Tomorrow is Donut Friday at the Miller Farm on Route 22 in Jackson, N.Y. The donuts are freshly baked and cost $6 for each box of six donuts.
I am happy to be promoting this on my blog; I don’t do this often.
The Amish families have brought a great deal to our small town.
They reclaim and restore abandoned farms, buy at the local grocery, feed, farm supply, and hardware stores, and sell pies, cookies, cakes, and donuts that people love.
They are selling lumber to hard-pressed contractors at pre-pandemic prices. They accept odd jobs and carpentry work; they work hard and for very reasonable wages.
Since they are not permitted to market or promote themselves or advertise, I’m happy to promote for them. Tomorrow is Donut Friday, getting more popular by the week.
Plain, glazed, and fresh cinnamon donuts for sale at their farm stand (locals: this stand is on the right side of Route 22, just South of the Lauderdale Lake Park in Jackson, four miles north of Cambridge. Look for a pine shed that says “Baked Goods.”)
The Amish have rigid rules about what they can and can’t do regarding technology, electricity, and self-promotion. But they permit other people to do this for them.
This philosophy – I call it the Great Amish Compromise – is not cynical, self-serving, or hypocritical. They have found a way to maintain their values while surviving in a changing and chaotic world. They have kept the Amish Way alive while their communities grow and prosper.
They keep their church, family life, and community intact and protected from the worst excesses of the corporate, capitalist world beyond their doors.
I see Amish life is like the idea of the Circled Wagons in the old West. They protect the center and interact peacefully with the world beyond. They do what they need to do to survive, yet they take what they need within reason.
If you are drooling over these donuts and don’ live nearby, check to see if there is an Amish or Mennonite community nearby; they probably sell donuts.
If you live in this area, come by Friday. The donuts are warm and fresh and are cooked all morning.
