Tag: Amish

Officials Seek to Relocate Amish Businesses to County

The Barbour County Economic Development Authority is seeking to attract Amish families to Philippi and the surrounding region in a strategy to boost tourism and retail opportunities.

Mike Cvechko, the authority’s board of directors’ president, tells the Charleston Gazette-Mail that they believe relocating Amish businesses to the county is a good idea since area people already travel to Amish stores in neighboring states to shop.

Officials have done research and visited Amish businesses in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Business development director Reggie Trefethen says the Amish families would be paying to move to West Virginia on their own.

Trefethen says there could be as many as 16 Amish businesses, including furniture builders and cheese makers, in the county by the end of 2016, if Amish community leaders agree to relocate.

Former Members of Amish Community Reflect on Decision to Leave in "The Amish: Shunned"

American Experience: The Amish, Tuesday February 4 at 8 p.m., followed by the premiere of The Amish: Shunned, 9 p.m. on West Virginia PBS

A poignant and penetrating look at what it means to be cut off from faith and family, The Amish: Shunned follows seven people who have chosen to leave their closed and tightly knit communities for the outside world, knowing that they can never return. Each has paid deeply for this decision. Estranged from loved ones, these former Amish find themselves struggling to make their way in modern America. Interwoven with their stories are the voices of staunchly loyal Amish men and women who explain the importance of obedience, the strong ties and traditions that bind them, and the heartbreak they feel when a loved one falls away. Through its sympathetic portrayal of both sides, the film explores what is gained and what is lost when community and tradition are exchanged for individuality and freedom.

Credit Courtesy WGBH
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Paul Edwards, who joined the Amish church at 17 but was excommunicated after a falling out.

Produced, directed and written by Callie T. Wiser, who was a producer on 2012’s The Amish. Through American Experience’s in-depth look at the history, beliefs and traditions of the insular religious community, Wiser was exposed to the concept of shunning. “This is one of the faith’s defining practices in which members of the community cut ties with those who choose to leave,” says Wiser. “We touched on it in the first film, but I was interested in delving further into the practice, and finding individuals whose stories would portray the breadth and variety of shunning.” 

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