Shipshewana, Indiana

THIS WEEK -- I will be in Shipshewana, Indiana for the Shipshewana Quilt Festival
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I am packing up my laptop -- hoping to do a REAL TIME blog...if that doesn't work, I'll at least be posting on my Facebook page...

So -- if there are no new posts this week -- you'll know it's because I am  IN INDIANA...eating some very delicious fried chicken, with a wicked peanut butter/marshmallow cream spread that they put ON EVERY TABLE...

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This is what I wrote last June:
You know how much I enjoy touring a nice mansion or historical society. I IT'S WHAT I DO. The first time I was in Salt Lake City, I dragged Mary to the Beehive House (Home of Bringham Young). One of my favorite road trips of all time -- upstate New York with Marion -- we went to see Franklin Roosevelt's estate -- Springwood. AMAZING...

And -- if you ever get to Shipshewana -- you MUST VISIT the Menno-Hof center.

The reason they built the Menno-Hof center is because so many visitors would come into town for the famous Shipshewana Farmer's Market (Tuesdays and Wednesdays) -- and they'd ask a million stupid questions.

(Can we take their picture? Why not? How many wives are they allowed to have?)

So -- they decided to build an official information center. This place is very well done. You start off with a docent -- and for the next two hours -- there is an interesting mix of films, guides, displays, push button exhibits, etc.

I must admit -- I was completely ignorant about Amish people.

There were several brief movies -- and I especially enjoyed the one that condensed 2600 years of religion into 4 1/2 minutes...(that's about the right speed for me...)

The grounds around the center are beautiful -- there is a gazebo...beautiful gardens...

The Center tried to explain how and why the Mennonites broke away from the Church -- and then how and why the Amish broke away from the Mennonites...

One of the things I learned at the Center was about the Mennonite Disaster Service.

The "tornado room" was amazing. The MDS shows up wherever and whenever there is a disaster.  They clean up, cut trees, haul debris, rebuild homes, feed people...they don't do it for publicity or awards.  They do it because they are living a principal.  The MDS team was one of the first to hit the ground after Hurricane Katrina...they recently sent teams into Oklahoma City after the devastating tornados there. And they were in New Jersey and Staten Island the day after Superstorm Sandy.

Oh, yeah.  Shipshewanna is a great place to visit.  YOU SHOULD GO THERE...