DOVE CREEK – Scan the crowd in the visitors cheering section during Jerry Baxter’s rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner” – the awe-struck faces say it all.
Opposing players and coaches are often left looking at each other and mouthing a simple “Wow” after the final notes honor the “home of the brave.”
Even for the Dove Creek faithful, many of whom have heard Baxter’s unmistakable bass voice reverberate around The Dawg House and Soper Sports Complex dozens of times over the past 14 years, the appreciation for the moment isn’t lost.
“I used to be a double bass,” laughs Baxter, reflecting on his three-decade career with both the Bar D Wranglers in Durango and Bar J Wranglers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Renowned for numbers like “Colorado” and “Streets of Laredo,” Baxter’s voice filled in the tapestry of the Chuckwagon performances that drew crowds by the hundreds for their shows.
After leaving Bar J, however, a series of surgeries cut his performing career short, and Baxter was left with a tremendous talent without a stage – until the Dove Creek school district came calling.
“Starting to announce for the school helped me to adjust with the abrupt change in my career,” added Baxter, “and now this has become my calling – and I love it.”
Long after the final horn settled the action on Dove Creek’s basketball home finale, Baxter sits in retrospection outside The Dawg House entrance. He just concluded announcing another Parents Night – Dove Creek’s equivalent of Senior Night – while watching another group of student-athletes bid farewell to their playing careers on their home floor.
It’s been a generation’s-worth of student-athletes whose name he’s called, including many of his nieces and nephews, whether its announcing starting lineups or celebrating big baskets, touchdowns, or kills.
“He loves the kids, loves to be a part of all of it,” said Dove Creek Principal Shane Baughman.
The feeling is certainly mutual – several years ago, the Dove Creek student body named Baxter as grand marshal of Homecoming and chipped in to make a leather vest with “Voice of the Bulldogs” emblazoned on the back. It’s a badge of honor that Baxter wears with pride at each Dove Creek sporting event.
Baughman coached one of Baxter’s 12 grandchildren on the gridiron – and it was at the Soper Sports Complex where Baxter made his PA debut, helping fill in at the last minute for a Bulldog playoff game.
said Baxter, “and then the next year they called me and asked if I wanted to do every football game.” Thirteen years later, he’s scarcely missed a contest, while expanding into volleyball and basketball announcing, as well.
Baxter takes his role as ambassador for Dove Creek seriously, and prides himself on being as impartial as possible while letting the student-athletes’ performances speak for themselves. Added to the mix, Dove Creek has had more than their share of home contests because of on-field success over the past decade, giving Baxter an even wider audience.
“We’ve had teams coming in from all over the state for playoff games – and one thing that’s important to me is to be neutral, even when it’s hard,” said Baxter, “the visiting team’s kids are as important as ours are, and I want to make sure that they get recognized.”
Dove Creek earned a special place in Baxter’s heart – but it wasn’t always that way.
“I graduated from Ignacio, so my entire junior high and high school years, Dove Creek was our San Juan Basin rival,” said Baxter.
After marrying his wife of nearly four decades LaVerna, a Dove Creek native, Jerry knew that his ties to community were here to stay. In that time, he’s embedded himself in the community, not only through his work at the scorer’s table, but also through volunteer work as the dispatcher for the Sheriff’s Office.
“I’ve always tried to help people, even on their worst days – hearing people share what’s going on in their darkest moments, then trying to get them help,” said Baxter, thinking about his time as both a dispatcher as well as his previous career as a firefighter and EMT, “and this town has rewarded that by adopting me - they’ve made me feel at home.”
While his place in Dove Creek wasn’t always permanent, his love for music was. “I was singing with my brothers since I was 4, singing in church, a part of barbershops in my teens,” said Baxter, leading up to his audition with Bar D when he was 17 before he landed his spot in the quartet in the summer of 1975.
“He’s one-of-a-kind,” added Baughman, sharing the sentiment of the many people who have crossed paths with Baxter over the years.
As he nears 70 years of age, Baxter is already looking forward to another year behind the microphone this upcoming fall. “I couldn’t have had a better life,” reflects Baxter, “that I’ve been able to spend it putting smiles on people’s faces.”
