If you are suffering from holiday letdown or winter weather doldrums, the Historic Natchez Foundation encourages you to attend its annual meeting and cocktail reception from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday at foundation headquarters in the Natchez Institute, 108 S. Commerce St.   

The meeting and reception are free and open to the public, and you do not need to be a member to attend.  We also encourage you to bring a friend.

This year’s annual meeting will feature a photography exhibit and sale by Ben Hillyer titled “Living History: Photographs of Natchez Landscapes and Flora.”

Locals are well aware of Ben’s award-winning newspaper photographs in The Natchez Democrat and will enjoy viewing Natchez landscapes and flora as Ben and his camera perceive and interpret the subject matter.    

The annual meeting will also serve as the grand opening of the Natchez collections management center in the newly renovated basement of the Natchez Institute.

In December, the Foundation completed a year-long project to install a fire suppression system and upgraded electrical service for the entire building. The renovated basement now houses a climate-controlled museum and archival storage facility.

The Foundation began long-range planning for such a facility in the 1990s when it assumed responsibility for preserving and maintaining the historic courthouse records of Adams County.

The completion of this basement facility also represents a major step forward in the foundation’s goal of creating an accredited museum of Natchez history that will occupy the entire first story of the Natchez Institute.

Lastly, the foundation looks forward to introducing our new executive director, Carter Burns, and new director of preservation, Chase Klugh. The meeting concludes with a short business meeting to present annual awards and to elect new members of the board of directors.

Mimi Miller is the former executive director of the Historic Natchez Foundation.