Meg Archer is an Editor & Newsletter Editor who has called Oregon home for nearly 30 years. She spent her childhood exploring the mountains, forests, and high desert of Central Oregon before relocating to Portland after a brief stint out-of-state for college. She holds an B.A. in English from Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and a B.S. in Psychology from Portland State University. Meg has worked in writing, editing, and media-related fields for over 10 years and joined the team at OnlyInYourState in 2015. When she’s not writing or exploring the West Coast, Meg enjoys playing tabletop games, working on visual media projects, and can always be found in the front row at Portland Timbers matches.
Lancaster County is home to many Plain Folk residents who have farmed the fertile grounds of this Pennsylvania countryside for hundreds of years. In 1984, the Amish community came into in full view of the nation when Harrison Ford starred in “Witness,” a film which many believe was one of the most well-made films of the decade; Ford was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. While filming, he reportedly was overwhelmed by the lives of the people the area and became a spokesman for the Lancaster Farmland Trust in 1988.
Inspired by the local community in Churchtown, I began to collect stories of my Amish neighbors and capture the spirit of God’s Country – the people, the animals, and daily life – through photography. There were so many vibrant photos from my countless opportunities to interact with the Plain Folk in the area that I gathered them together to publish a book, The Four Seasons of Lancaster County, to show the rest of the world the beauty and tranquility here. These photos are only a small slice of those included in the book, but they give an inside peek at the unmatched beauty found in all four seasons here in Lancaster County.
Spring
Ray Smecker Photography
Spring in Lancaster County is absolutely breathtaking and I was lucky to capture this yearly playfully posing while Amish children were playing outside their Amish one room schoolhouse in the background. The Plain Folk use their horses to pull carriages for transportation and in their agrarian lifestyle.
Ray Smecker Photography
Amish children go to school in a one room schoolhouse for eight years where they are taught the value of hard work, ethics in life and to prepare all to be a needed member of their Amish community. Their schools are usually in walking distance and their education provides a solid foundation in the basic 3-R's emphasizing the goal of being a productive member of the Amish society. After their eight years, they continue their education wherein boys learn farming skills or work in an Amish shop or with a local tradesman to provide an occupation to make a living for them and their future families.
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Summer
Ray Smecker Photography
Lancaster County has many 'marked' bike routes for the colorful English-dressed for seasonal charity bike classics that occur on a yearly schedule. Plain Folk, who are not on any schedule, use bikes as a daily means of transportation and can be seen going to and from their work and daily routines. Sometimes you get lucky with a camera and get a colorful group of Plain Folk girls heading for a special occasion, as shown here.
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Ray Smecker Photography
Tourists love the covered bridges of Lancaster County (there are more than 25), especially the color of them. The locals love them in all seasons too, and they add a dash of their own natural dress colors to scenes like this wedding at Historic Poole Forge.
Ray Smecker Photography
Tobacco farming is still a cash crop item for some of the really ‘old timers’ here, who have been doing it for centuries. You will often see it hanging inside the quaint tobacco farms and, in this scene, the farmer is drying it outside in a neat and portable rack. The Plain Folk are ingenious in so many ways.
Fall
Ray Smecker Photography
These antique wagons are not for sale, like many others in the antique outlets; these lovely old relics are owned by my Plain Folk neighbors and are used every year at harvest, just like the forebears have used them. Life down here is still very much like they describe in the ‘good old days’.
Ray Smecker Photography
In fall, millions of tourists flock to the area to see the seasonal harvest in action. Once the harvest is in the barn, sheds, silos, or outside storage facilities, this placid scene shows a more relaxed atmosphere. As the leaves turn colors and the fall smells fill the air, you can bet this Holstein is enjoying the season; A contented cow is in many ways just like the curious tourists who flock to Lancaster County for that special relaxed feeling.
This scene has it all when it comes to the corn harvest in early fall in Lancaster County. Many of the Amish farmers have smaller farms and it is amazing how they produce 'bumper crops’. This Amish Proverb says it all - "We do not inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children!"
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Ray Smecker Photography
November landscapes become a special barren color with a relaxing mood as the "Harvest Season is All" (as the Amish declare). The animals are at rest and the traditional Amish Wedding Season begins. It's a special time of the year for the Amish as they take time to get married; Amish Weddings are day-long celebrations and the ceremony is done with scriptures in High German. Celery stalks are an important part of the overall Amish Wedding Feast!
Winter
Ray Smecker Photography
This winter scene is at the Historic Poole Forge Bridge, which spans the Conestoga Creek. There was once a vibrant iron plantation called Poole Forge that supplied iron ore for the Revolutionary War. The Welsh-built 1700's-era Iron Master's Mansion, Paymasters House, tenant houses, and limekilns are well maintained by the local Caernarvon Township. The historic bridge dates back to 1859 and many say that George Washington once tied his horse to a local tree while he negotiated with the owners for munitions.
Ray Smecker Photography
Winter in Lancaster County does not stop the Amish. While their horses are safe and warm in a nearby farm, these passengers await the drivers who are fetching them to attach to the carriages and drive home from a Sunday Church service.
Ray Smecker Photography
Spring, summer, fall, and winter in Lancaster County are spectacular. Photographers come during all seasons to take pictures, tourists visit to enjoy the flavor and food of the seasons, and the locals get to pass through bridges like this on their daily commutes.
Ray Smecker Photography
The holiday season in Lancaster County is really a gift on its own. The local scenes are nostalgic.
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The Amish still wash and hang their clothes on special pulley-like clothes lines to dry them a natural way, even in mid-winter.
I encourage everyone to come visit Lancaster County, Pennsylvania; tourism helps support the Cottage Industries of the Lancaster farmers who also need financial help to supplement their lifestyle. All of the proceeds of my book, which can purchased online through Amazon or from the publisher, go directly to a local Autism awareness charity.
In sum, I close with a reviewer’s brief comment: “This feature high book is a visual delight of the author’s wonderful photographs and personal stories that give the reader a privileged peek into the world of the Amish in Lancaster Co., Pa.”
For more information about author and photographer Ray Smecker, check out his website.
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