MAY 23, 2015.
Welcome to Kidron, Ohio. We’ve only been in Amish Country a few days, but that’s long enough that seeing a buggy on the road isn’t really novel to me any longer.
THE TOWN OF KIDRON. One of the many Amish towns in the area is Kidron, located in Sugar Creek Township just a short drive from Meadow Lake RV Resort where we’re staying. It’s home to an outdoor flea market held twice a week, a livestock auction and a retail store called Kidron Town and Country. The town attracts many of its visitors for its diverse tool shops, especially Lehman’s Hardware, which sells Amish-made goods and many non-electric household appliances. Kidron was originally settled in 1819 by a group of Swiss Mennonites wishing to escape religious persecution and poor farming conditions in their homeland. These people, many of whom still live in Kidron, are known as “the quiet people in the country.”
LEHMAN’S HARDWARE. Lehman’s has become one of the premier destinations in Ohio’s Amish Country. It offers a truly unique shopping experience where the past, present and future all meet under one roof. A place where old-fashioned is always in fashion. The store is 32,000 square feet of shopping amazement. It includes four civil war vintage buildings with a Buggy Barn cinema, museum-quality antiques and thousands of products I was surprised are still made and available for sale.
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NON-ELECTRIC APPLIANCES AND TOOLS. Lehman’s has a long history of serving local Amish communities and others who live without electricity in their homes. The owner wants his store to be a dependable resource for those wishing to maintain their simple way of life. Customers include local Amish and Mennonite residents, survivalists, environmentalists, those living “off the grid” and those just looking for a “different” kind of shopping experience. For example, if you’re in need of tools to make your own sauerkraut, grind grain or can your own jams and jellies, you’re in the right spot at Lehman’s.
A brand new Maytag clothes washer.
Or perhaps you’d rather have this model.
TOWN AND COUNTRY STORE
The Country Store is a full-service grocery and a whole lot more. The bulk food department carries cereals and grains, dried fruits and baking necessities. An on site drug store is staffed by a pharmacist who claims to know the name of everyone in town who’s ever had a prescription filled at the store. And there is lots of “plain people” clothing…Amish pants, straw hats, women’s bonnets and more.
Amish style straw hats for sale at Town and Country in Kidron.
Do you even know what these things are? I’d give you about a 50 – 50 chance of guessing correctly.
I guess they sell these seeds by the ounce.
SEEN AROUND TOWN.
After looking around at all the goods in the hardware and bulk food stores, all we had in our cart was a bag of Sarsaparilla candy and a couple boxes of some rodent repellent. (Hmmm, you’re already wondering about that, aren’t you. Well, stick around and you might just learn a thing or two.) Anyhow, we spent an hour or two just driving down little country roads and taking in the scenery.
Sign on a country road near Kidron. How cruel! I’m pretty sure I would have advertised the event a little differently. Perhaps something like this: “Auction to benefit Ohio’s Crippled Children.” I think the sign maker needs to hire a quality control guy.
TAKE A LOOK AT MY PHOTO GALLERIES. I took a whole lot of pictures at Lehman’s today…far too many to include in this post. But if you’re interested in off-the-grid and non-electric tools and appliances, take a look at my photo galleries. I’ve also included there some pictures of consumer items I remember regularly seeing on the shelves when I was a kid, but not since until today. Pretty nostalgic. To get there: On the home page, click “galleries” at the top of the page and then navigate by region and state (mid-west and Ohio) until you find ’em.
AND TOMORROW? Tomorrow is Sunday. Amish folks don’t work or shop on Sunday, so all the stores and businesses are closed…all of them. The roads are packed with buggies, however, because after worship and church services, the Amish “drive all around town” visiting friends. So it should be a good day for me to get some action-video of Amish buggies and carriages. I just hope we don’t run into any Amish traffic jams…buggy jams? I’m not kiddin’ ya, there are one heck of a lot of buggies and carriages on the road around here!
COME BACK AGAIN SOON. OUR GREAT AMERICAN ADVENTURE CONTINUES.
