The countdown has begun and we’re only two weeks away from the kickoff to the yearlong celebration of Vicksburg’s bicentennial, which will begin Jan. 29, the actual date of the city’s incorporation 200 years ago.

The celebration itself will carry on throughout the remainder of 2025, with the final event taking place on New Year’s Eve, but we’ll be covering all the goings-on between Jan. 29 and then. In the midst of it all, The Vicksburg Post will publish its annual Profile magazine, which also celebrates Vicksburg. Profile is printed in February each year and is the biggest special publication we do here at The Post. It’s always meant to shine a spotlight on the diverse and interesting aspects of life here in the River City, and in Warren County as a whole. With this year’s bicentennial celebration going on, however, we decided 2025 was a great time to focus on the city itself and what makes Vicksburg the unique place it is. And so, this year’s theme will be “200 Reasons to Love Vicksburg,” and the hardest part of the task isn’t coming up with all the reasons; it’s narrowing them down to just 200.

For this year’s Profile, we’ll hit on all the areas of life in Vicksburg that we can possibly get to. From business and industry to arts and culture and everything in between, we’ll bring you the stories of the places and events that come to mind when people think of Vicksburg. But mostly, we’ll tell the stories of the people who make this city what it is. Behind every successful business is someone who had the enterprising spirit to kickstart a new idea and the faith that Vicksburg was the place to set up shop. Before any of the River City’s famous annual events became commonplace, there were people who spearheaded movements and got fundraisers or yearly celebrations off the ground, often motivated to do so by things that happened to them right here in town.

So, no matter what stories we single out for this year’s Profile magazine, they all boil down to stories about the people, both natives and transplants, who helped write a chapter in the 200-year history of this place we all call home.

But trust me when I say there are far too many reasons to love Vicksburg to be able to contain them all in a single publication. So this year’s bicentennial helped us come to the logical conclusion to cap the list at 200. But even that number is too large for a story about them all, so this year’s Profile edition will include a running list of reasons we think Vicksburg is great. But narrowing it down to just 200 is a task in and of itself. So, we’ll be posting some ways you can submit your reasons for loving Vicksburg. Soon, we’ll have those submission opportunities available on our Facebook page and website, but you can get involved through more traditional methods as well. Send us your reasons for loving Vicksburg by emailing me at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com or by mailing them to P.O. Box 821668 Vicksburg, MS 39183. Those submissions don’t have to be long. They can be a single item: a restaurant you love; a museum you visit over and over; a person you think has made a significant contribution to life here in Vicksburg, past or present; or simply a characteristic of our town. Whatever your reasons are, we want to hear about them.

So don’t be shy, Vicksburg. We want you to brag on yourselves so we can do a better job bragging on us as a whole. This city really is an awesome place to live and we’re looking forward to telling you why we think so, but we want you to tell us what you think as well. Together, we can craft a really great publication we hope you’ll want to hold on to for years to come. 

And who knows. Maybe they’ll look back on what we all had to say when Vicksburg celebrates 300 years in 2125. 

Blake Bell is the general manager and executive editor of The Vicksburg Post. He can be reached at blake.bell@vicksburgpost.com.