The Hot Spring Ring of Honor is a lifetime achievement award the company gives to its dealers whose traits that include passion, character, competitive spirit and willingness to help others succeed. At the company’s dealer meeting in January, three were inducted: Tom Walker and Scott Smith of Mountain Hot Tubs in Bozeman, Montana; and John Kasten Sr. of Creative Energy in the San Francisco Bay area. Smith died in 2001.
“Tom Walker sis a lifelong learner and true believer in what we do as hot tuber,” says Mike Dunn, executive vice president of Watkins Wellness. “Tom is well known for his belief in people and relentless about his personal investment in them.”
“Tom and Scott Smith were childhood friends and partners who started Mountain Hot Tubs together in the late 1970s,” Dunn says. “Scott was known as ‘the service guy.’ He loved what he did and he was great at it. His phenomenal work ethic was matched perhaps only by his generosity. He is missed and he will always be part of the Watkins Wellness family.”
“John Kasten of Creative Energy is a man of genuine warmth and kindness, and the first of three generations now working in the hot tub business,” Dunn says. “He is a legend in our industry. He is still active in day-to-day operations in the San Francisco Bay area. He believes in Hot Spring today more than ever. In fact, he just opened a new showroom.”