On Saturday, April 18, Malverne Little League Opening Day, the Malverne Village Board and the Havern family unveiled the new Bernie Havern Way street sign at Whelan Park’s baseball fields. The street sign’s unveiling was announced at the board’s recent meeting on April 8.
In addition to the board and the Havern family, State Sen. Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick, County Legislator Carrie Solages, and former Malverne Mayor Catherine Hunt attended the ceremony. Little League players also watched the ceremony before their games.
Mayor Tim Sullivan emceed the ceremony and first gave the floor to Sen. Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick. “Bernie’s efforts towards little league are remembered and felt to this day, it is fitting that we're honoring him with a street so close to the place where his legacy was built,” she said.
Sullivan himself then spoke, reminiscing on the childhood experiences he had with Bernie Havern, including canvassing for Mayor Catherine Hunt at the LIRR stop. “I used to talk politics with Bernie because I was no good at baseball,” he joked. “When Mayor Hunt was running for office, she and Bernie told me, ‘Timmy Boy, go hand out these pamphlets for us on the train platform.’”
Sullivan honored Havern’s legacy and spoke of his impact on the community. “Bernie Havern was truly a ‘Mr. Baseball’ for a generation of Malverne, he didn’t need to be asked to tend to these fields,” he said. “If you needed something done, he was there to do it.”
The mayor then gave an anecdote about Havern’s personality and infectious love of the game of baseball. “When he wasn’t coaching, Bernie was still at games. He would stand behind the backstop,” he said. “And if he disagreed with the umpire’s call, he’d have a look on his face like he was prepared to run through the backstop and charge the ump.”
Jim Wildeman, one of Bernie Havern’s former players also spoke at the unveiling ceremony. He played under Havern in Little League, for the Malverne Dodgers, and even for Molloy College’s baseball team that Havern established and coached. “The best coaches coach you in baseball and in life,” Wildeman said. “Bernie was truly a life coach. He was like a father to me and so many others.”
Former Mayor Catherine Hunt spoke after Wildeman. Like Mayor Sullivan, she reminisced on her time with Havern and the deep friendship they shared. "My mother used to say, 'on five fingers, you can count all your real friends,' and Bernie was one of them for me," she said. “It was my privilege and honor to be his friend.”
Mayor Hunt also spoke about his dedication to baseball and impact on the community, as the speakers before her did. “I told him he had to be the village’s commissioner of baseball because he knew everything about baseball,” she said. “They should name the high school field after him; he was the only one who cared about that field when we had no money to fix it."
Bernie Havern’s sons, Chris and Jim, and daughters, Jennifer and Cathleen, addressed the crowd and thanked them for joining in their remembrance of their father. Mayor Sullivan helped them unveil the Bernie Havern Way sign, and Jennifer climbed a ladder to place the sign on the pole.
After concluding remarks from Mayor Sullivan, he directed the crowd to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” in honor of Bernie Havern’s love of and dedication to baseball.
