NATCHEZ — After 18 months, the Natchez Downtown Development Association’s director position is being vacated.

On March 16, Carrie Lambert will no longer be the NDDA director.

“It was really hard for me to give up this position,” she said. “I loved it every day. It was a place where I was allowed to be as creative as I could be.”

She has taken a position at Natchez Community Hospital as the patient access manager.

Lambert said she will still be active in the organization, and will sit on several different committees.

She said she believes the NDDA board will be able to carry on without her.

“I have faith in this board. This is a very active board that I have and our committees are up and running,” Lambert said.

Board President Kevin Miers said the board will begin to advertise the position “pretty much immediately.”

“We want to fill the position as soon as possible with the appropriate person,” he said.

The recent Mardi Gras Masked Party fundraiser at Dunleith has given the organization a fair amount of financial stability for the time being, Miers said.

And with Lambert’s help on the board and with the transition between directors, Miers said NDDA will be fine in the interim period.

Since taking the position in September 2007, Lambert has worked to bring the two prongs of her job to fruition.

The first is to stimulate the downtown economy and the second is to create activities that bring the community together.

In a year and a half, Lambert has worked to spearhead several different incentives.

First Friday Weekends, a multifaceted weekend long, downtown centered event was a brainchild of Lambert.

Beginning with a Friday night art walk, adding a Saturday night outdoor movie and finally an art stroll, First Friday Weekends has been a stable event since March.

Trick or Treat for Little Feet was one of her efforts. In one year the number of participants jumped from a few hundred to 1,000.

Drive-By Hi, an event where patrons can pick up boxed meals from featured restaurant, is something that has picked up speed, Lambert said.

“(That) was something I created and is a program that is continuing to grow,” she said.

An Easter bonnet promenade, the Captain Natchez Show, a Mardi Gras Masked Party — all were dreamed up by Lambert.

“It’s a very rewarding thing to do something in life and actually feel like you’ve made a difference,” she said.

Lambert, through the Mississippi Development Authority, brought in a group of strangers to write a report about their first impressions of Natchez.

In 18 months, Lambert said there’s a different vibe in downtown.

“The biggest difference is the feel,” she said. “People come downtown now and say it just feels different.”