Vidalia amphitheater dedicated to former Mayor Ronnie Dixon

VIDALIA, Ga. (WTOC) - City leaders say the amphitheater is one of the last projects former Mayor Ronnie Dixon worked on before he passed away. It was a place near and dear to his heart.

Wendell Dixon, Ronnie’s brother, said, “every time I ride by here, I think about him.”

The amphitheater in downtown Vidalia.

“What’s the best way for us to say ‘thank you’ and trying to do that is not easy,” said Mayor Doug Roper.

… now dedicated to the City of Vidalia’s former Mayor Ronnie A. Dixon.

“If you think about the heart in which he had to serve for 42 years and this is the heart of downtown, for us that was kind of a natural fit.”

A perfect fit because of the role Dixon had in creating this space now used for many community events and celebrations.

“We knew that this was one of the last projects that Ronnie worked on. It was near and dear to his heart.”

“I think this was one of his favorite things, the amphitheater,” said Dixon.

Before Dixon passed in 2020, he spent more than half his life in office.

“He was mayor for 26 years and he was on city council, before that, for like 16 years.”

“We were known as the city of progress and that’s because of a lot of the hard work and projects that he and his councils that he had over those years worked on,” said Mayor Roper.

“Ronnie loved this place. He loved the citizens of Vidalia.”

Dixon’s younger brother Wendell says his passion inspired him to also serve.

“A lot of years I said ‘I don’t think I want to get into politics.’ Then, later on in life I did and ran for commissioner about 10 years ago.”

Dixon says he hopes when people come to Ronnie A. Dixon City Park … they too are inspired by all that he did.

“He would love it, but he’d say ya’ll shouldn’t be doing all that for me!”

Mayor Roper says they did try to hold this ceremony a few times over the last few years, but couldn’t because of Covid-19.

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