HOULTON, Maine — Repairs to the Bob M. Ruth Field in Houlton Community Park will be completed this spring thanks to an anonymous donation to the town’s recreation program.
Last week, the Houlton Recreation Department received an anonymous $10,000 donation with the stipulation that the money be used solely for the baseball diamond. Houlton’s baseball team uses this field for its high school games.
Sgt. Robert M. Ruth (Contributed)
“It was something unexpected for sure,” said Marie Carmichael, recreation director for the town. “The people came forward and offered to help us. We are so lucky with people in this town who have a desire to improve our sports facilities.”
Ruth Field was formally dedicated in September, 1947 to the memory of Sgt. Robert M. Ruth, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ruth of Houlton, who was killed in action in France, July 29, 1944. Young Bob Ruth was a guard on the high school football team and basketball teams and was an outstanding catcher on the varsity baseball team for three years, according to a 1958 book “The Story of Houlton” by Cora Putnam.
During the 1947 ceremony, Houlton High School Principal Milton Lambert said, “We who were privileged to know and associate with this young man, to work and play with him, know that it is fitting and proper that this field should be dedicated to the memory of Robert Matthew Ruth … a youth of genuine Christian character, exerting an influence for all that was true and good whenever and wherever he may have been.”
Carmichael said the bulk of the funds will be used to replace the backstop fence on the field, bringing it closer to home plate. Currently, the field has one of the deepest backstops of any field in Aroostook County at about 70 feet. Most high school fields have a backstop of no more than 60 feet, Carmichael said.
This photo, taken of Houlton’s Community Park in 1947 and featured in Cora M. Putnam’s 1958 book “The Story of Houlton”, shows the Robert M. Ruth Field as it appeared when it was formally dedicated to the memory of the beloved Shiretown soldier who was killed in action in France, July 29, 1944. (Contributed)
“We had a conversation with the high school and they were on board with this change,” she said.
In addition, some groundwork will be done along the baselines by bringing in material to better level the field.
“We will definitely get the fencing in before baseball season begins,” she said. “The groundwork will have to be a fall project for us.”
The Houlton Town Council must first accept the donation. The council was expected to do that at Monday night’s meeting.
