NEWLIN BARTIMUS NICHOLSON

 Newlin Bartimus Nicholson, better known to all of us as “Nick the Chick," was born in Alamance County on March 28, 1903. He attended Green Hill School, Guilford College, North Carolina State, and Cornell University. Nick grew up on a poultry farm where his father imported Tom Barron White Leghorns from England.

Nick joined the N.C. Agricultural Extension Service in 1929. After brief stays in Green, Wayne, and Alamance counties, he served the Civil Air Patrol as a pilot server during 1942. He joined the Union County Extension staff in December, 1943.  Nick was the only person to turn to for any poultry problem - he was the serviceman, the nutritionist, the building expert, the marketing specialist, and the "Daddy" of the Union area poultry industry. 

He organized the 500 Hen Club, Union County Poultry Days, and many other special promotional activities. Nick saw the need to bring industry, the local people, lending agencies, and related industries together. As a result of his efforts, the Union County area became a poultry hub with a research laboratory, three processing plants, and many supportive and related industries. Nick always recognized the importance of young people -- he assisted many young poultrymen in becoming national 4-H winners in projects and demonstrations. Many of these 4-H’ers are leaders in the poultry industry today. 

Nick started the Dixie Poultry Exposition in 1946, another example of his relentless efforts to help all segments of the industry work together. He served as Secretary-Manager of the Dixie for 25 years. . 

Since his retirement from Extension in 1968, he has served as farm consultant for the American Bank & Trust Company in Monroe. Nick married Kathleen Faison in 1931 and they have two daughters and two granddaughters. The officers and directors of the North Carolina Poultry Federation are pleased to honor him by his induction into the N.C. Poultry Hall of Fame.