Morris Township Parks and Recreation Field Dedication October 14, 2023
On Saturday, October 14, 2023 the Township of Morris Department of Parks and Recreation and the Morris Township Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee will dedicate its full-size baseball field at Frelinghuysen Park in honor of long-time community athletics volunteer, coach, and local businessman Milt Goldband. The field dedication ceremony will take place at 11:00 am at the park located off Columbia Road in Morris Township. The ceremony will be followed by a baseball game featuring local fall-ball players from Locked-In Baseball.
Milton “Milt” Goldband devoted almost 40 years of his life to serving the greater Morristown and Morris Township community. He happily and wholeheartedly gave his time to serving many of our area’s nonprofits, with an especially devoted focus on helping the community youth through athletics. He has been referred to as a legendary volunteer who developed the character of our area’s youth, organizing and coaching a diverse group of baseball and basketball athletes from the ages of 8 to 18.
Mr. Goldband’s highly regarded volunteer athletic career began in 1963 coaching Little League for four years. Initially, his motivation was to be there for his son, but he found such satisfaction touching so many young lives that it became his passion, and he continued volunteering in athletics for 35+ years. His Morristown teams drew players from numerous high schools including Morristown, Bayley Ellard, Delbarton, Parsippany Hills, and others.
- In 1967 Milt transitioned to Babe Ruth League coach for fifteen years.
- Eight of those years he was President of the Morristown Babe Ruth League.
- In the 10-year period between 1966 and 1975, his Morristown Babe Ruth teamswon eight state championships.
- While a Babe Ruth coach and President he helped found a new league division exclusively for 13-year-olds to ease their transition from Little League to Babe Ruth’s 14- and 15-year-olds league.
- In 1981 he began coaching the Morris County American Legion for 16- to 18- year-olds.
- Five out of the thirteen years he was American Legion coach, he was also President.Milt’s athletic volunteerism actually began in the mid-1950’s when he ran the Morristown Jewish Center Basketball Tournament. His basketball coaching extended to the Morristown Neighborhood House for ten years. Four of those years he also served on the Neighborhood House Board of Directors. He later coached basketball for twelve years at Bayley Ellard Catholic School and became Athletic Director in Bayley Ellard from 1972 until 1982. He also served as the school’s summer camp director for three years.
- Coached Morristown Neighborhood House basketball for 10 years starting in the1960’s
- Served 4 years on the Morristown Neighborhood House Board of Directors
- Coached 12 years at Bayley-Ellard Catholic School
- Bayley Ellard Athletic Director 1972-1982
- Bayley Ellard Summer Camp Director for 3 yearsHis interest in youth athletics was legendary, and he was invited to be on the Morristown High School Athletic Hall of Fame Committee as a ‘selector’. He also enjoyed his role as sportswriter for the Morris News Bee.Milt’s coaching record was impressive. The baseball teams frequently represented the area in state championship playoffs, winning eight Babe Ruth state championships. His Neighborhood House basketball teams won at least nine pennants. Countless players attribute so much of their skill and understanding of the sport to Milt’s instructive coaching style. Two of his Neighborhood House basketball players, Woody Keyes and Jim White, were selected All County in 1972. Three athletes made it to the highest level in professional sports:
- Bob McCann with the NBA Detroit Pistons and Washington Bullets
- Ricky Sofield with the Major League Baseball teams, Minnesota Twins and TexasRangers
- Tom Hill, an NFL OfficialAnd then there were so many of the others who became clergymen, doctors, lawyers, accountants, and police chiefs, including former Morristown Police Chief Peter Demnitz.
Milt was a former owner of the family business, Gold’s Stationery Store, on Morris Street. Founded by his father, Sam in 1937, it was owned and operated over the years by Sam’s brothers, Phil and Al, Sam’s son, Milt, and Sam’s grandson, Dennis. The business was renowned and beloved in the community. There was even a special
opening ceremony with Morristown Mayor W. Parsons Todd in 1952 when the store doubled its size by expanding, soda fountain and all, into the neighboring space. The Goldband family loved Morristown and its people, and vice versa.
It is important to note that Milt Goldband’s volunteer service extended beyond athletics, including:
• Enlistment in the U.S. Army during Korean War time o Army Medical Service School graduate
o Medical Service Corps Officer
o 1st Lieutenant in the 141st Tank Battalion
o Jewish War Veterans Distinguished Certificate of Merit
- Boy Scout leader
- Red Cross Blood Bank volunteer
- Soup Kitchen volunteer
- Adult Literacy volunteer
- Lyons VA Hospital volunteer
- Special Olympics volunteer
o assisted triathlon competitors
• Mayo Performing Arts Center volunteer from 2009 To 2015
o awarded Volunteer of the Year
o theatre seat named for him and his wife, Eve, who raised 10’s of thousands of
dollars for the theatre
- Beth Israel Cemetery Board of Directors for twenty-two years
- Morristown Jewish Center Board of Directors for four yearsWe are proud to dedicate Morris Township’s Frelinghuysen Park Senior Baseball Field in honor of our community’s legendary youth and community volunteer Milt Goldband.