Smith County native Mr. Kenneth “Buck” Nixon was named Director of the Year by the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives in February 2019.
The Farmer Cooperative Director of the Year Award was established to recognize the outstanding achievements of a farmer cooperative director who takes the lead to help the board of directors make decisions vital to their cooperative.
During the March 2019 meeting of the Smith County Commission, Mr. Nixon was presented with a letter of honor to acknowledge his incredible achievement.
“That’s a big honor for a Smith County, Tennessee, person to be a national director,” Mayor Mason said during the meeting.
Mayor Mason read the following biography of Mr. Nixon to the assembled commissioners and citizens in the audience:
Kenneth “Buck” Nixon was born in Defeated Tennessee on October 4, 1943, to parents Clifton and Lillie Nixon. He grew up working alongside his parents and siblings, Ray and Patricia, on the family’s 120-acre hillside farm in Defeated.
Kenneth had a love for sports that followed him through his years at Defeated Elementary School and later at Smith County High School in Carthage, which he graduated from in 1961. He played football, basketball, and baseball.
It was at Smith County High where he met Linda Waggoner. The pair starred together in their senior play, “The Father of the Bride,” where they portrayed a young couple who got married. They began to date after the play. After graduation, Linda headed to college in Mississippi, while Kenneth was signed to play professional baseball in the Milwaukee Braves system.
As exciting as baseball was for Kenneth, he knew something was missing. He didn’t want to head back to spring training without Linda, so the couple married in spring of 1962. Son Mike followed a year later, then a daughter, Stacy, and finally son Joey. Their family now includes 6 grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild. Recently, the couple celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary.
Working his way up the ranks, Kenneth played Double A and later Triple A ball in a range of cities. In addition to Davenport, the couple spent time in Eau Claire, Wis.; Toronto, Canada; Richmond, Va.; Austin, Texas; and West Palm Beach, Fla.
In his last game, Kenneth blew out his arm pitching in a grueling 15-inning stretch. It was a career-ending injury.
Returning home, Kenneth managed a service station for a little while, drove a truck for a year, and did a lot of odd jobs. He had purchased his first farm in 1964 with some of his baseball earnings, and he eventually decided farming was what he wanted to do. He began raising beef cattle and tobacco, starting small and farming alongside his father, Clifton.
Mr. Nixon, a longtime member of Smith Farmers Co-op, was first elected to the Tennessee Farmers Cooperative’s eight-member board in 1986. He finished that seven-year term in 1992. Twice, from 1992-98, TFC directors elected Mr. Nixon to three-year terms as the board’s only public director. Then, in 1999, delegates returned him to office for another seven-year term as District 5 representative. From 2008 through 2017, he’s served as a Zone 2 director. Mr. Nixon is the longest serving director in TFC’s history.
As a testament to his leadership qualities, the 2017 TFC annual meeting was the fourth in which Mr. Nixon presided as board chairman, following up prior stints in 1992, 2006, and 2014. He’s also served as vice chairman on five occasions: 1991, 2004, 2005, 2013, and 2016.
In addition to his Co-op work, he has also served his community, including 50 years as a Civitan International member, a member of the South Carthage Volunteer Fire Department, and as a Smith County Commissioner.
In November of 2018, Mr. Nixon was awarded the James B. Walker Cooperative Spirit Award, which is TFC’s highest honor, after an unprecedented 29 years of exemplary service. The award honors an individual whose contributions have had a positive and enduring impact on Tennessee’s farmers, our state’s agriculture, and our cooperative system.
In February of 2019, Kenneth was awarded the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives “Co-op Director of the Year” in Phoenix, Arizona. The Farmer Cooperative Director of the Year Award was established to recognize the outstanding achievements of a farmer cooperative director who takes the lead to help their board of directors make decisions vital to their cooperative. NCFC is composed of nearly 3,000 local farmer cooperatives across the country and also include 26 state and regional councils of cooperatives.
Mayor Mason called Mr. Nixon to the front of the courtroom, where the mayor read and presented an official letter of honor to him.
Mr. Nixon then addressed the commissioners, expressing his heartfelt thanks and hometown pride.
“I’m thankful that I live in the best place in the world. I’ve seen most of this country, and there’s nowhere any better,” Mr. Nixon said.
You can watch the full March 2019 meeting of the Smith County Commission below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnDpxyvON00
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