who is driving this monster!

And he was in the cab alone!

After the parade we headed over

to where the buggy races

were going to take place.

No these big guys weren't in the races!

The people were just starting to line

the road where the races were to take place.

Last year we stood over there in the sun

but this year it was 101 in the shade so we 

decided to sit under the trees on the bleachers.

See the house in the background?

It's an Amish home

and if you enlarge the photo 

you'll see a lot of the Amish gathering

to watch the races.

By the time things started you couldn't see 

the road at all!

Taking time to relax between races.

We headed home before the races 

were over but we went back later to

enjoy the music, kettle corn

and watch the fun.

This Amish couple was heading 

heading home too.

I think we're very lucky to live so close

to these friendly people.

Part 2 coming soon!

Maura :)