NATCHEZ &045;&045; About 35 people turned out Friday morning to help the Natchez Downtown Development Association holds its fall cleanup blitz.

The volunteers, along with Public Works crews, spruced up flowerbeds, cleaned out gutters and did other needed cleanup tasks along downtown’s main thoroughfares.

At the same time, they identified dead tree limbs, blocked drains and other eyesores for the Public Works Department to fix later, said NDDA Executive Director Tammi Mullins.

Public Works also picked up bagged trash and debris and, in the days before the event, applied herbicide to grass and weeds along sidewalks.

NDDA holds a downtown cleanup twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, just before the city’s twice-a-year Pilgrimage events.

But keeping downtown clean can’t be just a twice-a-year thing, Mullins said. Instead, it must be a year-round effort on the part of all stakeholders, property owners included.

&uot;We urge business owners to keep the front of their businesses clean&uot; and maintained on an ongoing basis, Mullins said.

Keep Natchez-Adams Beautiful provided trash bags. Other cleanup volunteers included the Isle of Capri, the Historic Natchez Foundation, Natchez-Adams Chamber of Commerce, Natchez Convention and Visitors Bureau, Natchez Garden Club, Natchez Retiree Partnership, United Way of the Miss-Lou and the Pilgrimage Garden Club.