Sunday, June 14, is Flag Day. Let’s all be sure to put out the flag on this day! After spending several days with family in the Devine area, I feel much more able to handle the stress that was beginning to get me down due to the pandemic. Pandemic was all I was hearing, and then all the news about riots, looting and burning, threats to come to small towns, peaceful protests, everything and anything seemed to be OK, and since I was staying at home, not having company, not visiting and most of all not getting to meet with friends for breakfast or lunch, not attending meetings, I was beginning to feel alone. A weekly Bible study by phone with my daughters helped, but the getting to be around my loved ones for a few days helped me most of all. Thanks family for all your kindnesses last week! Mom is back to being herself and loves it.
Have you ever wondered in what order the states came into the Union? Who actually designed the first flag? Why does it have 13 stripes? How many stars were on the first flag? Which were the original 13 states? When was Texas admitted as a state?
Legend has it that Betsy Ross, a widowed seamstress was the one who made the first flag from a sketch given her by George Washington. She is said to have changed the number of points on the stars from six to five and then made the first flag in 1776. However, history has proven that it is just that, a legend. A second legend claims that John Hulbert designed it a full year before Betsy Ross is supposedly did. This flag had 13 stripes and 13 stars in honor of the 13 original colonies.
These colonies were: Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina and Rhode Island. They all became states between December 7, 1787 and May 29, 1790.
The First Flag Law was passed by congress on June 14, 1777, giving this country an official national flag, consisting of 13 stripes alternating red and white, and a union of 13 white stars on a blue field.
Congress on May 1, 1795, adding two stripes and two stars in recognition of Virginia and Kentucky, passed the Second Flag Law. This 15-striped, 15-star flag is the second version of the national flag.
The Star Spangled Banner was written as a poem in the Baltimore Patriot newspaper. Frances Scot Key composed the verses while viewing the battle of Fort McHenry during the war of 1812. It became our national anthem on March 3, 1931. (This flag is in the Smithsonian Museum. It is not being restored it is being preserved. The size of this flag, 30 X 42 ft, is astounding, considering the time and place that it flew.)
The Third Flag Act was passed on April 4, 1818 and created the third official version of the flag. Navy Captain Samuel Reid proposed that the flag contain 13 stripes to represent the 13 original colonies. At that time it was decided that a star, represent ting a state, would automatically be added to the flag on the Fourth of July after ea territory was admitted. The flag in 1818 consisted of 13 stripes and 20 stars.
On July 4, 1846, the 10th official design of the Stars and Stripes was created with the addition of Texas into the United States.
June 14, 1861 was the first recorded observance of Flag Day, which was the anniversary of the First Flag Law and took place in Hartford. Connecticut. Bernard Cigrand is generally given the credit for helping to promote Flag Day.
On July 4, 1877, the centennial of the First Flag Act, the 38th star was added honoring the admission of Colorado into the Union. This created the 20th official design of the Stars and Stripes. The entry of New Mexico and Arizona into the Union on July 4, 1912 created the 25th official design of the flag with the addition of it’s 47th and 48th stars honoring these two states.
From 1912 until 1959, the flag had 48 stars and 13 stripes. In that year, Alaska became the 49th state and the 16th official design of the flag was created. The following year, on July 4, 1960, Hawaii was admitted to the Union and a 50-star flag became the 27th official design. At 12:01 a.m., a 50-star flag was raised over Ft. McHenry by presidential order in honor of the victory described in the national anthem.
Summer Holiday Parfaits
(8 plastic glasses (8-oz) size
1 package (3.5 oz) instant white chocolate pudding mix
2 cups milk
3 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 can (21-oz) Strawberry pie filling
1 can (21-oz) blueberry pie filling
2 teaspoons grated orange zest, divided use
12 shortbread cookies (2¼-wide) from an 11-oz package
Prepare pudding with milk according to package directions and fold in whipped topping. In separate bowls, combine each can of pie filling with 1 teaspoon of the orange zest.
Finely chop or crush 8 cookies and divide among glasses (I just chopped 1 into each glass, it’s easier that way). Top with ¼ cup pudding, ¼ cup strawberry pie filling; then repeat using ¼ cup pudding and ¼ cup blueberry pie filling, top each with remaining pudding, crush remaining cookies and sprinkle some on top of each glass. Cover and chill 1 hour or until ready to serve. Serves 8.