The Press Box at WF Edwards Stadium will be named in the honor of former Pasco High School Sports Icon Gerald Newton. Tha Pasco County School Board approved the dedication Tuesday.
Newton, who passed away May 4 Newton was a husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, coach and a teacher. He loved his faith, family and community. Dade City and the folks of his community meant everything to him, from the 1,000’s of players from Little League to High School that he coached covering many decades.
A letter to Superintendent Kurt Browning and the School Board from Pasco High School Principal Kari Kadlub and Athletic Director Dawn Wetherby requested the honor for Newton and explained what he has meant to Pasco High School.
“For 40 years, Mr. Gerald Newton volunteered at Pasco High School—providing play by play coverage for the fans in the stands at football games and the voice of WDCF (local radio station),” the letter stated. “Additionally, he announced countless homecoming and senior nights. He wrote a local sports column in the Dade City Banner, Pasco News, and Dade City News from 1965 to 2012. He truly was the “VOICE” of the Pirates.”
A Moultrie, GA native, Newton began covering Pasco High School football and basketball (and little league baseball) for WDCF in the early 1970s. By the 1990s, he was still at it and going strong. Definitely no newcomer to the airwaves, he had been on Pasco County radio off and on since 1966 when he worked with WPAS in Zephyrhills. Newton was a wealth of knowledge in the Pasco county sports arena and the history that went with it.
Gerald worked in Pasco County for 40 plus years as a teacher, a coach and athletic director. He is married to Carolyn and has two sons, Tyke and Allen. Gerald attended Saint Leo University while studying physical education. Gerald has always been a loyal fan and alumni of Pasco High School. He loved coming to the games and helping create the electric atmosphere.
Newton was a teacher and athletic director at Pasco Jr. High in Dade City, as well as basketball and baseball coach at Zephyrhills High School. He also served as sports editor of the Pasco News and a sports writer for East Pasco’s Focus Magazine.
As a sportswriter over many years, there were those that would say he brought the game and the history of Pasco County sports to life.
Fans throughout the state who came to W.F Edward stadium enjoyed something special when Newton’s voice came out of the public address speakers. He was involved in the announcing and the PA announcing in the press box for more than 40 years.
“The letter concluded, “In recognition of his ongoing dedication and commitment to the students, staff, and sports programs at Pasco High School and the community of Dade City in which he serves, we request that the press box at W. F. Edward’s Stadium located at Pasco High school be named Gerald Newton Press Box.”