Meet Mr. & Mrs. Yoder in the Visitors' Waiting Room at
Tod Roberts Communications World Headquarters

Tod Roberts Communications believes in making its visitors as comfortable as possible while waiting to speak with "The Man Behind the Curtain." This picture was taken in January. The open door shows one of the many advantages of having one's office in Florida. The TV near the window hasn't worked since 1959, but no one seems to mind. The magazines on the table are of about the same vintage. This photo was originally published in uncensored form, but out of respect for Amish customs, I have provided discreet graphic covering for "Adam" and "Eve," as Mr. and Mrs. Yoder playfully call themselves. (Photo reprinted with the kind permission of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Yoder of Amish Nature Clubs International, a long-time, honored client of Roberts Communications; we also appreciate the contribution by the late photographer Diane Arbus, who had a great fondness for nude senior citizens, especially if they are Amish.)

Visit the Amish on the Internet at http://www.amish.net/. Yeah, I know you think it's a little weird that people who eschew telephones, electricity, and automobiles, let alone buttons on clothing, would have an Internet site, but hey, we're in the New Millennium. Anything is possible. If you think "Now, ain't that really somethin'" (or words to that effect), you'll be even more amazed when you visit the web site of The Electric Amish: "Three Men, Three Beards, No Power ... But They Still Rock Like Mennonites!"

I'm in negotiations now with Amish Nature Clubs International to do a really neat web site, but I'm having a little trouble explaining the "Adult Verification System" to the elders. Stay tuned ... soon you may be seeing "Now, live on the Internet, sex with chickens and other small beasts, via direct satellite feed from Amish country in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania ... only $39.95 a day!"

And for those of you who wondered how the Amish coped with Y2K, read the following article on this subject from the Hutchinson, Kansas News (thanks to Kansas-Links.com for making us aware of this interesting story):

Amish await 2000 with no fanfare

YODER, KS - At his dairy farm just two miles from this century-old Amish community, Levi Knepp planned to read the morning newspaper on New Year's Day to find out how the rest of the world fared the dawn of a new millennium.

He owns no television set or radio, nor does he have a phone. Propane fuels his lights, heats his home and runs his refrigerator. His only transportation is the black buggy and trusted horse that have come to symbolize the simple lifestyle he has chosen.

"This is our way of being separated from the world - but we do not condemn anybody that has these modern conveniences," he says.

Like many of his Amish neighbors, he is not too worried about the Y2K bug that may disrupt computers. The Amish are already more self-reliant than most.

Among them are Ida and Tobie Petersheim, who also farm near Yoder. She grows a large garden and cans her own food. Their chickens provide the eggs the family needs.

"We can for years ahead, and we have always done it that way," Mrs. Petersheim says.

That kind of self-sufficiency is passed from generation to generation. During the quiet winter months, she fills much of her time quilting, and teaching her 12-year-old granddaughter, Lyndora, how to do needlework.

The English - as the non-Amish are called here - say the Y2K fears that have captured the world's attention are mostly a joke among Amish families.

"Frankly, I'm not worried too much about it. If there is a crisis, it will be because people created it themselves by hoarding," Knepp says.

But he knows not even the self-reliant Amish are immune from disruptions.

"If it does affect people, it will affect us like anywhere else. If I can't buy fuel to run our stoves and lights we will all be in the same boat," he says.

As fervently as the Amish have tried to keep their traditions, the inexorable march of time has encroached on their community.

The bustle of cars and trucks mingles with the clip-clop of their horses pulling buggies. A group of young Amish girls huddles around a pay phone outside the local market. At the hardware store, the kerosene lamps still get the best display space - but the store carries light bulbs and electrical supplies as well.

But perhaps nothing has impacted the Amish farmers in Kansas as much as the same mechanization that has shaped agriculture elsewhere. It was 1937 - a terribly hot year in which farm horses suffered - that the Amish church in Kansas decreed that Amish farmers could use tractors, Knepp says.

Now he and other Amish farmers get the kind of crop yields that they need to compete in today's marketplace.

As a new century dawns, Knepp believes the computer age will be the biggest challenge faced by his community.

"If everything is computerized, and we are not, it is going to be a challenge for our young people to find jobs," he said.

And life is getting a little easier in small ways for others as well.

Sam Yoder, an Amish carpenter, recalls how he used to figure out square roots the old way - by hand. Now he goes into the hardware store and uses their calculator.

As a widower without a wife to cook and can for him, he also appreciates the convenience of modern packaged foods off the grocery store shelf: "I can cook, too."

As technological advances change the outside world more and more, it is getting increasingly harder for Amish families to hold onto their old ways. About 10 percent of their young people leave the Amish lifestyle, Knepp says.

Of his own six children, only one has stayed on the farm to carry on the family tradition, Knepp says. Three of his children have left the Amish faith for the more modern Mennonite church.

But Knepp has faith the Amish will survive: "The Amish will hold on to our traditions as long as the world stands. I firmly believe that."

The public charter school in town - which includes computer education in its curriculum - has already lost many of its Amish students. Three years ago, the Amish built their own two-room schoolhouse to teach their children. Amish children only attend school until the eighth grade.

© 2000 The Associated Press and The Hutchinson (KS) News

Click HERE to return to Tod's Home Page.