NATCHEZ — Monday, in honor of Memorial Day, hundreds of Miss-Lou residents are to make the trek from Vidalia to Natchez for the 150th year in a row.

The annual Memorial Day walking parade is set to celebrate its 150th anniversary Monday, and organizer Eddie Coleman said it’s going to be a special day.

“If people want to participate, this is the year,” he said.

The parade dates back as far back as 1867, when residents celebrated Memorial Day by crossing the Mississippi River by ferry, walking to the top of Silver Street and marching to the Natchez National Cemetery. After the bridge was built in the 1940s, residents began marching across the bridge to the cemetery.

This year’s parade will also be special, Coleman said, because representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs will be in attendance and filming the parade for a documentary on what Coleman said is believed to be the oldest running Memorial Day parade in the country.

“There are some parades that started before ours, but they’re not still going,” he said.

Reps. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, and Ralph Abraham, R-Alto, are also scheduled to participate in the parade, Coleman said.

Coleman calls the parade’s longevity a “phenomenon,” and said the support of the community is instrumental in continuing the parade.

“It’s really something to see, too,” Coleman said. “This parade creates a snowball effect, and as we pass spectators, they get in formation with us.”

The parade will include participation from the Youth Challenge Program in Alexandria, La., the Women’s Relief Corps and musicians from the Miss-Lou playing various instruments.

The parade is scheduled to line up at the corner of North Magnolia and Alabama streets in Vidalia at 8 a.m. Monday. The parade march begins at 8:30 a.m. and will cross the Mississippi River Bridge before stopping to take a 30-minute break at the Natchez Visitor Reception Center. The parade will then continue to its destination, Natchez National Cemetery, where a program is tentatively scheduled for 11:30 a.m.