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PERQUIJ^S COUNTY LIBRARY
f auADEMY ST
I V~r[ HERTFORD, NC 27944-1306
December 31, 2003
Vol. 71, No. 53 Hertford, North Carolina 27944
PERQUiMANS
Weekly
Steamers Trot out Red Sox’s Nixon Sunday
Outfielder
with
Perquimans
roots supports
Edenton
league
MICHAEL WOOD
The Daily Advance
EDENTON —
Ballplayers appreciate
fans.
That was one point that
Christopher Trotman
“Trot” Nixon wanted to
emphasize when he
addressed a packed house
at the Edenton Steamers'
benefit dinner held at the
Chowan Golf & Country
Club Sunday evening.
The fans didn't just come
out to see the Boston Red
Sox’ star right fielder; they
came to see a North
Carolina native son whose
roots grow deep in the
Albemarle area.
Many Nixon family
members were in atten
dance, including Trot's
grandparents and Hertford
residents Preston and
Bonnie Nixon and Trot's
father, Dr. William Nixon,
who use to catch Catfish
Hunter in summer leagues.
Trot was born in
Durham and raised in
Wilmington, where he led
New Hanover High School
to the Class 4-A baseball
title in 1993. He was named
the High School Player of
the Year by Baseball
America and chosen by
Boston as the seventh over
all pick in the first round of
the amateur draft.
Nixon signed with the
Red Sox the day before he
was to report to North
Carolina State for football
practice.
“1 loved football, and I
was looking forward to
starting my coUege educa
tion, but it was always my
dream to play professional
baseball,” Nixon said. “1
spent five years in the
minors. It wasn't easy; it
was a learning process.”
The Red Sox organiza
tion did not give up on
Nixon, a decision his work
ethic may have influenced.
Nixon credits his family for
instilling in him the strong
work ethic.
“Many of my family
were and still are farmers,
and they always worked
hard in the fields,” Nixon
said. “Even if they had
other jobs, they stiU worked
the farm. I am blessed by
the Lord to be able to play
baseball for a job, and I am
going to work as hard as I
can to get the most out of
my ability.”
In 1998, Nixon made it to
the big club to stay He has
become a fan favorite in
Boston because of his all-
out style of play. Nixon is a
throwback type of player, a
term he said he considers a
compliment.
“The Boston fans have a
passion for the game like
no other fans anywhere,”
he said. “They love their
ballplayers, and they actu
ally push you to greatness
with their enthusiasm.”
While speaking at the
Steamers' benefit Sunday,
Nixon was joined by his 2-
year-old son. Chase, who
was born Sept. 11, 2001 —
the day of the terrorist
attacks on the United
States.
That year was big for
Nixon for another reason,
as well. After the 2001 sea
son, he received the Tom
Yawkey Award as the Red
Sox' Most Valuable Player.
“The Boston organiza
tion is the best,” Nixon
said, “and I hope to play my
entire career there.”
Nixon described the 2003
season as his best individ
ual campaign. He set per
sonal highs in batting aver
age (.306) and home runs
(28). Nixon had a great post
season as the Red Sox came
within five outs of beating
the Yankees and going to
the World Series.
“It was just so much fun
playing this year,” he said.
“We had such good chem
istry on the team; we came
from behind in so many
games.”
Nixon's biggest moment
of the year was when he hit
a home run in extra
innings to beat Oakland in
game 3 of the division play
offs.
“I got a fastball, and I
thought that I had popped it
up, but I saw the center
fielder running back, and
the ball just kept carrying
into the stands,” he
recalled. “It was one of
those moments you dream
about as a kid.
“But what I will never
forget is the next day when
I went out onto the field to
stretch before the game, the
Boston fans gave me a
standing ovation. Only in
Boston would they do some
thing like that. It really
touches a ballplayer’s
heart.”
Nixon said he's looking
forward to the 2004 season.
The Red Sox have added
Curt Schilling and Keith
Foulke to strengthen the
pitching staff, and two time
Gold Glover Pokey Reese
will play second base.
“I don't care about the
Alex Rodriguez deal,”
Nixon said. “I'm happy
with Nomar at shortstop
and Manny Ramirez in left
field. I really want to bring
a championship to Boston.”
Steamers general man-
ager Jeff Roemer was
pleased with the turnout
Nixon brought to Edenton.
“I am not surprised,”
said Roemer, who replaced
Todd Hunter as Edenton's
GM this faU. “The number
of people who came is .
indicative of the enthusi
asm and support that the
people in this community
have for baseball and their
Edenton Steamers.”
PuMPED-up Pirates
Former Redskins’ trainer dies
™ u .Ui..
PHOTO BY SAM WOLFE, The Daily Advance
The Pirates got pumped up in the second half, orchestrating a come-back win over
Currituck in overtime to send the Pirates to the championship round of The Daily
Advance Four-County Holiday Basketball Classic. Earlier in the afternoon, the lady
Pirates used strong defense to defeat Edenton and also earn a pass to the title
round.
New law improves highway travel
Transportation
Secretary Lyndo Tippett
and Crime Control & Public
Safety Secretary Bryan
Beatty have joined forces to
educate motorists about
new legislation aimed at
improving highway safety
and efficiency.
Under the legislation,
known as the “Quick
Clearance” Act, motorists
involved in a minor, non
injury accident on a high
way are required to move
their vehicles to the shoul
der of the road as soon as
possible.
As part of the same leg
islation, law enforcement
officials are now also
authorized to remove with
out liability commercial
truck cargo and other per
sonal property interfering
with traffic flow. This
allows incident manage
ment personnel to more
quickly clear spilled cargo
from the highway and
restore traffic flow. In the
past, concerns about liabili
ty sometimes caused delays
in removing cargo.
Studies show that for
every minute a freeway
lane is closed, it takes four
minutes for traffic to recov
er. They further show that
during these backups near
ly 30 percent of all highway
crashes occur.
The “Quick Clearance”
Act is part of House Bill
1140 and became effective
Oct. 1.
To further enhance safe
ty on the state's highways,
officials remind motorists
that under what is being
called the “Move Over”
Law, they are required to
move over to the farthest
lane of travel when
approaching any emer
gency vehicle with its
lights flashing on a four-
lane highway. Motorists
should continue traveling
in that lane at a reduced
speed until safely clear of
the emergency vehicle.
Motorists on two-lane
roads should also slow
down and use caution when
passing a parked or stand
ing emergency vehicle.
Failure to do so is consid
ered a traffic violation and
could result in a $100 fine.
Signs will be posted
along highways to remind
motorists to “move over”
and quickly clear minor
incidents from the highway.
The departments have also
produced an informational
advisory on these laws.
BOB MONTGOMERY
The Daily Advance
Joe Kuczo may not be the
most, famous name in
Washington Redskins foot
ball lore, but the former
Hertford resident who died
last Tuesday at 89 was the
trainer behind the scenes
for 25 years.
Some of those years
were spent working with
legendary head coaches
like George Allen and
Vince Lombardi.
Kuczo’s career spanned
five decades from the 1940s
to 1980s, and he spent much
of his time as Redskins
trainer from 1962 to 1987
away from family and
friends in Hertford. But
when not on the field or in
the training room, his
heart was in Hertford.
“He loved it. It was so
much different from D.C.,”
his nephew Allen Lassiter,
49, of Hertford said
Saturday. “He loved looking
at the rural life through a
microscope — the simple
people and country people.
That's where he got a lot of
his strength. He loved the
fresh air.”
Kuczo lived a long and
happy life, but his health
and ability to tell stories
deteriorated in recent
years, said Sharee Wilder,
executive director for the
Carolina House assisted
care facility in Elizabeth
City. Kuczo lived his last
years there with his widow,
Rosa Louise Lassiter
Kuczo, who still lives there.
“When I think of him, I
think of the word 'gentle
man,'” Wilder said
Saturday. “He didn't brag.
He was very humble. He felt
honored when people men
tioned his accomplish
ments.”
One accomplishment
that stands out, according
to Lassiter, is when Kuczo
got Redskins quarterback
Sonny Jorgensen ready to
play for a big game when
Jorgensen was sidelined
with cracked ribs.
“They came to Joe and
said, 'We need Sonny in the
game,'” Lassiter said.
“Everyone knew Sonny had
been hurt.”
Kuczo designed a special
full body cast that allowed
Jorgensen to move with rel
atively little pain. The idea
had been unheard of at the
time, Lassiter said.
“When they put him in
the game, he was hit hard a
couple of times, but the
cast held up,” he said.
The next day, Kuczo
received calls from other
teams around the league.
Kuczo was born in
Wallingford, Conn., the son
of immigrant parents from
Hungary. He was interested
in health and medicine, but
didn't go to coUege.
Instead, he learned on
his own. As a medic in the
Navy medical corps in
World War II, he treated
thousands of injured sol
diers.
After the war, he became
head trainer at Georgetown
University from 1946 to
1962, then joined the
Washington Redskins as
head trainer. There, as
trainer and retired trainer,
he was part of the 1984,
1988 and 1992 Super Bowls.
He received numerous
awards for his service,
including the game ball
when the Redskins
clinched the East Division
crown on Dec. 3, 1972. He
was inducted into the
Georgetown University
Athletic Hall of Fame and
in 1990 received the
Washington Hall of Stars
First Special Recognition
Award.
Lassiter said Kuczo had
many fond memories, but
former legendary head
coach Vince Lombardi,
who led the Redskins for a
year in the late '60s after
coaching the Green Bay
Packers, stood out from the
rest.
Once when a Redskins
player fell hard after a col
lision in practice, Lassiter
said Kuczo ran out onto the
field to tend to the player.
“Joe got up to help the
guy, and Lombardi said,
'Joe, leave him alone. Let
him get up and run,'”
Lassiter said.
That night during team
dinner, Lombardi came up
to Kuczo and apologized.
’’Lombardi said he got
carried away and made a
mistake, and he apolo
gized,” Lassiter said. “That
was unheard of”
Lassiter said Kuczo had
a full life and led by exam
ple.
“He was a mentor to
everyone around him,”
Lassiter said. “Everybody
can talk the talk, but Joe
walked the walk every day.
He never deviated from his
principles.”
Wilder said Kuczo at the
Carolina House was a soft-
spoken man, and that
“when he spoke, you would
listen.”
“He will really be
missed,” Wilder added.
Kuczo wUl be featured in
a “Life Experience” adver
tisement that features spe
cial elderly people who
have served as mentors.
The campaign is being run
by Southern Assisted
Living Inc. of Chapel Hill,
which operates 47 assisted
care facilities, including
Carolina House.
The campaign, produced
by Hoyt-Hamilton market
ing consultants In Raleigh^
wiU be featured over the
next several weeks in
regional magazine editions
of “Time,” “Newsweek,”
“Good Housekeeping,” and
other publications.
Holiday
Weather
THURSDAY
High: 61
Low: 36
Sunny
Friday
High: 59
Low: 44
Showers
Saturday
High: 66
Low: 53
Few Showers