Residents petition to rename old Caledon East baseball diamond after Karen Hamilton

Town staff to review policy on naming municipal assets 

By ZACHARY ROMAN

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

To many people, Karen Hamilton was Caledon East baseball.

Hamilton was a lifelong Caledon East resident and died in 2022 after a difficult battle with Alzheimer's.

Her family and members of the Caledon community are now rallying to rename the “old” baseball diamond at Caledon East Park after her. 

A petition has been started to rename the diamond to “Karen Hamilton Memorial Ball Diamond”. It currently has 339 signatures. 

Kelly McCaffrey is Hamilton's daughter and explained Hamilton became involved with baseball early on and worked closely with Hartley Davis, for whom the other baseball diamond at Caledon East Park is named after.

“Anytime there was a need for something, (mom) did it, whether it was coaching youngsters, getting her umpire's license… she would even chauffeur girls that didn't have a ride,” said McCaffrey.

Hamilton started a mixed three-pitch league that once had as many as 12 teams, and brought together a tournament team from its players called “Hamilton's Hooligans” that would travel around. She even organized winter tournaments for the league using orange balls.

Growing up, Hamilton wasn't allowed to play baseball and only started playing in her 40s — long after she started volunteering to support local baseball.

Hamilton's contributions to baseball in Caledon East were many. She organized banquets, created and organized teams and leagues, and ran a snack bar, always helping where help was needed.

“Anybody growing up in Caledon East that played ball knows my mom; they knew her personally or they knew of her,” said McCaffrey. “I've heard people say she was Caledon East baseball.”

At Caledon Council's July 9 General Committee meeting, Ward 4 Councillor Nick de Boer motioned to rename the old diamond at Caledon East Park after Hamilton and waive the town's policy that prevents naming assets after people to do so. 

His motion was referred back to staff for the purposes of reviewing Caledon's policy on naming assets and is set to come back to council in October.