Waterloo, Mennonite Country

While In Waterloo, our hostess, Kathy took us for a drive one afternoon to see the surrounding countryside.

There are numerous groups of Old Mennonites who live in the area.  Some are readily identified by their conservative clothing, the horse and buggies they drive instead of cars and the lack of electricity in their homes.

This is the oldest church, or Meeting House in the area and in its adjacent cemetery, there are headstones that date from the 1700’s to the 1900’s.

The Mennonites in this area emigrated from Switzerland in the 1700’s  and settled alongside the 6 Nations Native Indians along the river.  They cleared the land, establishing large successful farms.

This Meeting House has hitching posts instead of a parking lot.  It is located side by side with a Conference Mennonite Church who’s members’ cars fill its parking lot.

Kathy said that on Sunday mornings the horse and buggies alongside the cars make for an interesting contrast.

      

The Mennonite Farms are all kept so neat and tidy and most have large, beautifully kept gardens with rows of flowers planted alongside the thriving vegetables.

                  

As we drove through the towns and past farms we felt we had gone back in time.

  

We stopped at the Wallenstein General Store and did a bit of browsing.

It was tempting to help myself to a handful of these gorgeous cherries but I resisted.

The store shelves offered merchandise not available in our local stores.  Rows upon rows of shiny black shoes and boots with the toes all neatly pointing outwards, and a choice between blue and black suspenders.The fabrics on offer where cotton in plain colours or tiny flowered prints.  Blues and purples where the favoured colours.  There were also a few varieties of hats lined up on the shelves and I found  a straw one for my son. 

As families debated their purchases, and barefoot children studied the toys, I came upon something too cute to leave there.

These bonnets, smocked, beribboned and tucked were the perfect purchase for our tiny granddaughter.

Stay tuned for one more post on this wonderful Ontario region.