When entrepreneur and Oxford legend Ron “Ronzo” Shapiro passed away in August, local community members immediately began making plans to honor his legacy.
This Friday, the Yoknapatawpha Arts Council will host a second celebration of Ronzo’s life at the Powerhouse. The arts council is hosting the event at the request of local community members who want to continue to remember his legacy.
On Aug. 25, local musicians organized a “second line,” a New Orleans-style marching parade in his honor. Hundreds of people joined in behind the band, marching down North Lamar Boulevard to Proud Larry’s.
“People kind of made this commentary that no one was watching the second line because everyone was in the second line,” Yoknapatawpha Arts Council Director Wayne Andrews said.
“We’re getting calls from out of state (from) friends that are coming (and) people that remember him from when they were here,” Andrews said. “People have shipped things here so that they can share it.”
Shapiro was born in St. Louis and moved to Oxford in 1975. A long line of entrepreneurial success marks Shapiro’s time in Oxford. He owned several businesses, starting with the Hoka Theatre in the 1970s and later the Main Squeeze Juice Bar and Shelter Café.
Andrews added that Shapiro kept the same formula for success with all of his business ventures. All of Shapiro’s businesses seemed to have a signature dish, from the famous cheesecake at the Hoka Theatre to the lunches and breakfasts at the Shelter Café.
“It was gathering place, a little bit eclectic, (with) quality of food,” Andrews said. “I’m sorry, but the black bean burrito over at Main Squeeze was phenomenal.”
Oxonians saw Ronzo everywhere, from college events run by students, to book readings to serving on city committees.
“I don’t know how anyone was physically in that many places,” Andrews said. “I often theorized that there were multiple Ronzo’s.”
Ronzo’s role in Oxford wasn’t just that of an entrepreneur; to some, he was a career counselor. He helped both Andrews and Melanie Addington, Director of the Oxford Film Festival, land their first jobs in Oxford.
“I used to be a reporter, and he told the (Oxford) Eagle they should hire me, and they listened and let me work for them for a little while,” Addington said.
Ronzo, an avid supporter of film, was always looking for movies to bring to Oxford. He co-hosted the Oxford Film Festival awards ceremony with Beth Ann Fennelly, professor of English, for several years.
The film festival renamed its documentary film award to the Ronzo Award and will show “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on Halloween in his honor. He showed the film at the Hoka Theatre before it was shut down.
“There was no independent film in Oxford before he started showing stuff,” Addington said. “He would show anything from high-art independent films to porn. The porn is kind of what brought in the students and made the money, but he loved documentaries and all kinds of independent film, so he was the only one showing it for a long time.”
Shapiro left his mark everywhere he went in Oxford. An action figure of his likeness hangs in Square Books next to a figure of Mayor Robyn Tannehill.
“He kind of was our minister of culture, we used to joke,” said Cody Morrison, a book buyer for Square Books.
The Yoknapatawpha Arts Council expects a large turnout on Friday to celebrate Ronzo’s life. He left a large number of T-shirts behind to be given out at the event to encourage people to make donations to local community groups.
There will also be music and drinks, and people are invited to tell their stories of experiences with Ronzo.
“He was a transplant from somewhere else that really believed in this area and loved it,” Addington said. “Because of that love, he changed it, and it changed him, I think.”
