Lodging tax collected in Glenwood Springs is primarily used for tourism promotion, but City Council recently debated increasing the tax to help fund affordable housing options.
Mike Vidakovich
At first glance, it would appear as though the seven aging gentlemen had gathered at a long table near the back of the local restaurant to escape from the oppressive June heat, have a nice lunch and enjoy each other’s company.
After all, this small group of old friends and teammates don’t get to see much of each other these days. There was a time, though, when they were almost inseparable, especially during a magical winter long ago when they managed to live out a dream that had been years in the making. From boyhood to the difficult early years of being an adult, the plan had been to go out as champions, and on a stage that was as big as the moment allowed.
Mike Vidakovich
In the late winter of 1975, I was in eighth grade and I went to the high school on a weekend evening to watch the Glenwood Demons battle their big rivals from Carbondale, the Roaring Fork Rams. As was usually the case back then, it was standing room only in the old Glenwood gym when Bob Chavez’s Demons squared off against Sonny Darien’s Rams.
There have been a couple of plays or moments that have taken place on that old hardwood floor in Glenwood that I can now, and will forever remember as clearly as if they took place yesterday. One of them happened that night when Demon guard Rob Chavez was all alone heading down the court for what seemed to be an easy fast break layup.
Mike Vidakovich
During my senior year at Glenwood Springs High School, our much-anticipated basketball season began on the usual mid-November day in 1978. Our season held an abundance of promise, even though we were kicking off the new campaign minus a couple of starters and some reserve players who were still involved in Glenwood’s successful football run through the playoffs.
We were aware that if the football team advanced all the way to the state championship game, our first basketball contest would fall on the night before the title tilt. Moffat County was scheduled for our home opener, and we all knew we could take them even if we were a bit shorthanded.