July 4th

My earliest memory of the 4th of July is of sitting in the stadium in Boise, ID just prior to the fireworks, watching the retirement of a flag. The history was told of the flag and it was reverently, respectfully placed in a container and burnt. I looked at my father’s face, and saw tears running down his cheeks. I cried, too. I cry today when I hear, “The Ragged Old Flag.” Please take the time to watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6vwXbQZvJo&feature=related
Also check out www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZBTyTWOZCM&feature=related

On the night of April 18, 1775, Joseph Warren (physician, soldier and statesman) told William Dawes and Paul Revere that the King's troops were about to embark in boats from Boston bound for Cambridge and the road to Lexington and Concord. Warren suggested that the most likely objective later that night would be the capture of Samuel Adams and John Hancock. Revere and Dawes were sent out to warn them and to alert colonial militias in nearby towns.

My mother encouraged me as a child, to memorize Longfellow’s poem,

PAUL REVERE'S RIDE

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year...

For many years I (like many other Americans) thought that he was the only one who rode. In 1896, (yeah, that WAS before I was born!) Helen F Moore penned the following lines

Tis all very well for the children to hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere;
But why should my name be quite forgot,
Who rode as boldly and well, God wot?
Why should I ask? The reason is clear—
My name was Dawes and his was Revere.

Anyhow, back to that night, Dawes covered the southern land route by horseback across Boston Neck and over the Great Bridge to Lexington. Revere first gave instructions to send a signal to Charlestown and then he traveled the northern water route. He crossed the Charles River by rowboat, slipping past the British warship HMS Somerset. Crossings were banned at that hour, but Revere safely landed in Charlestown and rode to Lexington, avoiding a British patrol and later warning almost every house along the route. The warned men and the Charlestown colonists dispatched additional riders to the North Bridge. Ralph Waldo Emerson described the first shot fired by the Patriots at the North Bridge as the "shot heard 'round the world". It was fired April 19, 1775.

Even after that battle, however, many Americans still hoped for reconciliation with the British government, not independence. Over a year later, in June of 1776, Richard Henry Lee introduced a resolution in the Continental Congress (based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States…."

The Continental Congress then appointed a committee led by Thomas Jefferson to draft a so-called declaration of independence in case Lee's resolution were adopted, and on July 2, 1776, Congress voted to adopt Lee's resolution.

The Declaration’s first words are:

"When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them..."

The Founding Fathers, a group of rebels that were sick of English rule by proxy (especially the whole issue of taxation without representation, which was the basis of the Boston Tea Party rebellion) were willing to risk death by hanging for sedition and formally adopted and put their names on the document for all of the world to see. They signed and in so doing said “ciao” to Great Britain.

Samuel Eliot Morrison, American historian (1887-1976) said, ''If the American Revolution had produced nothing but the Declaration of Independence, it would have been worthwhile.'' -

Here is a list of historic events taking place on July 4th.:

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress adopted and signed the Declaration of Independence.

In 1802, the United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, N.Y.

In 1826, 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, former presidents John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died.

In 1831, the fifth president of the United States, James Monroe, died in New York City.

In 1872, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, was born in Plymouth, Vt.

In 1919, Jack Dempsey won the world heavyweight boxing title by defeating Jess Willard in Toledo, Ohio.

In 1939, baseball's ''Iron Horse,'' Lou Gehrig, said farewell to his fans at New York's Yankee Stadium.

In 1959, America's 49-star flag, honoring Alaskan statehood, was officially unfurled.

In 1960, America's 50-star flag, honoring Hawaiian statehood, was officially unfurled.

In 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act, which went into effect the following year.

In 1976, Israeli commandos raided Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing almost all of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by pro-Palestinian hijackers.

Five years ago: A 20-ton slab of granite, inscribed to honor ''the enduring spirit of freedom,'' was laid at the World Trade Center site as the cornerstone of the Freedom Tower skyscraper that will replace the destroyed twin towers.

The final verse of Longfellow’s Poem reads:

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, --
A cry of defiance, and not of fear, --
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beat of that steed,
And the midnight-message of Paul Revere.

Let us never forget that he/they shared a message of warning, against an enemy that was coming. Let us keep our country, our lands and our freedoms safe and secure.

*****

Recipe

Frozen Raspberry yogurt

1 quart fresh or thawed frozen raspberries
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 c. water
1 quart plain yogurt
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice or ½ c. orange concetrate
1 T light corn syrup

Combine the raspberries, sugar, and water. Heat over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Set aside for 10 minutes to cool slightly. In a food processor, puree until smooth. Scrape into a large bowl and stir in the yogury, corn syrup, and orange juice. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, or until cold. Pour the yogurt into the canister of a ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Transfer the frozen yogurt to a covered container and freeze until it is firm enough to scoop, at least 4 hours or overnight.