Vidalia Mayor Doug Roper announces the renaming of the downtown Vidalia park with the assistance of Mayor Pro-Tem John Raymond Turner, City Manager Nick Overstreet. Looking on is Dublin Mayor and friend to the late Mayor Ronnie Dixon, Phil Best.
Ever since it became a focal point of the downtown Vidalia area, it’s been called The Stage at City Park. Now, it’s been named and dedicated to the man who had the foresight and drive to make it a cultural icon.
The renaming of what will now be known as the Ronnie A. Dixon City Park was unveiled in a ceremony Thursday night, in honor of the late Mayor Ronnie Dixon, a man who dedicated over four decades of service to the people of the Sweet Onion City.
“It brings me pleasure to dedicate this park to Mayor Dixon,” Vidalia’s current mayor Doug Roper, said. “I think he’d be proud of it, but we just want people to remember his life and legacy.”
Wendell Dixon says his brother Ronnie was a modest man who would have avoided such recognition, but still, it means a lot to the family and the city that loved him.
“It means so much to our family for the city to do this,” Wendell said. “When Ronnie passed away, it was at a time when the country was shutting down because of COVID. We couldn’t have a church funeral or visitation or viewing, so this kind of makes up for that.”
The emotion was heavy in Wendell’s voice as he proclaimed, “Every time I ride by here I’ll think of him. I just love seeing his name up there!”
Mayor Dixon passed away on April 1, 2020.