NATCHEZ — Sitting in the dim theater at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center, the 20 members who attended the Community Alliance meeting Thursday enjoyed some brief entertainment and produced some productive brainstorming.

Planting seeds for new projects and continuing to support current projects was a focus of Thursday’s meeting of the not-for-profit umbrella organization that seeks to represent and unite other organizations to promote the area.

Those who attended watched a video clip of the Phatwater Kayak Race, which was filmed by German filmmakers interested in the people they met along the Mississippi River.

The clip, which was shot by an outsider, included the adrenaline-filled start to the race not too many locals got outside to watch and demonstrated an interesting, exciting and trendy asset of Natchez.

Keith Benoist, who coordinates the kayak race, spoke after the clip about the success of this year’s kayak challenge.

He said 185 boats entered this year, and 165 completed the course. The event has grown 10 percent larger every year since it started six years ago, and the interest in it has come from all over the country.

Of the canoe and kayakers, 35 were from Mississippi including only eight from Natchez, and 42 were from Louisiana. Of those who finished the challenge, 84 were not from Mississippi or Louisiana.

The race also earned $5,057 for the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society, Benoist said.

Despite the interest and revenue generated by out-of-towners, Benoist said finding funding for the event is a challenge.

He said finding the time to put together the funding and the planning for the event is hard to accommodate into his actual work schedule, but he will continue to put on the event and even hopes to expand to draw in more spectators.

Margaret Perkins suggested Benoist apply for grants, which she thought he would be eligible for because of the valuable marketability of the event.

“This is what this alliance is all about — cultivating ideas.” Alliance Chairman John Holyoak said.

Benoist said the serendipitous publicity he has received has been great, but the objective of the alliance is to generate publicity and funding for projects locally in in a proactive manner.

Benoist said the State Games of Mississippi, which is based in Meridian and hosts nearly 30 sports, will be hosting the kayak portion of the games in Natchez this coming summer.

Taking advantage of the area’s outdoor recreation activities is a fresh way to market the city outside of carriage rides and antebellum homes, Benoist said.

Disc Golf Courses in Natchez were also discussed at the meeting as an exciting recreational activity. Disk golf a sport played by throwing Frisbees into baskets arranged like a golf course.

More than 150 disk golf courses are scattered around Texas, and an 18-basket, full course can be built for $15,000, Holyoak said.

Although people in Natchez are not accustomed to the sport, one alliance member said it is a drawing point for marketing and it is inexpensive to build and maintain.

Also at the meeting, Margaret Perkins suggested Natchez team up with Vidalia and Ferriday to get a recycling program going.

Perkins said Waste Management has advised officials in Natchez the city does not generate enough tonnage of recycling matter to make it worth having a program. The combined weight of recycled products from the entire Miss-Lou could create enough recycling to start a program that could unite communities on either side of a river for a good, educational cause, Perkins said.

Holyoak said a lot of the projects in Natchez take a long time from when the seed is initially planted, but when someone stays with it and keeps it going, the alliance should help to keep projects on the rest of the community’s agenda.

Holyoak also thanked Silas Simmons, LLP, who he said does the nonprofit’s accounting.

“(Silas Simmons) taken us on has their own community project,” Holyoak said.