by Cindy Austen

Greenville, OH — The Darke County Harness Horsemen would like to announce a special guest caller for this year’s Gene Riegle Memorial. Roger “The Voice” Huston will be in the box calling all the excitement this year as a field of eight vies for the winner’s circle.

Huston has announced more than 175,000 races in his career, covering at least 126 different tracks in 17 states and seven countries.

Born and raised in Xenia, Ohio, Huston grew up with a love of sports statistics. He learned race calling from his uncle, who called races at Lebanon Raceway. He attended Wilmington College, intending to become a teacher. He began announcing races at Ohio county fairs in 1960 and in 1965 he began announcing at The Red Mile. His first year announcing at the Little Brown Jug was in 1967 and he became the track’s regular announcer in 1968, a position he still holds. In 1976, he began announcing at The Meadows, where he also hosts The Meadows Racing Network.

The United States Harness Writers Association elected Huston to the Communicator’s Hall of Fame in 2000 and awarded him their Proximity Award in 2011. The Keystone Chapter of USHWA inducted Huston into their Hall of Fame in 2013 and he was elected to the Little Brown Jug Wall of Fame in 2000.

Please mark your calendars for Aug. 23 and join us at the Great Darke County Fair as Huston calls the races. Please follow the link below to hear Roger call the 1993 Little Brown Jug which was won by Darke County’s own Gene Riegle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkLLHqVJ2UI

The race schedule for 2018 is as follows:

Friday Aug. 17–post time 6:30 p.m.
Saturday Aug. 18–post time 11:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday Aug. 22–post time 7:30 p.m.
Thursday Aug. 23–post time 5:30 p.m.