NATCHEZ &045; Hundreds of volunteers are expected to take part on Saturday in a community-wide cleanup and beautification effort.

&uot;Just about everywhere in town is covered in one way or another,&uot; said Rena Jean Schmieg, founder of Vision Natchez, the group sponsoring the effort.

Schmieg said she hopes those who have not signed up to work in a specific area simply will clean up around their own residences or businesses Saturday morning.

She urges participants to take before and after photographs or to videotape people at work. &uot;We can use these pictures when we apply for grants,&uot; she said.

Between 7 and 9 a.m., those taking part may come to the bluff area to pick up supplies. Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel is supplying bottled water; Natchez Regional Medical Center, Natchez Community Hospital and Dr. Mal Morgan are supplying latex gloves; and Waste Management, Keep Natchez Adams County Beautiful and the Mayor’s Beautification Committee are supplying trash bags.

At 1 p.m., people should bring trash bags to the bluff, where Waste Management will handle disposal. Then the celebration begins at the Rosalie Bicentennial Gardens beside the house at the end of Broadway Street, Schmieg said.

&uot;We have about three hours of entertainment lined up,&uot; she said. &uot;The Natchez High School Junior ROTC will open the celebration with the Pledge of Allegiance.&uot;

Others in the musical lineup are the Natchez High School Choral Music Department, Catina Bernard, Ready or Not, Black Bayou, James Gavette, the Wal-Mart Gospel Choir, Maggie Brown, Chris Schweitzer and others.

&uot;We’ve told people to bring their own picnic lunches,&uot; Schmieg said. &uot;But there is going to be barbecue available. And the Co-Lin Student Ambassadors are going to operate a Coke wagon. Pepsi is donating drinks, also.&uot;

T-shirts, $10 each, will be for sale, featuring the color design of Catina Bernard of the gazebo on the bluff. &uot;The T-shirts have the slogan, ‘Vision Natchez: Keep It Beautiful,’&uot; Schmieg said. &uot;The ‘beautiful’ refers to the town and to the vision.&uot; Isle of Capri donated the T-shirts.

&uot;There are so many who have helped. It’s incredible,&uot; Schmieg said. &uot;And this is only the first step. The fact that we’re getting this kind of response is really encouraging. There are many more projects we can do.&uot;

Vision Natchez is a spin-off of the Community Alliance. Its purpose is to bring all areas of the community together to improve the quality of life for everyone. The cleanup project, accomplished in one month when it is completed Saturday, is the first step.

&uot;I expect between 800 and 1,200 people working in the city. We have about 40 more groups than we had at first. Some of those groups have more than 20 people,&uot; Schmieg said. And Arella Bacon of Keep Natchez Adams County Beautiful has organized hundreds more outside the city limits.

There are Neighborhood Watch groups, Ministerial Alliance groups, the Coalition of 100 Black Women, the Pilgrimage Garden Club, the Natchez Garden Club, Auburn Garden Club, Business and Civic League, Boys and Girls Club and more.

A sampling of the groups and their areas are these:

Cathedral School, students and adults will work on a garden dedicated to the memory of the late Pope John Paul II.

Fourth Street Church of Christ, from their neighborhood over to St. Catherine Street.

Zion Chapel AME Church, their neighborhood down St. Catherine Street.

Maxwell Printing, Fourth Street area to St. Charles.

Natchez Adams Chamber of Commerce, Convention Center area and landscaping at NAPAC museum.

Boys and Girls Club, Sadie V. Thompson School area, Stiers Lane, North Union to Woodlawn.

Magnolia Neighborhood Club, College Park area.

Natchez Children’s Home, 800 block of North Union.

Sunshine Shelter, from Jefferson Street north on Union.

Linden, the area around the house and grounds.

Elms Court, the area around the house and grounds.

Natchez Park Service, the Melrose area and around other park sites.

Natchez Garden Club junior gardeners, area around Magnolia Hall, Pearl Street at Washington. The young gardeners also invite the public to attend their flower show at Jefferson Street United Methodist Church.

April Hargis and Mike Steele, Ratcliffe Street and Park Place.

Auburn Garden Club, Duncan Avenue to the park entrance and the upper park area.

Bobbie and Joe Smith, a group organized to clean up below the bluff.

Stella Juneau and Cherlynn Hester, west of Auburn Avenue.

Natchez Little Theatre, the area around the theater on Linton Avenue at Myrtle Avenue.

Gill Smith, Linton Avenue and Clifton Avenue.

Janet Smith and Mississippi Department of Transportation, the highway areas near town.

Thelma White, Watkins Street Cemetery.

Nancy Green, Martin’s Lane.

Rose Jackson and Georgia Oliver have organized neighborhoods.

Ryan McGaughey has organized the Highland Park area.

Clifton Marvel and Larry Jackson, the Old Washington Road area.

Renay Hogans and a Girl Scout troop, Homochitto Addition.

Shirley Berry, the George West Boulevard area.

Habitat for Humanity, Smith Lane and Claiborne Street.

Dunleith, the area of Homochitto along Dunleith grounds.