Edwardsville mayor Sherri Dubaskas Cordes presents George Toma with a proclamation marking Aug. 7 as ‘George P. Toma Day’ in the borough. Toma, born and raised in the borough, has served as head groundskeeper for all 56 Super Bowls to date and returned home to the valley this weekend to be enshrined in the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame.
                                 Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

Edwardsville mayor Sherri Dubaskas Cordes presents George Toma with a proclamation marking Aug. 7 as ‘George P. Toma Day’ in the borough. Toma, born and raised in the borough, has served as head groundskeeper for all 56 Super Bowls to date and returned home to the valley this weekend to be enshrined in the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

George Toma takes emotional hometown victory lap

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<p>George Toma enters the Edwardsville Borough Municipal Building to receive his proclamation on Monday.</p>
                                 <p>Kevin Carroll | Times Leader</p>

George Toma enters the Edwardsville Borough Municipal Building to receive his proclamation on Monday.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

<p>George Toma looks out at Artillery Park, the ballfield where the legendary groundskeeper got his start in the business, tending to the field that then hosted the Wilkes-Barre Barons.</p>
                                 <p>Kevin Carroll | Times Leader</p>

George Toma looks out at Artillery Park, the ballfield where the legendary groundskeeper got his start in the business, tending to the field that then hosted the Wilkes-Barre Barons.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

<p>George Toma presents a football from Super Bowl LVI to Edwardsville Mayor Sherri Dubaskas Cordes and the borough council on Monday.</p>
                                 <p>Kevin Carroll | Times Leader</p>

George Toma presents a football from Super Bowl LVI to Edwardsville Mayor Sherri Dubaskas Cordes and the borough council on Monday.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

<p>In addition to an autographed football, George Toma also presented the borough with a credential from Super Bowl 50 and a Super Bowl 50 hat, complete with Toma’s name and his hometown of Edwardsville pinned to the side, which he took right off his head to give to the borough.</p>
                                 <p>Kevin Carroll | Times Leader</p>

In addition to an autographed football, George Toma also presented the borough with a credential from Super Bowl 50 and a Super Bowl 50 hat, complete with Toma’s name and his hometown of Edwardsville pinned to the side, which he took right off his head to give to the borough.

Kevin Carroll | Times Leader

He’s been at Olympic games, World Cups, the World Series and every single Super Bowl to date.

But for George Toma, no matter where his legendary career as a groundskeeper has taken him over the years, one thing has never changed.

He’s still an Edwardsville man, through and through.

“When people ask me where I’m from, I say I’m from the Anthracite region, and a little town named Edwardsville,” Toma said Monday night addressing the Edwardsville borough council and borough mayor Sherri Dubaskas Cordes, who presented Toma with a proclamation honoring his work over the years and marking Aug. 7 as “George P. Toma Day” in the borough.

The council work session was the last stop for Toma on his weekend visit to the valley from his current home in Kansas City. On Saturday, Toma was presented the key to the city of Wilkes-Barre. On Sunday, he was enshrined in the Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame.

But Toma made sure to make time for two very special stops on his last day in town: at Artillery Park, where he learned the art of groundskeeping, and in his hometown of Edwardsville, standing in the council chambers just a few blocks from his childhood home on Swallow Street.

At the old ballpark, Toma shared stories with a group of friends including Luzerne County Sports Hall of Fame president Jim Martin, current Wilkes University baseball coach Kevin Grzyboski and former major leaguer and longtime coach Bob Duliba.

“It’s an honor to be here,” Toma said while standing in the shadow of Artillery Park. “We learned our work ethic here.”

Martin, who oversaw Toma’s induction into the county sports Hall of Fame along with 13 other area sports standouts on Sunday, was excited to bring the “God of Sod” back home so the residents of Edwardsville, and the rest of the area, could get to see the man behind the beautiful fields seen by millions every February in the Super Bowl.

“The term I used was ‘homecoming’, this is a homecoming for him,” Martin said. “George Toma is as hometown as you could get.”

Toma also made a quick stop inside Kirby Park where the city’s special needs playground is currently under construction. Having been honored at the Wyoming Valley Challenger League’s Evercor Field on Saturday, Toma was moved by the strides made to accommodate children with disabilities and give them a place to have fun and feel at home.

“When I see kids in wheelchairs playing baseball, with big smiles on their faces … Jim [Martin] and Mayor [George] Brown have done a great job,” Toma said.

Toma then made the trip, along with Martin and several members of Toma’s own family, up Northampton Street into Edwardsville for his final honor of the weekend.

As it turns out, Toma didn’t just receive his proclamation on Monday night, but he also had a couple of things to give, as well.

First, a signed football from Super Bowl LVI. Then, his credential from Super Bowl 50. And lastly, right off his own head — a hat from that same game.

What made the hat special, as pointed out by Toma: on the side was an identification badge, listing his name and hometown.

It wasn’t Kansas City that Toma listed. It was Edwardsville.

“If it weren’t for the good people of Edwardsville, there would be no George Toma,” he said.

Indeed, all afternoon Toma made it a point to emphasize just how much the borough shaped him as a worker and as a person.

To have a man as celebrated and successful as Toma hailing from their borough was a big point of pride for both Dubaskas Cordes and borough council president David Stochla.

“It’s amazing,” said Dubaskas Cordes. “My dad always said ‘never forget where you came from,’ and George never forgot where he came from.”

Stochla echoed the mayor’s sentiments, adding in a fun fact of his own: just before Monday’s work session, Stochla learned that the home he owns on Swallow Street was the very same that Toma grew up in.

“I’m proud that people like him [Toma] came from here,” Stochla said. “Everyone here appreciates George’s effort through the years, and we’re proud that he’s from this town.”

Toma addressed council after receiving his proclamation, running through some fond memories from his long, illustrious career and reiterating many times that he wouldn’t have his long list of accomplishments without the “Edwardsville work ethic” that was instilled in him.

“May all your fortunes be as numerous as blades of grass,” Toma said to poignantly sign off on his remarks for the evening.