Tradition
For years the Black Rock Desert, three hours north of Reno, Nevada, has been the unannounced home of a number of odd events. Explosives experts, large caliber weapons collectors, high-speed vehicle racers, and amateur missile builders all congregate by word of mouth for experiments, celebrations, and very hazardous stupid human tricks in the middle of the biggest flat place on earth.
Each year the growing number of people at Burning Toast Man tell a few trusted friends about Toasty. Each year a few more people make from other events wander across the desert to "see what all the shooting is about." Burning Toast Man has had big growths in attendance the year after it was on the same weekend as explosives festivals, rocketry events, and firearms shootouts. These people have been catalytic to Burning Toast Man year after year adding their presence, their whacky ideas for Toasty projects, and their bitchin' fashion sense.
One of the main principles instilled in BtM through the years ever since the first three guys headed out to the desert to create some mayhem, is anonymity. Unlike many other bohemian trendoid freakshows, Burning Toast Man is committed to creativity and freedom without boundaries. As such, BtM has been an propagated entirely by word of mouth. Until now.
This year (2003) marks the first time Toasty will be announced publicly. Due to a gracious bequest by an angel donor we call "Laura", Burning Toast Man will be bigger and better than ever before. Toasty's guardian angel is the scion of a large company, who inherited both more and less than she expected. Last year, by blind luck, a friend of hers brought Laura to Burning Toast Man because of the ironic serendipitous connection between the concept of Toasty and Laura's unwanted inheritance.
To help make the world more right, and more righteous, Laura is funding the entire event this year. Though she prefers to remain anonymous, she has written a brief statement to BtM attendees. Please don't contact her if you don't already know her. Please don't try to find out who she is while at Burning Toast Man. Her biggest conditions in continuing to give large grants enabling Burning Toast Man are that 1)the event gets better every year, and 2)she continues to enjoy the event. Harrassing Laura ruins the fun for everyone.