ou don’t know the Miss-Lou until …

B

y

Kerry Whipple

Bean

The Natchez Democrat

B

efore he moved to Natchez, my now-husband wanted to see one thing in our community: the sunset from the Mississippi River bluff.

But on countless visits I was too busy to go with him until finally he forced me to take a few minutes and watch it with him.

Seeing Natchez through new eyes &045; and seeing a sight most of us probably take for granted &045; reminded me just how special our community is. The fact is, you really don’t know the Miss-Lou until you’ve seen that sunset, even though it’s different every time.

Some nights it might be sky-blue pink, the color my mother used to claim as her favorite; other evenings it might be fiery red. But the river below is a constant, and the bridge is the perfect backdrop.

I grew up in another Mississippi River town, but we were too far into the suburbs of Memphis for the river to make any difference in my everyday life.

Now I can’t imagine life without it, whether I’m crossing the bridge to cover a story in Vidalia or taking someone new to town under the hill for a bite to eat.

We all have those unique memories of people, places or things that make the Miss-Lou what it is.

And now we want to hear your ideas about what makes the Miss-Lou the Miss-Lou. We’re compiling those comments for a special section to be published next month, titled &8220;You Don’t Know the Miss-Lou Until Š&8221;

Perhaps you believe no one knows the Miss-Lou until they’ve fished Lake St. John or taken a ride in a hot-air balloon high above town.

Maybe you don’t know the Miss-Lou until you’ve had the sweet tea at your favorite restaurant or the chocolate dessert that a fellow church member makes for every bake sale &045; the item that’s always the first to go.

Or maybe you don’t know the Miss-Lou until you’ve seen that sunset from the bluff, or sipped a mint julep on the front porch of an antebellum house.

We are lucky in the Miss-Lou to welcome so many tourists throughout the year.

Giving them directions, hosting them at houses and just generally showing them our hospitality gives us another gift: We can see Natchez through new eyes every day.

The many newcomers who have moved here over the past few years have given us new reasons to love Natchez and its surrounding communities.

They cite reasons for enjoying our community that sometimes take for granted.

I invite you to send us your comments about what makes the Miss-Lou the Miss-Lou &045; the things that mean you just don’t know this community until you’ve experienced them.

We’re not looking for five-paragraph essays or long expositions, so don’t worry about how you write. Just write from the heart about the community all of us love so much.

You can send your comments via email to

youdontknow@natchezdemocrat.com

, or you can mail them the traditional way to P.O. Box 1447, Natchez, MS 39120, in care of Kerry Bean.

And of course you’re always welcome to drop them off at our office at 503 N. Canal St.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Kerry Whipple

Bean is editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached at 601-445-3541 or by email at

kerry.bean@natchezdemocrat.com

.