Zane Royal’s black lab, Buddy, loves attention and being in the spotlight, which should suit him well Saturday, Feb. 24, as he takes on the lead as Shadow the Railroad Dog during the third annual Meridian Downtown History Walk.

“Buddy loves performing,” said Royal, who will portray railroad worker Walton Moore and will relay early railroad history. “Everybody says he knows how to work the crowd.”

The tale of the real Shadow, who lived on the downtown railroad tracks in the 1920s, is one of two new additions to the historical-based stories that will be passed on to visitors during this year’s event.

Free to the public, the self-guided history walk will begin at noon and run until 4 p.m. Attendees can pick up maps, provided by the city of Meridian, at Dumont Plaza where they can begin the tour.

Attendees will find the walk enlightening as it brings to life stories of notable people and places in downtown Meridian through captivating scripts and performances presented by the Rose Hill Company of Storytellers.

“It’s a fun, family event. The weather looks like it is going to be great. I say bring the kids and bring grandma too,” said storyteller Anne McKee, one of the leading organizers of the event.

“All of the storytellers will be in period costume; all are volunteers,” she said. “And we’re teaching. We’re teaching local history, where you won’t be able to pick it up anywhere else.”

In addition to the story of Shadow that is being added to this year’s collection is a vignette about Elsie McWilliams performed by Brenda Stewart, McKee said.

McWilliams, who was related to McKee’s grandmother, was Jimmie Rodgers’ sister-in-law and helped him with songwriting. She is officially credited with writing 20 of his songs, but is believed to have written or co-wrote 39 songs. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1979 and is considered to be the first female songwriting success.

The Meridian Downtown History Walk is basically a loop from Dumont Plaza to the city hall lawn and back to the old Lauderdale County Courthouse, then back to Dumont, where several of the vignettes will take place, including Royal as Moore and Buddy as Shadow.

Other stories along the history walk will include the Dumont family, Choctaw Chief Pushmataha, Clara Weidmann, the burning of Meridian during the Civil War, the Shacklefords mother-and-daughter duo, spirits from the Union Hotel, Mr. Threefoot and his hotel, the E.F. Young Hotel as told by the Meridian Freedom Project, the city’s founders John T. Ball & Lewis A. Ragsdale, the Wechsler School, Sheriff Connerly and the last hanging at the Lauderdale County Courthouse, Buffalo Soldier Earnest Brock, and builder Charles Rubush. At a stop on Fifth Street, visitors will hear about the wandering life of Romani travelers, more commonly known as gypsies, and view a replica traveling wagon, as well as learn about Kelly Mitchell, the queen of the gypsies who is buried at Meridian’s Rose Hill Cemetery.

Fifth Street between 22nd and 23rd avenues will be closed for the event, McKee said.

The history walk is funded in part by Lauderdale County Tourism, Visit Mississippi and Meridian Community Development.