Novato Advance • August 13, 2003 - August 19, 2003

Our Town: Don Ricco
"The voice of Novato"
Dan Stebbins/Executive Editor

THOMAS K. SORENSEN/ADVANCE
Don Ricco can prepare a meal for a crowd in the kitchen of his Novato home.

You may not recognize Don Ricco’s face, but his voice is tantalizingly familiar.
It’s a voice that Don himself describes as “deep and mellow,” and it has served him well. Over the past 20 years, his ability to put the proper inflection to an audio script, and deliver it in mellifluous tones, has placed him in high demand as an announcer and voice-over specialist for radio and TV public-service announcements and commercials.
Don is also an announcer at the Novato 4th of July parade and Nostalgia Days. Many also remember him for his two-decade stint announcing the girls’ Bobbi Sox softball games at Marion Park.
Don is a co-owner of Nave Motors in Novato, along with Jim and Matt Temple. At 68, he considers himself more or less retired. After suffering a heart attack in 1981 and heart-bypass surgery four years ago, he’s careful about his diet. He is now a serious cook, and his family’s chief chef. “My wife put it to me this way,” Ricco says of his longtime partner JoAnne. “I did it the first 25 years — now it’s your turn”.
He has risen to the challenge. He cooks healthy dishes such as vegetarian chili. He cooks with turkey instead of hamburger. He serves fruits and vegetables. About a week ago, Don roamed about his kitchen planning a birthday dinner for his son-in-law, Dave Desvaux, and eight friends. The meal featured a shrimp Creole that included cod, halibut, scallops, bass, basil, tomatoes and various spices. Don seemed to be enjoying the prospect.
You’d think keeping up on culinary skills would keep him occupied enough, but Don is also painting cartoon-character murals in grandson David’s bedroom.
Don likes kids and is often called upon to entertain at children’s parties. He does a convincing Kermit the Frog, Yogi Bear, Snagglepuss and Tigger voices, and has been known to dress in outlandish costumes for a good cause. He dressed as a shoe for “The Human Race,” and is active in Saint Anthony’s Youth group.
Don has been married to JoAnne for 35 years. They met when Don was stationed at Fort Ord near Monterey.
JoAnne, the daughter of Nave Motors owner John Angeloni, came down with girlfriends. Don had served as a motor-pool infantryman with the First Cavalry Division in Vietnam’s central highlands. JoAnne, born in San Francisco and having lived in Novato since 1957, was a small-town girl and only 18. Don impressed her with his worldliness.
Novato was quite a distance from his birthplace in Verona, Italy, and a long way from Chicago, where his aunt raised him.
Don joined Nave Motors when he got out of the army. His career as a voice began when Dean Kendrick of Downtown Productions asked him to cut a tape. Don’s first commercial work was for the Kamakasi Restaurant in San Rafael. Since then, he has worked for William Ellis Eye Centers, the East Bay Home Show, the Novato Theater Restoration, the San Francisco Bay Model, and Dickens of a Christmas.
When the television is on in the Ricco home, his family instantly recognizes when Don is in a spot. “They laugh. They know it’s me,” Don says.
The Riccos have four children: Don Jr., 34, Christina, 32, Angela, 28, and Marie, 22. They have lived in their home on Buchanan Street since 1971. Don and JoAnne added rooms and a swimming pool as their family grew.
Don and JoAnne are avid collectors. Don has an extensive collection of Norman Rockwell plates and prints, and JoAnne, who works in special education at San Jose Middle School, collects engraved silver spoons.
Don warns that you’ve got to be careful listening to his tapes sometimes. He recently made a tape on how to reduce stress and injuries for Novato High School football coach Jerry Colletto. Don says his voice is sometimes so soothing that “it will put you to sleep, if you’re not careful.” The football tape needs a disclaimer, Don jokes: “Do not play while driving a car.”