Three years ago an Amish community started taking shape south of Powell. As it’s grown, Powell residents have had more chances to see horse drawn carriages going down the road — equipped with flood lights at night — people in the distinctive hats and dress at places around town, or while purchasing materials and items members of the community have made. 

After listening to a few members of the community last week, it’s clear those interactions are overwhelmingly positive. 

One member of the Powell Amish Church, who was at a Park County commissioners meeting last week to speak if needed about a private church they are planning to build, specifically noted the warm welcome they have received from Powell residents. 

That statement made me proud to live and work here, because my family has certainly experienced that as well, as have many others I have talked to since moving out of Cody in 2019. 

It can be daunting trying to blend into a community where so many people seem to have been here for, if not all their lives, most of them. Yet I feel as if I have certainly been welcomed into the community even though I’m relatively new to the area, especially since I started not just living in this part of the county, but working here as well. 

And my children especially have been welcomed into the Powell schools and other youth organizations such as the Powell Wrestling Club. It’s nice to feel a part of the Powell community, even if, like the Amish community, we live outside of town. 

And how cool to see that our community can be so accepting of another culture. And the members of this community are returning the favor, both in providing goods and services for the community and in being open about who they are. One man I talked to said he welcomes people who may want a ride in his horse drawn buggy if they see him riding past. 

It may seem simple, but there’s not much more important in life than to be a good neighbor.