For three decades, one voice has been synonymous with Red Elephant athletics, and the man behind the microphone is not so much worried about his legacy as an announcer as he is concerned with what kind of influence he’s had on the area’s young people.

Walt Snelling, a 1955 graduate of Gainesville High School, has been announcing football games for the Red Elephants since at least the early 1980s.

“We’ve had our share of great athletes,” Snelling said. “There’s an old saying around here: ‘When you step on the field with Gainesville, you’re two touchdowns down before kickoff.’ That’s the way they saw that and there’s a lot of justification to that. It’s tradition. We’ve had some bad years, but we’ve also had some really great years.”

He should know — he’s basically a walking encyclopedia of not only Gainesville High football but Georgia high school football in general.

In fact, he said one of the questions he gets the most is: “What is the greatest game you have ever seen?”

The answer for him is simple: The Oct. 18, 1959, matchup between Gainesville and Avondale High School.

“In all the years that I’ve been here, watching or playing since 1942, it’s the greatest game I’ve ever seen — ain’t no doubt in my mind,” he said.

The two stars for Gainesville at the time, Billy Lothridge and Billy Martin, were making waves in the state with their Friday night performances.

Martin, Snelling said, had an appendectomy days before the game and didn’t start. But with four minutes remaining in the game and with the Red Elephants trailing 12-7 against the No. 1 team in the state, Martin stepped on the field.

Snelling said he caught a long pass from Lothridge that eventually led to a touchdown and a Gainesville victory.

“There’s been some great teams here and some great people here,” said Snelling. “Everybody wanted to be a Red Elephant. I wanted to be a Red Elephant. My children are Red Elephants. The good Lord couldn’t have put me in a better place.”

Snelling played offensive line for the Red Elephants in the early 1950s. He eventually graduated from then-North Georgia College, went into the Army and returned to Gainesville as the parks and recreation director. Later, Snelling went into the fuel business, of which he’s still a part.

At some point about 30 years ago, he found his way into the announcer’s booth.

Since then, he’s been the voice of the red herd and revels in the ability to shine, however briefly, a spotlight on young athletes.

“I try to be fair to the point where it sometimes makes my Red Elephant fans get aggravated with me for complimenting the other team,” said Snelling.

“I’m sorry, but they’re going to have to fire me because I remember being not-so-nicely treated by foreign announcers in different places. That didn’t make me feel real good. If a child is out there and is giving it his best, then by golly, he ought to be recognized. I don’t care what color the shirt is — I am partial to red — but I am going to recognize that child when I see him doing something good. You only get your name called a few times in life and getting your name called among local folks is awfully important in my book. That’s why I do what I do.”

And, he said, those athletes, and their parents, remember that one moment, sometimes decades later.

“Chill’un, they’ll come up to me and some of them I haven’t seen in 15 or 20 years, and every one of them knows me and I appreciate that,” Snelling said. “They remember that I called their name or their child’s name. That’s just the way I think it ought to be done and that’s the way I’m going to do it until they fire me.”

That, however, is unlikely. Finding a bigger Red Elephant fan would be near impossible.

In 1942, Snelling moved with his family to Gainesville by way of Jefferson. Since then, he’s focused on his family and his community, including Red Elephant athletics, more than his professional life.

And, he said, that’s the way he wanted it.

“We came from a lower-middle-class family on High Street and Pine Street and economically moved up a little bit, but not a whole lot,” he said. “It ought to bother me more than it does, I guess, but it don’t. I thank the good Lord for every day he gives me, and the next child that sees me and comes up and hugs me, I will appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.”

Snelling plans to remain in the booth as long as he can. He’s hoping to announce games for his grandson, who now plays on the freshman team. But, Snelling said, that’s up to “the good Lord.”

Even after his exit from the announcer’s booth, he will still live with one thing in mind: setting an example.

“To me, the best thing all of us can do, I don’t care what it is, is be a good example for the young people,” he said. “Kids have kept me here. I love them. They’re smarter than I am and they’re better looking than I am. They’re our future and without them we’re in a heap of trouble.”

But, no matter how long Snelling will remain as the familiar voice at Bobby Gruhn Field, he will always be a staple in the Red Elephant community.

“I’m an ugly old man and I know that, but I got a beautiful wife that’s lived with me for 55 years, three beautiful kids, seven grandchill’un, the Red Elephants and Georgia Tech,” he said. “It just don’t get no better than that.”