ARCOLA - Right off Main Street in Arcola, there is a place that holds part of the history of a people who across hundreds of years and thousands of miles have held true to a stalwart faith and a humble way of living.

The Illinois Amish Interpretive Center, which is offering half-price admission to residents of Douglas and Moultrie counties during the holiday season, collects the history of the nearby Amish community through exhibits that include letters, books, clothing and other displays.

Museum Director Amber Kauffman said the idea to reduce ticket price for nearby residents stemmed from a similar decision by the Abraham Lincoln Museum in Springfield. Kauffman said she hopes it will encourage people living nearby who have not visited the museum to take a look at something close to home.

"It's one of those things where if there's something in your backyard, you don't experience it as much as other visitors do," Kauffman said. "Especially with the economy the way that it is and people changing their travel habits, why not go to something close to home where you're not going to spend a lot in gas to get there."

The exhibits inside the museum include old implements used for milking cows, a traditional black horse-drawn buggy used by Illinois Amish to travel and examples of the distinctive handmade clothing that sets the Amish community apart.

Letters from children who live in the nearby Amish community sit framed on one particular table. A young boy writes that school is out for the summer and that he is glad, while a young girl lists some of her favorite activities, including playing board games and "jump the rope." The clarity and exactness of their handwriting is striking.

Central to the museum's message is not only a tangible display of the possessions of the Amish community, but also a demonstration of their core tenets and a debunking of common myths and misunderstandings that tend to surround a people whose way of life is founded on living apart from a more modern, secular society.

"The Amish people live what they believe," Kauffman said. "And that is that God, their families, their work and their communities are the most important thing in their lives. The Amish people believe that the way to Heaven is to be in the world, but not be part of the world ¦ if that makes sense."

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