HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The annual Maple Hill Cemetery Stroll could have changed its name to cemetery swim after heavy rains unleashed on downtown Huntsville shortly before the event began at 2 p.m.

Instead of passing out life jackets, organizers postponed the popular activity with more than 70 re-enactors to next Sunday, Oct. 19, from 2 to 4:30 p.m., the cemetery stroll's Facebook page announced.

More than six-tenths of an inch of rain fell between 1 and 3 p.m. at Huntsville International Airport, the National Weather Service reported. It was the third set of storms to cross North Alabama since early Saturday. The weather service reported 1.29 inches of rainfall on Saturday.

There were handfuls of people who roamed the cemetery streets Sunday afternoon after the rain subsided, but the performers and other volunteers were informed of the postponement just before the event.

Facebook posts showed some who were disappointed organizers didn't announcement the postponement earlier, but most agreed it was best to try again next week.

Huntsville Pilgrimage Association sponsors the free event, which drew a record attendance of about 10,000 last year. Donations collected during the stroll are used exclusively for restoration at Maple Hill.

This will be the 18th installment of the stroll, and with the 80,000 to 100,000 people buried in the 75-acre cemetery, there new stories to tell.

Some of the new characters added to the 2014 stroll include: Huntsville Times flamboyant and controversial founder Jacob Emory Pierce; and the Rev. Bartley Harris, who baptized over 3,000 people at Big Springs and was minister of Alabama's oldest African American Baptist Church.