The Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce’s October Luncheon will celebrate the past, present and future of the River City, as it prepares for Vicksburg’s bicentennial in 2025.

Four speakers will headline the event Wednesday, Oct. 16. Mayor George Flaggs, Warren County Board of Supervisors President Kelle Barfield, Dr. Stuart Rockoff, executive director of the Mississippi Humanities Council and Mr. Brother Rogers from the Mississippi Department of History and Archives will lead the discussion.

Flaggs and Barfield will each present their visions for Vicksburg’s future.

Barfield said she excited to share her vision at the luncheon.

“It’s often said that we can’t shape our future if we are not mindful of our past and how we are got where we are today,” she said. “Warren County has an incredibly hopeful future, and the panel will be a terrific opportunity to reflect on all we have ahead.”

Rockoff received a Ph.D in American history from the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in immigration, race and American Jewish history. He spent more than 11 years as the director of the History Department at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish life in Jackson. He has written and lectured widely on the history of Jews in the American South. In 2013, he became the third executive director in the history of the Mississippi Humanities Council.

William “Brother” Rogers works at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History. He received a master’s degree in public affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. He has an extensive background in community leadership and involvement and has won two Awards of Merit from the Mississippi Historical Society. Rogers was an adjunct professor from 2008 to 2014 in the Honors College at the University of Alabama and is an avid traveler.

Reservations are required in advance and may be made by calling the chamber office at 601-636-1012. The luncheon will be held at the Vicksburg Convention Center, 1600 Dr. Briggs Hopson Blvd.