How the Red Rose Walking Food Tour Began

by Deb Spagnolo

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People often ask how I started the Red Rose Walking Food Tour. My usual reply? My husband and I love to travel, and whenever we visit a new town, we go on a food tour. It’s one of the best ways to get the lay of the land—not only do you find out where to eat, but you also get a taste of the local history. I love good food, but I also have a soft spot for history.

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That love of history started early. I was the kid running through the graveyard of historic St. Paul’s Church, on South Columbus Avenue in Mt. Vernon, New York, with my fellow Sunday schoolers. At Easter, we hunted for eggs among the gravestones and pachysandra. Inside, the pews were unlike anything I’d ever seen. At seven years old, they felt like separate little rooms. During the Revolutionary War, those pews were actually used as patient areas when the church served as a British hospital. I thought that was interesting—but what really lit the spark for me was learning about my first historical hero.

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Peter Zenger.

Who was he? Only the first person to use the printing press to publicly report the truth about life in the colonies—and the governor's poor treatment of the people. The governor, as you can imagine, didn’t appreciate that.

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A few years before the famous trial Crown v. Zenger, there was an election held right where St. Paul’s Church stands today. The seat up for grabs would either go to someone loyal to the Crown or to someone willing to stand up for the rights of the colonists.

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In the very first issue of the New York Weekly Journal, Zenger reported on the issues at stake in that election—and criticized the governor, a Crown representative. For that, he was charged with “seditious libel” and thrown in jail. As a poor man, he requested a public defender. Back then, criticizing the Crown in print could land you in jail—or worse.

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But that wasn’t Zenger’s fate. He won his trial in 1735, setting a critical precedent: the press could report freely, as long as what it printed was true. That victory laid the groundwork for the First Amendment—and the guarantee of freedom of the press. My hero.

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That’s just one of the stories that sparked my passion for history. When I walk through the streets of Lancaster, sharing its stories and flavors, I hope it inspires you to follow your own passions too.