Jim Burt - Inducted 1994

Born in Melcher, Iowa, in 1914. 1936 grad of Melcher High School. Brown Institute in Minneapolis. A broadcast pioneer, Burt spent 40 years at KELO Radio and TV, retiring in 1987. To South Dakotans, no state sports figure was more recognizable. Burt started at KELO Radio in June of 1947. He did play-by-play of KELO's first broadcast of a state basketball tourney, the 1948 Class A tourney from Aberdeen. He was at KELO-TV from its beginning in 1953. He broadcast and/or telecast every state high school boys basketball tourney from 1948-82 and he telecast the first state high school football playoffs in 1981. He was named the state's Sportscaster of the Year seven times. He also served on the Howard Wood Dakota Relays executive board for 45 years. Played semi-pro baseball for four years after high school.