September 20, 1994
By Bill Bond of The Sentinel Staff
Jack Wilson, the voice of the Leesburg High School Yellow Jackets for the past three decades, has been honored for public service by his friends and community.
Before the football game between the visiting Eustis Panthers and the Yellow Jackets a couple of weeks ago, Wilson received a plaque in appreciation of 30 years of broadcasting.
Leesburg Mayor David Connelly read a city proclamation noting Sept. 2 as Jack Wilson Appreciation Day, and the press box was named after him.
Schools Superintendent Tom Sanders and former LHS principal Ellis Wiley were on hand to praise the veteran sports broadcaster for his many contributions to the community, especially to the school athletic program. Wilson was part of a six-member group that raised money to build the stadium.
They were dubbed the Silly Six by skeptics who said they were taking on an impossible task.
Shows you how much the skeptics know.
In addition to Wilson, the other members of the group recognized are Wilson's fellow broadcaster, Jack Mitchell, Ray Richardson, John McCloud, Don Napier and Joe Bailey.
''It was all a surprise to me. I didn't have the slightest idea they were going to do any of this. I know it was a very emotional moment for me and my family. It was quite an honor,'' said Wilson.
''I think John McCloud 'engineered' this,'' quipped Wilson.
Wilson began broadcasting Yellow Jackets games on WLBE-AM (790) in the mid-1960s.
This year, the broadcast team of Wilson and color commentary sidekick Mitchell moved to WQBQ-AM (1410) to do the Yellow Jackets games.
Wilson, uh, um, credits then-WLBE station owner Jim Sharp with giving him his break in broadcasting.
''Jim Sharp conned me into broadcasting, with Chuck Grant who came along as engineer. Sharp told me not to worry, he would be there that first game to help me. One minute Jim was there and the next he was gone,'' said Wilson.
''I was over-modulating a lot in those early days. . . . I was eating the microphone.''
Since that first broadcast, Wilson figures he has averaged 100 broadcasts a year, including election night coverage from the courthouse, football, baseball and basketball games, and the popular Wednesday night Coaches' Corner show featuring interviews with coaches and players.
Coaches' Corner is on from 8 to 9 p.m. on WQBQ every Wednesday from Damon's The Place For Ribs Clubhouse on U.S. Highway 441.
As far as Wilson is concerned, Mitchell, his on-air sidekick, is ''Mr. Reliable.''
''I have had different guys helping me, but Jack Mitchell has been the most dependable. He's always been there,'' Wilson said.
Wilson is a former Leesburg city commissioner and mayor who cuts hair for a living at a downtown barbershop. Mitchell is a veteran loan officer with Citizens National Bank.
One of Wilson's most memorable nights at a game came in Ocala 26 years ago. Leesburg was playing Ocala Vanguard in Booster Stadium when a bomb was discovered under the stands.
''There was 6:28 to go in the first half . . . and somebody found a bomb under the grandstand,'' Wilson said. ''Yes, it was a real bomb and they arrested four guys for that.''
The stadium was cleared and the game postponed. A bomb disposal team was sent down from Jacksonville Naval Air Station to disarm the bomb.
''We went back the next night to finish the game,'' Wilson said.
He also remembers another game in 1968 when Chuck Grant was doing the color commentary.
''We were leading 6-0 and quarterback Mike Napier made a big gain on a quarterback sneak,'' recalled Wilson. ''I yelled out, 'Jesus Christ, look at that boy run!' Chuck slapped me on the arm and said, 'We're on the air!' ''
Any plans to retire soon from broadcasting?
''I keep saying I'm getting too old to climb the stadium steps to the press box. But all it takes is one kid to ask me to broadcast just one more game,'' said the proud voice of the Leesburg Yellow Jackets.
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Bill Bond of The Sentinel Staff
Orlando Sentinel
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