Charlotte Emerson devotes most of her time to the University of Florida as Director of Student Development and Recruitment in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
But on Friday nights during the fall, you can always find her behind the microphone on Union County Radio (WUCR-FM 107.9) in Lake Butler, which broadcasts all Tigers’ football games on the road and at home.
“I love hearing how much people in the community love listening to us when they cannot travel to make it out to home games,” she said. “In some ways, our broadcast is a service to our community and that is enough to continue doing what we do.”
Charlotte, who now lives in Lake Butler, broadcasts Union County football on the radio every Friday night with her son, Case Emerson.
It has turned into a family affair.
“I am incredibly blessed to have another reason to spend time with my mom,” said Case, who started broadcasting as a junior in high school. “Broadcasting Tiger football games gives us a great excuse to spend time together. We do not get to see each other much during the week but we always have that built-in family time on Friday nights in the fall. It’s a lot of fun since my dad (Duke) does stats and my girlfriend (Elanie Mason) spots. It can get mighty stressful having the whole family involved but I would not trade it for anything.”
His mom said working with her son is a lot of fun.
“I am not sure he has called me by name more than five times on air over the past 11 years, which makes me giggle a little (he doesn’t call me mama on air either for that matter),” said Charlotte, who has also hosted coaches shows for Robby Pruitt, Buddy Nobles, Andrew Zow and Ronnie Pruitt. “As a mother, I am very proud of his dedication and commitment to the job and as a co-broadcaster I am blessed he is in the same booth I am in. He is a researcher and student of the game and its history. He is not afraid to ask questions of others and is a UCHS Tiger to his core, despite the fact he is teaching at Lafayette High School (Mayo)…it is an honor to get to call games as a mother-son duo, a privilege I am sure not many get.”
The broadcasting seed was planted 10 years before Charlotte got behind the mic.
Dr. Emerson, as she has become, graduated from Santa Fe (Alachua) in 1988, but it didn’t take her long to get to the small town of Lake Butler.
“At UF I was an agricultural education and communication major,” she said. “As a senior, I was required to complete a teaching internship. I interned at Union County High School in the agricultural education department with Mr. Tom Williams. After my internship, a new position was established, and I took the job and began teaching at UCHS in 1994 as one of two agricultural education teachers.”
Ironically, her husband’s family is from Lake Butler, and it made sense to work at UHCS. She drove from High Springs to Lake Butler from 1994-1999 and they moved to Lake Butler in 1999 to the family farm and have been there ever since.
Before she started in radio for the Tigers, she was the official on-the-field photographer for the team. She would prepare a year-in-review slide show at the end of each season, and she did this from the 1994 season to the 2003 season (2003-2004 school year).
Then, in the fall of 2004, when the play-by-play and color analysts for WUCR-FM 107.9 were moving on to other opportunities, David Harris (former middle school football coach and ag teacher colleague/co-teacher at the time) and Charlotte were approached by radio station owner, Paul Lewis, about taking over the job.
“David and Charlotte became instant favorites on Friday nights,” Lewis said. “They established themselves as the pair Union County people wanted to listen to on Friday nights.”
It’s a position the duo took seriously right away.
“Before we agreed to take the job, we practiced quite a bit with random games that were posted online (with the sound down of course) and he would call the plays and I would offer color commentary,” Charlotte said. “Upon agreeing to become the Voice of the Tigers, we practiced for weeks before the first game. As a bonus, Mr. Tom Williams, the other agricultural education teacher at UCHS, kept stats for the team.”
Dr. Emerson can remember her first time on the air calling Tiger football games and she’s still doing what she loves 21 years later.
“I started broadcasting when C.J. Spiller was a junior in high school (2004 season) and he graduated in 2006, so I am positive about the dates,” she said. “Over the course of this time, I have changed careers, earned a master’s degree, started and slowly finished a Ph.D, celebrated my son’s high school graduation and undergraduate and master’s graduation, had the opportunity to visit more than 25 countries and remodeled a house. But year after year I return to Shadd Bryant Stadium, Marvin H. Prichett Field for Tiger football, it’s as much a part of my life as anything else.”
Case said she’s been calling games “as long as I can remember.”
“When I was in elementary and middle school, I remember her and David Harris on the call with Tom “Bub” Williams taking stats from the crow’s nest at Shad Bryant Stadium,” he said. “My job was to take those stats to the coaches once the game was over. I always admired my mother’s broadcasting skills and was so excited when I finally got to put the headsets on next to her.”
Case said that over the last several years or so they have settled into her handling the color while he does play-by-play.
“She keeps me on track with the program, but she also raises the bar when it comes to performance,” Case said. “Her articulation, inflection, and energy are a live and in-person standard I strive to match. “
That comes from a passion for football that was instilled a long time ago as a child.
“I started going to the University of Florida football games at the age of six,” Charlotte said. “My family did not take summer vacations that I remember, rather we went to Florida Field every Saturday in the fall to watch the Gators. I vividly remember sitting in the south endzone wooden bleachers, Coach Doug Dickey, and Charlie Pell, the south endzone renovation, the 0-10-1 season, Wayne Peace and Emmitt Smith. I was the biggest Dwayne Dixon fan (SFHS Raider WR/Gator 1980-1983).”
As a college student, she later caught up with Dixon. Charlotte was a Gator Getter in 1993, and Dixon was a wide receiver coach under Coach Steve Spurrier.
“I fan girled of course,” she said.
Charlotte said that the people who sat around them at UF games loved the Gators as much as she did, but they did not know a lot about the rules of football, referee signals or the strategy of the game.
“They would constantly ask my dad ‘What just happened Bill?’, so I listened to his responses like he was telling a bedtime story,” she said. “At a very young age, I was able to follow the game better than most adults or at least the ones who sat behind us at Florida Field. My knowledge and love of football comes from my dad 100%.”
Case said her football knowledge is incredible.
“Obviously growing up I have never thought women couldn’t participate in football conversations,” he said. “My mother led those conversations with friends and family since she knew so much about football. There is a pile of women who understand and know football. My mom has the advantage of being a past high school teacher so her ability to explain what is in her head is crucial in making her a successful broadcaster.”
Lewis was very impressed with Charlotte on air, and the leadership she showed in helping young students learn how to broadcast on the radio.
“She challenged her students to develop daily school news programs that were broadcast on air culminating with a Friday review of the week…and named the show, “Tiger Roar at Four,” Lewis said.
With the help of Lewis and “several others across the state,” she also was able to write an agricultural communications curriculum which was submitted and recognized by the Florida Department of Education and is still used today.
“Once this was established, we were able to teach students how to operate radio equipment, techniques in broadcasting and many other communication skills, we broadcasted a daily morning show from the high school and other special events like parades, FFA Events and allowed students to DJ their own shows,” she said. “In February of 2006, we broadcasted live from football National Signing Day, where we had listeners as far away as Taiwan. They all wanted to know where C.J. was going.”
Harris left the booth after the 2012 season which culminated a nine-year relationship on the air.
“David and I worked very well together,” Charlotte said. “We both speak fluent sarcasm, and it worked on the air. He taught me a lot about the game from a coaching perspective. He made me a better color analyst without a doubt. In the beginning, he was patient as I was learning ‘how’ to fill time between plays. I talk a lot in general, so he had to teach me when to shut up too. At some point, I was able to relieve him occasionally, and call plays myself on the air. I have called a couple of games by myself, so I guess it is a good thing I can do both color and play-by-play.”
There have been a lot of special moments, like the game against rival Bradford (Starke) in 2021.
“Union County was celebrating 100 years of becoming a county after being a part of Bradford County for years,” Charlotte said. “I was a part of the planning committee for the community-wide 100-Year Celebration. This game was anticipated and of course, the Tornadoes were expected to win. The Tigers had other plans. While not a close game, the 50-21 Tiger win was a lot of fun to be a part of such while celebrating such a historical time for Union County.”
But the call of the games is only part of her legacy on the airwaves in Lake Butler.
“Charlotte had the insight to see and know the importance of real radio to the community,” Lewis said. “Without her WUCR would have failed a long time ago.”
The feeling is mutual. It always has been and that’s what makes this small-town connection special.
“Mr. Lewis also encouraged me to get involved with the broadcasts, he is one of my biggest cheerleaders in everything I do,” Charlotte said. “I don’t think he ever worried about the fact that I am a female. He has never once doubted our ability. I am forever grateful for his support and encouragement.”
She’s also very humble, saying that she is not necessarily a pioneer but more so an example.
“I hope I can be an inspiration for other females to take a risk outside the norm and find a place in a male-dominated sport and broadcasting,” she said. “It is about having confidence in yourself and your knowledge and putting that together.
She also has developed a love for the purple and gold over the last 30 years.
“I taught agricultural education and was one of three FFA advisors here for 12 years and my son graduated from UCHS,” she said. “I bleed purple and gold, and a little red and grey of course, and now that Case teaches at Lafayette High School a little of that red and white too. I am personally invested in the Tigers and the people who love them. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of WUCR, I know it is special to have a small community-based radio station to bring Tiger sports to the community. I love my community, it’s where I live and go to church, it is my home.”
Many have come and gone, but Charlotte carries on.
“I have not thought about when the end will be,” she said. “I still enjoy the sport, the broadcasts and more importantly, spending time with my family. Broadcasting gives me all of that in one place.”