New Memorial For Herm Gooner Bartz Unveiled In Waite Park

WAITE PARK (WJON News) -- A new memorial in Waite Park pays tribute to a longtime supporter of the city. Two large baseballs at River's Edge Park now pay tribute to the legacy of Herm (Gooner) Bartz. Bartz worked for the city for 34 years, was the Waite Park Public Works Superintendent, and a city councilman for 12 years.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

He was also a lifetime fan of baseball, playing, coaching, and umpiring both baseball and softball. His daughter Kelly Bartz Walz says he even met his wife while playing softball:

"That's how they met was playing softball, and dad was, I think he was either umping or coaching another team, and as his story goes, he said he saw, took one look at her and said I'm going to marry that gal, and so he did."

Paul Habstritt, WJON

Walz says she has already seen kids playing on and enjoying the large concrete baseballs and thinks her dad would have loved seeing that. She says Herm was still playing ball into his 80s:

"So he was playing, and long with all the other old goats as he would call them and so yeah there were people on that team even older than him, when he was playing, and it was actually, it was just so fun to watch cause they just had so much joy playing a game that they all loved."

Walz says Waite Park has always been an important piece to her dad and the memorial brings the family a lot of joy and Herm taught them to always find joy in each moment.

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Paul Habstritt, WJON

The dedication ceremony for the display was rained out on Monday, and Walz says one of her dad's favorite quotes was "you win some, you lose some, and some get rained out," so it was kind of fitting that the ceremony was postponed.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

That quote is on a plaque by the baseball monuments, and the new dedication ceremony date is June 16th at 5:00 p.m.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

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