culminates millennium celebration

By BETH LAKEY

Staff Writer

The City of Troy will culminate its millennium celebration on May 6 by opening facilities to the community.

City officials are inviting the general public to tour the new and renovated buildings in the Municipal Complex between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m.

Troy residents will be able to visit the people and places that keep the city functioning at its best. Tours will include a walk through Troy City Hall, the Utilities Warehouse, Troy Fire Station No. 1, the Public Safety Building and Municipal Court. The Southeast Alabama Gas District, adjacent to the Municipal Complex, will also be open for the public to visit.

The culminating festivities will begin with a Torch Run that will start at the Pike Pioneer Museum during the Jean Lake Festival and end at the 2000 monument site in the center of the Municipal Complex. That event will be followed by the lighting of the millennium torch.

Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford will light the 2000 monument torch, which will burn eternally. The torch is 10 feet tall and was designed and sculpted of bronze by Pike County native Larry Godwin.

"This is a community celebration," said Sheila Jackson, administrative assistant for the city. "We want everyone to come out."

Jackson said refreshments will be provided at Troy City Hall and the Gas District will be grilling hotdogs for the public.

Throughout the evening, the Troy State University Jazz Band, Jim Bell’s Trio, The Waterfall Band and winners of the Jean Lake Jazz contest will perform.

The festivities, which will include recognizing contest winners from the festival, will conclude at 8 p.m.