Dale Croswell has been the voice of Camas football at Doc Harris Stadium for 45 seasons, but this will be his last year with the microphone
Paul Valencia
Clark County Today
Hold everything, a legend is about to retire from the press box.
Dale Croswell, the voice of Camas football for 45 seasons as the Doc Harris Stadium announcer, is wrapping up his final season on the microphone.
“I said I’d do it until I felt it was time,” Croswell said. “We kind of came to a consensus that this was a good year.”
He said we because he has a team. Cros, as he is called, is the voice of the stadium, but he has help with his friends and spotters, guys who call out the number of the ball carrier, for example, or who made the tackle.
Ken Whiting has been with Cros for 35 seasons. Rick Jones for more than 20. Con Tornow has more than 10 years up in the press box.
All of them are leaving at the same time, a farewell to working the home football games, but certainly not a goodbye to Camas football. They will always be fans.
“We are going to miss doing this, but it just seems like the time has come to pass the mic,” Croswell wrote on a social media post earlier this season.
On Friday night, they worked Camas’ 31-14 victory over Olympia in the Week 10 playoff game. It could have been their last game, but there is also a possibility of another home game.
The state playoff brackets will be announced Sunday (Nov. 9), and Camas might get a home game in the first round.
If the Papermakers are at Doc Harris Stadium again in these playoffs, Croswell and his crew will make their way to the “Cros Nest” one more time.
Yes, years ago, the school named the press box atop Doc Harris Stadium the Cros Nest in honor of The Voice.
“It’s kind of weird. These guys work so hard, getting ready for a game,” Croswell said, pointing toward the players. “I come up here and do a mic. We should be honoring them.”
Croswell is also in the Camas High School Athletics Hall of Fame.
“You’re kidding me, right? I’m just announcing, having a great time,” he said.
He is doing more than announcing, though. He is part of what makes attending a football game at Doc Harris Stadium an experience. It’s not just a game, it’s a gathering.
“Dale Croswell, when you come to Doc Harris Stadium, that is the voice of Camas,” said Stephen Baranowski, the school’s athletic director. “It just reminds you of what it means to be in a small community with somebody who supports it for so long.”
Croswell started announcing Camas games in 1981. He just kept returning to the mic.
“Nobody told me I couldn’t,” said Croswell, who taught at the high school for 40 years before retiring from teaching in 2014..
Getting to the press box in the old Doc Harris Stadium had its challenges. Climb a ladder. Walk a boardwalk on the roof, holding on to fragile-looking wooden rails. Then climbing into the press box. When a newcomer made it into the press box, someone would jump up, and upon landing, the whole thing would shake.
“It was safe but kind of unnerving,” Croswell said.
The state of Camas football was a little unnerving at times, too. The program, now known for league and even state championships, struggled for years. Camas went 19-68 in the 1990s, for example.
“We were so bad.”
“How bad were you?” he mimicked
“We were so bad that other teams on purpose would schedule us for their homecoming game,” Croswell said.
Oh, but it got worse than that.
“We were so bad we scored all the points in a game, but we lost,” Croswell.
In 1983, a Camas punt returner ran back into his own end zone for a safety. Prairie won the game 2-0.
No matter how the team was playing, though, Croswell had a responsibility to make the stadium experience memorable.
“I remember some advice. Start with a bang,” Croswell said. “I start with ‘Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Doc Harris Stadium.’ I’ve done that the whole time.”
With a strong, confident voice, he welcomes all to Camas.
Eventually, he started using a catch phrase. Hold Everything.
After a play when a penalty flag is thrown, there is Croswell with a slow, deliberate delivery: “Hold everything. There is a flag on the play.”
It got to the point where he would just say “Hold everything.” Then the home crowd would shout, “There is a flag on the play.”
Sometimes the crowd would do more than shout.
“One time I was mispronouncing a kid’s name. A woman stood up and yelled, ‘It’s pronounced this way.’ Then she flipped me off. I got it right after that,” Croswell said. “She said I was No. 1 in her own way.”
He also has fun with numbers. When a team crosses the 50-yard line, for example, he might announce that it’s first-and-10 from the 52-yard line. He promises that he does that on purpose, to see if anyone is paying attention.
Camas has been paying attention for 45 football seasons.
That run for Dale Croswell is about to come to an end.
Hold everything.
A legend is retiring.
Playoff notes:
Camas is going to the Class 4A state playoffs after Friday’s win. Battle Ground just missed a trip to state, falling to Bothell 20-17.
In Class 3A, Evergreen fell to Liberty and Prairie lost to Mount Tahoma.
In Class 2A, Washougal rallied to beat Fife 30-23 to advance to state. Columbia River lost to W.F. West.
In 1A, King’s Way Christian lost to top-ranked Royal.
Ridgefield (2A) and Seton Catholic and La Center (1A) have Week 10 playoff games on Saturday.
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Many thanks to Mr. Croswell and the others for all they have done for Camas! Mr. Croswell was an excellent teacher at Camas High School for many years. My son will never forget at the end of his senior year when Mr. Croswell bought breakfast for his students at the old Lakeside Chalet. It was a rite of passage for many. Thank you!