Gents of Lancaster

What are the most popular names for Amish women and girls? We answer that question with 21 examples, their origins, and the stories behind their meanings. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

Ever wondered what happens to an Amish person if they choose to leave the church? Learn more from our podcast. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

This is the first episode where we depart from our typical interview structure to answer questions we've been getting from commenters and website readers. Learn a little bit more about Amish & Mennonite vocabulary (including Pennsylvania Dutch / "Dietsch") here. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

Alex & Chris talk to each other about COVID-19 and becoming first-time dads just as the outbreak struck the United States. It's been a long, weird road — and it's probably not the "standard" way of starting a family. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

Emily Gertenbach’s office is more than just a workspace. Walking through the door, it’s impossible to miss the collection of books next to her desk, the handful of mementos hanging from the shelves, and the obligatory Macbook that makes it part workspace, part home, and part museum. Each item tells a story, whether it’s part of Emily’s personal history or a herald of what’s to come in her future. Lancaster Newspaper press credentials, a copy of the 2019 Associated Press style guide, an owl mug that looks like it shouldhave a name of some kind — they’re all small pieces that point to two big facts about Emily’s life. Shewrites, and she does it well. But she’s not a novelist. She’s a marketer. And very recently, she’s 100% self-employed. Part entrepreneur, part pragmatist, Emily’s home office is organized and structured in the same way you’d expect a company. Everything has its place, and everything improves her ability to reach far outside her office walls and beyond Lancaster City to press a lasting imprint on the corporations and lives she touches. With a career that’s taken its share of twists and turns, a supportive husband, and a strong appreciation what she’s both earned and been given in life, Emily Gertenbach may best be summed up in one word. Dauntless. Lancaster, meet Emily Gertenbach. Today, I want to highlight one of the best coffee shops in town, Passenger. Passenger is located on South King Street just before Penn Square, right across the street from the Lancaster Newspaper building (appropriately enough). Passenger is important because they’re more than just a coffee shop. They’re a collection of some of the most positive and kind people I’ve encountered in the city, regardless of whether they’re on or off the clock. I always remember Passenger because it’s the last place I went the day before my wedding, when I was nervous and jittery and thinking about all the things that could go wrong. The barista and I started talking, and he shared his own story about what it was like to get married, what he’s learned along the way, and a whole lot more. It was the best unsolicited advice I’ve ever received, and it was purely because the advice came from a point of mutual connection. It wasn’t some shoehorned message to get me to buy more coffee. It wasn’t some weird ordering snafu where I said “small” and they tried to get me to say “tall.” It was genuine. With that kind of personality and connection running the place, it’s no wonder they have some of the best coffee in town. If you’ve ever wanted a small pitcher of coffee to pour into your own cup, this is the place for you. And if you only just now learned that that was a thing, this is still the place for you. And yes, I’m writing this and editing the episode in Passenger right now. So, yeah, I’m a little biased. Anyway, check out Passenger on South King Street near Penn Square or their new location on Plum Street in the old firehouse. They’re good people. Let’s get back to Emily. I’d like to thank Emily for taking the time out of her Saturday morning to record this episode. It’s worth noting that the episode itself is about three months in the making, and it took a lot of rescheduling for us to get everything worked out. She stuck with it, and I couldn’t be more grateful. If you want to work with Emily, look her up at egcreativecontent.com and reach out to her at emily@egcreativecontent.com. She could be just what your business needs to make a lasting online presence. If you’d like to tell your story on Lancaster Limelight, you can reach out to the Gents of Lancaster at any time. Just email us at gentsoflancaster@gmail.com. We read everything we get, and we reply to everything we read. We can’t wait to hear from you. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

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The neighborhood of Steve Ziegler looks like it's cut from a calendar about 1950s Americana. Every home has its plot, every family has their space, and every intersection has a corner home with a nice porch. It's the kind of neighborhood that was planned, but pulls off it's careful planning with a certain white picket charm that makes you feel cozy. Accepted. Almost typical.   But typical is not a great description of Steve Ziegler.   Inside his front door is the decor you'd expect from someone who celebrates academia, outdoorsmanship, music,  cooking, and family all wrapped into one. A biography of Leonardo da Vinci is on the coffee table, and the dining room table is draped in an enormous map delineating plans for a hike through a state park. A stately wooden piano stands against the wall opposite an ultra-sleek and modern kitchen with a quaint breakfast nook, and there’s a fully stocked bar of top-shelf liquor an arm’s reach away. Photos of his children decorate the wall, complete with a cache of instruments in a back room.   This eclectic collection of suburban life is a powerful reflection of the man who calls it home. Whether he's talking about accepting change, the reasons his kids are awesome, or the events in his history that led him to where he is today, there's one underlying truth to it all. In a world where everyone likes to play it straight and narrow, Steve is an S.   You haven't met anyone like Steve before.   Lancaster, meet Steve Ziegler.   --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

I’m meeting Matt Witkovsky at his office with Nxtbook Media on Prince Street. We’re sitting down at a cafe table in the company’s break room, which overlooks the Barnstormers stadium. It’s a place rich with exposed brick, natural light, and an incredible amount of space for an office the size of a large condo. When we sit down, Matt offers me a beer – and not just a Yuengling or Miller Lite. It’s a beer that clearly requires a certain degree of care, creativity, and interest to produce. It probably requires the same to properly appreciate.   As we toast to a good interview, I begin to get a glimpse at the man behind the beer. Confident and intelligent with a sharp wit and admirable sense of dedication, almost everything we talked about came back to a single concept.   Story.   Husband. Father. Salesman. Entrepreneur. Comic book aficionado.   Lancaster, meet Matt Witkovsky.   At the time of this podcast’s release, it’s the beginning of May 2019. That means tourist season is about to start in Lancaster.   For Lancaster County, this means a lot of outside revenue that helps support community mainstays throughout the area.   For residents, this also means keeping an extra eye out for cars pulled off onto the side of a road, out-of-staters hopping fences into pastures, and a whole lot of other hazards that happen in daily travel.   If you’re planning to visit Lancaster this summer, please keep in mind that stopping on roads — even with your four-ways on — is dangerous. Hopping fences is trespassing. Don’t pass buggies if you can’t see what’s coming the other way. And for the love of God, don’t honk at the horses.   Please also keep in mind that while the Amish may be a big draw to Lancaster County, they’re still people with dignity and self-respect. Photographing them without their permission is just as rude, disrespectful, and intrusive as if someone were photographing you without your knowledge. This rule goes double for children.   Visit Lancaster. It’s a wonderful place. You can make it even better by remembering that this little slice of paradise is home for more than 500,000 people.    That’s all for now. Let’s get back to Matt.   I can’t thank Matt enough for opening up the Nxtbook Media facilities for this interview. It was a great time, and the break room was a great place to enjoy a one-of-a-kind beer as we talked. I don’t know about you, but I know I’m walking away from this with a whole lot more information on what makes a beer good.   If you’d like to get in touch with Matt, you can go to witbeertours.com to inquire about his brewery tours. Like he said, they’re great for every occasion. It’s not a party bus — it’s a way to learn and experience the beers in Lancaster.   I’d say that’s worth some time in the Lancaster Limelight.   If you’d like to tell your story in the limelight, just get in touch with the Gents of Lancaster whenever you want. You can reach us at gentsoflancaster@gmail.com.   We read everything we get, and we respond to everything we read.   We’d love to hear from you.   --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

The mind of Micah Aumen is always running at full speed. Whether he’s focused on being the best statistician possible or reflecting on his life’s goals, you can see the gears turning as he talks. It’s obvious he’s spent years incubating the ideas that he discusses, especially those that tread into existential territory. They’re the thoughts of someone who realized — and continues to realize — that there’s always more to learn and experience in life. You may not expect that from looking at him. With a fine beard, shoulder-length black hair, stainless steel piercings, and preference for Thai food, you may have met someone who at least looks like Micah outwardly. But when he speaks, you’re not just meeting a new person. You’re entering a unique conversation about life, relationships, and how to deal with all of it — one that you haven’t had before and you may not ever have again. That’s Micah. He’s a rich vein of dichotomies, apparent contradictions, and sometimes even opposing values — but he’s figured out how to make that work, and he’s figured out how to make it uniquely him. No matter who you meet in Lancaster, you probably haven’t met anyone like Micah before. Lancaster, meet Micah Aumen. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

When you walk into the home of Ben Foultz and Lauren Moritz, there’s no doubt that you’re in a home. The home presents itself in the collection of eclectic belongings that speak to their personalities — a Nintendo Switch, the Dark Souls board game, sheet music for the guitar riffs to Hallelujah, five different machines to make a cup of coffee, and a couple stray bottle caps for the cats. It’s a place to get together, play a few games, and enjoy time with your friends. It’s a place of memories with old wedding invitations decorating the refrigerator. It’s a place of expression with half a dozen works of art from Lauren’s grandfather. The space that Ben and Lauren share is all the more impressive by the chance encounter they had that started their relationship. With Ben being a native to Lancaster City and Lauren hailing from small-town New Jersey, their first meeting was unlikely, to say the least. One thing is for certain — they share a general quirkiness and a strong sense of fun that makes it easy to smile when you’re around them. And even though they have very different backgrounds and stories that led them to where they are today, they both describe Lancaster in the same way. Home. Lancaster, meet Ben Foultz and Lauren Moritz. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support

The first room you see when you enter Ross Stockdale’s house is the living room. It’s furnished like any other living room, complete with a desk, three couches, and plenty of books. The couches are centered around a small square coffee table with a chess board on top. About half of the pieces are tipped over, the whole setup in front of a small mantle and fireplace. The desk is home to Ross’s computer, which he affectionately calls his office, just at the base of the stairs. There’s a dining room, a nice kitchen, and a shockingly handsome cat named Hal. Seriously – he’s the size of a basset hound. But with all of the things this house has, there’s one surprising thing that’s missing. Or at least it would be missing, if it was important to be present. There’s no television. Sure – there’s a computer and a few monitors. But there’s no television. There are places to gather and books to read and games to play and pets to… pet. But there’s no television. As I leafed through a shelf of old paperbacks, I understood why. James Joyce. Ayn Rand. James Stockdale. With this many good books, who needs TV? That was just the beginning, though. As Ross and I talked, I caught a glimpse of a man who is undoubtedly well-read. Pragmatic, driven, disciplined, determined, and a little bit nerdy — everyone should get a chance to meet Ross in person. That’s why he’s the first subject of the Gents’ new podcast: Lancaster Limelight. Lancaster, meet Ross Stockdale. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gents-of-lancaster/support