Tavistock-area travellers take in Amish farm life and biblical theatre in Pennsylvania

A Tavistock-area group gathers outside Sight & Sound Theatres in Lancaster, Pa, before attending a live performance of Joshua. From left in front are Gary West, Barb Schumm, Carol Roth, Cathy Roth, Danny Roth, Brenda West and Mary Lou Leis. At back are Bruce Schumm, Ron Roth and Larry Leis, partially hidden. Gary West photo

By Gary West

A recent trip to Lancaster County, Pa, gave a group from the Tavistock area a chance to take in both one of the region’s well-known biblical theatre productions and a glimpse of traditional Amish and Mennonite farm life.

For years, members of the group had heard about Sight & Sound Theatres near Lancaster and the large-scale biblical productions staged there. Their September trip included a performance of Joshua.

The visit also had a local connection.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, several Amish families lived and farmed along Maplewood Sideroad near the 10th and 11th lines of East Zorra-Tavistock. Among those remembered locally were the Smoker, Sweirie and Hertzler families.

Baden resident Bruce Schumm helped share some of that history with the group. Schumm and his brothers and sisters were raised on a farm in the area, near the property now owned by Keith and Marilyn Brenneman.

One of the former Amish family farms was located where the Townsend family now operates its grain elevator and drying business on Maplewood Sideroad.

Over the years, residents from the Tavistock and New Hamburg areas have travelled to Lancaster not only to attend performances, but also to reconnect with former Amish and Mennonite neighbours who once lived in this area.

During their countryside tour, the group saw a number of farms that reminded them of southwestern Ontario agriculture from decades ago, including smaller dairy herds, pigs, tobacco and mixed farming.

They also saw farmers working fields with teams of draft horses and mules, a reminder of an agricultural era when horsepower meant exactly that.

There was certainly no GPS on those units.