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helping Jewish families grow 1

Patriotic

Pleasures

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ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM

• Ice, Ice Baby:

Apple Tree Editor

Fill up ice trays with water, then
drop something red, white and blue
in each spot before freezing. Some
ideas: blueberries, cherries, red-hot
candies, marshmallows, jelly beans.

E

of dogs and hamburgers on
the grill, fresh corn-on-the-
cob, some ice-cold pop, bar-
ley salad — what could be better
than that on July 4?
Barley salad?
It may not be a holiday staple in
homes today, but our earliest ances-
tors in America loved barley and
squash and plenty of pickled foods.
July 4 is all about food and fun
and relaxing and family time. Here
are a few ideas to help you celebrate:

• Get To The Root Of Things:

Imagine being under the very tree
where Abraham Lincoln stood as he
delivered the Gettysburg Address.
Well, believe it or not that tree is
still standing; and you can own a
piece of it.
One of the most awesome Web
sites around is www.historictrees.org
(click on "Nursery Store" at left to
find products). Here, you can order
seeds or a sapling with an amazing
story (prices range from about $15
to about $35).
There are trees planted from seeds
of the honey locust where Lincoln
stood when he made his famous
remarks, from the home of Nathan
Hale (whose famous last words were
"I only regret that I have but one life
to lose for my country"), and from
the forest where the battle of
Saratoga (the first important military
victory during the Revolutionary
War) was fought, among others.

• A Speech You'll Like:

Presidents don't just spend their
July 4 holidays watching fireworks
and eating potato salad. Many of
them have chosen to speak about
this day, delivering eloquent talks
you won't forget.
National Public Radio has reprint-
ed the July 4 speeches of presidents
Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John
F. Kennedy and George W. Bush.
Read them on the Web at
w-ww.pbs.org/capitolfourth/presi-
dents.html.

• You Were There:

Perhaps your closet is filled with
attire resembling that worn by the
Founding Fathers, so your son can
just slip a little something on and
feel like he's George Washington.
Or, maybe not.
If the latter is true for you, you
can still help children imagine they
lived in Revolutionary times. All you
need is a notebook. At the top of
each page, write a question that
would help your daughter imagine
she is part of the American
Revolution. For example:

Your 16-year-old brother takes you
into his confidence one night and says
he has decided to go off and fight the
British. Nothing, he says, will stop
him, and he begs you not to tell your
parents. But before he can go, he needs

help getting a few supplies. Would you
help him? Would you keep his secret?
Or:
George Washington is set to visit
your home city. A committee has been
formed to welcome the general with
much fanfare. You've been asked to
plan his dinner once he arrives. What
would you serve?
Children havemazing imagina-
tions and will love writing their
answers in a notebook. When it's
complete, reward them with a sur-
prise.

• Stars And Stripes And So
Much More:

Give children a few pieces of blank
paper, stickers and markers and ask
them to become designers. Have
them create:
• A new American flag
• A family flag
• A flag for the state of Michigan
• A flag for their school

• By George:

Everybody knows his name, yet
few people really know much about
George Washington. (Did he really
chop down that cherry tree? Most
scholars say no.
(And have you heard of how he
passed a group of soldiers hard at
work, while their supervisor sat on
the sidelines, doing nothing. This
was long before cameras, of course,
so when the general offered to get
off his horse and help the men, the
supervisor didn't recognize the head
of the American Army. He told
Washington, fine, go help them, and
continued to rest.

(When the work was finally done,
Washington went over and intro-
duced himself, and assured the men
that whenever they needed help on
any project, they could simply ask
for Gen. George Washington).
A new book, 1776 by David
McCullough, paints an incredible
picture of Washington. He was inse-
cure but highly ambitious, the head
of a pathetic military force, inexperi-
enced, obsessed with decorating
details. Friends and acquaintances
described him as modest, extraordi-
narily courageous.
Ask your children what it was
about Washington that made him
such a successful leader, and what
qualities in general make for a good
leader.

• Food For Thought:

Believe it or not, when the first
known Jews came to America (they
arrived in 1654), they weren't dining
on gefilte fish and falafel. What,
exactly, did they eat?
We know they had meat because
records show that a Jewish butcher,
Asser Levy, was here in 1661.
Chances are they also enjoyed spices
— vanilla and cocoa — imported
from Holland, barley, and a wide
array of vegetables, like squash and
corn, sweet potatoes, along with
strawberries and blackberries, all
growing in the new land.
Early settlers made their own
wheat flour, and pickled many foods
to keep them throughout the cold
months. With just this limited col-

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2005

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