Nita McCann

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ — Alcorn State University is on board to co-sponsor a health and wellness event next year with the National Park Service.

As it now stands, the Natchez Tricentennial Health, Wellness and Fitness Expo will be hosted in June 2016.

“(Alcorn) has a commitment to promote health and wellness throughout the community,” said Joshua Coleman, program field coordinator for the extension service at Alcorn.

“And we’re always looking for new ways to get the community involved.”

Alcorn has sponsored several wellness events in recent years, including a race last year in Natchez and community health fairs.

Kathleen Jenkins, superintendent of the Natchez National Historical Park, said the park has also hosted recreational events in the past.

“(NPS Director) Jon Jarvis seemed excited about doing this,” Jenkins said.

Government and tourism leaders from Natchez spoke with Jarvis during a recent trip to Washington, D.C.

The next step in making the expo a reality is to contact other potential co-sponsors. To that end, Jenkins has compiled a list of government and other groups that oversee a variety of (recreational) resources in the Natchez area.

She will soon be making the rounds of those groups in an attempt to get them to sign onto the project.

“This could really be a good thing for the community,” Jenkins said. “We have so many (fitness) resources in this area.”