Brief by Central Staff
New West – June 2005 – Colorado Central Magazine
Sam Arnold, the owner of the Fort restaurant (a replica of Bent’s Old Fort near Morrison) is also on the board of the Center of the American West in Boulder, one of our favorite think tanks.
Arnold once assembled the Old West Toast, composed of words and phrases from the 19th-century fur trade:
Here’s to the child’s what’s come afor’
And here’s to the pilgrims what’s come arter;
May yer trails be free of grizz,
And yer packs filled with plews,
And fat buffler fat in your pot.
WAAAAAAUGH!
The Center staff thought that a New West Toast might be in order:
Here’s to the subsidized water systems what’s come afor’,
And here’s to the telecommuters what’s come arter,
May your surburban highways bee free of gridlock,
And your stakeholder meetings
filled with conflict mediators,
And a grande latte in your pot!
DUDE! (pronounced “Dew–ude”)
The Center’s publication of these toasts concludes with “We offer these Toasts as unrestricted intellectual property for your free use, and, if this genre appeals to you, we invite you to send us your own composition.” You can send it (they like financial contributions, too) to Center of the American West, 282 UCB, Boulder CO 80309.
And of couse, we had to try:
Here’s to the red-necked land rapists who came first,
And to us, the enlightened environmentalists
who came later,
May our bank accounts and cities be green,
And our covenanted communities tranquil
With nary a trespasser on our plots.
Or Let’s Sue!
