Bill OBoyle: Congratulations Mr. Toma; welcome home
Aug. 7—WILKES-BARRE — George Toma is back in his "Valley With A Heart" this weekend and if you don't know who Toma is or why he is in town, shame on you.
Toma, a native of Edwardsville, has been the head groundskeeper for all 56 Super Bowls. He ism without exaggeration, the very best that ever was in his field — no pun intended.
Toma is back home to attend today's induction ceremony of the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame. All inductees are very deserving, as every member in the Hall. But Toma really does stand out in the annals of local sports icons.
Jim Martin, Chapter President/Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame, does an amazing job with the organization, leaving no stone unturned as he endeavors to honor all those sports figures throughout Luzerne County history.
As the Luzerne County Hall of Fame put it, Toma, the legendary "Sodfather" or "God of Sod," will return to the Wyoming Valley today — Sunday, Aug. 7 — to headline a list of 14 local sports notables set for induction into the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame John Louis Popple Chapter at the Best Western Genetti Hotel and Conference Center in Wilkes-Barre/
The announcement said this:
"Toma, 93, is a world renowned groundskeeper and an Edwardsville native who got his start at the former Artillery Park to help with his family's finances. His career blossomed into one that has taken him to various venues around the world where he has helped prepare playing fields for the NFL's Super Bowl, World Series games, the Olympics and the World Cup."
The other inductees include:
Shelley Black Leap of Coughlin, track and field; Amy Mantush Filanowski, Hazleton Area grad, track and field, basketball; Dr. Pamela Yanora Hughes, Tunkhannock Area volleyball star; Edward Kopec Jr., Wyoming Valley West cross country and coaching; Megan Krebs Kriso, three-sport standout at GAR; Shelley Black Leap, Coughlin track and field great; Linda Messner, Towanda, coaching; Timothy McGinley, wrestling coach and referee; Joshua Richmond, SFC, Sullivan County, marksmanship; Brea Lynn Seabrook, GAR three-sport standout; Chris Shovlin, GAR basketball great; Charles 'Chuck' Suppon, Dallas, football, and Dr. Gary Verazin, Nanticoke Area basketball great..
Getting back to Toma, George is always focused — he's all about getting the field ready. He will tell you how the sod was growing for 18 months before the game and how its blades are "razor thin" and how this grass will be the best-ever for a Super Bowl.
Every year, Toma sends the same message to his beloved home of Wyoming Valley — he likes to tell people back here that their fingerprints are on every blade of grass of every Super Bowl that he has prepared. And he means that. He loves "the Valley with a Heart" — and he loves Polish food.
Toma's trademark motto is: "I give it my all — and then some."
A Korean War veteran, Toma gets as much pleasure out of preparing the Super Bowl field as he did laying out a Wiffle Ball field in his neighbor's back yard in Kansas City. That field hosts a tournament every year for charity, and it has raised several hundreds of thousands of dollars for veterans programs.
I have many memories of George and we've have many conversations, but there is one memory that I will never forget.
It was June 25, 2014, when Toma last returned to his native turf, paying a visit to Artillery Park where he learned his trade of groundskeeping.
That knowledge, learned under the tutelage of his Edwardsville neighbor, Stan Scheckler, sent Toma on a storied career, but a Wyoming Valley baseball park is where he started his career.
"This is my home," Toma said when he visited in 2014. "The Valley With A Heart is where I tell everybody I'm from. The people here are like family. If it weren't for what I learned here at this place, I wouldn't be where I am today. This will always be my hometown."
As Toma walked onto Artillery Park, he recalled the old stadium — he pointed to where the rest rooms were, the bullpens behind the bleachers, the pump house, the offices in the center of the old grandstand, the trolley repair shop behind the third base line and the 109th Field Artillery horses.
Toma said he could close his eyes and go back in time and hear the roar of the crowd as the Wilkes-Barre Barons took the field. He remembered players like Mike Garcia and Bob Lemon and Richie Ashburn and others who played at Artillery Park.
"This was real baseball in this ballpark," Toma said. "Every time I would run into Bob Lemon, or Richie Ashburn or Don Zimmer, they would always talk about Wilkes-Barre. How it was such a great baseball town and how they liked playing here. If I close my eyes, I can see it all. Those memories are still very much alive with me. This is coming home for me."
Toma has come a long way from Swallow Street in Edwardsville, but he has made the journey and he has never forgotten his roots.
And this weekend he is back home again to receive an honor he truly deserves. And Toma has received many awards from many organizations and he has been inducted to several Hall of Fames.
But I know George well enough to say that this honor, this visit, this homecoming means everything to him.
Congratulations Mr. Toma.
May we all follow your example and give it our all, and then some.
Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle, or email at boboyle@timesleader.com.
