Dec 01 2008 / Urban Meets Rural as New York Students Travel to Amish Country
By Naomi Erickson, E-Z Pass Area Team Cluster Coordinator
and Carol Collins, Western New York Cluster Coordinator
It was Columbus Day weekend and the phases of the moon had literally aligned to provide us with a long weekend that began with the Yom Kippur holiday on Thursday and ended with Columbus Day on Monday. The YES students of EZ-Pass had been in the New York metropolitan area for two months. It was time to learn about life in rural America. What better time of year than the fall to visit Western New York.
The idea for this trip was actually hatched earlier in the year at the Sponsored Programs Cluster Coordinator Workshop in Washington DC last March. Carol Collins, the Cluster Coordinator for Western New York, and I decided it would be fun to do an intrastate cultural exchange. E-Z Pass students would visit Western New York and Western New York students would come to New York City.
So, on October 9, three of my four cluster students piled into my car (with enough food to make it cross-country) to find out what life was like in the “boonies.” After a few hours on the road, we stopped at a rest area and shared our lunch with the local flies hanging out in the picnic area. Then we headed to Watkins Glen State Park and hiked the trail from one end to the other.
That night we stayed overnight in a town called Horseheads. We tried guessing why anyone would name a town Horseheads and were surprised to discover that it was so named because of the military horses buried there during colonial times. The horses’ heads were subsequently unearthed by Native Americans and put on display to discourage further European settlement. The ploy was unsuccessful and the townspeople defiantly named their town Horseheads.
From Horseheads we drove to Eden, NY (our destination), arriving around lunchtime. We checked with our trusty GPS to help us find a place to eat. That’s when we realized we weren’t in New York City any more. The GPS listed many pizza places and a few restaurants, but when we followed the GPS instructions, we found ourselves in the middle of farmland, with not even a gas station in sight. The group began to despair. One student was convinced that there were no places to eat in this part of New York State. However, on the third try, we found a lovely family restaurant, the kind that every small town has with many locals dining comfortably.
After lunch, we joined with the Western New York cluster to visit a vineyard and to learn how grapes are harvested and made into grape juice. We saw grapes shaken off the vines, brought up on conveyor belts, and finally dropped into bins which rode along in the next aisle over. We watched all this as we rode on the Harvester and then on the Bin Vehicle. We were surprised to learn that the grapes had to get to the processing plant in less than eight hours, lest they turn brown from oxidation. There had to be a certain degree of ripeness and hence sweetness in order for the Welch’s Company to take them. We also found out that concord grapes are one of three fruits that are native to North America. We tasted both the purple Concord grapes as well as the white Niagara grapes.
From the vineyard, we went to the Eden Kazoo factory, where the original metal kazoos were and are manufactured to this day. The original machines are still in use, more than one hundred years later! Local factory workers operated the machines, and in the past few years, the work has been contracted out to an organization that offers work opportunities to developmentally disabled adults. Each of us had the opportunity to perform the four steps of putting the traditional kazoo together after the pieces are manufactured.
If you don’t know what a kazoo is, here is a description from Zeyad, our Egyptian student:
“A kazoo is a musical instrument that creates a Buzzing sound when you hum into it. It can be considered as a wind instrument because it has no bottoms or valves and it can produce different sounds. The Kazoo depends on the player voice, the humming causes the membrane placed inside the Kazoo to vibrate and the sound change every time your voice changes. A kazoo is open on both ends. The membrane is in a section on the top of the kazoo called a turret. Kazoos are usually short and tube-shaped, but can be made in almost any shape as long as both ends of it are open. Also Kazoos can be made by plastic,wood , metal or gold !! Wax paper was originally the material used for the vibrating membrane, but silicone plastic replaced it since wax paper tears and is not long lasting. The vibrating membrane is vital in a kazoo as the thin film resonates the sound of the player’s voice.”
Our first night in Western New York, Carol Collins arranged for an informal get-together at the local Girls Club. The students had an opportunity to get to know each other and some of the local teens as well. During our stay, we were hosted by local families.
The next day we went to visit an Amish community. This event was a collaboration between AFS Western New York, AYUSA Exchange Program of Western New York, and our EZPass (Greater NYC) Cluster. Fifteen cars followed each other to eight different shops and homes of the Amish Community. The experience was a mix of learning about the Amish- their values, traditions, and means of livelihood, and also seeing the lifestyle of rural America.
We saw the quilt makers, the furniture makers, the cheese factory, the candy shop, the baked goods stand, the clock shop, basket makers, and best of all— the Toy Shop. Amish children study in one room school houses until grade 10; by teaching job skills, the Amish can meet the educational requirements of NY State. Amish accomplish their chores and tasks without the use of electricity or car transportation. They are plain clothed people who do not wish for attention to be brought to them. They work together as a community to provide for each other. They are very industrious and hard working. Amish teens have an opportunity to leave the Amish ways for a year and decide if they truly wish to continue with the Amish culture.
The students had some interesting reactions to our visit to the Amish community. One student observed that although the Amish try to dress simply so as not to attract attention to themselves, the very fact that they dress differently attracts attention to them. Students also observed that although the Amish try to stay separate, they do interact with the English (which is what they call the non-Amish) in that they sell their products to outsiders. Finally, Simge Uzun noted that she was surprised at the honor system of payment for some of the produce that they sell.
The final two days of our trip were spent visiting tourist sites including Niagara Falls and the Aquarium, Buffalo’s icon, Frank and Theresa’s Home of the original Buffalo Chicken Wing, and, on the way home, the Corning Glass Factory.
