The Village of Natchez will celebrate 25 years of community service with the Natchez Heritage Festival Saturday, June 24.  The parade will kick off at 10 am on Hwy. 1 in Natchez.

The Grand Marshal for the Natchez Heritage Festival parade will be Rosa Marie (Gillie) Hill. She is the daughter of Allen and Catherine (deceased) Gillie. She works as a Case Management Manager for the City of Tampa Housing Authority.

Rosa has over 20 years of experience working with Federal, State and Local Community Organizations where she currently provide services to more than 2000 youth and families from multiracial and multicultural backgrounds living in low income communities. Her goal is to innovatively re-orient the lives of the families she works with through life skills training, leadership training, job training, job retention, educational and peer counseling.

Rosa believes that through Christ Jesus all things are possible. By providing encouragement and supportive services to those who are less fortunate.  She and her team help to educate people, strengthen the workforce and reduce poverty.

Rosa is a graduate of St. Petersburg College where she is currently re-enrolled and working on a certification in Health Information Management.  She is the Contracts Administrator for Tampa Housing Choice Neighborhood Initiative – People Section, award by Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  She owns her own business.  She is the Budget and Finance Chair for Hillsborough County Community Action Board and volunteers for different organizations though out the Tampa Bay Area.

Car clubs, motorcycle clubs, girl and Boy Scouts, dance teams, old school cars, horse clubs, and more are welcome to participate in the parade. The festival is also seeking vendors and sponsors. T-shirts are also available for purchase. Anyone interested in participating in the festival can contact Monique at 318-332-8264 or email villageofnatchezheritagefestival@yahoo.com.