This poem was printed in Nakusp’s Arrow Lakes Times on 26 March, 1926.
Seems like a fairly contemporary point of view, even though it’s 86 years old!
Community Alphabet
A stands for anywhere this may be seen.
B stands for Booster, you get what I mean?
C is the community we all love so well.
D is for discord we all seek to quell.
E stands for Everyone, true to his trust:
F is our future - to prosper or bust.
G is Goodwill that our city holds out.
H is for Homes, ours are good without doubt,
I is Industries - we want more and more;
J stands for “Jack” that they bring us galore.
K stands for Knockers, with them there’s no livin’,
L help to spell what they ought to be given.
M stands for Merchants who hold out some fine buys,
N is this Newspaper where they advertise:
O stands for Optimist - thanks for the rhyme;
P - yes, that’s Pessimist - you guessed it that time.
Q stands for Quibble - alas, some do o’er improvements,
R is the right way to put thru good movements.
S stands for Service we all owe to our town.
T - Trade at Home - you can’t keep a good poet down.
U stands for Unity in public concerns.
V is the Victory that Unity earns.
W is Welcome and that don’t mean maybe;
X means we’re stuck, no matter what the delay be.
Y is You. Pep up. Never say that you won’t :
Z is the Zero you’ll count if you don’t.
Jon Bartlett
Princeton