No Ind. Center Named for Ex-Mayor, Harry Baals?

Fort Wayne City Officials Too Nervous to Pay Homage to Longest-Tenured Mayor, Fearful Name Might Spark Jokes

Geez, I wonder how hard of a time the Mayor had in school growing up. I think they probably should not worry about what jokes other people might make. They should name it that if he wins. After all... we are adults. I find it amusing and a lot of other folks obviously do too. It may draw more attention to the town in the end.

A former Indiana mayor who won four terms in the 1930s and 1950s is proving less popular with modern-day city leaders, who say they probably won't name a new government center for him because of the jokes his moniker could inspire.

Harry Baals is the runaway favorite in online voting to name the new building in Fort Wayne, about 120 miles northeast of Indianapolis. But Deputy Mayor Beth Malloy said that probably won't be enough to put the name of the city's longest-tenured mayor on the center.

The issue is pronunciation. The former mayor pronounced his last name "balls." His descendants have since changed it to "bales."

Supporters said it's unfair that the former mayor can't be recognized simply because his name makes some people snicker. But opponents fear that naming the center after Baals would make Fort Wayne the target of late-night television jokes.

www.cbsnews.com...

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


I live in Fort Wayne and there is a street named after him and people always steal that street sign! Harry Baals Drive or something like that ha ha.

reply to post by xxshadowsecretxx


I can imagine!

The man can't help it. Though why someone chose that name for him is beyond me. I think it is highly unfair to penalize him for it.

You don't have any of those signs do you?

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


No I wish I did but I'm seriously thinking about going to take a picture of the sign and upload it on here for this thread! It's like 10 minutes away from where I live!

But on a kind of serious note I don't think he should be penalized either.

Honestly, what mother looks at her tiny baby and says, 'his name shall be harry. harry baals. what a wonderful name!' Hahaha!

But hey, if he does win the award and it does become a joke in the media, at least Fort Wayne will get it's 15 minutes of fame! Ha ha!

Fort Wayne will be the new tourist attraction! People will flock from all parts of the country to see the Harry Baals monument! Ha ha! I can already imagine the newspaper headlines...

Originally posted by xxshadowsecretxx

No I wish I did but I'm seriously thinking about going to take a picture of the sign and upload it on here for this thread! It's like 10 minutes away from where I live!

Do et!

I'd love to see Harry Baals Dr.

reply to post by janon


Okey dokey! I'm goin'! I hope no one stole it again. Ha ha!

reply to post by xxshadowsecretxx



Yeah. That was my point. It would probably do a lot more good than harm. What did you do today? I went and paid homage to the Harry Baals Monument....

Originally posted by xxshadowsecretxx
reply to post by janon

 

Okey dokey! I'm goin'! I hope no one stole it again. Ha ha!

Did they steal the sign?

I am in Ft Wayne, only been here a year and I have heard the name Harry Baals, didn't know who he was
until now. Wow, had to come to ATS to get local news, how cool is that:

There are some pretty famous folks who have had that name.

For instance, there was Baal Shem who was believed to come from the Davidic line. He was the founder of Hasidic Judaism. He was inducted into a secret society of mystics called Tzaddikim Nistarim.

And then there was also the Baal Shem of London. He was a Kabbalist reputed to have magic power and supposedly performed miracles.

reply to post by crazydaisy


Weird. I guess maybe the news has a difficult time either saying his name with a straight face or saying it without people calling in to complain.

Doesn't the guy have a middle name?

Unless its "giant" - - I don't see a problem.

Hey, there fellow Fort Wayners! The street named after him was just "Harry Baals Drive" for years. It's a thru street through Johnny Appleseed Park, a city park. It kept getting stolen, so they tried "Harry W. Baals Drive", but that got stolen, too. Now it's H. W. Baals Drive. The showed a sign on the local news. Not quite as popular.
He was a great mayor, elected in for four terms. It's too bad people think it's a joke. His family now pronounces it as "Bales", but the mayor pronounced it as "Balls". He was never a Harold either, he was always a Harry. At the time it didn't carry the same double meaning. No one thought anything about it.
Here's a kicker: His wife's name was Minnie. Really. They were Harry and Minnie Baals. How perfect is that for a couple? They named their own son Donald, robbing the world of a whole line of Harry Baals Jrs., 2nds, and the freakish-sounding Harry Baals the 3rd.

It must be in the water (the little muddy rivers we have here). I had a boss whose last name was Dick. I had worked for her three years before asking why she called her husband by his last name. She didn't. His parents had named him Richard, and called him Dick. So he was Dick Dick, or Double-Dick to his friends. I said that was odd, but at least they didn't name him "Harry". Harry Dick was an Uncle. She never liked me much, and this didn't help.
I think the city should go for it, to honor a respected Mayor. And they should have a gift shop with all kinds of t-shirts, bumper stickers, mugs, etc. Maybe fund something with the proceeds? Heck, I'd give them as presents myself!

reply to post by stars15k




Harry & Minnie Baals... that's classic. I think they should have named their son Blue.

Your whole post had me literally laughing out loud!

Star for that and for giving some good history.

Children, children please stop with these pre-teen attacks against Harry Baals.
He was a man with great stature!!

This thread is just to funny, Harry Baals rolls of the tongue like a charm.

reply to post by hillynilly


That's what Minnie Baals said.

I couldn't resist. Sorry.

reply to post by Kangaruex4Ewe


I'm sure minni made him shave down south with a name like that