Before he retires, one Hyde Park minister will serve in a new roll.
Reverend Donald Dixon will serve as the Honorary Captain for the Civil Rights Game on June 20.
The United Methodist Church minister will be retiring later in June after preaching for 46 years.
Dixon has been serving as minister at Hyde Park Community UMC for the past 15 years, and the baseball fan says, “It’s been, a huge honor to pastor this wonderful church. I also knew I was going to be closer to the ballpark than I had been in any of my other postings!”
Dixon also has a history of working for social justice and civil rights at all of the churchs he has worked at across Ohio.
He let bus loads of people stay at his church in Columbus in 1968. “They were on their way to Washington D.C. to march in the Poor Peoples’ Campaign that raised awareness of the economic injustices that existed in America,” says Dixon, “It was the last march organized by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”
“I have always championed matters of social justice and equality, and I have appreciated and enjoyed being part of creating better relationships between the black and white communities,” says Dixon.
Dixon launched the Feed Your Neighbor program in the 1970's when he was posted to a church in Toledo.
He also established the Dayton Peace Bridge in 1988 to "help heal the racial rift in the city," at that time.
In his roll as Honorary Captain, Dixon will bring the lineups to the home plate umpire from the dugouts.
The Civil Rights Game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Chicago White Sox will be Saturday, June 20. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Visit
WCPO's Special Section on the Civil Rights Game or go to
MLB.com/CivilRightsGame for more information.
