Tag Archive for: #eddiehicks

Winder Street Dedicated As ‘Eddie James Hicks Drive’

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With a contingent of family, friends, colleagues and well-wishers gathered at the corner of Garnett and West Winder streets, city leaders unveiled new signs dedicating Winder Street in honor of Eddie Hicks, a hometown celebrity with a servant’s heart.

All the green Winder Street signs – from Chestnut Street to County Home Road – will have a second attached that identifies it as Eddie James Hicks Drive.

Flanking the words on the sign are the East Carolina University Sports Hall of Fame logo and the familiar New York Giants insignia, a tip of the hat to the places where Hicks dazzled crowds with his athletic gifts. Hicks was inducted into the ECU hall of fame in 2014. He played for the Giants and returned to watch his beloved Giants play when he could.

Kendrick Vann, director of the Henderson Vance Recreation & Parks Department, recalled when he and Hicks went to a Giants game. Hicks was Vann’s godfather, and he also was an employee of the rec and parks department.

“He truly loved being a benefit to the community, an asset to the community and all people, regardless of race, color, creed,” Vann told those gathered at the 11 a.m. dedication ceremony where the sign was officially unveiled.

Vann said Hicks loved his church, his temple and working for the City of Henderson and Vance County. And, Vann said, he offered advice about making priorities in life: “Church, community, family, football.”

David Person, Worshipful Master of Beacon Light Lodge 249, said Hicks loved his lodge and he loved his lodge brothers. “Let’s continue to think of Eddie and the legacy he’s built,” Person said, and all the people who have been impacted by him.

Hicks’s widow, Jackie, spoke briefly before the sign was unveiled and thanked those in attendance for sharing in the moment. “There was nothing that this man wouldn’t do for anybody,” she said. With a resolve to stay strong, as her husband would have wanted, she challenged the group to work for change in the city that Hicks called home.

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The Local Skinny! City Council Renames Street For Eddie Hicks

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It won’t quite be the same as having him there in person, but Melissa Elliott says she’ll be glad when she can look out her window at Gang Free, Inc. and see the street sign that proclaims the street nearby as “Eddie James Hicks Street.”

The Henderson City Council voted to rename E. Winder Street for the local hero who died in October.

Elliott’s Gang Free, Inc.’s location is in the community known as Flint Hill, where Hicks grew up.

“He had many ties to Winder Street and the surrounding area,” Elliott said on Thursday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

Newly elected council member Lamont Noel presented the request to the council, along with signatures on a neighborhood petition, and the matter easily was approved.

“Eddie’s heartbeat is in Flint Hill,” Elliott said. “It was an honor to be able to put this on the calendar so fast and to get it passed.”

Henderson Mayor Eddie Ellington told WIZS News that the street name change will “honor the memory of one of (our) own who had many ties as a young man to Winder Street and the surrounding area. We remember that legends never die, they live on in our hearts forever

Eddie did so many things in this community, and the word “no” was not in his vocabulary when it came to requests for assistance from others.

“He would always help out,” Elliott said, from taking food to a senior adult to coaching a child, to waiting while Elliott finished up work for the day – which often turned into evening.

“He would not leave me at the building by myself,” she recalled.

Gang Free, Inc. is having a celebration gala Thursday evening, and Hicks’s widow, Jackie, is scheduled to attend.

“I’m excited about honoring Eddie – he will be with us tonight in spirit. He celebrated life and I’m just grateful to have known Eddie…he just wanted to make his community better.”

And while a street sign can’t take his place, Elliott said reading Eddie James Hicks Street will motivate her to keep Hicks’s memory alive by trying to make the community better.

 

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SportsTalk: Remembering Eddie Hicks

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Doc Ayscue, George Hoyle and John Rose remember Eddie Hicks, Vance County sports legend and community advocate who died on Monday.

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Remembering Eddie Hicks

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Henderson native Eddie Hicks died Monday, Oct. 31.

Hicks gave back to his hometown in many ways, and he was a long-time employee with the Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks Department. He also partnered with local programs, including Gang Free, Inc., to help young people in the community.

Hicks had said his own life had been influenced by coaches and teachers, as well as his parents. “I couldn’t have been successful (without them). I wouldn’t be who I am right now if it were for (those) folks,” he said in a December 2021 interview with WIZS to talk about having a shelter named in his honor at Fox Pond Park.

The Edward James Hicks Shelter was dedicated in a ceremony on July 29 of this year. “It really means everything to me – it really does,” Hicks said in that 2021 interview. “It brought tears to my eyes,” he said, when he learned that Shelter #1 would be renamed in his honor.

Kendrick Vann, director of the recreation and parks department, spoke with WIZS News Monday and said Hicks was so much more than a parks and rec employee – he was Vann’s godfather.

“He touched so many lives,” Vann said. “He took me on as a godson – that’s how I became a New York Giants fan,” he added, referring to Hicks’s stint with the NFL team.

Hicks was successful, by all accounts. His prowess on the football field as a Vance Senior High Viking got him noticed by college scouts and he earned a scholarship to play at East Carolina University.

He still holds the ECU record for longest rushing yard play – 95 yards. Hicks went on to play professional ball with the New York Giants and he was inducted into the ECU Hall of Fame in 2014.

When his pro career ended, Hicks returned home and picked up at parks and rec, where he had worked as a teenager and as a college student during the summer. His love of community and the desire to give back continued throughout the rest of his life, fueled by the memories of the mentors who had helped him as a youngster.

“Eddie loved the entire community,” said Gang Free, Inc. founder Melissa Elliott. She told WIZS News Monday that Hicks worked “tirelessly to make sure everyone was OK. Eddie was a true hero, leader and the epitome of a servant. Eddie loved God and it showed through his actions,” she said.

Mary Davis Royster Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements, Vann noted. Hicks is survived by his wife, Jackie, daughters Jennifer and Karen, and five grandchildren.

“There were so many people who loved Eddie Hicks back then, Hicks said in that December 2021 interview as he reflected on his early years growing up in Henderson. “And I appreciate it.”

The community will feel the loss and remember the compassion Hicks showed to everyone he interacted with.

TownTalk: Local Sports Legend Eddie Hicks On Life, Football And Helping Youth

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If it weren’t for folks who cared about a youngster growing up in Flint Hill all those years ago,  Eddie Hicks’s future could have turned out quite differently.

That’s why Hicks does what he does to advocate for young people – he knows what it means to have someone on your side, whether it’s someone who gives you a place to stay when you need one, or whether it’s someone who offered you a part-time job at the local rec department. Hicks knows. And he remembers.

Hicks has a long relationship with the Henderson-Vance Recreation and Parks department – he’s closing in on five decades, in fact. “And I still love doing what I do,” he explained to John C. Rose on Tuesday’s Town Talk. Hicks recalled the days when, as a teenager, he and others helped keep the grounds cleared and mowed for the department. Fox Pond Park has a special place in his heart, because it’s where he did all his athletic training.

And now, the name of Edward James Hicks will be a permanent fixture at Fox Pond Park. HVRPD Director Kendrick Vann recently proposed to city officials that a picnic shelter be named in honor of Hicks.

“It really means everything to me – it really does,” Hicks said. “It brought tears to my eyes.”

He worked for parks and rec any time he came home, Hicks said. “A job was always there for me,” he said, noting the strong role then-director Ralph Peace played in his growing up.

Hicks’s father died right before Hicks was scheduled to head off to college, but both his parents had instilled in him values that helped carry him through tough times. He said football coaches Lonnie Davis and Tony Oakes helped him tremendously.

And then there was Hamlet Wilkerson, who opened his home to a teenaged Hicks and took him in. Hicks, and his brothers – he’s the youngest of three – got along fine outside the house, but not when they were all under the same roof. Wilkerson was a teacher at Hicks’s middle school and, although he has passed away, Hicks maintains close ties with the Wilkerson family.

“It takes a village to raise kids (in) this day and time,” Hicks said. Were it not for coaches and teachers and the values that his parents taught him, he said his life could have turned out very differently.

“I couldn’t have been successful (without them). wouldn’t be who I am right now if it were for (those) folks,” he said. There were so many people who loved Eddie Hicks back then, he said. “And I appreciate it.”

Those people who had a major impact on back then continue to influence Hicks today. His work with Melissa Elliott’s Gang Free organization is just one way he can give back to a community – his community – in need.

“So many folks have looked after me. And the Bible says pay it back ten times more,” he said.

For Hicks, football was a ticket to a brighter future. He played for legendary ECU Coach Pat Dye, who originally recruited him as a tight end. But Hicks was moved to running back, and that’s where he made his mark. There was one remarkable game against UNC, Hicks recalled. ECU was probably a 30-point underdog headed into Chapel Hill in 1975 to face the likes of #56 Lawrence Taylor.  That 68-yard touchdown run that the freshman Hicks made was the start of a stellar career with the Pirates. It was a time #28 won’t soon forget. His three touchdowns in Chapel Hill propelled ECU to their first-ever win over the Tar Heels.

As Hicks recalled those glory days on the playing field, however, he cautioned young people just starting out in a sport – or any endeavor.

There’s no replacement for practice, hard work and paying your dues, he said. “If you don’t perform, you’re not going to play.”

Hard work and dedication on the playing field transfer to other areas, he said. The first priority is God, he said. “God’s gotta be first,” he said. Respecting parents comes next. “It really bothers me when kids don’t listen to their mama and daddy,” he said.

Today’s high school athletes have to keep their grades up in order to play their sports, and Hicks is all for that. “School didn’t excite me,” he acknowledged, and he had to keep an eye on schoolwork during the week so he could play on Fridays.

That effort got him to ECU, where he rushed for more than 2,100 yards during his four-year career. He still holds the school record for the longest rushing play – 95 yards. He was inducted into the ECU Hall of Fame in 2014.

ECU wasn’t a powerhouse football school in the late ‘70s, but Hicks wouldn’t trade his time there for anything. “If you want the opportunity to do great things, go to a small school and make a difference,” he said.

Hicks made a difference on the football field, and he continues to make a difference in his community.

As for his beloved Fox Pond, he said it looks better now than ever. People come out to enjoy the amenities, from tennis courts to fishing in the pond. Hicks said he still plays a little tennis himself, and he enjoys walking in the park.

“Mr. Vann has a good vision,” Hicks said. “He wants everything first class. We’re going in the right direction for Fox Pond Park to be bigger and better.”

 

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