Big Day in Roanoke (Football Game)

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The first game in Roanoke on Thanksgiving Day between the V.P.I. and the
V.M.I. was in 1896. It was the third game between the two schools and was
built up into a big event. From one news article,

"C. E. Hardy, manager of the Blacksburg team, was in the city yesterday
arranging the preliminaries for the game. He stated to a Times reporter
that 250 Blacksburg students would attend the game, coming here from
Christiansburg on a special train. Special trains will also be run from
Lexington, Radford and other points and greatly reduced rates will be given
on regular trains."

As the series went on, the special trains from Blacksburg were actually
loaded at the Blacksburg N&W station at the end of the Huckleberry
(Blacksburg Branch).

All the stories about the start of this Roanoke tradition are at
http://www.unirel.vt.edu/history/athletics/big_game.html

Bruce in Blacksburg
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