Four selected for Idaho hall of fame
COEUR d'ALENE - Eric Yarber, Charles A. "Bud" Ford, Steve Buratto and George (Les) MacDowell have been announced as the 2013 inductees in to the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame.
They will be honored during the 51st annual North Idaho Sports Banquet, scheduled for Saturday, April 13 at the Best Western Coeur d'Alene Inn, beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets for the banquet will be available starting March 15 at all Les Schwab Tire Outlets and the Coeur d'Alene Inn.
* Yarber, 49, was a standout wide receiver at Idaho in 1984 and '85 for coach Dennis Erickson, after playing two seasons at Los Angeles Valley College. He was MVP of the Big Sky Conference in 1985, and taken in the 12th round of the 1986 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins and played for them in '86 and '87.
He began his coaching career at Idaho in 1996 as secondary coach. He has also been an assistant at UNLV, the Seattle Seahawks, Oregon State, University of Washington and Arizona State. He is currently wide receivers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
• Ford has been active in area sports as an athlete, official, coach and supporter. Born in Hettinger, N.D., he has lived in Coeur d’Alene since childhood. A 1948 Coeur d’Alene High graduate, he served two years in the Army, then served as president of the North Idaho Officials Association in 1963-64. In 2010, Ford was named the first state of Idaho Official of the Year.
His contributions were instrumental in recent upgrades at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, as well as building a fieldhouse at Coeur d’Alene High.
• Buratto graduated from Clarkston High in 1961, and played one season at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash., before transfering to Idaho to play for Dee Andros. He was a three-year starter for the Vandals at center and nose guard, and an all-Big Sky selection at center his senior year.
He was in training camp with the Green Bay Packers, and coached football, wrestling and track at Sandpoint High for one year in the 1960s.
His coaching career spanned more than 40 years, mostly in the Canadian Football League, where he was head coach of the Grey Cup champion B.C. Lions in 2000. He was also offensive coordinator for Baltimore’s Grey Cup champs in 1995.
• MacDowell, who graduated from Richland (Wash.) High, was a basketball official in Idaho for 25 years, working a total of 17 state tournaments. He was the first person nominated and inducted into the Idaho basketball officials District 2 hall of fame in 2001.
He was a track and field official for 28 years, selected to officiate at 10 state meets. He coached track and field for 22 years.
MacDowell has been the P.A. announcer for Lewiston High basketball and volleyball for the past 17 years.