Watch the report from WTVR CBS 6 Photojournalist Malcolm Key in the video player above.
RICHMOND, Va. -- A beloved and long-standing tradition returned to Richmond in the form of a parade Saturday.
The Walker-Armstrong Classic, a football game between the two schools the Saturday after Thanksgiving, drew tens of thousands of people for decades. But the tradition ended in 1978 when schools were reorganized.
"This great reuniting of one of the unity events that took place in the city of Richmond for 40 years," Howard Hopkins, an alum of Armstrong and Walker High School, said. "This represents a lot for the community in more than one way."
Hopkins recalled that the original event was a grand occasion.
"But more importantly that it was the unity that took place during and after the game," Hopkins said.
The new parade stepped off at 9th and Leigh Streets Saturday at 10 a.m. It made its way through Jackson Ward and the Carver community along Leigh Street then up Lombardy Street to Virginia Union University's football stadium where there was a tailgate and a pair of peewee football games.
Throughout the event, organizers said they honored the spirit of the original event and paid tribute to those who took part.
"It was 40 years, one generation. We're going to create a new streak for another 40 years for a new generation of Richmonders," Mayor Levar Stoney previously said.
