DAVID TODT

We hail that great David named Todt
A man of considerable note

A person, in sum,
On whom we’ve all come

Not just to depend but to dote

How was it, receiving that news?
That request to step into those shoes?

The shoes of no less
Than that legend Ken West —

A job that no mortal would choose

The Treasurer’s Apprentice said yes!
(Still innocent, we only could guess)

Though young, he’d been tried
So he went for the ride

And he soared to resounding success

To “tote” means to “total,” we hear
Todt’s totals are totally clear

David will pounce
On our countless accounts —

Up he’ll bounce — and the numbers cohere

“Tote” — the word also means “carry”
Todt totes a great load on this prairie

With nary a skip
Or a slip or a trip

He does his job well — and that’s very

To insurances, debt service, rents
To each revenue, every expense

He’s awake and alert
In his button-down shirt

With his great common (dollars and) sense

He’s handsome and clean-cut and slim
Pure vibrance, vitality, vim

Our treasurer? May be —
But the truth’s plain to see —

We are the treasurers of him

He’s made himself more than essential
Influential, prudential, sequential

Our bright bottom line:
David’s divine —

David’s our Todt-al potential

Treasurers of the world — hello!
There’s something you all ought to know:

Your spreadsheets are neat —
But you’ll never compete

With his bridge or his plow or his bow

We throw him affectionate looks
For the way he maintains all our books

For his bright disposition
His fine intuition —

And on top of it all, David cooks!

He apparels himself with a flair
His attire is crisp, debonair

Within and without
There’s clearly no doubt

His is a rarefied air

Then he became Prince of Planning —
Another great task he’s been manning

Dashboards and dials
Will turn into smiles —

Going forth through the years that he’s scanning

And then he became Major Gifts
As majors from minors he sifts

In search of surprises
Gifts of great sizes

To propel us through great quantum shifts

And the buildings that David’s constructed!
The renovations that David’s conducted!

Most recent: Argiro
David’s a hero —

The MUM Hall of Fame — he’s inducted

David’s an acoustic guitarist
David’s an aikido martial artist

A hiker, a driver,
Grand Canyon survivor —

His achievements — they rank as the largest

He’s the man with the laser-beam eyes
Where he looks, we see Atma arise

So clear, so collected,
So deeply connected —

No one can measure his size

Play by play, inning by inning
What makes him so welcome and winning?

At the end of the day
He’s as bright, come what may,

As he was at the very beginning

He’s as even as humans can get
No one’s out-evened him yet

Ever calm, ever gracious
Ever steady and spacious —

No one has seen David sweat

He walks the pure path, straight and narrow
Standing tall and as straight as an arrow

Perfected, no doubt,
Within and without

A Sidha right down to the marrow

He turns 57 this day —
Still but a lad, you might say

We admire and adore him —
May the future before him

Unfold the most glorious way

All glory to the great Señor Tott* —
What a great story he’s got

Weighing, on balance,
His traits and his talents,

We report he possesses a lot

So one and all, open your throat
And let loose the thrillingest note

May billions flow through him
May Brahman imbue him —

All praise to our great David Todt

*An affectionate nickname, perhaps based on how a visitor from Latin America pronounced his name, and used primarily and continuously to this day by Brad Mylett