On the occasion of George Haun being given the 2013 Oriole Lifetime Achievement Award by the St. Louis Park Athletic Hall of Fame committee, Greg Kleven of the St. Louis Park Sun Sailor wrote:
Haun enjoyed a good athletic career at SLP High, but his Oriole Lifetime Achievement Award was mainly based on his unwavering commitment to proving support for the community programs and facilities that would benefit St. Louis Park Park High School athletic teams.
Haun was Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of St. Louis Park for 28 years before his retirement in 1988. He then served on the SLP City Council for eight years.
Haun played a key role in building the SLP youth football program and had 450 players participating in the recreational sport. His hard work with the SLP youth basketball program resulted in growth to 120 teams and 1,200 participants.
Haun supervised the construction of outdoor hockey rinks in our city and then took charge of the project to build the St. Louis Park Recreation Center Arena.
He also helped launch and the city’s youth soccer program that grew to include 600 boys and girls.
And Haun spent 20 years ensuring that community facilities for baseball, soccer, fastpitch softball and tennis were all upgraded to accommodate inter-scholastic competition for SLP’s High School teams.
“I loved my jobs as Director of Parks and Recreation as well as serving as a city council member,” said Haun before the hall of fame banquet. “I had a vision for your youth sports programs and facilities.
“But I couldn’t have done it alone. I had so many good people working with me.
“We wanted to make sure we had the best possible youth programs for our city kids. And we mandated that everybody should get playing time in those recreational sports.”
Haun is now living in Winter Haven, Florida and enjoying retirement.