Celebrations

 

Following in the pattern in May (5/5) and June (6/6), let’s take a look at what excitement (7/7) brings us.

And I know this is the one you have been waiting for, right? Here it is, wait for it…

 

July 7 is World Chocolate Day!

 

Established in 2009, World Chocolate Day marks the supposed anniversary of the day that this iconic dessert made its first entrance into Europe in 1550. All around the world on this date, candy stores, and local suppliers place their best-loved merchandise on sale so that everyone, both young and old, can enjoy a nibble of the stuff.

 

Chocolate comes from the seed of the Theobroma Cacao tree. Cacao grows in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America, where it has been cultivated for at least three millennia. However, Africa holds 70% of the growing cacao trees in the world today, Ivory Coast being the leading exporter worldwide. I wonder if Worshipful Joseph Dongo, PM, is the Ivorian driving power behind that success!

 

The earliest known observation of using cacao seeds is from around 1100 BC. The tree seeds have a very serious, bitter taste and must be fermented to develop the flavor.

 

In order to craft a bar of chocolate, seeds from a cacao tree are covered with banana leaves and left to ferment, at which point they are called cocoa beans. Once the cocoa beans have arrived at their processing plant, they are roasted slowly at a low temperature. Then it’s time to separate the shells from the nibs so that the nibs can be ground into a fine powder called cocoa liquor, which is just pure chocolate in rough form. The cocoa mass is often liquified and molded with or without other ingredients. This is the state where you get chocolate liquor. The chocolate liquor then gets processed into two components – cocoa butter and cocoa solids.

 

The two products most vital to chocolate production come from this cocoa liquor paste. Cocoa powder is produced and packed for purchase at grocery stores so that we can bake the beloved roasted taste profile into our cakes and cookies. In contrast, cocoa butter is produced so that manufacturers can use it as an ingredient in their chocolate bars.

 

A lot of research into this edible treasure has found that it is a powerful source of antioxidants, plus it helps to improve blood flow, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of heart disease. It also increases serotonin and dopamine levels, which helps to boost mood. Many people are advised to eat more dark chocolate as it contains healthier benefits.  Tons of treats are made from chocolate – hot chocolate milk, chocolate milk, chocolate cake and brownies, chocolate candy bars, and a lot more we enjoy today.

 

Dark chocolate, which tastes most like its mother seed, is simply a mixture of cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar. Milk chocolate includes those three ingredients plus a smattering of milk powder. At this point, chocolatiers can add things like nuts, salts, and syrups to elevate the flavor profile. Once cooled, the mixtures harden into the shapes of their respective molds, are wrapped in paper, and shipped to our favorite stores and candy shops.

 

History

​

Now on to a little information about Independence Day and its relation to Freemasonry.

 

The month of July is especially significant to all Americans because we celebrate the birth of our nation on the fourth of July. On that date in the year 1776, representatives of the thirteen American colonies, assembled at what is now known as Independence Hall in Philadelphia, adopted a manifesto asserting their political independence from the British crown. We know that document as the American Declaration of Independence.

 

Probably the best accounting of Masonic membership among the signers of the Declaration of Independence is provided in the book Masonic Membership of the Founding Fathers, by Ronald E. Heaton, published by the Masonic Service Association at Silver Spring, Maryland. According to this well-researched and documented work, proof of Masonic membership can be found for only eight of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence.

 

They are:

 

Benjamin Franklin, of the Tun Tavern Lodge at Philadelphia;

John Hancock, of St. Andrew’s Lodge in Boston;

Joseph Hewes, who was recorded as a Masonic visitor to Unanimity Lodge No. 7, Edenton, North Carolina, in December 1776;

William Hooper, of Hanover Lodge, Masonborough, North Carolina;

Robert Treat Paine, present at Grand Lodge at Roxbury, Massachusetts, in June 1759;

Richard Stockton, Charter Master of St. John’s Lodge, Princeton, Massachusetts in 1765;

George Walton, of Solomon’s Lodge No. 1, Savannah, Georgia; and

William Whipple, of St. John’s Lodge, Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

 

Additionally, another five or six signers have from time to time been identified as members of the fraternity based on inconclusive or unsubstantiated evidence.

 

The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson who was himself not a Freemason, and it is undeniable that within this document lies some inalienable similarities, which unites Freemasons and our nation under one flag. 

 

While the principles indoctrinated in the core or mission statement of our early nation are not unique to the Freemasons, in fact, they have been the basis of many books and philosophies throughout the ages, of which it is well known Thomas Jefferson to be an apt student it is undeniably true that Freemasons among all others hold these ideals to be essentially necessary to have been brought from the darkness of ignorance and self-absorbent thinking into the light of truth and brotherly affection.

 

Among these principles which have given the Declaration of Independence shape are Honor & Truth, Humanitarianism, Brotherly Love and Equality, and Duty to Men and God.

 

Answer to Baseball question:

 

By, of course, sitting next to their fans!!

​