Yesterday was officially the first day of spring. That magnificent season that makes us want to celebrate its brilliant profusion of flowers in bloom and calls us to throw open our doors and windows to breathe in the fresh air and visit with friends in a way that we could not during the winter months. I can’t think of a better way to spend a perfect spring evening than to join us for the sixth annual Natchez Garden Club Party for Preservation and enjoy good friends, good food, lively music and dancing —all of this in exquisite surroundings and all for a good cause.

The Natchez Garden Club, in conjunction with the Preservation Society of Ellicott Hill which was chartered in May 1976, hosts the annual fundraising Party for Preservation. The purpose of the Preservation Society of Ellicott Hill is to promote and encourage interest in buildings and sites of historic significance and to restore and maintain these properties. The House on Ellicott Hill is one of our city’s most treasured historic landmarks, but time and the elements have taken their toll. Through community support to raise funds for a $150,000 matching grant from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History received in 2002, the first phase of restoring the exterior has been completed.

Since May 2004 we have been in the second phase of renovating the interior of the house. This significant phase includes rewiring for a new heating and cooling system designed specifically for the building as well as water and plaster repairs and repainting. To make these repairs and to repaint using computer-matched colors to an archeological paint study done in 1978 is costly. Unfortunately, there is no grant available for this phase of the restoration project. The funds to complete the interior of the house will have to again come from community support and fundraisers such as the Party for Preservation.

This year we will be honoring Mrs. Ferriday (Roane) Byrne in a “Salute to Sweet Auntie” for her legendary dedication to preservation. In doing so, the 2007 Party for Preservation will have a different venue than years’ past. The party is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, 2007, in the ballroom of The Prentiss Club, the newly-renovated and very lovely home of Buzz Harper located at 211 North Pearl Street. We will enjoy his impeccable southern hospitality and the elegant ambience of The Prentiss Club with a cocktail party from 6 to 8 p.m. Please come and join us and your friends for a special evening at a special place for cocktails and delicious heavy hors d’oeuvres topped off with a variety of music by “Art,” a fabulous group from Jackson, Mississippi, led by Forrest Gordon, a Natchez native.

The tickets are $35.00 each and there is a cash bar. Only a limited number of tickets will be sold. There are no reserved tables. For tickets or further information, please call the Natchez Garden Club at 601/442-9065 or Kimbrell’s at 601-442-1494.

Janet Sullivan is a Natchez resident