MISS MOONSHINE DAZE-Emily Mahaney was crowned Miss Moonshine 2013 at the kick-off event of the Moonshine Daze festival. See this week’s HORIZON for more. (photo courtesy Billy Kendall)

CELINA-The feature day of this year’s Moonshine Daze festival featured a bit more of mother nature than organizers had hoped for, but a successful kick-off event Thursday night, a rain-free Friday, and more activities than most would imagine were still enjoyed over the weekend despite the torrential downpours of Saturday and Sunday.

The crowning of Miss Moonshine 2013 and many others at the Hillbilly Purdy Contest successfully opened the four-day fest and vendors enjoyed good crowds Friday night as moonshiner Tim Smith made a surprise visit, the motorcycle/atv rodeo took center stage in the arena, and the music venue was standing room only throughout the evening.

The final two days of the event “had to be reworked a bit,” according to organizers, as weather moved most of the action indoors, but the entire slate of activities continued with only a couple of exceptions.

The ever-popular outhouse races had to be canceled, along with the Revenuer’s Ride, but both have been rescheduled for Saturday, June 8 at their original locations.

The majority of the vendors also fell victim to the rain as they threw in the towel early on Saturday and other events like the greased pig contest and the parade were not held.

Patrons did have the chance to enjoy visiting with Smith, live entertainment, and much more in the Women’s Building and other recreation complex structures over the weekend.

“We had lots of things going on despite the weather,” a festival official said.  “Believe it or not, everything went pretty well.”

See this week’s HORIZON for more Moonshine Daze 2013 photos and details.