Father and son Wes and Calvin Isaac Maltin stand with a memorial plaque for late grandfather Bert Maltin at the newly renamed Bert Maltin Fields at Lions Park on Friday.--NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
Bert Maltin had his local legacy honoured for decades to come with the recent renaming of two baseball diamonds in his honour at Lions Park.
The local builder – who passed away in 1996 – had been a key figure in the Medicine Hat recreation community since 1948, when he was appointed the first recreation director in the city’s history.
“He was a great man,” said grandson Calvin Isaac Maltin, adding Bert also helped found the city’s first recreation centre. “It’s good to remember people who have strong beliefs in community, and to uplift people using recreation to bring people together and give them hope, and to relinquish the negativities that accumulate in your life. You can go to somewhere like a recreation centre and use it like a refuge, you can build yourself up and feel good, have good health and live happy.”
Bert served as recreation director for more than five years and was an active member of the Medicine Hat Recreation Board for 20. His vision for the community was simple: “All sport for all ages for all the people.” That mantra – etched onto his plaque at Bert Maltin Fields – ultimately became a reality over the course of the next few decades, with sports of all kinds for athletes of all ages now scattered across the Gas City.
“It’s commendable that he’s gotten both of these honours bestowed on him, but he earned it,” said Bert’s son, Les Maltin. “He was very active in the community.”
An avid promoter of arts, culture, sports and recreation, Bert also founded the Medicine Hat Handicapped Association Rehabilitation Society and the Southern Alberta Home and School Council. Les added Bert was also a Lions Club member for more than four decades, making his new home at Lions Park all the more fitting.
“I’m just very pleased that he got the recognition that he so justly deserved,” Les said Friday, as local kids hit fly balls behind him in a field named after his father. “The community and the children of the city will have his legacy forever.”
Calvin says there were plans to hold a ceremonial unveiling back in May, but the pandemic prompted its cancellation. Nevertheless, Calvin says he’s thrilled to see his grandfather’s name so proudly displayed in the community he helped build.
“It’s nice to see that he’s recognized, because he believed so strongly in helping others, using sport and recreation to found community … He believed in education and recreation,” said Calvin. “I hope to follow his legacy.”
