NATCHEZ &045;&045; Early risers may have witnessed a tribute to tradition Sunday morning.

Ser Seshs Ab Heter-C.M. Boxley walked from the Grand Army of the Republic Lodge No. 73 in Vidalia, across the bridge, to Canal Street, to the Natchez National Cemetery in full Union Army Civil War uniform starting at 7 a.m.

&uot;It is an offering to the legacy of the black Civil War soldiers who started the ceremony in 1868 of coming across the bridge and meeting up with other Civil War veterans in Natchez,&uot; Boxley said.

The 30th of May tradition of coming across the bridge was an annual event in the Miss-Lou until it was recently absorbed into May 31, Memorial Day activities, Boxley said.

&uot;The legacy is being forgotten,&uot; he said. &uot;They have moved the ceremony into Memorial Day in favor of modern day program activities.&uot;

Boxley said recent years included re-enactors from Jackson who made the walk, but the public was not getting the message of the real tradition.

&uot;I doesn’t really need to be a whole bunch of folks,&uot; Boxley said. &uot;We can refocus the tradition by properly remembering and commemorating the legacy of those freedom fighters.

&uot;Somehow or another three or four years ago someone changed the activity of the 30th of May into an integrated Memorial Day.&uot;

Historically 30th of May participants were black community members.