Red, white and blue will be the colors of the day as the Miss-Lou Veterans Alliance hosts a Veterans Day parade through downtown Natchez today.

The route will begin on the bluffs at Broadway Street and end at Memorial Park, said Donnie Verucchi, legislative officer for the Mississippi VFW.

He has teamed with other veterans groups and organizations in the Miss-Lou area to organize the Veterans Day Parade.

Veterans will gather at 10 a.m. and the parade will start at 10:30 a.m. from the bluff and travel up Main Street to Memorial Park beside St. Mary Basilica, Verucchi said.

At 11 a.m., the VFW Mississippi State Color Guard will present the colors.

The grand marshal for the parade and guest speaker for the program will be Brig. Gen. Virgil Nix of the Mississippi State Guard.

Christy Corley, a seventh-grade honor student at Vidalia Junior High School, will lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

The Vidalia High School Band under the direction of Herbert Basset will perform throughout parade. &uot;We had to go with all Louisiana bands and children this year because of the testing going on in the Mississippi schools,&uot; said Yvonne Robbins, veterans service officer for the City of Natchez.

Erle Drane of American Legion Post 4 will be master of ceremonies.

The VFW Auxiliary from Post 9573 will give small American flags to spectators along Main Street.

If it rains, the program will be held at the Natchez Convention Center in Liberty Park.

The Veterans Day parade and program is expected to end at noon, Robbins said.

&uot;We hope to finish just as the Basilica rings out the noon hour,&uot; she said. &uot;That should put the final touch to it.&uot;