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Celina Balloon Festival falls to weather
By Jim Kilpatrick, Staff Writer
Mother Nature for the second straight year failed to cooperate with the Celina Chamber of Commerce and grounded the Balloon Festival at Old Celina Park.
The festival was hit by high winds, rain, hail, and thunder and lightning around 6 p.m. blowing down tents and canopies.
Jimmy Hollandsworth, an event staff member, estimated the winds at 50 to 60 miles per hour.
Winds, rain, and lightning hit several areas of the city.
“We’ve got trees down, limbs blocking streets, some street flooding, and power lines down,” Celina Police Chief Joe Williams said.
Celina resident Ali McCally said a neighbor’s trampoline landed in her yard.
Fire engines from Gunter, Weston, and Pilot Point assisted Celina in responding to calls.
“We have had over 20 calls in an hour after the winds,” Celina Fire Chief Jerry Duffield said.
Festival Flight Director Phillip Thompson cancelled all hot air balloon flight operations early after checking the weather and wind. Friday’s flights were also cancelled. There was a balloon glow on Friday evening but that was only event that took place with the balloons.
“I got disappointment, disappointment, disappointment,” Chamber board member Cleve Rasor said. “The winds started about 6 o’clock and all we could do was sit and take it.”
Sunday’s events were also cancelled because of the wet field, which would be used to land the balloons during the flight challenge.
“There’s a foot of water out there on the fields,” Rasor said. “We can’t ruin the fields.”
Tracy Fiers, chairperson of the Chamber of Commerce was at the festival when the winds hit.
“We were trying top hold the tent down where we told there was hail coming,” Fiers said. “We had to abandon it then.”
Fiers noted one positive to come out of the festival as she stood among the debris.
“We had vendors, even as they were picking up all the pieces, say they made more money last night and today than they made three months at the McKinney Trade Days, so they’re coming back,” she said.
She added that on Friday evening about 3,000 people came out to the Celina festival.
Chamber President Alyssa Tingle found several positives about the four-day event.
“People told me the staff was so nice and they had such a nice time here at the festival,” Tingle said. “Everyone worked very hard.”
The fireworks display was also cancelled and it will be rescheduled.
“We haven’t decided whether the fireworks display will be next week or the week after,” Celina Mayor Jim Lewis said. City Manager Jason Gray is set to make that decision next week.
Lisa Duffield, chamber member, planned and worked months on the festival.
“We will just have to wait for next year and hope for better weather,” Duffield said as she helped vendors load their vehicles. “Alyssa really put a lot into this and we can only do the best we can.”
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