The Fourth of July is about more than hotdogs and fireworksDate: 6/28/2021 It’s reassuring when you see someone’s dream come true. It underscores there is indeed some justice in the universe.
Last week, Ray Berry Jr., after a very long journey, brought brewing back to Springfield with the opening of his White Lion taproom and brewery at Tower Square.
How significant is this event? Well, breweries played a major role in the city from the early 1800s. Historic New England has a print in its collection from 1830 showing the Springfield Brewery from that time.
Up until Prohibition, several breweries thrived in the city as they did in other Western Massachusetts communities. The website for the Dr. Seuss Museum notes, “In 1879 Ted’s grandfather, Theodor Geisel, founded a brewery called Kalmbach and Geisel on the outskirts of the city on Boston Road. Within a few years it became the second largest brewery in New England. As Ted grew up he was very proud of his grandfather’s brewery and his family’s place in the city’s German-American community. But the passage of Prohibition in 1920 led to the demise of the family business. The site of the brewery is now the home of MassMutual Financial Group.”
“Ted” is, of course, Dr. Seuss himself.
According to many of the histories I’ve read online, locally brewed beer in Springfield ended in the late 1940s.
What is also significant with the opening of White Lion Beer’s taproom and brewery in downtown Springfield is out of 220 craft breweries in the commonwealth only five are owned by African-Americans and White Lion is one of those five companies.
It’s been shown time after time that craft breweries can build a local economy with jobs, taxes and tourism. A taproom is more than just a taproom. Many breweries team up with a food vendor to offer a complete experience. Many also offer entertainment as well.
They have become points of destination for many people and can become an essential part of the community.
Local beer also means a greater percentage of the sales stays in the community or region.
So, if you drink beer I hope you will consider trying a local brewery, if you haven’t already. And if you’re a Springfield resident I hope you take pride in what Ray Berry and his team has accomplished.
July Fourth
July Fourth is a time when the idiots in my neighborhood shoot off fireworks until 1 a.m. but it should be a time for reflection. When the fathers of the American Republic assembled the Declaration of Independence, we have to remember that women had no vote and slavery existed. Landowners had rights that did not extend to those who did not
Let’s look at a very important passage from this vital document.
“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.”
So let me ask you: have we achieved these goals? Does every American citizen enjoy the same levels of freedom as described in this paragraph?
Isn’t time for us as a nation to truly try to live up to these ideals?
Hey, I love fireworks – the legal kind – and backyard cookouts as much as the next person but there is much more to the Fourth than that. Before that annual trip to the beach, give a few moments of thought to the promise of the Declaration and what we can do today to truly fulfill it.
And then when you’re done deciding if you’re going to have a hot dog or a hamburger, consider what you can do to help bring all of the potential of the Declaration to life for everyone.
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