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Organizer Ronnie Calhoun of the Brightest Stars Foundation speaks to participants of the second-annual Autism Awareness Walk Wednesday on the Natchez Bluff. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Lyrik Donohue sits on a CAT excavator during the National Autism Awareness Day celebration Wednesday on the Natchez Bluff. The event included other sensory activities for children, including bounce castles.(Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Cathedral Green Wave athletes cheer on the walkers as they pass by. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Hundreds of people came to the Natchez Bluff on Wednesday to participate in a Autism Awareness Walk. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Hundreds of people came to the Natchez Bluff on Wednesday to participate in a Autism Awareness Walk. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

From left Sally Linton, Mary Evans, Kelley Madelin Fielder and KG Fisher cheer on walkers as they make their way around the bluff for National Autism Awareness Day.(Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

Hundreds of people came to the Natchez Bluff on Wednesday to participate in a Autism Awareness Walk. (Sabrina Robertson | The Natchez Democrat)

NATCHEZ — The entire sidewalk on the Natchez Bluff, a mile stretch from Silver Street to Madison Street, was filled with people walking to raise awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder on Wednesday.

It’s the second annual walk and largest ever organized by Ronnie Calhoun of the Brightest Stars Foundation, which supports special populations. This year, he is joined by Brad Meshell of Nashville, who has championed the same cause by walking the length of the Natchez Trace, and two mothers of children on the Autism spectrum, Taylor Cooley and Chandler Russ Brantley.

“You have touched people in this community who sometimes don’t feel seen,” Brantley said to the crowd on Wednesday. “For that, I want to thank you. Every donation, every effort, every contribution is going straight back into your community.”

Cooley also thanked the hundreds who supported the event Wednesday and added, “If you can do us all one favor when you leave here. Anybody that didn’t get to make it, tell them about it. Tell them about our kids. Tell them about the cause, tell them about autism and just help us raise awareness. Because with awareness comes acceptance, and that’s what our goal is.”

Mayor Dan Gibson also presented a proclamation on behalf of the City of Natchez, declaring

April 3, 2025, Autism Awareness Day.

In addition to the walk, there were food and ice-cream trucks and activities for children, including bounce castles and chances to sit on a CAT excavator and bulldozer and honk the horn.

Area schools’ cheerleaders and sports teams met walkers on the sidelines and cheered them on as they passed by.

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