Spartans’ Bernard ends long career at microphone

One more change in the Rosalia sports scene next year will be the absence of Ray Bernard, the long-time “Voice of the Spartans.” Bernard, who started announcing Spar-tan sports events at Rosalia in 1983, decided this last year of Spartan sports would be a good year to wrap it up.

“I just figured it’s the right time,” Bernard explained.

Next year, a new Rosalia/Tekoa combination team will move into the NE 2B league which will set it apart from most of Whitman County foes which have been a part of Rosalia sports lore. The combination will also mean Rosalia and Tekoa will have to share home dates in the sports schedules.

Bernard called his last game at the microphone Feb. 13 when the Spartans hosted Touchet in a playoff game.

Bernard’s departure was officially observed a couple of weeks earlier when Garfield/Palouse came to Rosalia for the league hoop round this year. The Viking game was appropriate because Bernard at one time was the “Voice of the Vikings.” That evolved when he made a stop at the Garfield bank during a banking career which has now stretched for 41 years.

“When I started with the Vikings, I said I’d stick with it until my daughter started high school at Rosalia,” Bernard explained.

Daughter Stacey entered the halls of RHS in 1992, and her dad Ray returned to the announcer’s slot in the Rosalia gym and playing fields the same year.

Stacey and her husband, Patrick Ehrbar, now reside at Liberty Lake and have two children, Henry 5, and Paige 3. The two grandchildren are another one of the time factors in Bernard’s decision to step aside.

Bernard, who has been at the Bank of Fairfield in Rosalia since 2002, figures he’ll still be on the staff at the Rosalia bank for two or three more years before he retires.

Bernard is also in his third season of announcing games for Gonzaga women’s basketball. He noted the Gonzaga hoop scene provides a lot of contrasts to his long-time gig with the Spartans, but he enjoyed both assignments.

The Gonzaga women play 30 games a year, so that means about 15 stops at McCarthey Athletic Center in Spokane.

“They usually get about 5,500 fans in there for the women’s games, so it’s a lot of fun,” Bernard said. He noted Gonzaga ranks 12th in the country in attendance for NCAA women’s teams.

On some Saturday game days during the year, Bernard has called a Gonzaga afternoon game, made a fast exit at McCarthey and hit Highway 195 for a quick commute to Rosalia to announce Spartans games at starting 5 p.m. The double duty meant up to nine hours at the microphone plus the return to commute home to Spokane

Prior to announcing at Gonzaga, Bernard called games for the WSU women at Beasley Coliseum in Pullman. He did a total of 10 years of announcing for the Cougar women.

Bernard’s duty at the college level also led to several stints at the microphone during NCAA playoff games. He has been signed to do the NCAA round which will be hosted by WSU at the Spokane Arena in March.

Bernard noted the chance to announce at Gonzaga evolved from working with Gonzaga officials during the Spokane NCAA assignments. He opted to switch to the Spokane games because they were closer to home and to his duties at Rosalia.

Bernard’s stint at Rosalia started in the fall of 1983. He noted he was inspired to give it a try by the late Roger Riggs, a long-time friend.

Bernard at that time had transferred from what was then the ONB Bank at Colfax to the branch at Rosalia, and he decided the announcer’s job would be a good way to get to know the residents.

In 1987 he opted to join the staff at what was then State National Bank at Garfield and decided to announce for the Vikings until the Bernard youngsters reached high school age at Rosalia.

Coach Tim Coles, who still heads the Viking boys’ hoop team, and Coach Andy Bush, now the grid coach at White Swan, were part of the GP sports scene at that time.

Bernard noted more than 30 years of announcing sports events for the two schools has generated hundreds of memories.

“You get to know a lot kids, and they keep coming back, and now their kids are playing sports. Also, there are grads from Rosalia who marry and live some place else in the county, and they stop and say hello when their teams come to Rosalia,” he said.

One of Bernard’s favorite tales is the “Another three for BT” night when Brian Thompson of LaCrosse played in a jayvee game at Rosalia. Thompson that night lit it up with a series of three-point shots, and Bernard began the “Three for BT” calls.

Later, during the varsity game, Bernard urged Thompson to enter a halftime shooting contest and even offered to stake him to the entry fee. Thompson hit it.

“We’ve been friends ever since,” Bernard said.

Another tale evolved from when Rosalia discovered a leak when heavy rain hit on its then-new gym. Veteran referee Greg Morrison called a halt to the action until a small puddle could be mopped up.

Bernard, who kept a small case of CDs at the announcer’s table, reached for one of the current hits, “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” by B.J. Thomas.

“It seemed like we played it for about 10 minutes,” Bernard recalled.

Bernard said over the years he’s had a lot of fun with one of the worst kept secrets of his past: he’s a Husky. He attends UW Husky football games and wears Husky purple to work in Rosalia on Fridays.

Bernard noted his UW allegiance has never seemed to be a problem when he does announcer work for WSU or Gonzaga.

Also, he’s not a Spartan grad; he’s a member of the 1969 class at Ritzville High School.

Bernard said he anticipates returning to Rosalia when they need a substitute announcer. He would like to some day call a matchup between the new Rosalia/Tekoa combo and the LRS Broncos in the new NE league alignment.

Also, Bernard said one of the items on his “bucket list” is to be grand marshall of Rosalia’s Battle Days parade. He noted he’s circulated a few hints about his availability.