NATCHEZ — Tuesday’s annual meeting of the Historic Natchez Foundation will also serve as the unveiling of historic exhibit panels for the Natchez Trails Project.

The exhibit panels will be unveiled during a free cocktail reception beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center, 640 S. Canal St. HNF Executive Director Mimi Miller said Friday the event is open to the public.

“During the cocktail hour, the exhibit panels will be projected on a large screen in the auditorium of the visitor center, and life-size printouts of selected panels will also be exhibited in the lobby,” Miller said.

“(The public) has heard about the trails over and over again, and (the meeting) is a chance to see what the community has been doing.”

City Engineer and Trails Project Chairman David Gardner will make a short presentation following the cocktail reception at 6:30 p.m.

The Natchez Board of Aldermen earlier this month awarded $1.6 million contract to Camo Construction Co. of Vidalia for the first phase of the Trails Project.

A $2.9 million venture, the first phase has been fully funded via government earmarks, matching grants and private contributions totaling $380,000, and includes 5.6 miles of trails along Broadway, High, Rankin, Washington and Martin Luther King Jr. streets.

The exhibit panels will accent the route.

Miler said HNF’s role in the Trails Project has focused on producing text, providing images and editing panels as part of a small subcommittee.

“What these panels represent is a museum of streets,” Miller said. “People can walk through downtown and along the base of the bluff and feel like they’re at an outdoor museum.”

Following Gardner’s presentation, the foundation will make its award presentations and conduct its business meeting. Newly elected president Pat Biglane will also present plans for a new membership program.