My jaw dropped when I met Leander Yoder yesterday.
More like scraping it off the floor. This middle-aged Amish man, Old Order
Amish man, has a thing for Apple. Not an apple from a bushel, but the Apple
phone. My daughter, Karamarie, started to agree with how awesome the company
Apple is and Leander said he knows all about the marketing, reads marketing
books all the time. (I kept staring at his cell phone) “Oh, I love Dale
Carnegie’s book, How to
Win Friends and Influence People. I read it 16 times last year. I love
John Maxwell, too.”
I seriously could not keep up mentally with
this man as he went on and on about things I didn’t think Old Order Amish people
had or did. “Leander, can we back up to the Apple phone?”
“Oh, I have two.” He grabbed one out of his
pocket. “He tapped the yellow gadget on his belt. “This is my walkie-talkie.
Use it when off work. I can only use a cell phone during business hours.”
I’d heard this from other Old Order Amish,
but never had an Amish man so open and animated. He told us how his large “Antique
Mall” was run. He rents out spaces to vendors. His family orders merchandise
that you can actually see clearly. Why? He has electricity in the store run off
of solar panels and a generator.
“I have a passion for running a business,”
he said. “It’s my gift. I can’t get enough of it.” Actually, I travel and teach
the English how to run businesses. (Now I’m fainting) How does he do this? I
understand why he does, as the Amish are super entrepreneurs, but how does he
get contacts? On the internet. You can put me on your blog. I advertise to the
Englishers?” He whips out his business card. It reads, Life
Leadership. He wanted me to put his contact info up on my blog so people
could contact him.
“Wait, Leander,” I said, “you’re Amish and
can’t fly in a plane, right? What is someone in California wants you to come
teach a seminar?”
“We can’t fly? Oh, I didn’t know that.”
Okay, now I’m laughing hysterically,
emotions all over the place. “Leander, are you Older Order Amish? I know enough
Amish in Smicksburg, not too far away, and they can’t fly.”
He paused. He did have the Amish pause, as
they measure their words carefully. “Every church district is different, you
know. And things are changing. I can ask permission to fly. I doubt I’ll be
allowed, but they’re so no one size fits all.” He kind of changed the subject by saying, “I
usually do local, Greater Pittsburgh Area and Western PA. How about you come to
my house for dinner sometime and I can explain it all. Answer all your
questions.”
“Yes, Leander, I’ll take you up on that
because I have so many!”
What impressed me so much about Leander and
his whole family was the service, friendliness, (I could take pictures in the
store and it was hard not to get an Amish face) and his love for books. He ran
over to the store book section and gave me two. “You need to read these. Best
books around.”
He said that in his family at night, you
can hear a pin drop. They’re all reading. “When you come to my house, I’ll show
you all my books. It’s ridiculous how many I have, but I love to read. We only
go to the 8th grade you know, and after that, you learn anything you
want on your own.”
“Yes!” I exclaimed. “As a former teacher, I
agree wholeheartedly. It’s one of the reasons I homeschooled my kids.” (That’s
for another blog)
Here are some pictures of Yoder Antique
Mall located at 14342 Pennsylvania 36, Punxsutawney, PA 15767. (He’s on Google
Plus for more info) If you’re taking a road trip this July 4th
weekend, stop in. They have a restaurant that has the best ice-cream and their
food portions are double the norm. My daughter and I plan drive the hour long
haul to get groceries once a month. Their prices are at least half the cost of
other stores.
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A book Leander gave me to read. |
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Leander's walkie-talkie |
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Daughter Karamarie, at 7 months pregnant enjoying ice cream from the snack bar. |
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Handmade purses |
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Amish ring up customer at the check out line. |
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Spin and span clean. Notice the electric lighting! |
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Suzanne Woods Fisher's books in the store. Had to take this pic for my friend. |
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Big sign that you can't miss! |
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Old fashioned toys Amish children can play with since no electronic gadgets allowed |
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Of course, herbs, vitamin and minerals the Amish are so big on |
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Life with Lily books by friends Maryann Kinsinger and Suzanne Woods Fisher. Fine reading for Amish children. |
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The corner cabinet I gawked at! Cherry wood! Love the Amish rag rugs, too |
What is the address of the Antique Mall Leander runs? I would love to visit it.
ReplyDeleteYoder Antique Mall located at 14342 Pennsylvania 36, Punxsutawney, PA 15767.
DeleteI loved this blog. . Sounds like you had a wonderful time! =) We were in Strasburg, PA last week... went to the Sight & Sound Theater and saw Moses. It was wonderful! We ate at the Good'n Plenty Restaurant. . Among others. . My husband loved the Shoo Fly Pie! It was a wonderful trip. I am still amazed at how the Amish use their horse and buggy on the highways with the cars just zooming by.
ReplyDeleteThanks Drema. I've been to Good'n Plenty but never the Sight & Sound Theater. Need to put that on my bucket list ;) The buggy's in Lancaster along Rt. 30 make me nervous!
Deletehttps://www.facebook.com/YodersAntiqueMall One of their 'English" vendors hosts the page. All contact info should be there.
ReplyDelete