Published: November 05, 2009 10:09 pm      

NORTH TONAWANDA: Dick Grapes, voice of NT football, ready to retire

The horn had just blown, sounding the end of one of the biggest North Tonawanda football victories of the past decade. The Lumberjacks had just defeated arch-nemesis and defending state champion Orchard Park in the Section VI semifinals.

Immediately, the Jacks huddled together and stood at the foot of the NT bleachers. Pointing up to the press box, they saluted veteran public address announcer Dick Grapes. They did this before even celebrating their monumental win, and before the customary post-game hand shake across midfield.

That’s how much Dick Grapes has meant to North Tonawanda football.

And though his wife of 64 years, Doris A. Grapes, had passed away just two days earlier, Dick Grapes once more climbed the stairs to the press box that bears his name and, for the final time, took the microphone and announced in that booming voice of his, “Hello everybody, and welcome to the North Tonawanda High School Lumberjacks Sports Complex.”

That’s how much North Tonawanda football has meant to Grapes.

After 51 years as the Jacks PA announcer, Grapes, 84, is retiring from his post. He will announce both halves of the Lumberjacks Section VI Class AA championship game Saturday against Lancaster at Ralph Wilson Stadium, but Friday’s game was Grapes’ last at North Tonawanda, closing out the career of a man whose significance to NT football is nearly as important as that of the coach who offered him the job.

“There’s a bunch of traditions at NT, and he’s one. He’s been around for a long time and he’s such a classy guy,” said Lumberjacks head coach Eric Jantzi. “He does such a great job at it. It’s sad to see him go but at the same time it’s a great honor for him to get to do the whole game (Saturday).”

Age and physical ability are the main reasons Grapes chose to step down. It’s becoming increasingly difficult for him to climb the stairs to the press box, said Grapes, who had hip replacement surgery 24 years ago.

“I’ve enjoyed my years and I continue to enjoy it. I’m not stepping down because anybody has asked me to or because I really want to,” he said. “I love what I do, I enjoy it.”

Grapes held numerous football-related positions, but he never played during his years at North Tonawanda. His father wouldn’t allow it.

“In high school, I went out for football. My dad found out and said, ‘You’ve got to quit,’ so I asked to be a manager or a trainer,” Grapes said.

A 1943 graduate of North Tonawanda High School, Grapes made his announcing debut during the 1958 season, after legendary North Tonawanda coach George Vetter asked him to take the job.

“George contacted me and said, ‘I want you to consider being the NT Lumberjack PA announcer,’” recalled Grapes, who at that time was in his first year as a high school football official, a job he held for 33 years. He told Vetter he’d be honored to do it.

“He said, ‘I’ll pay you more to be the PA announcer than you’d make out on the field officiating,’ and he did,” Grapes said. He took over for Earl Tierney, who was his high school English teacher.

Never did Grapes imagine he’d enjoy such a lengthy career, one in which he has announced more than 200 games, including the 100th T-NT game last month.

“I had no aspirations of a long-term situation,” he said. But as new athletic directors came on board, Grapes always was offered the job.

Last year, the NT football community showed its gratitude toward Grapes by naming the press box after him in a ceremony before the Lumberjacks playoff game against Lancaster. “It was a wonderful thing they did last year,” Grapes said. “I’m just overwhelmed by it and appreciative of it.”

Words could hardly express the appreciation Grapes felt for what the team did immediately after Friday’s semifinal victory over Orchard Park. The Lumberjacks also held a moment of silence for Doris Grapes in the locker room before kickoff.

“To think about a bunch of hard-nosed kids, who are a bunch of good kids, and in one of the more important games of their senior year, they thought enough of me and my family to do that, I just was overwhelmed,” he said. They also paid their respects at Mrs. Grapes’ funeral Monday.

After his wife passed away, Grapes called Athletic Director Greg Witman to inform him that he wouldn’t be announcing the Orchard Park game. But at the urging of his children, who said it’s what Mrs. Grapes would have wanted him to do, Grapes decided to announce the game.

“I love the kids, and I love the game,” he said, adding that he was touched to see them pay their respects at his wife’s funeral. “To have a bunch of young men come to the funeral home dressed up in shirts and ties and pay tribute to my wife added frosting to the cake of what happened Friday night.”

The North Tonawanda players said it was the least they could do for a man who has supported their team all season, and decades of Lumberjacks teams before them. “We did that to recognize that he was here for us for our last home game when his wife just passed away, at a time when he had his own needs, but instead he was here helping us out and supporting us,” said senior Aaron Davis.

“It meant a lot to us,” senior quarterback Mike Tuzzo said. “A lot of people wouldn’t have come out, but we were that important to him. He came out and we won the game for him and we were happy to do it.”

If they are fortunate enough to hoist the Section VI championship trophy Saturday evening, chances are the Lumberjacks will pay tribute once more to the man who’s been there throughout their tremendous run.

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.