hope project
Keeping Nuxhall's dream alive
Fund-raiser will include speakers presenting a tribute to the late, great Reds legend.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Before Joe Nuxhall died in November, he wanted to make sure his five dreams lived on.
So son, Kim Nuxhall, is helping to organize the second annual Joe Nuxhall Hope Project fundraiser and tribute to be held at the Oscar Event Center at Jungle Jim's on April 3.
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"The night will be a tribute to him," Nuxhall said. "We'll have a plethora of speakers reflecting on memories of Dad."
Chris Welch and George Grande, Fox Sports Ohio commentators, will be the co-master of ceremonies for the event, and invited guests include Reds baseball announcers Marty and Thom Brennaman; Greg Hoard, author of "Joe ... Rounding Third and Heading for Home;" former Reds Johnny Bench and Tom Browning, and Reds chief executive Bob Castellini.
Former Red Sean Casey, one of the Ol' Lefthander's favorite baseball players, now a bench player for the Boston Red Sox, sent a videotape of his reflections. Kim Nuxahll said, "I can't watch it yet. I may not watch it until (April 3)."
The event will feature live and silent auction of items that belonged to Joe Nuxhall, including a Ted Kluszewski bat and Nuxie's 1989 Lincoln Town Car he barely drove. People can buy a chance to win it for $20 and Marty Brennaman will draw the winning ticket on June 10, the anniversary of the Reds pitcher's major league debut in 1944 at age 15.
The Fairfield Community Foundation manages the funds for the Hope Project, and foundation board president Sally Braun said anything they can do to help ensure Joe Nuxhall's dreams live on, they will.
"We hope to get a better jump start on the Hope Projects," Braun said.
Sparky Anderson, the former Reds field manager who led the team to back-to-back world titles in 1975 and 1976, will be given the inaugural Joe Nuxhall Character Award.
"I've been wanting to create this Joe Nuxhall Character Award, and it was a big decision of who would receive the first one," Kim Nuxhall said. "Sparky came to mind because his life paralleled Dad's.
"Sparky, like dad, never knew a stranger. He loved people, he loved what he did. He was filled with gratitude with the opportunities that he had, and he never let it go to his head."
Contact this reporter at (513) 755-5112 or mpitman@coxohio.com.
