[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-agd9KULSs&w=560&h=350]
[Courtesy VISIT DENVER, the Convention and Visitors Bureau]
Mayor Michael Hancock accepts Visit Denver Tourism Star Award on behalf of Denver Mountain Parks March 20, 2014. W. Bart Berger also received the award on behalf of the Denver Mountain Parks Foundation.
Let me thank Visit Denver and the Foundation for this award. Let me thank the Denver Mountain Parks, Bart Berger, and the crew for keeping our system viable. Join me in thanking the Denver Department of Parks and Recreation for doing such a wonderful job of maintaining our Mountain Parks. You know, we are the beneficiaries of some very wise, very wise and generous, forefathers who, just over one hundred years ago, decided to invest in 14,400 [sic] acres of land as a gift to the people of Denver so that we would never forget our appreciation for the mountains or outdoors.
I tour the Mountain Parks once a year. Spending an entire day visiting our herd of bison and walking in Genesee Park and Red Rocks… and Lookout Mountain and all the others. The lakes that we own—and I don’t believe the people of Denver truly understand the beauty and the tremendous gift that’s been left to us. So I want to invite everybody to come up, to visit our Mountain Parks. And on behalf of the people of Denver, on behalf of the Mountain Parks team and Denver Parks and Recreation, thank you for recognizing this tremendous gem.