More than two months after Natchez’s official birthday was celebrated with a street party, more commemorations for the city’s tricentennial continue this week.

This morning the U.S. Navy’s acrobatic fighter jet team known as the Blue Angels are expected to scream across the Natchez sky to briefly honor Natchez’s 300 years of existence.

We thank both former Mayor Butch Brown and former Mississippi Gov. Ray Mabus, who is currently U.S. secretary of the Navy, for making the event happen. We’re fairly certain both men had a hand in the brief

fly-by along with a similar fly-by during August’s birthday party.

The Navy has been hugely supportive of the tricentennial, sending a team of Navy divers for a demonstration, a Navy concert band and more last month.

After the show of military precision by the Blue Angels, Friday’s tricentennial efforts turn more toward Natchez’s people, particularly the African-American story in Natchez.

Beginning at 5 p.m. Friday at the Natchez City Auditorium, Natchez’s African-American story will be told through dance, music, storytelling and other forms of art.

The African-American story is one of several threads of Natchez’s history that weaves together to become our collective history.

Both the Blue Angels’ detour to give Natchez a brief show and the more historical telling of our history are important and appreciated parts of our community’s history.