Posted by jrn59 (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 6:10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Obama will fix it. He is going to fix every thing, just wait and see!

Posted by skippydammit (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 6:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)

So the River Barge is not coming to Natchez any more.
Neither is Delta Queen or American Queen.

This is quite sad indeed.

But wait a minute;

Natchez has much more than just a tourism industry
going for us, don't we?

We have a tremendous public educational system which is
the envy of other cities, don't we ?

Schools where parents get involved as teachers
and administrators work together only for the good
of the children, don't we?

We have little or no violent crimes due to
drugs and alcohol, don't we?

We have plenty of things for young people
to do to avoid becoming addicted to drugs
and alcohol, don't we?

We have streets and public works which are always in fine
repair making it easy to get around, don't we?

We have plenty of parking so that customers can
easily get into stores and shop with local merchants,
don't we?

We have planning commissions and boards which
always put historic and business interests above
petty personal politics, don't we?

We have politicians who always work for the best interests
of the taxpayers without regard to their own finances,
don't we?

We have no racial tensions or problems because we
are all working together for the good of our area, don't we?

We have lots of Churches who concentrate on
people's needs instead of big tall steeples,
don't we?

We look ahead to a bright future instead of
backward toward a not so bright past era,
don't we?

We have a dedicated wireless free internet
service which makes business, commerce,
and life so much easier for our citizens. A system
which encourages rather than stifles economic
growth, don't we?

We have a local newspaper which gets all the facts correct
99.99% of the time before rushing stories into print don't we?

We retain the best and brightest of our children when they
graduate from local schools instead of going to Atlanta,
Dallas, AnywhereButNatchez, etc. don't we?

We keep these same children near home due to our numerous
local colleges and universities, don't we?

We have a phenomenal medical system in place which is
reasonably priced whereby
people from other cities and states come to get medical
treatments here in Natchez, don't we?

We have remarkable television services available
from cable to satellite and we always call
before we dig, don't we?

We have neatly trimmed lawns and all the houses,
especially the historical ones, are well maintained,
don't we?

Maybe,

just maybe,

Pogo said it best on day in a comic strip...

"...we have met the enemy and he is us ! "

Posted by itsmemame (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 8:12 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Poor, poor, poor skippydamnit!!! Are you out there working to make the utopian society you so cynically describe? I was just wondering.

Posted by Idefinitelymight (Tom Scarborough) on December 28, 2008 at 8:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I had the good fortune to ride the barge last month from Memphis to New Orleans. What a memorable experience on a wonderful vessel. She will be greatly missed.

Posted by presby (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 9:09 a.m. (Suggest removal)

If they start back up they will have to have a 100 permits and redtape glory if they operate around here to preserve the hysterical part

Posted by priya (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 9:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Skippydamnit
I read what you said and now im ready to move my adult children back to Natchez it sounds so wonderful to be living in Natchez again. and my grand children will grow-up with the education it needs!!!!!

Posted by overthehill60 (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 10:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)

We may not like to admit it, but everything (skippydammit) said is true.
The future of Natchez is looking very gloomy. As a matter of fact the future of America is looking gloomy.

Posted by southernbelle (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 10:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Hey skippy de do da , Why do you want to kill the messenger? If not for the Democrat where could you vent all those frustrations? Happy New Year!

Posted by 2008 (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 10:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)

thank you skippy. tourism, pilgrimage and casino boats are not the salvation of Natchez. poor public education, lack of medical facilities and no jobs will be the final closure. the future is here for Natchez and it doesn't look to rosey.

Posted by jammin1 (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 12:26 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Natchez is the oldest city on the Mississippi, it is decaying from the inside out, and now the loss of the Riverbarge along with the RiverBoats.... well, things in Natchez are going to get alot worse before they get better.

Posted by SandofTime (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 1:10 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Dear skippydammit?? In one sentence you say "No River Barge? So What"?? Then the next few paragraphs you bloviate about how great Natchez, MS is?? Well, besides the people, it is such attractions like the River Barge that help make Natchez unique and so great! Afterall Natchez is a River City and rightfully so!

I like your defense of the place I call home. But, to dismiss the eliminatation of amenities that provided avenues to Natchez, other than Hwy 61 and Hwy 84, is even more of a "Sad Thing Indeed"!!

You say Natchez retains the brightest of it's kids....well thank you very much, (tongue n cheek!!) I am one who did leave and moved to Dallas. The best move I ever made!

As for the businesses and shops vs those of the past? Well, during the summer of 1970 after finishing high schooI, I worked at a grocery wholesale business downtown on Franklin St! This was a very old family owned business that covered MS, LA and AR. I remember looking out of the big front windows and being amazed at the number of people that covered the extra wide sidewalks! I would wonder where was so many people going? Well, where is that company today? Where are all the local people that covered those sidewalks back then? As a kid, I remember my DAD taking me and my brothers to get a haircut downtown and because there was so many cars, we had to park three or four blocks away and walk the rest of the way to the barbershop. Well, I wonder now where are all those cars are now? This is a "sad Thing Indeed".

As for the schools and education being so great? I remember one class reunion I attended and of course the subject of schools came up. I commented to a local classmate how odd it seemed to me, in order to get the best early education possible here, one would have to pay tuition for their kids to attend local schools. The comment I got back was said in the form of a joke..."Well, we are just getting in the habit and getting ready for our kids to go to College" Well, to me that is a "Sad Thing Indeed"??

I could go on and on about the schools such as when I was growing up in the area, there was no grading "On The Curve" and the only school which had a bulldog as it's mascot, was The Ferriday High School Bulldogs!! I ask Where are they now?? Well, again I say "Sad Thing Indeed"!

However, I do admire your spirit and your belief in Natchez, for I have tried twice to return "Home"..Unseccussfully.

Posted by bakunin (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 2:48 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I'm wondering if any of you cynics ever leave Natchez. The country, largely because of incompetence at the federal level over the last eight years (all this can be proven: just look at the trajectory of the federal deficit), is descending into the second great depression. Natchez is better off than a lot of places, even boom towns like Atlanta and Savannah: in the latter, one-time, rich financial advisers are looking for 5 dollar an hour jobs as waiters. Foreclosure signs galore. In tourist cities like New York, they can't sell tickets to the Nutcracker, at Christmas. Plays are folding left and right. Whole areas of the Midwest are in economic free-fall. Entire towns in Southern California, once prosperous, have gone half-vacant. But here, if you bother to look, virtually all of Franklin Street is being beautifully restored, building after building. There are few empty store fronts downtown. This last weekend the town was packed: restaurants, bars... You don't see that in most other towns in the country. But then you'd have to go into town and look around and open your eyes.

Posted by 2008 (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 4:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)

yes that is true, but once the Christmas holiday season is over and all the out of town relatives have gone home, the Mall will go back to being virtually empty year round and the streets will be filled with the parked cars of the store owners not shoppers once again. Don't think for a minute that this is a bustling community.

Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 4:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Skippy is right , even though the cynicism is a little more dramatic than needed. I do not blame the Feds...nor do I blame the state government for what is happening right now.
IT IS THE MAN IN THE MIRROR.
We wanted it all for the last 20 years...we wanted high stocks, big dividends on bank stocks, we wanted gas guzzlers, we wanted houses we could not afford, we wanted high limits on credit cards we could never pay back, we wanted trips to Hawaii for the vacations......and now the chickens have come home to roost.....Yes, we are headed for the next great depression. It will be world-wide and noone will be able to avoid its far-reaching hand.

I am not a liberal that thinks that government can buy us out of this. I am not a conservative that thinks we can save ourselves from this catastrophe. I am a man that has seen our own gluttony, greed, and complacency come out of every person I know and now we are going down with our societies sins.....

Don't waste time trying to tell me how wrong I am. I have peeled the skins off of my eyes a long time ago and I did not like what I saw...even in myself.......

Posted by thetinman (Keith Reynolds) on December 28, 2008 at 5:13 p.m. (Suggest removal)

When I read all that is going on in the world. I take great comfort in it all.

Read the BIBLE. This prediction has been forecast for almost 2 Thousand years. My Lord and Savior JESUS CHRIST is coming real soon!!!!!!

Get Right or Get LEFT!!!!!!

Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 6:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I agree Tin Man.

Posted by SandraSue (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 7:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I suppose Natchez will always be my"hometown" even though it has been 38 years since I lived there.It is sad to see it decline econonmically. I visit about every two years.I do very little shopping in Natchez, because the clerks and store employees are so rude.It is amazing that employers continue to hire people who stand around talking to each other and treat customers with contempt. Perfect examples are Penny's and WalMart and the Natchez Market next to K-Mart. If jobs are so scarce, how do these people keep their jobs? Are the store managers blind to this? It doesn't hurt to be civil to people.

Posted by bombingeight (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 10:41 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Skippydammit might be accused of irony, but speaking the truth with the use of irony is hardly cynical. Is there anything to challenge that Skippy has written or is it simply that admitting it is not an option in Natchez?

Posted by presby (anonymous) on December 28, 2008 at 10:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I don,t think there is a worse Walmart than the one in Natchez. Kids run wild,people stand around yakkin and hanging over the counters talkin to other employees,stuff is hard to find,they move it constantly and nobody cares or wants to help you. I needed a battery in my watch,they said in the jewelry section,we don,t do that anymore. I went to Vidalia Walmart and they replaced my battery and wanted to know why they wouldn,t do it in Natchez. The lady said forget them and come back to Vidalla they would help me anytime..

Posted by kpage1 (anonymous) on December 29, 2008 at 5:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Dang, dangyankee! I found myself clapping after reading your post. Thank you for your insight and opinion this morning. (Your post reminds me of Andy Rooney sans the irritating voice.)

Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on December 29, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)

well they were charging a small fortune to take a cruise on those riverboats

they put themselves out of business with poor management and charging too much, the market wouldn't respond

also they customer service was pathetic, I've tried to talk to them about a cruise, and they were hard to get along with and very inflexible with boarding points and it was very difficult to work with them

Posted by angelheart (anonymous) on December 29, 2008 at 10:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)

This is very sad, I was there for the last stop the Delta Queen made. The politics in the world today just pocket money, If they can't they shut it down. This is so sad the missippi River is a beautiful river to go down. Our childen loose a part of history. Just think of all the movies and books that where made from people going down the river. This sucks.

Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on December 29, 2008 at 10:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)

don't worry , if there's demand for river cruises, somebody or some group will fill that need, and maybe manage their business well enough to survive, it's all about management and the ability to have discipline to keep expenses inline with costs, to keep putting capital into the business, and not overcharge to kill your market.......

that's what's wrong with the car companies and these cruise lines too, -----bad management and not taking responsibility for it......

presby- I just had my watch battery changed here at the Natchez Wal-mart, for some reason they just don't like YOU..........

dangyankee..... you're right, success in life was never promised or guaranteed, we have to make the best of what we have..........whining will get us nowhere.

Posted by Krogers (anonymous) on December 29, 2008 at 10:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I disagree with everyone's attitude about healthcare here,

how can you complain when you can go to the ER and get free care?

I've had surgeries here and all successful, yet my family has experienced some tragedies here also, but I don't think any hospital is free of it's share..........

you can be negative and depressed if you want, BUT NOT ME!!

Things will turn around for the rest of the country, nothing like a little PAIN to make people straighten up and live right.........

Posted by redusmfan (anonymous) on December 29, 2008 at 10:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Have a great evening.

Posted by faithblessings (anonymous) on December 29, 2008 at 10:50 p.m.

(This comment was removed by the site staff.)

Posted by muleman (anonymous) on December 30, 2008 at 7:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Want a bus ticket, faithblesings? To a very high degree your life is what you make it. Natchez is what it's citizens has made it.

Posted by drawpaintsing (anonymous) on December 30, 2008 at 9:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I like you, Dangyankee!

Posted by presby (anonymous) on December 31, 2008 at 12:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Like i said,it takes forever to get out of the Walmart in Natchez,the self serve doesn,t help because it,s always broke and they do stand around yakkin to one another a lot more than they should,i live here to and go to Walmart regualr,,,like i said kids running wide open down the aisles almost running you down,and the lines are slow as molasses..so you must be going to a diffrent walmart. I had a few employes that were helpful,but a lot of them just blow you off or shrug there shoulders if you ask for help,,unconcerned..