Mar. 27, 2007 - 21:08 MDT

HI, MY NAME IS DOUG

And I am an alcoholic. No proudness, just admittance and acceptance that it is so. But it leads my memory down the paths of time that I was coming up.

I was 11 years old when 3.2 beer was allowed to be served. And beer parlors arose around our city.

But from my earliest memory, there was always some form of alcoholic beverages served when folks visited each other. Dandelion wine, cherry wine, apricot wine, hard cider and various kinds of home brew. Occasionally there would be a well off person we would visit and boot leg whiskey, gin or rum would be served.

For the most part we kids would be given a small tot of whatever was served, except for the high proof stuff.

As long as 3.2 beer was being legal, if I were with Mom and Dad I was allowed to drink 3.2 beer. Don't really know if that was legal, but the folks in the neighborhood bar never made any comment about it. My folks weren't boozers and our visits weren't often, but hot Saturday afternoons often had a glass of beer in them.

Then in 1933 Prohibition was over and the hard stuff was allowed.

Minor drinking in a bar with parents was no longer allowed.

But still when visiting friends home made wine and home brew was served and us kids had a bit of the stuff. No hard stuff though.

About the time I hit high school there was a place in the western suburbs of Denver where most anyone could drink, as long as they had the money. Money wasn't all that easy to come by, but occasionally we would venture out to have a beer or two.

Although I don't drink any more, I don't and never could see why there should be laws against doing so. Sure laws against sloppy public intoxication, drunken public obscenity and of course committed crimes including driving while intoxicated, laws like that I am all for.

After all, owning guns is legal, but the penalties for misuse of them is heavy, depending on the harm committed. Owning and driving cars is legal, but penalties for accidents are levied.

The sensible use of things should, the way I see it, be legal. The folks who get carried away with things that are acceptable to the point they are not acceptable, should be restrained from doing so, one way or another, at least that is how I look at it.

So, I grew up knowing how to use alcoholic beverages sensibly and I know not why I became alcoholic, but I did. When I was overseas, drinking with associates was part of my job. On returning home most of the time I would refrain from drinking for a long time, just because I feared becoming addicted.

But somewhere along the line alcohol became an addiction for me.

I miss the friendly gatherings where we would drink beer and visit, visiting being the desired activity and beer a sort of garnish to make things comfortable and friendly.

After a short time it was possible for a person to drink their way the length of Colfax Avenue, which began way out on the east in Aurora, crossed town and became Lakewood and then Golden. Most main drags had plenty of bars and bars and grilles. And Denver became a slightly pale imitation of Denver as it was in the Gold Rush days.

Dr. Tom Noel's book "The City and the Saloon 1858 to 1916," has a table in the back that I shall quote a figure or two from. In 1858 there were no Churches, no schools, no hospitals, no libraries and no banks, but had 31 saloons. As population grew and women became prevalent, things other than bars came into being here. In 1860 the population had grown to 4,749 and had 2 churches, 2 schools, 2 banks and 35 saloons. Then in 1910 population was 213,381 and had 196 churches, 103 schools, 9 hospitals, 11 libraries, 21 banks and 410 saloons.

In his book he shows a plat of downtown streets with dots for each saloon plotted on each block where they were. Looking at it one wonders that there was room for other businesses.

Much of downtown Denver is as it was in 1910, especially Larimer and streets northwest of it, down toward the depot. But yet today there are many of the old buildings in upper downtown as well. When Repeal came many of the places on Larimer Street that had been saloons in the old days opened as bars (modern name for saloon) and being skid row by that time public drunkeness was common on the street.

It's my town and I love it, but know some of its history and love it in spite of the bad parts. The Tabor Grand Opera House was a Movie theater in my young days, a very grand building when built. Many of the grand things were walled off from the general public, but I found ways to roam the halls once roamed by the rich and famous of its heyday. I used to roam the staircase of the Nassau building at 16th and Larimer and sit on the carpeted stairs and go through the cigar rings that had been discarded there, back then cigars had paper rings around them. And dream H A W Tabor walking up and down that very same staircase in his buiding. I worked across the alley from that building, in a furniture store that had once been a theater, The orchestra pit had a row of Governor Winthrop Desk style furniture with the tall bookcases on top, which is where the salesmen sat at desks back there. It was still a grand place even though devoted to selling furniture. Across the street was Daniels & Fisher department store, a place where the rich and famous and their wannabees shopped. A whole block of building with a beautiful tower on one corner of it. Daniels & Fisher tower and the Cathedral of The Immaculate Conception up on the hill on East Colfax were both visible from the foothills as they were both higher than other buildings in town then.

But I get lost in memories and begin to wander, but do go back to the time (not too many years ago) I stood at AA meetings and said, HI,MY NAME IS DOUG

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