Saturday, Oct. 26, will be our Fourth Annual Natchez Witches Ride! This Ride is all in Halloween fun and there is nothing spooky, scary or evil. Everyone dresses up in their whimsical witch or Halloween attire and prepares to fly (ride their bike) around downtown for a great cause. Our cause is the Mississippi Spay & Neuter “Natchez Fund” and the “Feral Cat Fund.”

We will begin the evening at 100 Main Spirits & Eatery at 4 p.m. Ride participants will check-in or register here.

Online registration is available now on our Facebook page. $25 is the registration fee until Friday, Oct. 25 and will be $30 the day of the Ride. Natchez Witches Ride T-shirts are available for purchase for $15. We also have a few new things this year. Chelsea Hill Photography will be with us to take individual or group pictures for $10 with all proceeds being donated to our Spay/Neuter Voucher Program. Along with your picture, you will receive online access to our photo gallery of the evening.

Raffle prizes are also new for us this year. We have a Lake St. John Getaway donated by Karen and Steve Wise, cutting board donated by Holyoak and Jones, Painted Pumpkin and Artisan Gourds donated by Linda Kennon, Large Painted Pet Bed with pillows donated by Shannon Bowlin and an 8 by 10 Pet Painting donated by Katelee Laird. These raffle tickets can be purchased on the Natchez Witches Ride Facebook Event Page or on the day of the Ride. Winners do not have to be present to win and will be announced at the after party.

After everyone has registered or checked in, ride participants will line up at 5:30 p.m., and we will fly at 6 p.m. around downtown. Our flight path is about a mile long. Participants can either ride their decorated broom (bike) or walk. The route will bring us back to 100 Main Spirits & Eatery for the Natchez Witches Ride After Party. All ride participants will get in free and enjoy some Witches’ Brew, food and live music. Music is donated and provided by the Learneds Hill Band. There will be a $5 minimum donation Cover Charge for all other customers with all proceeds benefiting our spay/neuter voucher program. Tito’s Handmade Vodka is a new sponsor for us this year and will be helping us with our Witches Brew!

During our after party, we will announce our Winners for Best Hat, Best Broom, Best Furry Friend, Best Group, Witch Who Flew the Farthest and Best Overall along with our drawing for our Raffle Prize Winners.

The Natchez Witches Ride is the only annual Fundraiser for the Mississippi Spay & Neuter “Natchez Fund” and “Feral Cat Fund” Voucher Program which is currently low on funds. This year is our 10^th Anniversary since our small group of volunteers began being proactive in helping our huge pet overpopulation problem.

All three local animal shelters stay full. The only solution is to educate, encourage and help families to have their pets spayed or neutered. Having your pets fixed also helps them live longer and healthier lives. Females are less likely to have mammary gland cancer and males are less likely to develop prostate cancer. So it is a win-win to have your pet fixed when they turn 6 months old.

So far, over $50,000 has been received for our voucher program either through fundraising, grants or private donations, and we have helped almost 2,800 local pets to be fixed. This has saved thousands of animals in our community from being born having to find a home, end up in a local shelter or worst of all, homeless.

We greatly appreciate our 4th Annual Natchez Witches Ride Volunteers, Sponsors and Donors. All proceeds benefit our Mississippi Spay & Neuter “Natchez Fund” and “Feral Cat Fund” Voucher Program. If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation, checks can be made to “MS Spay & Neuter” with “Natchez & Feral Cat Fund” in memo section. Checks can be mailed to MS SPAN, 100 Business Center Parkway, Suite B, Pearl, MS 39208.

We want to encourage everyone to help us in our mission to help pet overpopulations & please have your pets spayed or neutered. Fix one, save thousands!

If the ride is canceled due to inclement weather, there will be no refunds. Monies from ticket sales will be considered a charitable donation. After party at 100 Main will still be held as scheduled in the case of inclement weather.

Ginna Holyoak is an organizer of the Annual Natchez Witches Ride.