BARRHEAD - The Town of Barrhead honoured two former councillors for their long-time service to the municipality.
On Oct. 11, as part of the council meeting, the municipality posthumously honoured Adolph Bablitz and Berthold (Bert) Proft with an ABMunicipalities (ABMunis) Distinguished Service Award.
Bablitz passed away in August 2014, while Proft passed away in May 2013.
ABMunis (formerly the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association) is an organization whose mandate is to lobby the provincial and federal governments on issues of interest to the province's summer villages, villages, cities, and towns.
The Distinguished Service Awards recognize elected officials who have served 20 or more years in one or more Alberta municipalities. The 2022 awards were presented at ABMunis' fall conference in Calgary in late September. As the family of Bablitz and Proft were unable to attend, Coun. Ty Assaf accepted their awards on their behalf.
However, the town decided to present their awards to family members during a ceremony at the start of the Oct. 11 council meeting. Accepting the award on Bablitz's behalf was his son Steve. Edie Proft, Bert’s wife of 49 years, accepted on her husband's behalf.
Bablitz served several terms on the council from 1983 to 1995 and from 1998 to 2007. He also served lengthy stints on the Twinning Committee and the Barrhead and District Family Support Services (FCSS) board, for which he received an FCSS Merit Award in 2011.
But perhaps Bablitz is best known for his work as a member of the Barrhead Agricultural Society for 27 years, often serving as a table officer, including several years as its president. As a member of the council and the agricultural society, Bablitz also played a major role in the ag society in securing the Wildrose Rodeo Association (WRA) finals, which the community has hosted for the last 35 years, as well as the construction of the society's exhibition hall.
He was also a long-time business owner (operating the Red Rooster and the Barrhead/Onoway Driving School) and was also active with the Barrhead Chamber of Commerce and the Kinsmen Club. In 2004, he received Barrhead's Rosemary Empey Volunteer of the Year Award, along with his wife Sally, for their work volunteering for Blue Heron Fair Days and the WRA finals.
Proft also served several terms on council from 1980 to 1986; 1989 to 2004; and 2007 to 2010. He also took a run at the mayor's chair in 2004, finishing second to Brian Schulz.
He was a long-time prominent businessman who founded Bert's TV in 1964 after briefly trying his hand at farming. As a member of the council, Proft is remembered for bringing his business acumen and his responsible stewardship of the municipality's finances to the table.
In addition to serving on the council, Proft was also an active member of the Barrhead Elks.
Mayor Dave McKenzie called Bablitz a "community builder who always held his community in high regard and close to his heart."
He added the municipality was fortunate to have Proft on the council, saying he was a "tremendous asset to the community" and was proud to present the award to Edie for all the things her husband had contributed to the municipality.
Coun. Don Smith, who also received the ABMunis Distinguished Service Award at the fall conference, said he had the pleasure of serving with both Bablitz and Proft.
"Bert used to sit where (Coun. Dausen Kluin) is, and Adolph sat where (Coun. Anthony Oswald) is across from me for many years ... and when there was a debate, things got serious, there was no fooling around because they were always doing what they thought was best for the community," he said. "It was an honour to serve with them."
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