Longtime Moses Lake broadcaster Mel Olson remembered fondly

MOSES LAKE — It was a cold Saturday evening in February of 1996.

The weather was pretty bad that year.

Jaime Garza, then in eighth grade, sat huddled in his parents’ Jeep Cherokee listening to the radio. Unable to make it over Snoqualmie Pass to the Tacoma Dome to see the state wrestling tournament in person, Mel Olson’s voice was the next best thing.

The Voice of the Chiefs detailed the finals matches of Tony Vehrs and Rees Chlarson in a way only he could.

“I recall listening to that match and his inspiration, his passion for those two matches — I went back in the house, changed, went on a run and said, ‘Man, one of these days I want this guy to be able to announce one of my finals matches,’” Garza said. “He was able to bring it every time. I really do commend him for the work that he put in and his ability to craft such a wonderful message over the radio as if you were there.”

Olson, 89, passed away Tuesday after a collision on his bicycle. Olson spent hours upon hours cycling, routinely eclipsing 10,000 miles for a year. In 2011, Olson cracked 17,000 miles.

That drive extended to all facets of his life.

Olson was a Korean War veteran who received a purple heart, a broadcaster at KBSN radio for over 50 years, a coach at Chief Moses Middle School for nearly 20 years and an inductee into the Inland Northwest Hall of Fame. The Voice of the Chiefs called football, basketball and wrestling throughout his career.

“I think it was evident that his passion or his ability to announce a wrestling match was incredible,” Garza said. “Though he wasn’t a coach, he wasn’t an athlete while he was announcing, but he brought it every match. His preparation was on point, his making sure he had the lineup, making sure he was as in tune to the match as he possibly could was incredible and that’s one thing that I admire about Mel is his ability to bring it. Sometimes we think, ‘Oh, no, it’s just an announcer that’s announcing the match.’ He studied, he knew these wrestlers. Not only our own wrestlers, but he knew our foes as well, our opponents. So, I really admire his ability to be able to announce a match as if you were in that packed gym. He brought a lot of emotion, a lot of passion, a lot of intensity into the match. Mel and Vicki, they brought it every time they announced a match and that’s one thing I admire about them.”

Moses Lake head football coach Todd Griffith hoped to play under Olson.

“I remember back when I was in eighth grade he was coaching football at Chief Mo and I know that they had won a bunch of games,” Griffith said. “I don’t know if they were undefeated or whatever and I couldn’t wait to be coached by Mel Olson ... when I was going from my eighth grade to my ninth grade year he retired. So, I never got to be coached by him, but I know that he was a heckuva football coach back in the day — ran the Wing T at Chief Moses Middle School. It’s a huge loss for Moses Lake.”

Although he did not have the opportunity to play for Olson, Griffith did have the chance to work closely with him during Olson’s years as a broadcaster.

“Somebody gave me the game he called when I was playing,” Griffith said. “When I took over the head job — people probably don’t know this about him, but he was extremely meticulous about doing his job. He wanted to do everything the right way. He would spend an hour with me every Thursday, day before the game, he would have a roster of the opposing team and he would go through and ask me how do you pronounce this guy’s name? How do you do this? He always wanted to know more than what he needed to know, really, just so that if anything ever game up during the game-time situation that he had the right call. He was a special guy.”

Olson’s preparedness aided him in the broadcast booth. It also made him a pretty good prognosticator.

In the winter of 2014, Olson opined to the Columbia Basin Herald that 2015 would be the year Moses Lake won its next state championship. Naturally, Moses Lake unseated reigning champion Lake Stevens by four points.

Hunter Cruz, now a two-time state champion and Fresno State Bulldog, was a freshman on that championship team.

“He (Olson) came up to me freshman year after I wrestled in the Lake Stevens match and told me that I have a lot of potential and that I have great coaches who are going to push me to be great,” he said. “One memory I have of him is in 2015 when we won state as a team for wrestling. He started chanting ‘18’ because it was our 18th title. It seems like nothing, but that was a really cool moment in my life.”