For nearly three-quarters of a century Natchez has opened its doors to the world during the annual Spring Pilgrimage.

Those doors have opened during times of great economic boom and in times we&8217;d all rather forget.

Pilgrimage has continued in the face of war, natural disaster, and economic downturn, almost everything imaginable.

Even in the toughest of times, Natchez figures out a way to survive and prosper.

This year&8217;s Pilgrimage is off and running. Although early indications are that it will not be a record-breaking season, that&8217;s not unexpected.

The South took a severe blow with back-to-back hurricanes last year.

Hurricane Rita &8212; the second destructive storm to hit &8212; would have been considered an awful storm, if it were viewed with a traditional perspective.

However, given the catastrophic scope of Rita&8217;s predecessor, Hurricane Katrina, and the flooding it sparked, Rita is almost relegated to a mere footnote in our nation&8217;s memory.

Obviously, the hurricanes adversely affected the tourism season here, but tourism leaders are making the best of the situation &8212; focusing on the individual tourists rather than group tours.

Despite the slight downtown in tourism, the Miss-Lou remains truly blessed. Our community came through the storms relatively unscathed. For those blessings we should be thankful.

Pilgrimage will continue and it will get better. We&8217;ll learn from this year&8217;s bump in the road and continue to make history by celebrating our history for another 75 years to come.