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Fall is in the air! And with it talk of our city’s cleanup campaign, “Fall in Love with Natchez”, is beginning to spread. Very soon, colorful banners with this catchy slogan will be seen all over downtown, where on Monday, September 16, downtown merchants will set the tone for what we hope can happen all over our city. Existing flower beds along our sidewalks, many of them currently filled with weeds, will be transformed with plants purchased at a discount by property owners downtown and filled with soil and mulch provided by the city. But we need volunteers – this is going to be a community effort, neighbor working with neighbor. The day will kick off at 9 a.m., Monday, September 16, at Memorial Park – our staging area for plants, supplies and volunteers.

The inspiration behind this event came from a visit I had in June with a lovely lady named Betty Haynie. I doubt anyone reading this will immediately recognize her name, so I’ll explain. Betty owns a remarkable antique store, Betty G. Haynie’s Antiques & Fine Art, in Fairhope, Alabama. Betty’s store has been a fixture in this beautiful southern Alabama town for over thirty years and is nestled among the many blooming flowerbeds downtown Fairhope is known for.

Enjoying the coolness of her store on a hot summer day, I decided to ask her about the flowers. “The city clearly does a great job maintaining your downtown,” I began. “I’m sure it hasn’t always been this way. How did it get started?” This was all Betty needed.

“It began with the merchants,” she answered. “We recognized that something needed to be done to make our stores and all of downtown more inviting to customers, and we teamed up and began planting – and watering!”

“Surely the city and some deep pockets must have gotten involved,” I responded. “I mean look around – there are flowers everywhere! And I am told that the city helps greatly in watering and a local benefactor provided the funds to make Fairhope what it is today. Is that true?”

“That is true,” Betty answered, “but it didn’t begin that way. It was simply store owners like me who decided to take ownership of our downtown. We didn’t wait for the city to do it or for someone else to pay for it. We dug into our own pockets, we put our work gloves on, and we made it happen. In time, others caught the vision, and we see what we enjoy today.”

I caught the vision. I hope in reading this, others will also. Our downtown, the heart of our city, is remarkable. But, like Fairhope in its earlier days, the city doesn’t currently have the staff or resources to plant and maintain every flowerbed and planter downtown. But we have a city full of great people, and I know if other cities, like Fairhope can do it, there is no reason Natchez can’t.

Already we are blessed with volunteers making a difference. For many years, Natchez resident Marcia McCullough and the Garden Lovers of Natchez, have raised thousands of dollars to plant and maintain over 100 hanging baskets downtown. City workers and prisoners help keep them watered. And groups like Keep Natchez Beautiful, the Natchez Adams County Chamber of Commerce, and Downtown Natchez Alliance, are now teaming with the city and downtown merchants to make our “Fall in Love with Natchez” campaign a reality. Civic groups and other organizations are now getting involved, and we are excited!

I hope to see you on Monday, September 16. We are praying for a beautiful day of community fun, beautifying downtown on a day when things are slow and many businesses are closed. The city will provide bags of mulch and soil for flower beds and planters downtown, and plants purchased by downtown merchants will be available at Memorial Park. Working together, I know we can make a difference, Because Natchez Deserves More.

For more information, and a link to volunteer online, visit www.knb.onenatchez.com.

Dan M. Gibson is Natchez mayor.