The Palmerton Borough Council recognized the late Elmer Valo at Thursday’s meeting, citing his incredible career in professional baseball and upstanding character that represented the borough so well.

Valo, a longtime Palmerton resident with a storied baseball career both locally and nationally, was commemorated with Resolution 585-16, which named the Third Street baseball field in his honor.“When I went to school in Arizona and California, they would ask me where I was from, and I would say Palmerton, Pennsylvania. They would say, ‘Oh! That’s where Elmer Valo comes from!’ His name went far and wide, and represented us all very well,” Councilman Richard Nothstein said.Valo, who was born in Rybnik, Czechoslovakia on March 5, 1921, immigrated to Palmerton with his family in 1927.He quickly fell in love with American sports, especially baseball.Valo attracted attention from professional scouts, and in 1940 he started his major league career. He played for 20 years on various teams, including the Philadelphia Athletics, the Philadelphia Phillies and many others, only taking a break for three years of military service.Continuing as a coach, manager and scout thereafter, Valo spent 60 years in the world of baseball.“I am so proud, it just warms my heart,” said Mary Jane Hassler, Valo’s daughter, after she accepted a plaque in her father’s honor from Nothstein. “I cherish it, it’s nice that they remember my dad in this way. It’s the best way to honor his memory, being on the baseball field, something he did all his life.”Valo was previously inducted into the Palmerton Sports Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame.“Always returning to Palmerton to keep his home and raise his family, Elmer represented how his childhood values learned at home impacted his entire life in Palmerton,” the resolution said.