Mayor Lester Miller’s airport ‘jump’ latest in Macon leader’s efforts to promote county

During a ceremony Tuesday morning celebrating a runway extension at the Middle Georgia Regional Airport, a man jumped from an airplane and gracefully parachuted to the ground as Kenny Loggins’ “Danger Zone” played in the background.

The man was identified in jest by airport manager Doug Faour as Macon-Bibb County Mayor Lester Miller, although some local news outlets erroneously reported Miller had, in fact, jumped. The jumper entered a car and Miller emerged a few minutes later wearing a flight suit, to cheers from the crowd and feigning exhaustion from his imaginary jump.

The stunt is not the first for Miller, who has wholeheartedly embraced his role as the county’s figurehead since winning a runoff election in 2020. In the past few weeks, he rappelled down the side of a new firefighter training facility and jogged through Macon as part of a promotional video for a new half marathon coming Nov. 4 via a partnership between Macon Tracks Running Club, Visit Macon and Atrium Health Navicent.

Since his election, Miller has focused on demolishing blighted houses, sparked the Macon Violence Prevention program and championed a planned development around the Macon Mall on Eisenhower.

Miller’s enthusiastic promotion of the positive in the county has been reflected in national publications, highlighted by Macon’s inclusion in the New York Times’ “52 Places to Go in 2023.”

This story was originally published January 26, 2023 at 4:11 PM.