HOUSTON -- A flip of a coin determined which of two competing groups will get to hold their Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in downtown Houston in 2008, KPRC Local 2 reported.

The Black Heritage Society and MLK Parade Foundation both applied for a permit to hold their parade at 10 a.m. on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. A city rule forbids more than one parade from being held in downtown Houston per day.

Representatives from both groups met at City Hall on Wednesday afternoon. The Black Heritage Society picked heads and won.

"We won't go away, not as long as I'm alive," said Ovide Duncantell with the Black Heritage Society. "I've got about 25, 30, maybe 50 more years."

Charles Stamps with the MLK Parade Foundation said he will file for a permit for his group's parade to still go on at 10 a.m.

"Actually, there are no losers," Stamps said. "There's still going to be two parades. The city ordinance allows for four parades; we only applied for one of them.

The two groups also battled for the rights to hold the 2007 parade. A compromise was eventually reached and the MLK Parade Foundation held their parade at 10 a.m. while the Black Heritage Society held theirs in the same location at 2 p.m.

A federal judge had to intervene because of the groups' long-standing feud. Stamps once worked with Duncantell when the Black Heritage Society hosted the city's only Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.

Five minutes after winning the toss, Duncantell predicted a fight for the 2009 downtown parade.