The final historic riverfront mural will be unveiled Friday morning at the floodwall in downtown Vicksburg, completing the eight-year project and honoring a grocer and family central to the city’s development.

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The final Riverfront Mural unveiling ceremony will be at 10 a.m. Friday at the City Front in downtown Vicksburg. The mural depicting Jitney-Jungle will complete the 32 murals on the floodwall. An open reception will follow the ceremony to celebrate the completion of the 32-mural project.

“I am so excited, you cannot imagine,” said Nellie Caldwell, head of the Riverfront Mural Committee. “To see the whole wall finished is a marvelous feeling.”

Sponsored by the Nosser family and friends, the mural depicts Jitney-Jungle, a first-of-its-kind supermarket to open in Vicksburg in 1933, and the owners who opened it, the late Pete Sr. and Bessie Nosser of Vicksburg.

“The Jitney-Jungle was a lot of things all under one roof,” said Rowdy Nosser, a grandson of Pete Sr. and Bessie Nosser. “It was a central part of life in the city. It was a place where people were truly appreciated in that time.”

The store housed a cafeteria, which Rowdy Nosser referred to as a “gathering place,” a toy store and a delicatessen.

The Nosser family owned and operated four Jitney-Jungle grocery stores in Vicksburg for over 50 years.

The first Jitney-Jungle, which became known as the “Big Jitney” was at South and Monroe streets and is depicted in the painting by muralist Robert Dafford. The store burned down in 1965 and BancorpSouth’s main Vicksburg office is on the site.

The ceremony will feature a family affair for the Nosser family.

Lila Lee Nosser McRight and Nina Nosser Dottley, daughters of Pete Sr. and Bessie Nosser, will speak on behalf of the family.

The couple’s granddaughter, Nina Rocconi, will also speak a few words and their great-granddaughter, Taylor Thomas, will sing a tune.

Regan Nosser and Will Hood, great-grandsons, will lead in the “Pledge of Allegiance.”

The guest speaker will be former Vicksburg Mayor Johnny Holland, and Miss South Outstanding Teen Grace Claire Cordes will sing the “Star-Spangled Banner.”

Immediately after the unveiling, a reception will follow at the Art Park beneath a covered tent.

The event will feature foods from local restaurants and door prizes, while celebrating the end of the 32-mural historic Riverfront Mural project.

“We really want all of our sponsors and everyone involved to be in attendance,” said Caldwell.

“This is the final thing.” Caldwell expects more than 400 people to attend.

Almost all murals in the series were paid for with donations. The project followed a visit to Paducah, Ky., where Caldwell saw Dafford’s work and suggested a similar project here. Mayor Laurence Leyens agreed and named her chairman of the committee. The Dafford murals cost from $15,000 to almost $20,000 each and the City of Vicksburg landscaped, fenced and lighted the area.

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Contact Manivanh Chanprasith at mchan@vicksburgpost.com