Weekend Ticket: Grandmas, NLT play top weekend

Published 12:11 am Thursday, January 23, 2014

NATCHEZ — A variety of indoor events are scheduled this weekend in the Miss-Lou to keep residents out of the cold weather forecast for the area.

Temperatures are expected to remain in the mid 50s for a majority of the weekend with a low around 28 Friday evening.

Candlelight vigil

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Pro-Life Natchez-Adams County will host its annual candlelight vigil at 5:30 p.m. today at the gazebo on the bluff.

The event coincides with the anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

White crosses are placed on the grass in front of the gazebo to represent the lives lost from abortion in the United States.

For more information, call 601-445-5783.

HNF 40 year celebration

The Historic Natchez Foundation will host a cocktail reception and birthday celebration at 5:30 p.m. today at the Natchez Institute at 108 S. Commerce St.

The non-profit organization was formed in 1974 and works to preserve historic structures in Natchez, as well as maintaining Adams County records.

HNF officials will give a tour titled, “The Archival Catacombs of the Institute,” which will take residents to the downstairs area of the building where records are housed.

The tour will mark the first time the area has been open to the public.

A photo essay, “40 years of Historic Preservation,” will also be shown.

Friday forum

This week’s topic includes a discussion from filmmaker Mark Brockway, who will present an update on his project titled, “The Story of Nellie Jackson.”

Brockway is part of a three-person team working on a documentary film telling the story of “Miss Nellie” Jackson, a local madam that ran a bordello at the corner of Rankin and Monroe streets for decades.

Brockway said the project slowed down slightly during the holidays, but has been picking up pace this month.

“Since the first of the year, we’ve had interviews just about every weekend, and we have a pretty vigorous schedule arranged for the rest of the month and February,” Brockway said. “Things are going really well.”

Apart from giving a general update on the film and the team’s fundraising efforts, Brockway said he’ll unveil a few items from the work so far that will surely interest Natchez residents.

“We’re going to drop one or two surprises that I think will generate some enthusiasm,” Brockway said. “They’ll be a few things we’ll be discussing for the first time, so we’re excited about it.”

The weekly forum begins at 8 a.m. at Natchez Coffee Company.

Grandmother pageant

The Concordia Chamber of Commerce will host its first “Geaux Geaux Granny Pearls and Curls Pageant” at 6 p.m. Friday at the Vidalia Conference and Convention Center.

The pageant is being hosted to benefit the Ellis Laine Malone Foundation, which was created to assist financially with the medical needs of children with Apert Syndrome.

Ellis Laine Malone, the daughter of Heather and Matt Malone, was born in April 2012 with Apert Syndrome, which causes severe webbing of the fingers and toes and a deformation of the skull, among other things.

Heather said the foundation has helped their family cover nearly $75,000 in medical expenses, and events such as the pageant are an example of the support the Miss-Lou has shown the family.

“I can’t say enough about how much it means to us to have so much support of the community,” Heather said. “I know if we were in a different community, we would not have the support of the community like we have here.”

The pageant will feature local grandmothers competing for titles in a variety of categories including: oldest grandma, youngest grandma, most grandchildren, sassiest grandma, cutest grandma and hottest granny. Those competitions will be judged by audience applause.

Another category for the most photogenic grandma will be judged on Facebook on the Concordia Chamber page. Cost is $3 per attendee.

For more information, call 318-336-8223.

Natchez gun show

The annual Natchez Gun Show will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Natchez Convention Center.

Tickets are $7 for adults and $1 for children ages 6 to 11.

All federal, state and local firearm ordinances and laws must be obeyed throughout the gun show.

Clybourne Park

Natchez Little Theatre will start the year with a production of “Clybourne Park” an adult comedy written in response to Lorraine Hansberry’s play, “A Raisin in the Sun.”

The play portrays fictional events set during and after the Hansberry play and is loosely based on historical events in Chicago.

The production will be at 7:30 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday, with a 2 p.m. final matinee on Sunday.

Tickets are $15 per person and should be reserved in advance by calling 601-442-2233 or by visiting natcheztheatre.org.

NLT is located at 319 Linton Ave. in Natchez.

Computer class

A free class on the basics of computers will be given at the Ferriday Library from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

The class will be taught by Stephen Collins and will instruct participants on the basics of the computer.

For more information or to register, call 318-757-3550.