Amish people at CP...

Anyone else notice a lot of Amish people go to CP? Everytime I go, I see a lot of them around, which I think is kind of cool.

What I found strange is that they were using cameras, phones, and were at CP.

Isn't that kind of weird?

They are most likely Menonites. They are permitted to use electricity, etc.

there not amish there mennonite. Im not saying all of them are but I belive a good deal of them are. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mennonite

Now if you posted you saw aliens at Cp that would be an intresting story. That weren't part of Halloweekends or DT.

I remember seeing Nun's dressed in full habit at CP before. I thought I would throw that in.

I don't need to read wiki to know that Mennonites are amish with no rules. Basically farmers that dress funny.

No, they very well may be Amish "Young Folk." Once Amish kids turn 15 and until they officially join the church, they often experiment with "English" ways. Many have cell phones and sometimes boys will keep a truck at a neighbors house.

A large portion of my students are Amish, and most of them have brothers and sisters that have been to CP, so it is not that weird. It would be weird to see older Amish people at the Point. That kind of entertainment is supposed to stop at baptism.

Makes me remember my favorite observation of Amish/Mennonite culture. Years ago, while hiking the Buckeye Trail through the village of Burton in Geauga County, I saw the most amazing thing. There, at a bank on the town square, was an Amish man on his buggy with horses -- pulled up next to the ATM. It was just the coolest, oddest juxtaposition imaginable. Still makes me smile.

In my experience, I believe both Mennonites and Amish teens exploring the "English ways" visit the park regularly. I think the Mennonites are usually in the traditional clothes, whereas the teens who are away from their community (I know there's a term for that, I just can't think of it) will usually wear things like Abercrombie shirts and Nikes along with their homemade jeans and bowl cuts. I might be way off base though, but I believe that is the difference.

I have lived near Amish communities in two different states, and I know that when the kids turn 16 (sometimes 14, depending on the community) they are allowed to attend amusement parks, sporting events, etc. to experience English life. This is before they make the decision to become baptized and officially join the church.

Both CP and KI are popular destinations for the young Amish, due to the large number of Amish communities in Ohio and Indiana.

A very high percentage of Amish youth return to the communites and become members.

The Mennonites aren't as strict and usually allow their members to go to amusement parks, movies, etc. I attended high school with dozens of Mennonites, and I remember that they were only allowed to drive brown or black cars, no other colors, with regular hubcaps, no steel wheels because anything else was considered "worldly."

http://www.amish.com/

Now that is just plain wrong.

Its called Rumspringa, just in case anyone wanted to know.

^ That's it! I figured I would recognize the term if I heard it.

I guess CP's been a favorite of the Mennonites for a while...

One morning back in 1973 I was standing in the Surrey and looked up from the counter to see a whole group of young Mennonite women walking by, probably 25 of them. That same evening here they came again, walking the opposite direction. However, in the meantime they had apparently stopped at the Hat Rack because they were all wearing those pointy felt hats with the large feathers sticking out the top, right over their little white Mennonite hats. They each had their names embroidered on the front, too...Faith, Charity, Prudence...and they were all laughing their butts off and having a ball.

That night at the rec (Circus) we all had a good laugh about them- just about everybody that worked there had seen 'em and we all thought it was so funny.

This thread is racist. ;)

That's silly. Amish are, ethnically, white (predominantly German) European. Since nobody here is making fun of white Europeans in general, it's not racism. If anything, it would be culturalism or religion-ism. Which it's not, either. ;)

Geauga Lake used to attract throngs of Amish/Mennonite kids. Which made sense since there are sizable Amish populations in Geauga and surrounding counties. I once remember seeing a couple Amish boys smoking in the park -- now that's Rumspringa for you.

I guess you forgot what the winking smiley means.

No, I merely forgot to attach one my own.

There. Corrected. :)

While I was at Kennywood this past weekend, I seen three Amish/Mennonite girls on Skycoaster or whatever it is called. Then I walked over the bridge and seen about 20 Amish/Mennonite laughing at their freinds on the ride.

EvilChameleon09 said:
This thread is racist. ;)

"Farmers who dress funny" .... "We had a good laugh"

Ya, some people on this forum do have some diversity education they might want to look into....(Now where is that winkning smiley face?)