Monday :: 15 March 2010 :: 08:56 AM
285 days to Christmas!
Fourth Of July Fact
Why do we celebrate Independence Day on July 4?
All kinds of history books and reference books will explain that the federal holiday celebrates the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring our independence from Great Britain. However, while that day is celebrated as the day of independence, it really is not. Our nation officially became independent on Sept. 3, 1783, when the British King George III and the American leaders signed the Treaty of Paris.
-- from Land Line magazine, published by OOIDA. July 2007 page 106.
This next commentary is from the same magazine and page. It is an excerpt from an article by Pete Rigney, the Silver Fox:
". . . Every time I read the original document [Ed - Declaration of Independence], I get goose bumps. I think about a little remembered delegate named Richard Henry Lee, a farmer from Westmoreland County, VA. Lee took on the whole British Empire when he introduced a motion that declared we were free from all allegiance to the British Crown on June 7, 1776. Talk about guts!
"John Adams seconded the motion. Thomas Jefferson penned the first draft based on Lee's outline. Ben Franklin and Adams made a few more changes and we were on our way with the noble experiment. Eventually we would become the most powerful nation in the world.
"Thank you, Richard Henry Lee. Thank you, signers who put it on the line for all of us. . ."
Random Humor: Hunting Buddies
Sam and Dave were to hunting buddies that were constantly trying to outdo each other. If Sam bought a new gun, Dave bought a better one. When Dave bought a twelve foot boat, Sam bought an eighteen footer.
One day they went duck hunting, each bringing their dog, both retrievers, and the competition sparked again.
"My dog is the best there is," said Sam as he lifted his shotgun and fired at a duck overhead. As the bird fell, the dog took off from the shore, caught the bird before it hit the water and immediately did the backstroke, keeping the duck dry all the way back and laid it at Sam's feet.
"How's that, huh?" gloated Sam.
Dave fired into a flock of ducks, downing one. Immediately his dog took off running on the water, caught the duck before it hit the water and ran back on the surface of the water, bringing it back to its master.
"Tell me what you think of that!" crowed Dave.
"Personally," replied Sam, "I wouldn't own a dog that couldn't swim."