POULSBO — Forty years ago, Lindley Smith took the reigns of the North Kitsap Babe Ruth League as president — and he wasn’t even trying to get elected.

Yet for nearly 25 years, Smith remained in the organization, serving much of that time as its helm.

“All my life I’ve been president of one thing or another,” Smith said. “Yet I’ve never tried to run for anything.”

Smith, who was living in Port Gamble and working for Pope and Talbot in 1963, came to one of the organization’s first meetings for its second season in 1964 — and was nominated for the job out of the blue. A split vote divided the two candidates, each getting votes from their respective communities — half for Port Gamble’s Smith and half for Keyport’s Ed Hatfield.

The vote ended up being decided by a Pee Wee Football coach who wasn’t even supposed to be at the meeting — not exactly the way one might expect Smith to begin a dynasty that would span more than two decades.

The league was formed in 1963 under president Don Mercer, when the Greater Kitsap Babe Ruth League split into Central Kitsap and North Kitsap Babe Ruth leagues. NKBR began with five teams — Farmer’s Mutual, Lincoln Market, Kingston Merchants, Suquamish Lumber and Hardware and Pope and Talbot.

The land for the fields was cleared in 1961 by Blossom Brothers with funding from Vince Prouty.

Entrance fees for Babe Ruth teams were much lower than they are today — a team sponsorship for the year cost $100 and player registration was $5 or $7.50 for two or more in the same family.

“We had a close-knit association,” Smith said. “But we always had trouble electing officers.”

Such was the case when, after two years under presidents Harry James and Vic Clough, Smith again was asked to be league president in 1967.

“Nobody really wanted to run,” Smith recalled. “But Vic Clough came to me and said, ‘If you run, I’ll stay involved and help you.’”

Thus, Smith again became president. And one of his first orders was to address the lack of a nearby well water at the facility.

After an attempt to dig a well next to one of the fields, Smith and the organization realized that a professional would need to be brought in to drill. In order to get the money to do so, Smith and friend Bob Simms had to join a credit union and borrow $5,000 for the project.

“I agreed to stay in the organization until the well was paid off,” Smith said.

Little did Smith know at the time, he would remain the organization’s president 14 years after the well was completely financed.

Having the well drilled made games and events at the fields much easier, Smith recalled. No longer would alternative means of getting water to the facility — generally in the form of a fire truck — be needed.

“Without water, you certainly couldn’t have the program they have out there today,” Smith said. “It made all the difference in the world.”

Other improvements to the Babe Ruth facility also occurred during the years Smith was president. In 1969, a new backstop was added to fields, taken from fencing at the recently-decommissioned Bainbridge Island Nike Missile Site. In 1970, a right field fence, first base dugout, and home plate bleachers, booth, speakers and scoring system were added. The field was prepped to hold its first district tournament the very same year.

Even given his administrative duties, Smith would do whatever he could to watch the many contests between teams.

“I tried to be there for almost every game,” he said.

In 1971, first base bleachers were added and third base bleachers were constructed. North Kitsap also got its first All-Star star team to the state tournament, when its 13 year olds qualified for the trip to Everett.

Smith remained head of the league until 1984, and received a surprise the previous year when the league decided to name the organization’s primary field after him in 1983.

In retrospect, Smith said he had hoped for a state title during his time as president — but it would never happen.

“The biggest disappointment was that we never did win a state tournament when I was president,” he said. “But I always thought we had really good teams.”

Smith is quick to credit the players, coaches, board members, donors and parents that made the Babe Ruth program possible — and what it is today.

“I feel we’ve always had outstanding coaches and everybody has always seemed to get along well together,” Smith said. “But if it wasn’t for a certain few, we couldn’t put a program like this together.”