Nappanee Chamber of Commerce names
Amish Acres 'Business of the Year'

A social hour/silent auction, meal, report, logo unveiling, entertainment, and awards made for a successful evening where member businesses and organizations support the city's commerce foundation. Amish Acres received the Business of the Year Award accepted by founder (1968) Richard Pletcher with his father, LaVern, in attendance. Kathy and Stephen Medd representing Napanee and District Ontario Chamber of Commerce made guest presentations.

Richard Pletcher's Acceptance Speech

This is a special honor. Another piece of pie for everyone! This is a coveted award; I know people who would give their left hand for it. On behalf of thirty of us (Amish Acres employees) here this evening, who represent hundreds of other and thousands of former employees of Amish Acres, I thank you for the recognition of their dedication and hard work for these nearly forty years. The employees here tonight represent hundreds of years of combined experience.

My father, LaVern Pletcher, is the person most responsible for Amish Acres existence in Nappanee and without my mother we would still be trying to serve our first meal. I wish she could be here tonight. It was his vision as a downtown merchant to create a tourist attraction that honored our Amish neighbors, their heritage, and lifestyle and literally put Nappanee on the map. He brought me into his dreams before I was in high school and they quickly became my life’s mission. Because of Amish Acres and the Arts and Crafts Festival, literally millions of visitors have come to Nappanee and national attention continues to come our way.

I take great pride in Amish Acres, in Nappanee, in the Chamber of Commerce, and the people who continue to make our dreams come true. My wife Susie provides the personality and soul for everything we do here and I am most proud that our daughters, Angie and Jenni, have chosen to work in the business and raise their families in Nappanee. The jury is still out if we got the right son-in-law.

Because the Academy Awards are tomorrow night, I will warm you up with by thanking some special people for their role in the creation of this marvelous business.

I start with Pete Heckaman, Short McCormick, and Freeman Borkholder who believed in me from the start; Albert Kuhns, who imparted the family history that we treasure and keep alive today.

The current managers, Jeff Dorsey, general manager; Audrey Yoder, assistant general manager; Elliott Correll, buildings and grounds manager; Ruth Miller, kitchen manager, Freida Miller, bakery manager; Kathy Miller, historic interpretation manager; Scott Saegesser, artistic director, The Round Barn Theatre; and Susan Nunemaker, lodging manager; are the third generation of leaders to carry on the tradition of Amish Acres.

It all started with my college friend Fred Simic, who answered the call and spent two years here in the beginning managing the restoration of the farmstead and Jim Osborne supplied many of the recipes that we still use in the restaurant.

Charlie, Margaret, and Pat Fisher, then Roland and Fern Johnson, kept the horses and farm animals in good condition for many years. Marge Huffer was the first general manager; she whipped this hobby into business shape and many of her procedures are still in force. Wilma George came to work at Amish Acres at age 75 and retired as senior tour guide at 100; neighbor and harness maker Ivan Hostetler, engineered every barn and log building that was moved to the farm; John and Martha Hochstetler lived on the farm in the early years and acted as Amish host and hostess for Amish Acres.

Joy Johnson lost her ability to walk thirty years ago while working in our kitchen. Since that day she has used her crutches to climb the steps to the quilting house where she joined Ruth Miller and became an expert on Amish quilt patterns and has personally quilted nearly 700 quilts over that time.

Sarah Borgman has spent twenty eight summers behind the main desk in the restaurant while teaching school and serving a term as president of the Indiana State Teacher’s Association.

Recently in Convene, the magazine of the professional convention management association, in a “member snapshot,” Teri Jarvie, director of meeting services, Healthcare Financial Management Association, was featured. She recalled beginning her career in hospitality in the seventh grade at Amish Acres where she worked until graduated from college. “My father and Richard Pletcher, who’s still CEO of Amish Acres, were my professors. Any success I’ve had in my career has come from building on the fundamentals I learned from them.”

Thank you from all of us for this honor.