Farewell to 'Voice of Tigers'

Dear editor,

Forty three years ago, a very husky and out-of-shape Mountain Home High School student began a part-time job at the studios of KFLI Radio in downtown Mountain Home, Idaho. The studios were located right in the middle of The Sunset Bar and La Mode Cleaner's.

One evening, the husky teenage boy was asked to report to the radio station for training. The radio host that was on the air that night was Alvin Powers.

Alvin was playing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" on the air. He loved that 45 rpm record.

Alvin also became a radio news reporter and eventually the station's news and sports director.

During that mid 1970's period, that husky teenage boy occasionally accompanied Alvin Powers to high school football games in Alvin's new, 1970's, dark red, AMC Gremlin.

There were several winter road trips with Alvin, in his Gremlin, to Grandview, Glenns Ferry, Melba, Kuna, New Plymouth and Emmett. Sometimes it meant nervously driving on icy, snow-covered back roads just to get high school football and basketball games on the air, live, on KFLI Radio.

Alvin, thank you. Thank you for adding your expertise, talent, training, and patience to an immature, na*ve, husky, out-of-shape, teenage boy, who never played sports at Mountain Home High School.

Oh, I almost forgot. That teenage boy learning about radio broadcasting in downtown Mountain Home, Idaho, next to La Mode Cleaner's and the Sunset Bar... was... me.

Alvin, I hope you meet David Bowie.

-- Dave Freeman, announcer

KQED Public Radio & Television

San Francisco

... and a Mountain Home High School graduate.

Go Tigers! Go!