Consistent use of the United Airlines service out of Salina added to Don Boos’s thirst for more knowledge about what goes on at the city’s Airport and Industrial Center.
“You spend your lifetime learning things. It’s important to give back where you can,” said the director of real estate for Salina-based Blue Beacon, Inc.
He was officially appointed to a three-year term to the Salina Airport Authority board of directors at the March 15 meeting.
“I do fly in and out of there fairly often. I know it from that perspective,” said Boos, 63. “I see all the positive things happening out there, and realize how crucial it is to the community.”
Through his 18 years at Blue Beacon — director of real estate over truck washes, car washes and hotels — Boos has worked for the greater good of Salina and Saline County. He played a key role in the establishment of Homewood Suites by Hilton, an upscale hotel in downtown Salina that opened in June 2020.
That business district is still adding more shine through an ongoing revitalization project.
He appreciates what Tim Rogers, airport authority executive director, and his staff, have done for the aviation and industrial sectors of the city, county, north-central region and Kansas.“
I have tremendous respect for Tim. He has served the community in stellar fashion,” Boos said. “I am excited to start in. It’s an important piece of the economy of Salina and Saline County, if not several counties.”
Born less than an hour away in Lincoln, Kansas, he grew up in the Kansas City area, and moved to Salina in 2005 from Overland Park.
Boos raised three children with his late wife, Gina. — Lauren Cole, CPA, is the Blue Beacon corporate controller; Bonnie Boos, known locally as a volleyball player at Sacred Heart High School, is a CPA in Kansas City; and Joey Boos, is a professional actor in Indianapolis.
Lauren and her husband, Keith Cole, are expecting their second child in the second week of June.
Don remarried in 2015. His wife, Cathy Boos, is marketing director at Presbyterian Manor in Salina. She has four kids — Blake, of Victoria; Ashley and husband Clint Herl, of Linwood; Grant and wife Jessica, of Joplin, Missouri; and Nate and wife Alexa, Las Cruces, New Mexico — and six grandchildren. Nate and Alexa are expecting a child in the second week of April.
“They keep us busy,” Don Boos said.
