ELY- The impossible happened this week in Ely. The softball league, elected officials, and city employees of Ely kept a secret, some of them for almost a year. The secret was Ely’s plan to dedicate its softball field complex to Jerome Debeltz, a man who has supported softball in the community for more than forty years. Part of that surprise was installing the new large sign at the softball complex that says, “Jerome Debeltz Fields,” behind the back of Debeltz, who is at the fields on a daily basis in the summer.
On Monday evening at 6 p.m., Ely dedicated its softball fields to Debeltz, just before the first softball game of the summer.
“Due to Jerome’s hard work and dedication, softball has survived in Ely when it has been dwindling in many other communities across the Range,” said Ely Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski. “He’s kept softball alive in Ely.”
Commenting about keeping the dedication a secret from Debeltz, Langowski added, with a grin, “Jerome didn’t have an inkling.”
The Jerome Debeltz Softball Fields are used for the Ely softball league, Little League and youth softball.