Approximatley 500 to 600 alumni and faculty from Maggie Walker High School, Armstrong High, Carver Elementary and other historic Richmond schools gathered Aug. 21 in Henrico County’s Dorey Park to reconnect and celebrate decades of academic history and change.

The 57th Annual Former Segregated Fellowship Day Reunion marked the latest return to Dorey Park for the event, which in 1985 served as the location for the 20th anniversary reunion of the Maggie Walker Class of 1965, and has been used for reunion events for several years.

While rain led many alumni to skip this year’s six-hour event and caused a slight delay, those in attendance said the event, which included a worship service and other programs, nonetheless was a treat and welcome chance to meet up with old friends.

“I had a great time. It was good to see everybody,” said Edwina McCreary Richmond, a retired math professor who moved back to Richmond in 1995 after teaching college freshmen in New York for 22 years. “Having this relationship with my classmates has really been a blessing for me.”

This year’s reunion featured a number of special Maggie Walker alumni and faculty in attendance, including Marjorie Wilson Saunders, a 102-year-old former business teacher at the school, and Weldon Edwards, the first black football player at the University of Richmond.

“Whenever Maggie Walker classmates get together it’s as always a joyous affair,” Mr. Edwards said. “Maggie Walker’s just like one big family.”

The event has grown over the decades to encompass other schools and alumni, and typically attracts around 2,500 to 3,000 alumni eager to meet and greet old friends and classmates and reflect on the changes in education they’ve lived through.

“It is not everything that we expected it to be,” said J. Maurice Hopkins, a Maggie Walker High graduate and primary organizer for the event, in terms of how alumni see the impact integration has had for the Black community and education. “But yet and still, we fall back on those folks that made great strides to achieve unity.

“It’s camaraderie, a core community,” he said. “Those things will never go away and they will always exist.”

Known as the “Dragon Master” and “head cheerleader” to his fellow classmates, Mr. Hopkins has led the MLWHS Alumni Mighty Green Dragons organization for 15 years. Mr. Hopkins and others work to organize, fund and promote the event each year, as well as keep alumni connected and informed outside the reunion through various means and gatherings.

The reunion, however, remains a priority for the organization, and the response of alumni and faculty present for the event is a testament to how important it and the school is for them, many decades later.

“Serving as a business teacher at Maggie L. Walker High School was one of the most dynamic and expensive years of my career,” Ms. Saunders said in a statement presented by her daughter Marjory. “God willing, upon reaching the age of 103, I shall be honored to share and fellowship again with the alumni friends and family of Maggie L Walker.”