Jim Ratte first worked as the public-address announcer in Stillwater at a Stillwater High School game in 1971, which served as the genesis for his multi-sport journey of calling games and keeping statistics for Ponies teams until his retirement in 2010. Locally dubbed by Stillwater’s legendary football Coach George Thole as “The Voice of the Valley,” Jim’s voice could be heard at numerous sporting events for nearly 40 years and he was a constant for multiple generations of Stillwater Area High School and Mahtomedi High School graduates. Most noteworthy was Jim’s ability to call a fair game to both home and visitors alike, as well as his contributions to the safe and efficient play of Stillwater and Mahtomedi (the latter for nearly a decade of boys and girls hockey) sporting events. His personal motto had always been, “A good play is a good play and deserves to be recognized,” but he recognized that no one went to a sporting event just to listen to the announcer. By the time Jim’s remarkable run in the booth was complete, he announced and kept the scorebook for 235 home football games (commencing in 1973), 382 track meets (starting in 1974), and more than 400 hockey games (beginning in 1971). As Jim also occasionally filled in announcing, scoring, or timing for baseball, basketball, cross country, gymnastics, soccer, wrestling, and other various boys and girls events, all told, Jim has been a significant contributor to nearly 1,900 athletic events at the local, conference, region/section, and state levels. Wherever he was needed, he was there.

The accuracy of those figures is not surprising due to Jim’s meticulous record-keeping nature that made him an excellent statistician and valuable resource for the athletic directors, coaches, and athletes he supported. In fact, growing up he earned the nickname “Numbers” due to his thoroughness and ability to recall sports facts and figures. His meticulousness also manifested itself in the preparation and care he took in advance of sporting events when he would verify lineups, pronunciation of participants name, current records, season-to-date statistics and personal bests, as well as he would update game day scripts based upon school officials’ direction. At the end of the athletic events for the day he would wrap up work with the stat teams and he would call in the results to the local news outlets on behalf of the school. Jim’s accurate record keeping in these various sports, often with nothing more than a stubby pencil in the early days, formed the core from which the Stillwater coaches built their record books. For example, Jim’s accurate documentation of games, individual performances and yardages was a key piece in the building of poniesfootball.com, which houses all the statistics and records of Ponies’ football dating back to 1895. Similar results can be seen in the Ponies’ track and field program.

While Jim spent many years contributing to Stillwater Area High School activities, his involvement in sports began years before as a White Bear Lake two-sport high school athlete himself, city league baseball player, sports contributor for his father, Louis Ratte, and brother, Robert Ratte, who both were sports editors of the White Bear Lake Press, and as a coach/manager/treasurer to nearly all of his boy’s St Croix Valley Athletic Association youth hockey teams. Additionally, he was a co-founder of an informal group called the Pony Football Booster Club, a forerunner to the current Ponies Touchdown Club. His lifelong mission was to encourage kids’ participation in youth sports activities to promote healthy living, and to equip young men and women with valuable life skills. By one measure, his efforts have been successful as his legacy continues on through his four sons who all joined the military and collectively had 117 years serving the country between the four upon their retirement from the military service. In 2013 in recognition of his efforts, Jim was proudly honored as a St. Croix Valley Athletic Association Hall of Fame Legends and Past Achiever class member.