NATCHEZ — The Leadership Natchez classes of 2008 and 2009 will dedicate their projects at Duncan Park at 10 a.m. today.

The 2008 class raised $18,000 to buy a pavilion kit and worked with the city and county boards to raise another $15,000 to get it built, Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce Director Debbie Hudson said.

“Building it was a community effort led by the Leadership class,” she said.

“The 2009 class liked what we did with the pavilion and raised $2,500 to purchase picnic tables,” Hudson said.

“After talking to (Recreation Director) Ralph Tedder and (2008 class member) Charlie Speed, they agreed that providing benches for the pavilion would be one of their projects,” she said.

All Natchez parks have a big need for pavilions, Tedder said.

“It is a need that crosses all areas of interest,” he said. “It is not just for golfers and baseball players — but for the whole community.”

Tedder said he appreciates the city board and board of supervisors coming together to provide funding because without them they would still be working on this project.

Mayor Jake Middleton will speak and cut the ribbon at the dedication, and Hudson hopes someone from the board of supervisors will speak, she said.

Spokesmen from both Leadership classes will also say something, she said.

“The dedication is a big event because it is something that the city and county worked together on,” Hudson said. “And because we want the community to know about the pavilion.”

The Leadership class of 2008 decided on the pavilion project because it defies age and race, Hudson said.

Tedder said the pavilion is already heavily used.

“This is the nicest pavilion in any of our parks,” he said. “It will be the model for all future pavilions.”

To meet the current needs of the area, Tedder said he estimates the city needs about 10 more pavilions.

“The current pavilion is taking stress off of the others,” he said. “But there is still some squabbling in having to wait for the pavilion to open up.”

Leadership Natchez is a nine-month program in which businesses nominate candidates to learn about the community, government, education and more, Hudson said.

“They also learn to work together and at the end they design a project and become leaders,” She said.

Hudson said the class emphasizes learning all of the aspects of the community in the program.

“We’ve had people who have lived here their whole lives and still learn things they did not know about the community through this program,” she said.

She said the program is win-win, in that every class has played a role in helping the community, but also that they bring a lot of knowledge about the community back to their workplaces.