Another great honor and opportunity has come to Natchez/Adams County.

Each year the staff at Keep Mississippi Beautiful chooses a city or county which has an affiliate in its network for special recognition during Keep America Beautiful’s signature national program: The Great American Cleanup.

For 2016, in honor of our Tricentennial Celebration and as a tribute to a great local agenda applying all of the principles of the national organization, Keep Natchez/Adams County Beautiful has been selected for this special recognition. The Keep Mississippi Beautiful organization has reviewed and approved our local plans, and they will bring great publicity, money, volunteers, expertise, and fun to make our program a success. We were delighted to learn that the First Lady of Mississippi, Deborah Bryant, and several members of her staff, along with the patron saint of Mississippi, Walt Grayson, will be joining us for the morning to lend their very special magic to our event.

As we coordinated with the Tricentennial Calendar of Events, we determined that Saturday, April 2, would be the perfect day for our work and celebration. The event will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the bandstand (gazebo) on Broadway Street on the bluff with a short kick-off program. It will conclude around 11:30 a.m. when everyone returns from designated work areas to share a picnic lunch courtesy of the Community Alliance and served by Bowie’s.

Three major project areas have been determined:

4 The flower beds inside the newly renovated colonnade will be reworked. Ninety red knockout roses along with blue Mystic Spires Salvia will be planted.

4 Our “Welcome to Natchez” signs which were graciously donated several years ago by the Rotary Club will be dressed using some simple, easy to maintain landscaping

4We will provide landscaping around the new observation deck on the lower trails which has just been completed thanks to the Community Alliance.

All three of these project areas represent extremely visible landmarks in our community which are available for all residents of Natchez and Adams County as well as the thousands of visitors which come our way every year. We will be using the gifts and grants that The Great American Cleanup honor brings our way to “put the icing on the cake” in these locations and hopefully, leave a lasting legacy in honor of our tricentennial celebration.

In addition to the three major project areas, we will have teams of workers walking from The Forks in the Road all the way to the Bluff scouring the streets for litter and debris. There will also be work available weeding the tree wells on Main and Franklin Streets. For people who would like to work at particular schools, churches, neighborhoods or playgrounds, we will have Glad Trash Bags available — and we would like for you to bring what you collect back to the bluff for a great “weigh in.” To provide a great local launch for Keep Mississippi Beautiful’s magnificent new state-wide program — Wildflower Trails of Mississippi — we will have wildflower seeds available for children to sprinkle along the lower trails area.

It is extremely important if possible that all volunteers register before the event at https://gacmississippi.eventbrite.com. T-shirts will be available as long as supplies last at the registration tent (Bandstand/Gazebo) and wristbands will be provided which will be necessary to share in the picnic lunch. Registration is a requirement!

We are so excited about this great opportunity to put our amazing community spirit on display and provide a lasting legacy of love and commitment in honor of our Tercentennial.

We are looking forward to seeing you on April 2nd.

Stephanie Hutchins, is the chairman of the board of directors for Keep Mississippi Beautiful