Ligonier Valley Historical Society will host its Annual Meeting with an outdoor dinner event on the historic grounds of Compass Inn Museum. In addition to the presentation of new members of the Board of Directors and a farewell to the retiring members there will be an update on the happenings of the Society and the Museum, and a special presentation featuring historical interpreter William Knight. Republic of Cocktails: Mixology in the Early Republic.

Historical educator and mixologist William Knight will present an interactive and fully potable history of mixology in early American history, from its beginnings in the 17th century to the early 19th century. You will learn about punch, slings, and the invention of the cocktail itself here in America at the beginning of the 19th century. Taste history for yourself! Drinks on the menu will include punch, cocktails and a specially created drink for Compass Inn to represent what-may-have been served in the 1810s.

After receiving a somewhat early 19th century style education in Classics and Philosophy at St John's College, Annapolis William Knight has been studying and presenting historical mixology for over a decade. In addition to historical mixology in early America, he is interested in the armour trade in late medieval Europe, American religious history and political radicalism in the Early Republican period, as well as the life of printer/journalist/public intellectual Hezekiah Niles and the early history of American journalism.

If you are a member be on the lookout for the invitation.