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Maple Road • (248) 263-2111 996060 Detroit's Legendary Steak House A Classic Since 1920 Purchase Two Entrees Totalling $50 or More and Receive $10 off With Ad/Holidays Excluded Celebrating 85 years in business and voted Best Steak House by Metro Times • Playboy Magazine • Delta Airlines • Hour Magazine • Maxim Magazine • City Search — both Peoples and Editor's Choice C 7 .1:•1 1 1S cHoi. 1-fotTSE 3020 Grand River/Detroit (313) 833-0700 Open 7 days 11 am - Midnight Shuttle Service Available to all Downtown Events 957630 Wedding And Party Specialists Flowers For All Occasions OF NATURE STATE T FLOWERS (248) 559-5424 (888) 202-4466 Fax: (248) 559-5426 29115 Greenfield, Southfield, MI 48076 855910 CilLTOOPi PAP SUBSCRIPTION 6/30 2005 30 page 29 248.351.5174 You already know that your father walked 10 miles in the snow to get to school, with only bits of card- board on his feet for shoes. Nov what else did he do in the past? Did he celebrate July 4 with a cookout and fireworks? Why not ask your parents and grandparents to write down their memories of the holiday, then take some of their tra- ditions and make them your own. Meanwhile, if you want to know how communities, past and present, celebrate the day, here are a few fas- cinating tidbits: • The Declaration of Independence was first printed on July 6, 1776, in the Pennsylvania Evening Post. The next day, the first public reading of the document was held at Independence Square in Philadelphia. • And how about those fireworks that we enjoy to this day? The first July 4 fireworks didn't actually occur until one year after independence was declared, in 1777. (The biggest fireworks display to date: July 4, 1976, when Washington, D.C., marked the country's 200th birthday with 33 tons of fireworks). • Every July 4 in Tecumseh, Neb., citizens raise hundreds of flags around the courthouse. Each bears the name of a Tecumseh native who served with the U.S. armed forces. • In Lititz, Pa., residents spend each winter making thousands of candles. On July 4, children living in the city light the candles as part of the holiday. • In 1776, Americans celebrated their independence by tearing down a statue of King George III of England, which was in New York. The lead from the statue was report- edly used to make bullets. • Historian James R. Heintze man- aged to find a newspaper account of a 1777 July 4 celebration from the Virginia Gazette, which reports: "About noon all the armed ships and galleys in the river were drawn up before the city, dressed in the gayest manner, with the colours of the United States and streamers displayed. `At one o'clock, the yards being prop- erly manned, they began the celebra- tion of the day by a discharge of thir- teen cannon from each of the ships, and one from each of the thirteen gal- leys, in honour of the Thirteen United States ... `Afi-er dinner a number of toasts were drank, all breaking independ- ence, and a generous love of liberty, and commemorating the memories of those brave and worthy patriots who gallantly exposed their lives, and fell gloriously in defence of freedom and the righteous cause of their country ... "The evening was closed with the ringing of bells, and at night there was a grand exhibition of fireworks, which began and concluded with thirteen rockets on the commons, and the city was beautifully illuminated. Every thing was conducted with the greatest and decorum, and the face ce of joy and gladness was universal. "Thus may the 4th of July, that glo- rious and ever memorable day, be cele- brated through America, by the sons of freedom, from age to age till time shall be no more. Amen, and amen." • The Name Game: Can you guess what patriotic name is the most popular for cities and towns in the United States? (Hint: there's one in Metro Detroit). The answer: Franklin, with 37 incor- porated cities or towns in the coun- try. Nov challenge your family to come up with the other top 10 names. The answers are below, but don't peek until you've given it your best shot. • I Declare: If a trip to Washington, D.C., to see the real Declaration of Independence isn't on your agenda in the near future, you can still see the original document and learn some fascinating facts about its his- tory on the Web. Visit the National Archives as www.archives.goy/national_archives_ experience/charters/declaration.html for a virtual tour, and a really fun history lesson. ❑ Answer to The Name Game: 1) Franklin (37) 2) Washington (33) 3) Liberty (27) 4) Jefferson (26) 5) Lexington (19) 6) Adams (14) 7) Concord (13) 8) Independence (10) 9) Hancock (6) 10) Philadelphia (6) Source: U.S. Census Bureau