Old Colorado City? Over the past 15 years, through adroit planning and deal-making that expanded Territory Days into a cash cow beyond anyone's wildest dreams,
Lynda Brown Dunne has evolved into a kind of "golden goose" for the consortium of merchant and service businesses known as the Old Colorado City Associates
(OCCA). That's a safe statement when you understand that at the time she started, the annual three-day festival was making $5,000 or so for the burghers of Old
Town. Nowadays, in a good year, the OCCA's "take" is $80,000 or more.
You'd think that such an achievement would merit respect, perhaps even an offer of a lifetime contract. But alas, no. In recent years, Dunne's contractees have become increasingly demanding, collectively disgruntled with the size of her own paycheck from the event, dismayed that she speaks her mind at times and certain that with the right brainpower (theirs) still more dollars could be extracted.
Most recently, in keeping with Aesop's fable, the OCCA board decided to actually cut open - in a symbolic sense - their Golden Goose. The reasons given for sifting through all her documents were cliches about fiscal professionalism and "best practices." But we've all read the story: The golden eggs were no longer enough. They wanted what was inside. And that killed it for Dunne. But there the stories diverge. Because in our reality, the OCCA board members didn't care if their goose died. What they wanted, it's pretty obvious now, was to replace her. Hey, welcome to the clone Territory Days, everyone.
- K.J.