Politics isn’t always an easy topic, particularly in these divided times. Nevertheless, a recent crowd at Mohawk Trail Regional School in Buckland managed to have a lot of fun discussing political affairs … and consuming politically themed beverages.
The setting was Civics Trivia Night, an annual event hosted by the League of Women Voters of Franklin County along with the school’s “Museum on Main Street: More Voices, More Votes” program.
I missed the evening but received positive reports from a number of people.
Local historian, playwright and retired librarian Kay Lyons served as quizmaster, with help from Senator Paul Mark, who was stuck in Boston for budget sessions but managed to participate online. The pair presented six themed rounds, including such topics as “Government Grab Bag” and “Don’t Forget the Ladies.”
The 10 assembled teams included students, faculty, alums, community personalities, and of course members of the League. Each team adopted a fun name like “The Doves of Peace,” “Hilltown Radishcals,” and “Teddy’s Folks.”
Refreshments were of course served. These included snacks, sandwiches and mocktails.
I asked my teacher friends at the school why they decided on mocktails. History teacher Bethany Basal explained that last year when the group invited the League to hold this affair at the school for the first time, they “realized that part of the appeal of the LoWV hosting the event at a location business was the alcohol.”
“Mocktails were how we sweetened the pot to entice them to work with us instead,” she explained. National Honor Society students tended bar. I hope they got extra credit!
The mocktails all centered around presidents or their first ladies. McKinley’s Hawaiian Paradise paid tribute to our 25th president’s imperialist ambitions, which led to the annexation of Hawaii as an American territory.
Jackson’s “Whiskey” Punch used a whiskey substitute to remember the chaos of Andrew Jackson’s inauguration party, for which the president opened the White House to his supporters.
The crowd — estimated at around 20,000 people — overwhelmed the White House and its staff, celebrating so boisterously that furniture was broken. The staff finally came up with the clever idea of serving whiskey punch on the lawn and thus managed to draw the crowd outside the building.
Lemonade Lucy recalled the nickname of first lady Lucy Webb Hayes. She and her husband Rutherford B. Hayes were in favor of temperance, so alcohol was never served in the White House during their tenure.
John Quincy Adams had his Sunshine Tonic to salute his acquisition of Florida, which was previously a Spanish territory, for the United States.
And of course the Father of Our Country, George Washington, was awarded a signature mocktail, Washington’s Cherry Jubilee.
Most people now know that the story of Washington’s confessing to chopping down his father’s cherry tree in his youth is apocryphal. Nevertheless, it’s a story that most of us find hard to resist. After all, it positions our revered first president as a paragon of honesty.
The Cherry Jubilee was actually a Shirley Temple — but who among us doesn’t enjoy a Shirley Temple?
Local League of Women Voters president Marie Gauthier certainly liked hers.
“My favorite drink was Washington’s Cherry Jubilee,” she reported.
“I had more than one cup of it, and yum!”
Of course, I asked which team won the contest.
To my delight, the winners were my three civics/history teacher friends — Bethany Basal, Catherine Glennon and Julia White, along with math teacher Elizabeth Rennert.
Bethany noted, ”Third place was a team that had our seventh-grade social-studies student teacher from UMass on it, and the second-place team had a retired MTRS social-studies teacher on it. Being a history teacher seemed to pay off!”
I asked whether any question had particularly stumped the group. Bethany explained that they had erred in identifying the first president to appoint an African-American cabinet member as Jimmy Carter. It was actually Lyndon Johnson.
Marie Gauthier summed up the evening:
“We enjoy doing Civics Trivia Night every year, but doing it at the Mohawk Trail Regional School, with the active help and participation of students, feels especially meaningful. We loved it! The MTRS teachers are gold — naturally it was their team that came in first place. But the student teams weren’t far behind!”
Civics trivia night is not scheduled to return until next spring. Readers may take comfort in the meantime by preparing a mocktail or two. Now that we are in the official summer season, refreshing beverages are a must.
Note: Some of the recipes use ounces; some, cups. Some are for a pitcher, and some for a glass. Be flexible and enjoy!
Jackson’s Whiskey Punch
Ingredients:
1/4 cup honey
4 cups lemonade
3 cups whiskey alternative
4 cups club soda
mint leaves and lemon slices as needed for garnish
Instructions:
Combine the honey, the lemonade, and the whiskey. Gently stir in the club soda. Pour into glasses with ice. Garnish with mint and lemon. Serves 12.
McKinley’s Hawaiian Paradise
Ingredients:
60 ounces pineapple juice
60 ounces ginger beer
Instructions:
Pour the pineapple juice into a pitcher (or individual glasses) with ice. Pour the ginger beer on top. Stir gently. Serves 18 to 20.
Washington’s Cherry Jubilee
(The teachers were quick to point out that grenadine is technically made with pomegranate, not cherries. Still, it’s pretty and red … and the cherry garnish keeps the name honest, just like George Washington.)
Ingredients:
3/4 cup ginger ale
4 teaspoons grenadine (more or less, to taste)
cherries for garnish
Instructions:
Pour the ginger ale into a glass with ice. Gently stir in the grenadine. Load in the cherries. Serves 1.
Tinky Weisblat is an award-winning cookbook author and singer known as the Diva of Deliciousness. Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.