MOUNT VERNON — A few sprinkles and an overcast sky during the holiday afternoon Friday did not stop events from proceeding.

At the skate park located in Memorial Park, participants eagerly waited for the light rain to cease before beginning the Fourth of July skateboard, BMX and in-line skate competition. Tyler Harmon, 13, said it was a great event and that he wasn’t too worried about the wet condition of the asphalt and ramps.

“I feel that if people know what they’re doing, it’ll go well,” said Harmon.

Chazz Smathers, 15, was also enthusiastic about the event.

“It’s awesome,” Smathers said. “If it dries up it’ll be all good.”

Chris Castaneda, also 15, was competing at the event for the first time.

“I think it’s sweet,” Castaneda said. “I just love how everybody comes out and shows their support. It’s a good thing for the community.”

Event organizer Corby Wise was hopeful the event would proceed smoothly.

“I’ll feel better about it when it stops raining and starts drying,” said Wise. “I think is going to be a really cool event; we’ve got a lot of really talented kids here.”

The competition was organized through the Heritage Centre Association and is sponsored by several local businesses, including Sam Miller of Re/max Stars, Howard Street Auto Care, Griffin Insurance, Donley Ford, Puttin’ Around and the Mount Vernon News.

Also on Friday afternoon, volleyball players were preparing to warming up for the HCA sand volleyball tournament.

Ron Doup, junior varsity volleyball coach for Mount Vernon High School who helped organize the event, said the weather kept some participants away, but the tournament would proceed regardless.

“We thought we had six teams playing, and the hope was that a couple would show up, but it looks like the weather scared a couple of them off,” said Doup.

Originally, event organizers thought they would have up to 12 teams participating, but it seemed as though the weather was a major factor in keeping the turnout lower than expected.

“As much as anything, I think the weather is just really scared them away,” said Doup.

However, the games were scheduled to proceed as planned, just with fewer teams than expected.

“We’re going to play with what we’ve got,” said Doup.