NATCHEZ — Sunshine and warm temperatures are expected this weekend as Jonesville launches its balloon festival and Natchez celebrates spring with a flower show.

In other places, Miss-Lou residents will remember their roots with a reunion and mark past tragedies with a memorial service.

A few clouds are expected Friday, but skies are expected to be clear Saturday and Sunday, with high temperatures around 80 all three days. Lows are expected to be around 60.

Rhythm Night Club memorial

The Rhythm Night Club Museum will host its annual memorial service for the 209 victims of the Rhythm Night Club fire from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at the museum’s 5 St. Catherine St. location.

This year, the memorial service will have tours leaving from the museum to the Watkins Street Cemetery, which includes a mass grave for many of the victims of the fire.

The fire was April 23, 1940, and started when a loose cinder — possibly from a cigarette — ignited Spanish moss that had been used to decorate the club.

Most of the doors and windows into the wood and steel building were locked, trapping the victims inside. It was at the time the second most deadly fire in U.S. history, and is now considered the fourth deadliest.

The museum is located on the site of the nightclub.

For more information, call 601-597-0557.

Pilgrimage Garden Club Spring Flower Show

The Pilgrimage Garden Club’s annual spring flower show will be 2:30 to 4 p.m. Saturday at Longwood, located at 140 Lower Woodville Road.

Admission to the show, which is celebrating 300 years of beauty in Natchez by telling its history through its horticulture, is free.

The telling of that story includes how ornamental plants were used in rich gardens and landscapes.

Tours of Longwood will be conducted throughout the day.

Those who want to enter a design or are seeking more information should contact the Pilgrimage Garden Club office at 601-445-4420 or email Shannon.r.jex@gmail.com or lauramclemore1@gmail.com.

Decendants of the Jersey

Settlers reunion

The Descendants of the Jersey Settlers will host its annual reunion Friday through Sunday in Natchez and Kingston.

The Descendants of the Jersey Settlers of Adams County is a non-profit that exists with the goal of perpetuating the memory of the early Jersey Settlement in Kingston, maintaining the Jersey Settler Cemetery and encouraging historical and genealogical research. Membership is open to descendants of the settlers, their families and friends.

The settlement had its origins in the location of the Swayze and King families to the area in the 1770s, setting up the first Protestant outpost in the territory.

This year’s reunion is an officially sanctioned Natchez Tricentennial event, and will focus on the contributions of the Swayze and King families, including King’s Tavern.

Events Saturday will include a genealogy workshop at the Judge George Armstrong Library in Natchez and the organizations’ general assembly meeting at Kingston United Methodist Church, followed by a picnic on the grounds.

For more information, contact Karen O’Neal at 601-445-5742 or visit djs.org.

Jonesville Balloon Race

Four Rivers Balloon Race will host its inaugural event in downtown Jonesville this weekend.

The family friendly event will include a balloon glow Friday night, with gates opening at 5 p.m., and a community karaoke contest from 6 to 8 p.m. Blues music will follow until 10 p.m.

The gates will open again at 9 a.m., though balloons are slated to take off at 7:30 a.m., weather permitting.

Musical performances will be available throughout the day, which will close out at 10 p.m.

The festival will resume 11 a.m. Sunday and end at 5 p.m.

Admission is $5 Friday and Sunday and $8 Saturday. Children 7 and younger get in free.

Tickets for the entire weekend are $15, and can be purchased in advance at Edwards Motel at 1302 Fourth St.