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Hot Springs leader named citizen of the year

Bobby MagillPost Independent Staff
Citizen of the Year Hank Bosco accepts his award at the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association's Annual Ball on Saturday night.
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Lifelong Glenwood Springs resident Hank Bosco is nearly synonymous with Glenwood’s famous Hot Springs Lodge and Pool. And it’s his work with the resort and community contributions that earned him the honor of becoming the Glenwood Springs Chamber Resort Association’s citizen of the year. The chamber honored Bosco, 81, at its annual banquet Saturday night with a filmed interview of his experience growing up in a city he says he’s proud to have called home for his entire life. Born in 1922, Bosco virtually grew up at Glenwood’s old Star Hotel, where his father worked and Bosco routinely cleaned crud-filled spittoons. Soon after he graduated from high school, he served in World War II in the Third Infantry Division, and soon returned to Glenwood to manage the Hotel Denver. As he accepted his award Saturday night, Bosco told of his experience as a kid sneaking into the Hot Springs Pool when it closed at sundown. A night watchman, he said, would take his and his friends’ clothes while they were in the pool, and they’d have to face the watchman to get the clothes back. In 1956, Bosco was part of the group that purchased the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool, and he served as the group’s president for 30 years. It was under Bosco’s leadership that the resort constructed its 107-room hotel, bathhouse and athletic club. But Bosco’s work with the Hot Springs Lodge and Pool was only the beginning of his contribution to the community. Bosco has served on the Glenwood Springs City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission and was a member of boards of the Chamber and of Community on the Move. A founding member of Valley View Hospital, Bosco has served in the local Kiwanis club for 40 years and helped bring the MG Car Club rally to Glenwood. Bosco said the change Glenwood has undergone since his youth “is almost unbelievable.””I’m overwhelmed,” he said about his award. “What a shocking surprise this was. I’m grateful that the good Lord has given me the opportunity to grow up in this valley. You might say I’m in ‘a rut.'”He said later that he accepts his award with great humility. “I feel there are many others in the community every bit if not more than worthy of the award than I,” he said. When asked what his greatest accomplishment in life is, Bosco said, “Wow. Raising my family here in Glenwood.”


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