Commendation Billy "Stix" Nicks on his 75th Birthday

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Resolution No. 1,00 S ' ~~ A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, HONORING SOUTH BEND'S LEGENDARY DRUMIVIER AND WORLD CLASS PERCUSSIONIST BILLY "STIR" NICKS ON HIS 75"~ BHtTHDAY G1y~ the Common Council of the City of South Bend, Indiana, notes that on the 8'h day of December, 1934, William Tyrel Nicks was born to Wyze and Alma Nicks, who were then share croppers on a large cotton plantation in Greenwood, Mississippi and from his grandfather Ben O'Bannon he developed an life-long interest in Black History which he continues to pursue today; and G}S~„~ in the Fall of 1934 the Nicks family moved to South Bend, Indiana, where William Tyrel Nicks later attended Central High School. Here is where he earned the name Billy "Stix"Nicks from Jackie Ivory because of his obsession to practice his drum sticks on just about everything in the school; and ~«.~ in the Fall of 1952, self-taught drummer Billy "Stix" Nicks and his quartet played at weekly sock hop dance parties at all of the local high schools; in 1953-1954 Billy was the 1St Black to be elected Vice-President of the South Bend Central Student Council; was the 1S` Black to make Central's Gymnastics Team; from 1953 to 1955 Billy's band "The Blue Notes" became widely known for their showmanship as the Whopper Bopping Show Stoppers; and in 1955 Billy was awarded the Herring House Youth Achievement Award for being instrumental in having Jackie Robinson visit the Herring House; and G~ore+~ after his graduation from South Bend Central High School in 1954, Billy "Stix" Nicks and "The Rhythm Rockers" played at the Morris Park Country Club; and in 1956 and 1957 they were hired to do the Club 46 WNDU TV afternoon teen party dance shows until Billy was drafted into the US Army in 1958 where he played as a percussionist for the Army Band at Fort Benning Georgia; and G''l ~e,~ as a member of the US Army Bank, Billy "Stix" Nicks traveled to Germany and later studied Black History in Denmark and Sweden; and following his honorable discharge eventually joined forces with "Jackie Ivory and The Gents of Soul "which led to several record recording releases at Soul Discovery, LP; Atco/Atlantic Records; Universal Studios; MotowniSoul record labels; and G} Billy "Stix" Nicks has earned many, many musical accomplishments and has played at the Apollo Theater in New York, at Harvard University, at the Regal Theatre in Chicago; at Shea Stadium -just to highlight a few and has performed with Louie Armstrong, Sammy Davis, Jr., The Fifth Dimension, Gladys Knight and the Pips, The Four Tops, The Isley Brothers, The Supremes, and Dionne Warwick; with the "Billy Nicks Jazz Trio" topping the Dick Clark National Band Stand television show; & received a Key to the City from Mayor Luecke on December 5, 2009. C~oa, Cllea~e~oare, Ge ctxeao%ura! ~ /~ce `~omv~na-n ~ouirecil°~/~Ce `~`~ °~~iul~ end, C~ndicreca, as follows: Section I. On behalf of all of the citizens of the City of South Bend, Indiana, the Common Council hereby publicly honors and celebrates with a very grateful South Bend community the many, many accomplishments of the very talented and gifted drummer and world class percussionist Billy "Stix" Nicks as he continues to celebrate his 75ti' birthday. Section II. The South Bend Common Council honors Billy "Stix" Nicks for his sincere dedication and passion to becoming aworld-class drummer which has earned him a teaching position at the University of Notre Dame where he has taught percussion since 2004 as an Adjunct Professor. Section III. The Common Council of the City of South Bend believes that the special talents of the very gifted Billy "Six" Nicks are best summarized in Billy's own words: "I just shut everyt i t and just concentrate on what I'm doing there. One thing I realize, music is a spiritual thing, and with met at's what 'm dealing with..." hall be in full force and effect adoption by the Council and ~ /Oliv~r J.15avis, 6~ District C~ °" l ~.e~` ~ ~c Al "Bu dy" irsits, At Large A. Rouse, At ar e ~~L. White, A Large Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand, Council Attorney ohn oorde, City Clerk /!lcia ~ecem~iex, 2009 Stephen J. L e, Mayor of South Bend