Dennis may postpone “River City Rumble”
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, July 12, 2005
DEMOPOLIS–Thanks to its late Saturday arrival and a light schedule of Sunday events, hurricane Dennis caused little overall disruption in area sports schedules. But one major event may still face postponement in the wake of Dennis’s arrival: the annual “River City Rumble” drag boat racing event, scheduled for July 16 and 17, this coming Saturday and Sunday, at the Demopolis City Landing.
Demopolis Area Chamber of Commerce officials confirmed Monday that because of the high amounts of rainfall Dennis has produced across western Alabama and northeast Mississippi, river levels on Saturday could remain high enough to cause potential safety issues. A meeting of River City Rumble organizers will be held Tuesday morning to look at river level projections and decide whether to proceed as scheduled or postpone the event by a week, to the 23rd and 24th.
The organizers are not, however, looking at cancellation as an option.
Aside from the possible River City Rumble postponement, Dennis had little effect on area sporting events. A break in the storm cover Saturday evening meant that the Dixie Youth All-Star Area Tournaments could continue play in Linden and Thomasville, and the American Legion Post 29 juniors baseball team were able to complete a Saturday double-header against Trussville. Tournament championship games are expected to be held as scheduled in Linden and Thomasville.
Most of Dennis’s impact on area sports has been to disrupt the preparation of several area teams major events this weekend. The Demopolis 13-, 14-, and 15-year-old All-Stars teams are each practicing in advance of tournaments this weekend, as are the district champion Demopolis 13-15-year-old “Belles” softball All-Stars, who are preparing for the state championship tournament in Montgomery this weekend. Practice schedules for each of these teams have been jumbled, with some practices moving indoors and others postponed until as late as Wednesday.