Letter to the Editor: Proud of our city

Published 5:00 am Thursday, September 28, 2023

This past weekend, the Queen City Duplicate Bridge Club hosted a sectional bridge tournament at the Mississippi Arts & Entertainment Experience. Bridge players came from Jackson, Hattiesburg, Starkville, Morton and Monroe, Louisiana. We also had a couple of players fly in from the Houston, Texas area.

Queen City Duplicate Bridge Club wanted to showcase downtown Meridian, so participants stayed at the historic Threefoot Hotel and ate at our downtown restaurants. Some even attended the Jim Messina concert at The Riley Center.

I wish the media had been at the event to interview the participants and hear their comments on downtown Meridian. Many people remarked about what a great venue the MAX was and how they enjoyed walking through downtown. They also really enjoyed staying at the Threefoot and talked about the rooftop bar. Of course, some ate at Weidmann’s, Harvest Grill or other local places, and their comments were positive. Many told me they thought Meridian would see return visits from their experience here.

Kudos to all the previous mayors, councilmen, councilwomen, planners, businesses and others who have supported developing downtown, starting with Mayor Kemp right up through Mayor Jimmy Smith. Downtown Meridian was clean and attractive and put her best foot forward. This past weekend I was proud of our city, and I think you should be too.

Let’s continue to support development to move Meridian forward. (And keep up the paving projects! Our streets are one of our visitors’ first impressions.)

Kathleen Coward

Meridian