NATCHEZ &045; On Friday, a longtime minister and civil rights activist and Natchez’s only soldier to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom will both be honored with the dedication of streets in their names.

Aldermen voted earlier this year to rename Georgia Street after the Rev. Shead Baldwin, who also played a key part in the revival of the local NAACP chapter in the mid 1960s.

That dedication ceremony will take place at 9 a.m. Friday on Georgia Street, Alderman Ricky Gray announced during Tuesday’s Natchez Board of Aldermen meeting.

Then at 11 a.m., at the corner of Lynda Lee Drive and Northview Drive, a ceremony will be held to officially rename Northview after Sgt. Henry L. Brown, said Alderman David Massey.

&uot;The signs are ready up, but they’re covered&uot; until Friday’s ceremony, Massey said.

Brown died in April near Baghdad when a vehicle next to him was hit by enemy fire.

A massive memorial service was held for Brown at Natchez Convention Center, with Miss-Lou residents packing the facility’s main exhibit hall.

Most recently, Natchez’s Veterans Day featured remarks and a moment of silence in his honor, and his mother, Rhonda James-Brown, was a special guest.

Both ceremonies are open to the public.

In other business, Alderman Jake Middleton reported that letters have been sent to members of the city’s Recreation Board notifying them that the city is reactivating that board.

&uot;We’re going to try to restart those meetings in January,&uot; Middleton said.

Middleton said he will report back to the Board of Aldermen in two weeks on where the process of reactivating the board stands.

That board has the power to create policy, set fees and make contract recommendations to the Board of Aldermen, among other duties, said city Recreation Director Ralph Tedder.

This does not mean that local officials are abandoning efforts to create a countywide recreation program, Middleton said following Tuesday’s meeting.

&uot;We’ve just got to have someone to take care of things&uot; such as policies and fees while such efforts continue, he said.