Several of Macon's Cherry Blossom Festival events held despite rainy conditions

While stormy weather Saturday caused some outdoor Cherry Blossom Festival events to be canceled, other events were held between bands of rain.

Xpogo, the extreme pogo stunt show, canceled its noon show as the skies opened above Central City Park about the time the event was set to begin.

But, by about 1:30 p.m., a break in the rain allowed the Cherry Blossom Bed Race to take place on Cherry Street downtown before a crowd of several hundred people.

The Macon-Bibb County Fire Department narrowly won the race with a team of five firefighters in a time of 17.422 seconds, followed by Geotechnical & Environmental Consultants team, with a time of 18.529 seconds.

Even a broken wheel during a practice run didn't keep the Lighthouse Nursing Agency team from running the race, although it came in last with a time of 34.281 seconds. The Mattress Firm team, which won a trophy for the most original bed, came in at 25.093 seconds.

Lisa McClendon, who helped organize the race, said she starts about February notifying past participants to get registered "and then we open it up to newbies, newcomers."

This was the first year Lighthouse and Mattress Firm participated.

Lt. Latorry Sidney, with the fire department, said they have participated for years.

"We do it to put faces on who the fire department is," Sidney said. "And just to compete. Firemen are real competitive."

The team uses the same bed every year, but the race team changes.

"We like to rotate from year to year to give everybody a chance to do it," Sidney said.

Dwayne McCollum, who attended the event with his parents, Sherrie and Wayne McCollum, said he enjoyed watching the race.

"But it needed a few more participants," he said.

This was the first time the family from Crawford County has been to the Cherry Blossom Festival. After the bed race they were heading to Central City Park with their dog, Buster, to take in more festivities.

The High Heels for the Cure Race that was to take place at 2 p.m. was canceled because organizers were concerned about participants getting hurt on the wet pavement.

Other members of the fire department got chances to compete among themselves later Saturday afternoon in the Macon-Bibb County Firefighters Competition. Firefighters from every battalion in the county were participating in various events that displayed their skills, agility and teamwork.

During the quick dress competition, individual firefighters were timed on how fast they could put on their boots, coats, head covering, air pack and gloves.

"Less than 45 seconds is a good time, and some are faster than that," Fire Chief Marvin Riggins said.

The winner of Saturday's fast dress was Capt. Dexter Lawson, with Battalion 21, Shift 2, Station 1, with a time of 30.51 seconds. Coming in a close second was Sgt. Arthur Parker with Battalion 21, Shift 1, Station 9, with a time of 30.78 seconds.

When there is an actual fire call, "most of the time, they are getting dressed going down the road," Riggins said. "The air pack is usually in the truck. They usually have 60 to 90 seconds to get out of the fire house."

The festival runs through April 3 with various events held each day. For a list, go to www.macon.com and search Out & About for the festival's calendar of events.

To contact writer Linda S. Morris, call 744-4223, or follow her on Twitter@MidGaBiz.

This story was originally published March 26, 2016 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Several of Macon's Cherry Blossom Festival events held despite rainy conditions ."