Ellington

If you've ever gotten frustrated spending 20 minutes of your lunch break looking for a parking spot in Fondren, then "Captain" Ron Mills is your man.

Mills, 59, is the "spinnin' and grinnin'" conductor of the Fondren Express, a new trolley service that connects Fondren with the parking dreamlands of Millsaps College and St. Dominic's Hospital. Mills is the sole driver of the trolley from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Saturday, rain or shine.

Born in Aberdeen, Miss., Mills graduated from Philadelphia High School in the first integrated senior class, attended Hinds and graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi with a theater degree. But that doesn't make him an actor. "I prefer to call myself a performer," he said. "The way I develop a character is different than an actor."

Whatever you call him, Mills has been part of the Jackson theater scene on-and-off since the '70s, when he did several plays at New Stage. More recently, he played a Tammy Wynette-obsessed drag queen (really, is there any other kind?) in the HeARTS Against AIDS performance of "Sordid Lives," and he riffed on greed, envy and lust in the Fondren Theatre Workshop's "Seven Deadly Scenes" in April.

"For community theater, (FTW) is very dedicated and fearless in their choices of shows," Mills said.

Between his first arrival in Jackson in 1972 (after serving in the Air Force) and his current life as a proud Fondren resident, Mills also lived briefly in New York City, and for longer periods in Columbus, Ohio, and Philadelphia, Pa. "I've been something of a gypsy, shall we say," he said. He won't be going away again anytime soon, though: "I'm home now. I love this town. I love the South."

Mills met Alan French, who came up with the idea for the trolley, at a coffee shop Mills used to run. When Mills became available, the two worked together to make the idea come to life. Why Fondren? Mills said French "wants this neighborhood to truly be the arts and entertainment district of Jackson." Mills himself loves that Fondren "has a neighborhood feel to it. You go to Cups, and you see the same people all the time. Alan and I are there every morning!"

The future of the trolley depends on how other entertainment sections develop in Jackson, Mills said. He and French are watching the Capitol Green, the King Edward and the Farish Street areas, among others, with an eye toward expansion. In the meantime, they are building up loyalty in their current location.

"The trolley is becoming somewhat of a Fondren icon," Mills said, "and, by extension, I guess, so am I."

Previous Comments

ID

82574

Comment

On a very busy day before the chick ball I was delivering donations to JFP. I was frustrated with the traffic so I am sure I had a horrible expression on my face when I encountered Captain Ron. In the instant that we passed he actually tipped his hat to me. It made me smile and the traffic was a distant memory. Thanks for the tip Captain.

Author

dancingone

Date

2007-05-23T17:54:06-06:00

ID

82575

Comment

I meant to ask about this earlier... how much does the trolley cost, and is there somewhere you can park and ride? Does he stop wherever or are there designated stops? I think it's a great idea. My great-grandfather drove a trolley car many moons ago in Jackson. :)

Author

music chick

Date

2007-05-30T15:07:55-06:00

ID

82576

Comment

Hey music chick, There's a link to the Fondren Express Web site in the article above. There's information on the Web site about fares and stops. Best regards, Tim, who drove tram cars in Sweden not so many moons ago... :-D

Author

Tim Kynerd

Date

2007-05-30T15:17:20-06:00

ID

82577

Comment

oh, hehe... didn't see that. thank you!!!

Author

music chick

Date

2007-05-30T15:24:21-06:00

ID

82578

Comment

Hey again! Didn't mean to make you feel bad. It was kind of easy to miss. Except for transit geeks like me! :-P Best, Tim

Author

Tim Kynerd

Date

2007-05-30T16:36:11-06:00