OHIO’S PLAIN PEOPLE

This state is almost never singled out as a vacation destination. Never have I met anyone who was saving up for a vacation to Toledo or Columbus or Cincinnati . . . or even such Buckeye towns as Knockemstiff, Snively or Snodes, although to send a post card from any of these would almost make a trip worthwhile.

Yet more than $1 billion is put into the state’s coffers annually by armies of tourists who use Ohio as a go-through state, many of whom exclaim with pleased surprise somewhere en route through, “Hey, I didn’t know this was here!”

“This” could be anything from the haunted Confederate cemetery on Johnson’s Island to the first Mormon Temple built in America and one of the deepest salt mines in the nation--it stretches more than 2,000 feet deep under Lake Erie.

Despite the fame that the more publicized Pennsylvania Dutch Country gets (they’re only No. 2), more Amish remain in Ohio than anywhere else in the world (Indiana is No. 3).

A little more than an hour’s drive south from Cleveland via Interstate 77, in a tranquil pocket of the state, thousands of Amish still live contentedly and prosperously, following their Old World ways according to their Mennonite precepts. Minutes from the interstate, gentle, two-lane Ohio 39 (west) opens to a scene of rich, emerald green hills that undulate gently as far as the eye can see.

Adding to the timelessness of this pastoral scene, clip-clopping at a brisk pace ahead of us a neat black buggy was drawn by a high-stepping mare. With the car windows open we could hear the staccato sounds of the horse’s hoofs on the shaded country road. Two young women, dressed almost identically in faded blue dresses and white aprons, wearing white sheer caps on their heads, chatted and laughed as we drove past.

They were our first sightings of the Amish who contributed so much to making this part of the state one of the nation’s finest agricultural centers . . . and a growing tourist lure.

In Holmes and its adjoining counties hundreds of contented Amish families live without electricity or phones or automobiles, not even tractors or machinery to help run their big farms.

Growing Population

They haven’t succumbed to the ways of the world in more than 500 years, and a local historian says that Ohio’s Amish population is growing so fast that it doubles every 23 years.

And so we “English,” which is what they call us if we’re neither Amish nor Mennonite, come here to study a way of life we don’t understand. We stare with curiosity at these plain people as they go about their daily chores, to see if maybe we can get a hint of why they’re so adamant about adhering to their simple lives.

No TV, no appliances, no movies or dances, not even an occasional trashy novel--yet, look there in that yard where a bonneted woman is hanging her clothes on the line this Monday morning. There’s not an outlet in her kitchen where she can plug in a toaster or mixer, yet she smiles happily as she bends to hug the two children in their old-fashioned clothes who cling to her skirts.

And still farther on, there in the field, see the older bearded man haying with a younger clean-shaven one. He stops the team of horses, takes a thirsty drink of water from a jug. He throws his head back, laughing hard at something the other has said and then, reaching his arm around the shoulders of his sturdy son, gives him an affectionate shake.

A Clue to Happiness

How can these people be so happy when they have so little? Or do they have so little?

So we drive past their farms, trying to see into their lives, and dally a while in the towns and villages where they shop and do business, hoping to get a clue.

First along Ohio 39 is the small town of Sugarcreek called “The Little Switzerland of Ohio.” Settled by Swiss and Germans, later joined by Amish and Mennonites, it’s startling to come upon. The one main street has been completely done in the theme of Swiss and Bavarian chalet-fronted stores. Swiss/Bavarian music is piped into the street by loudspeakers. More than 25 cheese factories are in and around town and almost all welcome visitors to tour the plants and curing cellars if they get there before 11 a.m.

We stopped for a coffee break at the Swiss Hat on Main Street. Two bearded, straw-hatted Amish men were talking in one of the booths. On the wall over their heads a prominent sign read, “Profanity Or Boisterous Talk Is Not Tolerated Here.”

The coffee was strong and hot and the doughnuts were baked that morning, we were told, by the Amish cook who presides in the kitchen. The menu offered sandwiches and full dinners of roast beef ($4.15), meat loaf or ham steak ($3.50) or 12-ounce T-bone steak for $7.95.

October Festival

An annual Swiss Festival, Oct. 2 and 3 this year, draws thousands of visitors and features a parade, dancing, yodeling, Swiss foods and costumes and such sports as schwingfest (Swiss wrestling) and steintossen (hurling a 138-pound stone).

It’s an easy, slightly hilly drive west from Sugarcreek into Holmes County, a dairy, cattle and farm area that boasts the world’s largest concentration of Amish and Mennonites.

The hillsides are filled with well-kept farms and fields. Some of the houses have two parts. The smaller section is occupied by parents who have moved out of the bigger house to make room for a son and his family who have taken over much of the responsibility of running the farm. The Amish have no nursing homes. They take care of their own. On either side of the road, vegetable stands appear and the absence of litter is wonderfully conspicuous.

Five miles from Sugarcreek on County Road 515, Walnut Creek comes into focus with the largest, and many say the best of the Amish restaurants, Der Dutchman. It has expanded to three times its size since we saw it about five years ago.

But family-style dinners, as much as you can eat, are still priced at $8.10 for chicken, ham and roast beef that includes all the potatoes, dressing, gravy and corn you can eat. Plus a salad bar, unending loaves of warm homemade bread, choice of pie, date pudding or sundae and beverage.

The town has several craft and gift shops, the best of which is The Farmer’s Wife where handmade Amish items are sold.

Back on Ohio 39 west, it’s only four miles to Berlin, another crossroads town with the Berlin House restaurant, one of the few in the area that stays open on Sunday, the 10-unit Berlin Village Inn Motel plus the best of the area’s many quilt shops, The Helping Hands Quilt Museum.

Amish and Mennonite women from the area gather there to work in the back of the shop on a huge quilting frame to produce some of the most beautiful quilts in America. Customers pick out patterns, choose the colors and size and the women go to work.

A quilt takes several months to create and prices range from $375 for a twin size to $650 for a king. More than 100 quilts are for sale along with wall hangings, one-of-a-kind pillows, potholders, tablecloths, stuffed animals and pillowcases. Kits for do-it-yourselfers are also available. For a brochure, write to Helping Hands Quilt Shop, P.O. Box 183, Berlin, Ohio 44610, or phone (216) 893-223 or (216) 893-2234.

Another pleasant seven-mile drive takes you to Millersburg, the burgeoning county seat. About halfway there, on your left, is a place that held up Butch Cassidy (a.k.a. Paul Newman) for a bundle. It’s the old Rastetter Woolen Mill doing business since the 1860s.

Started by his great-great-grandfather and now owned by Tim Rastetter and his wife, Maureen, the shop still operates with very old machinery and looms and the couple prefers to keep it that way. Grandfather Ralph Aling, nearly 90, still weaves rugs every working day on his favorite loom.

Four years ago when Newman, a former Clevelander, and wife Joanne Woodward were touring the area, they stopped in and spent $3,000 in an afternoon. The mill has a good mail-order business and is so successful that they’re normally about eight months behind on special orders. They still make wool comforters on a 125-year-old carding machine, blankets, down and feather pillows and comforters, afghans and sheepskin articles.

Some of the work they used to do at the mill is now parceled out to Amish crafts people. About 30 employees, both Amish and English from Holmes County, work for the mill. A wool rug I bought there 25 years ago is still beautiful. For a brochure write to Rastetter Woolen Mill, 5802 State Route 39, Millersburg, Ohio 44654, or phone (216) 674-2103.

The county seat since 1824, Millersburg is the largest village (pop. 3,250) in Holmes County. The old courthouse still has a hitching rail for horses and buggies but parking meters have been added. The Amish prefer to do their shopping and trading in even smaller communities, so except for business and legal reasons, you won’t find too many of them bucking the busier traffic of this pleasant Ohio small town. Several fine antique shops are here and the town hosts the Holmes County Antique Festival, Oct. 10 and 11 this year, one of Ohio’s more popular fall events.

It’s only 16 miles between Sugarcreek and Millersburg, perfect for a short day’s sightseeing and leisurely lunch. And although Ohio 39 takes you through the heart of Holmes County and Ohio’s Amish area, you’ll get a better insight into Amish living by exploring on the small, often dirt back roads.

Of the following towns and attractions, none is more than 20 miles apart; tour maps of the area are available free in restaurants, shops and attractions along Ohio 39.

They don’t have catchy names like some of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country’s lures, but Kidron, Charm, Farmerstown, Mt. Hope and Wilmot are far more authentic and rewarding.

In Kidron, one of the most extraordinary hardware stores anywhere, Lehman Hardware, has been serving Amish farmers and their families for almost 40 years. The store is filled with non-electric appliances, wood-burning stoves and a great selection of oil lamps and lanterns.

Home craftsmen marvel at the selection of wood-carving sets and other European crafted tools. Not a cook in the world could resist a dough mixer, noodle maker, apple and peach peelers, cherry and plum pitters, none of which are flimsy souvenirs but sturdy, meant-to-last items. And they still make washboards, butter churns, sausage stuffers and other turn-of-the-century items. The store puts out a handsome mail-order Heritage Catalog ($2). Address: Lehman Hardware, P.O. Box 41, 4779 Kidron Road, Kidron, Ohio 44636, phone (216) 857-5441.

Kidron also features a big farmer’s auction every Thursday when Amish come to sell horses, cattle and other critters along with hay and produce during shrewd Amish wheeling and dealing.

Farmerstown, just as rural as it sounds, has an auction on Tuesdays plus Farmerstown Furniture, a remarkable old store with a fascinating array of locally made furniture, antiques and collectibles.

Charm, a sleepy hamlet four miles from Farmerstown, is home to Miller’s Dry Goods Store where Amish and tourists shop for clothing. Miller’s also has handmade quilts, paintings by local artists and other gifts, all better than run-of-the-mill souvenirs. A few miles north they sell Guggisbuerg cheese, and just opposite, drivers line up at the popular Chalet in the Valley restaurant.

Mt. Hope does an auction on Wednesday. It also features a small branch of Lehman’s Hardware plus Lone Star Quilts, noted for its fabrics and calicoes, and the Mt. Hope Crafts shop with such locally made Amish crafts as rocking chairs and other woodcrafted items.

At Trail, a few miles from Walnut Creek, the Troyer family has been grinding out spicy Trail Bologna, a well-known name in Ohio, for more than 50 years.

And at Wilmot, the Alpine-Alpa Cheese Factory does free tours before 11 a.m. and features the “world’s largest cuckoo clock,” animated Alpine dioramas, a restaurant and a large gift shop with an amazing array of cuckoo clocks.

Accommodations are scarce within Amish country, with just small mom-and-pop motels in Sugarcreek, Berlin and Millersburg.

Information about Ohio’s Amish is available from the state by phoning toll-free (800) BUCKEYE.

The Inn at Honey Run, in the heart of the Amish country on a tiny back-county road outside Millersburg, is a little inconvenient to reach, but what a treasure. The modern, 25-room stone-and-timber lodge snuggles into a wooded glen so discreetly it’s hard to spot until you’re upon it. Innkeeper/owner is Marjorie Stark. The inn caters to business travelers during the week and is open on weekends only to adult couples. It is normally booked months in advance.

Room rates are $50 to $95 a night for one or two and include full breakfast. Two suites are $120 or $150. Reservations are a must for rooms, lunch or dinner. Conforming with the life style of its Amish neighbors, no alcohol is served in the public rooms. For more information: The Inn at Honey Run, 6920 County Road 203, Millersburg, Ohio 44654, phone (216) 674-0011.