North Carolina State Toast

"A Toast"^[1] was adopted by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1957:^[2]

Here's to the land of the long leaf pine,

The summer land where the sun doth shine,

Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great,

Here's to "Down Home," the Old North State!

Here's to the land of the cotton bloom white,

Where the scuppernong perfumes the breeze at night,

Where the soft southern moss and jessamine mate,

'Neath the murmuring pines of the Old North State!

Here's to the land where the galax grows,

Where the rhododendron's rosette glows,

Where soars Mount Mitchell's summit great,

In the "Land of the Sky," in the Old North State!

Here's to the land where maidens are fair,

Where friends are true and cold hearts rare,

The near land, the dear land, whatever fate,

The blessed land, the best land, the Old North State!

Common uses

The State Toast is used at some functions within the University of North Carolina. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's oldest student organization The Dialectic and Philanthropic Societies deliver the toast twice annually.^[3]

People inducted into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine become "cultural ambassadors of the state" and "can propose the state toast at any time."^[4]

See also

• "The Old North State," North Carolina's state song.

References

1. ↑ North Carolina General Statutes, c. 149 §149-2
2. ↑ Original citation - North Carolina Laws 1957 c. 777
3. ↑ Burges, Steve. "Senator DeMaria Ready to Toast". diphi.web.unc.edu. Retrieved 1 September 2014. 
4. ↑ Beckwith, Ryan Teague (26 June 2007). "What is the Order of the Long Leaf Pine?". Raleigh News & Observer. Retrieved October 23, 2012.