Headlines: Amish Community Harvests Ice

Down East:

Around December, our Amish neighbors start monitoring the pond, cutting a small hole in the ice to gauge its thickness. When it reaches about a foot, the time is right to call a work bee, when Amish families come together to tackle a big project. The ice harvest, like other things that need doing in the community, is organized by the Work Bee Coordinator. “Individuals tell him about projects that need to be accomplished, and he looks at the different needs and prioritizes them,” one community member told me. "Then he announces a work bee at a certain location, and as much as we can, we all gather and help each other with the work."