Whether served neat, on the rocks, or in a cocktail, spirits are becoming increasingly popular for both winter and summer. Here’s a guide to the standard choices.

• Vodka. Many people appreciate this neutral-flavored spirit that’s typically made from grains, vegetables, or fruit. Vodka is an essential ingredient in many cocktails, including the bloody mary and cosmopolitan. It’s often assumed vodka comes from Russia and is made from potatoes. However, depending on where you are, you may find unique vodkas from local distilleries made with surprising ingredients like maple sap or quinoa.

• Gin. This spirit is a definitive ingredient in G&Ts and other cocktails. It results from the combination of macerated and distilled juniper berries with aromatic ingredients like herbs, citrus fruits, and flowers in neutral grain-based alcohol. London dry is a well-known gin variety whose name represents a distilling style and is not exclusive to England. Genever has Dutch and Belgian origins and is now also produced in Canada.

• Whiskey. Made from cereal grains such as corn and oats, whiskey has distinct identities according to the country where it’s distilled. Whiskey brewed in the United States is mainly bourbon, while the Canadian version is rye. Scotch refers to the variety produced in Scotland.

• Rum. Made from molasses or fermented cane syrup, this spirit drink is typically available in light, gold, and black varieties, depending on their filtering and aging processes. Spiced rum is usually aged for the same duration as black rum. Among the must-try cocktails that use rum are the mojito and the piña colada.

Visit licensed retailers in your area to stock up on these essential spirits for your collection or visit a bar or distillery to discover new ways to enjoy them.

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Do you know who made these patriotic statements?

1. “Where liberty dwells, there is my country.”
a. George Washington
b. John Adams
c. Benjamin Franklin
d. Thomas Jefferson

2. “America is another name for opportunity.”
a. Jack Kerouac
b. Henry David Thoreau
c. Jon Krakauer
d. Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. “Freedom is one of the deepest and noblest aspirations of the human spirit.”
a. Martin Luther King, Jr.
b. Ronald Reagan
c. Rosa Parks
d. John McCain

4. “America, to me, is freedom.”
a. Johnny Cash
b. Kris Kristofferson
c. Willie Nelson
d. Lyle Lovett

5. “We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.”
a. William Faulkner
b. Thomas Wolfe
c. Willa Cather
d. John Steinbeck

6. “The fact is, with every friendship you make and every bond you establish, you are shaping the image of America projected to the rest of the world.”
a. Jill Biden
b. Nancy Reagan
c. Michelle Obama
d. Barbara Bush

7. “Patriotism is easy to understand in America. It means looking out for yourself by looking out for your country.”
a. Jimmy Carter
b. Woodrow Wilson
c. John F. Kennedy
d. Calvin Coolidge

8. “The magic of America is that we’re a free and open society with a mixed population. Part of our security is our freedom.”
a. Madeleine Albright
b. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
c. Sonia Sotomayor
d. Condoleezza Rice

9. “True patriotism springs from a belief in the dignity of the individual, freedom, and equality not only for Americans but for all people on earth, universal brotherhood and goodwill, and a constant striving toward the principles and ideals on which this country was founded.”
a. Betty Ford
b. Eleanor Roosevelt
c. Hillary Rodham Clinton
d. Laura Bush

10. “You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4th, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.”
a. Dave Barry
b. Dorothy Parker
c. Art Buchwald
d. Erma Bombeck

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Answers:
1. c, 2. d, 3. b, 4. c, 5. a, 6. c, 7. d, 8. a, 9. b, 10. D
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Though the Fourth of July is a beloved date for Americans, some people claim that it’s not the real date of our independence.

The first motion for independence in the Continental Congress was made on June 8. After lengthy debates, Congress voted secretly for independence on July 2, 1776.

The Congress reworked the Declaration of Independence until a little after 11 p.m. on July 4, when the colonies voted for its adoption and released an unsigned copy to the printers (New York abstained). Later, Philadelphia celebrated the Declaration of Independence with public readings and bonfires on July 8.

John Adams, the unofficial and tireless whip of the independence movement, wrote his wife Abigail on July 3: “The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations…”

The vote on July 2 was the decisive act, but July 4 is the date on the Declaration itself. Thomas Jefferson’s stirring prose, as edited by the Congress, was adopted by the vote on July 4. It was the day Philadelphians heard the official news of their independence from England.

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It’s hot. It’s humid. The Dog Days are here.

The term Dog Days dates back to ancient times when people studied the sky and relied on the heavens and the stars for navigation and spiritual sustenance.

These ancients looked into the night sky, before modern lights obscured the stars, and imagined that the constellations formed images of bears (Ursa Major and Ursa Minor), a bull (Taurus), and dogs (Canis Major and Canis Minor).

Sirius, called the dog star, was the brightest star in the night sky. It was so bright that the Romans thought it added heat to the earth.

In late summer, Sirius rises and sets with the sun, furthering the notion that the heat of the combined stars created the muggy, sultry weather. They called the 20-day alignment of the sun and Sirius the Dog Days.

This alignment can vary in exact dates with the latitude of the observer and by the annual variances in the equinoxes.

Most of us know only that this period is too hot for a good disposition and look for ways to stay cool during those 20 days. We could go for a swim, take a vacation to a cooler climate, go to an air-conditioned theater or spend a few leisurely hours shopping at the air-conditioned mall. Dress in cool clothes and don’t overexert.

But if you are still uncomfortable, you can blame it on the big dog and that familiar old star, the sun.

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On Saturday afternoon, our publisher Mike McCool, joined by C&C Frozen Treats proprietor William Huck on a bench in From of White Picket Fence on the 400 block of Main Street in Front Royal, and discussed all the events going on in Front Royal this holiday weekend. From baseball to fireworks to a car show – all happening in Front Royal.

There is a baseball game on Saturday night, the Front Royal Cardinals vs. Winchester Royals with the pre-game action starting at 6:30 pm.  On Sunday, a double-header, Front Royal Cardinals vs. Harrisonburg Turks, with pre-game action at 4:00 pm. If you can’t make the games, you can watch live on the Royal Examiner.

After the game on Sunday, the Town of Front will be hosting fireworks at Bing Crosby Stadium. Don’t forget the car show, starting at noon on Sunday at Lindsay Chevrolet on South Royal Avenue.

Lots to do – enjoy the weekend with family and friends – celebrate responsibly and don’t drink and drive.

As your holiday weekend festivities begin, don’t forget to remember why the 4th is officially called Independence Day. The name observes the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and equally celebrates our declared independence from Britain.

Earlier on Saturday, the Royal Examiner was at the Warren Heritage Society, where the Colonel James Wood II Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution read the Declaration of Independence on the porch of the Archives.  Read more here.

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On 2 July, at 11:30, the Colonel James Wood II Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution read the Declaration of Independence on the porch of the Archives at the Warren Heritage Society.  The Chapter Color Guard also fired a three-volley musket salute to commemorate the signing of the document.

Participating Compatriots: Sean Carrigan, Paul Christensen, Dave Cook, Jim Cordes, Dale Corey, Chip Daniel, Jim Heflin, Marc Robinson, Bill Schwetke, Jime Simmons, Mike St Jacques, and Richard Tyler.

Visit the Warren Heritage Society at 101 Chester Street in Front Royal for more information on the Virginia signers of the Declaration of Independence.

The National Archives provided us with the following:

The Declaration of Independence was designed for multiple audiences: the King, the colonists, and the world. It was also designed to multitask. Its goals were to rally the troops, win foreign allies, and to announce the creation of a new country. The introductory sentence states the Declaration’s main purpose, to explain the colonists’ right to revolution. In other words, “to declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” Congress had to prove the legitimacy of its cause. It had just defied the most powerful nation on Earth. It needed to motivate foreign allies to join the fight.

Preamble
These are the lines contemporary Americans know best: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of happiness.” These stirring words were designed to convince Americans to put their lives on the line for the cause. Separation from the mother country threatened their sense of security, economic stability, and identity. The preamble sought to inspire and unite them through the vision of a better life.

List of Grievances
The list of 27 complaints against King George III constitute the proof of the right to rebellion. Congress cast “the causes which impel them to separation” in universal terms for an international audience. Join our fight, reads the subtext, and you join humankind’s fight against tyranny.

Resolution of Independence
The most important and dramatic statement comes near the end: “That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States.” It declares a complete break with Britain and its King and claims the powers of an independent country.

Note: The following text is a transcription of the Stone Engraving of the parchment Declaration of Independence (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and punctuation reflects the original.

In Congress, July 4, 1776

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, 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, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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