Numbers increase

By

NITA MCCANN

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ &045; Although official figures won’t be in until Tuesday or Wednesday, attendance at Fall Pilgrimage appears to be up slightly from last year’s.

That’s according to John Saleeby, marketing director for Natchez Pilgrimage Tours.

&uot;For one thing, we had really good weather &045; only one rainy day,&uot; Saleeby said on Saturday, the last day of this year’s Fall Pilgrimage.

That makes a big difference, he said, because &uot;most of our Fall Pilgrimage people are pretty close in, and they can make up their mind the day before whether they want to go.&uot;

Group tours were down slightly, while individual ticket sales were appeared to be up from last year’s event, Saleeby said.

Jim Coy said ticket numbers at the antebellum house Green Leaves appeared to be about on par with last year, which was an average year for that house.

&uot;They’ve been from all over &045; England, a few from Germany, and then folks from California, Maine, Michigan and Washington&uot; in addition to southern states, Coy said.

He was then off to greet a busload of visitors from a variety of different states. Among them were friends Martha Cook of Texas and Nita Sibley of Louisiana.

&uot;I enjoyed (Pilgrimage) when I visited the first time around and thought I’d bring her along,&uot; Cook said.

One person who enjoyed this year’s Fall Pilgrimage was Tommy Welch, manager of the antebellum house Brandon Hall, which was on tour for the first time.

Welch was wary of property damage or theft during the tours, but he was pleasantly surprised to have no such problems.

Instead, he said, &uot;we had a wonderful time. And if they want us to show it again next year, we’ll do that, too.&uot;

Brandon Hall alone had 210 visitors Saturday, with 98 visitors being the daily average at that house during the event.