It’s mid-September, and that means it’s Reveille time at Historic Jefferson College.

This is our third year to celebrate the history of Jefferson Military College, which is Mississippi’s oldest college (founded in 1802), and our focus this year is the 1940s. On Saturday, visitors are invited out to the site for a day of games and music and even a pie-baking contest.

The day begins at 10 a.m. with the unveiling of our newest interactive exhibit, a game called “Race to Graduation” based on the trials and tribulations of cadets. Will you get a letter from your sweetheart, or get a uniform that doesn’t fit? Will you be named class valedictorian, or get caught cheating on a test? Give the spinner a whirl, and see who can earn that diploma first.

At 10:30 a.m., filmmaker Mark LaFrancis will present “In Their Boots: Voices of Our Soldiers,” a multi-media discussion about the Armed Forces during World War II, which includes interviews with veterans in our area.

If you’re not in the mood for that, maybe you’d like to try out your investigative skills in our “Who Killed Major Holbrook?” History Mystery program. This will be offered free of charge, but you MUST sign up ahead of time, as space is very limited. It’s for adults and kids over the age of 10, and takes approximately an hour. Find clues, solve puzzles and open locked boxes to discover who the killer is. This program will be repeated at 3:30, as well.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the CG Jazz Quartet will provide live big band and swing music under the live oak trees, so break out your bobby sox, and see if you can remember some old dance steps!

The Pie Baking Contest begins at 1 p.m. and all area amateur bakers are invited to bring out two pies of their choosing (but nothing that requires refrigeration, please) to compete for bragging rights of the “Best Pie” in the Natchez area.

We’ll have three judges — Vicksburg baker Heather Burns, Natchez’ own chef Regina Charboneau and Ben Hillyer of The Natchez Democrat. But our visitors will also be able to vote on their favorite pies, too, for a “People’s Choice” award. The results will be announced at 3 p.m. To get an entry form, you can call or email us, or check our Facebook site.

At 2 p.m., visitors will get a chance to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of two of the historic buildings — the East Wing, built in 1819, and the West Wing upstairs, from 1839.

These areas are normally off-limits to visitors, so this is a rare opportunity to learn about some interesting mysteries of the school. Again, there is limited space on the tour, so you much sign up ahead of time.

Throughout the day, we will be gathering oral histories of memories of Jefferson College.

Were you a cadet, a girlfriend or just knew something about the school from its operating days? We want to hear your stories. Contact us to set up a time, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

In addition to the cadet game, there will be a World War II airplane silhouette spotting scavenger hunt. Participants will look for plane silhouettes around and/or in all of our buildings (we give you hints), and if you can find them all, you’ll win a small prize. One game per family or group, please.

Finally, there will be a number of other 1940s-era games, all larger than life: giant dominoes, 2-foot long pick-up sticks, a huge checkers board, and an oversize concentration game, as well as hopscotch (which you can draw as big as you’d like).

All of this is free of charge, and will take place rain or shine — we’ll just move everyone indoors if the weather is poor.  Please take a few hours to come out and help us celebrate, and remember to sign up early for the History Mystery and tour.

Historic Jefferson College is administered by the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. It is located 4 miles north of Natchez, off Hwy. 61. We can be reached at 601-442-2901, at info@historicjeffersoncollege.com, or through our Facebook site, Historic Jefferson College (HJC).

Robin Seage Person, site director, Historic Jefferson College.