The Southern Alpaca Connection, LLC

06/12/2026

Maybe success isn't a corner office or a packed schedule.
Maybe it's a porch in the evening, bare feet in the grass, and nowhere you have to be.
That version of life is possible.

06/12/2026

06/12/2026

Notice

The Southern Alpaca Connection will be closed Friday, June 12, 2026, at 4:00 pm and will reopen after 4:00 pm on Saturday, June 13, 2026 in honor of a life well spent on this earth. There may be some in our community that do not know, or recall, Anderson’s (and his family’s) contributions to both Royston and Lavonia. Because of this, I have included a portion of his obituary.

William "Anderson" Dilworth, 96, of Royston, GA, passed away peacefully at his home on June 9, 2026. Anderson was born on August 10, 1929, to the late Charlie and Lila (Yeargin) Dilworth of the Red Hill community in Franklin County. He was the oldest of three children and was preceded in death by his two sisters, Peggy Deitle and Mary Dilworth.

Anderson was married to the love of his life, Joel Whitfield, for 73 years. He received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Piedmont College. After serving proudly in the United States Army, he returned to Royston to open the first Dill's Supermarket. Through the years he expanded his business to better serve the community by constructing the Dill's Shopping Centers in Royston and Lavonia, GA. For decades, he continued as owner of the current Dill’s Food City IGA stores.

Anderson loved the Lord and was a very active member of Royston First United Methodist Church and Crusaders Sunday School class. For over twenty years, he served on the Board of Trustees for the Methodist Children's Home of the North Georgia Conference. His local service included Mayor of Royston and Royston City Council, Lion’s Club, and Royston/Franklin Springs Chamber of Commerce. He proudly served for many years on the Board of Directors for Tri-County Bank of Royston and Pinnacle Bank. Also, he served as President of the Mountain Bank of Georgia in Hiawassee.

At the state level, Anderson served in the Georgia Legislature during Governor Ernest Vandiver's term and on Governor Zell Miller's Commission on Effectiveness and Economy in Government. He also served as director, treasurer, and president of the Georgia Grocers Association and was very active in the Georgia Food Industry Association.

Please keep the Dilworth family in your prayers at this time and stop by Dill’s on your way through Lavonia. Let the employees know you are thinking about them, some may even appreciate a hug.
Take care and thank you Royston and Lavonia for being two caring communities!

06/09/2026

🎬🌎 DOWNTOWN LAVONIA… ARE Y’ALL READY?!

Something BIG is coming to Downtown Lavonia — and we need YOUR help showing the world what makes our little town so special ❤️

On Wednesday, June 10th, Downtown Lavonia will officially become the filming location for an INTERNATIONAL television production featuring the world-famous Zeb Ross & JCreekCloggers✨

Out of everywhere they could have gone… they chose LAVONIA.

Why? Because they fell in love with our community, our energy, our hospitality, and the way our town shows up for one another.

Now it’s our turn to show the world exactly who we are.

We need a HUGE crowd downtown to help create an energetic, welcoming, small-town America atmosphere during filming — think Music on Main vibes in the middle of the week 🎶🇺🇸

📅 Wednesday, June 10
🕑 Filming begins around 2PM
📍 Downtown Lavonia

✨ Bring:
🪑 Your chairs
👟 Your dancing shoes
🇺🇸 Your red, white, & blue spirit
❤️ Your loudest small-town pride

We want downtown FULL of smiling faces, cheering crowds, dancing feet, and community spirit. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase Lavonia to an international audience and be part of something incredibly fun and memorable.

So clear your schedule, grab your friends, and come help us make Downtown Lavonia shine on the world stage ✨

05/31/2026

During the next few weeks you will be enjoying Christmas in Julyin our store (as far as price breaks on Alpaca products). Prices will range from 15% to 60% Off listed prices. AND you never know what might turn up on an unannounced sale! After those weeks The Southern Alpaca Connection will vanish from the Lavonia landscape. July 11, 2026 will be our last day to greet you into this unique shop. We will miss you all and we are already dealing with withdrawal pains!

Hope to see you all around town in the future, but hey its Christmas in July! It's Christmas in July in an alpaca products store. If you do not take advantage of these last few weeks with us, you probably will have to plan a road trip to find anything like us!!

05/19/2026

Just a note to let you know that The Southern Alpaca Connection store will be closed all of this week. We will reopen on Thursday the 28th. We are closing so that we can spend as much time as possible with our families, while we celebrate the life of Judy's sister Lucy.
Lucy went home to her Lord this past Saturday around the noon hour. As soon as we got word, we closed. Lucy was at home with her husband Vir as she passed peacefully into a new and pain free existence.
We ask for prayers. Prayers for her husband Vir, her children, grandchildren, sisters, and all of Lucy's family as we deal with the loss of this gentle soul. It is our loss but Lucy's gain as she is again dancing, smiling and laughing!

05/08/2026

There comes a time, no matter how much we try to avoid that time, when we all will face a needed change. Both Judy and I have fallen in love with the people we have met in Lavonia, developed a deep sense of involvement with the community known as Lavonia, GA. Because of this, we find it hard to grasp the fact that we now should recognize the limitations age presents to individuals. We put our hearts, and finances, into creating a unique shopping and gathering place for this community. In doing that, it is our hope that we may have played a small part in helping this special community move forward.

We have decided to finally retire from the day-to-day store operation and turn our historic building over to younger dreamers. But before we do, we want to invite you all to drop in, enjoy extreme reductions in prices, or just to say goodbye. We are now projecting our closing to be mid-July.

{In doing so, we hope our efforts to restore this storefront will encourage more restoration here in the downtown historic section of Lavonia. Believe us it will take investment, but it will become a dream that can come true if undertaken. We fear if that is not undertaken soon, our wonderful historic town will lapse into total disrepair.}