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On September 17, 1920, a group of men
gathered in downtown Canton, Ohio, at
the Hupmobile showroom of Ralph Hay,
owner of the hometown Bulldogs; the
building is now known as the Frank T.
Bow Federal Building. The result of
that historic meeting was the birth of
the National Football League.
It seemed logical that a Canton
Repository article published on
December 6, 1959, announcing the need
for a Professional Football Hall of
Fame, marked Canton as the perfect
site. Due to the tremendous efforts of
the late Bill Umstattd, president of the
Timken Company, late Paul Brown,
legendary Cleveland Browns coach, late
Clayton Horn, editor of The
Repository and others, the dream
became a reality. The Greater Canton
(now Canton Regional) Chamber or
Commerce and the Canton Junior Chamber
of Commerce (now the Jaycees) supported
the idea and these men in their
efforts.
After nearly two years of planning, they
finally broke ground on August 11,
1962. Henry Stuhldreher of Massillon,
the late quarterback of the legendary
Notre Dame
“Four
Horsemen”,
served as the master of ceremonies along
with help from Pete Rozelle, former NFL
commissioner and other dignitaries.
Following the ceremony, the New York
Giants and St. Louis Cardinals competed
at Fawcett Stadium for 14,000 fans in
the first ever Hall of Fame Game.
THE HISTORY OF THIS ONE OF A KIND
CELEBRATION!
The celebration continued to expand in
1963 with the addition of the
first Festival events, thus earning
recognition as
“Football’s
Greatest Weekend.”
Wives of Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh
Steelers modeled for a crowd of 300 at
the first Fashion Show Luncheon on
September 5, 1963 at the downtown Hotel
Onesto. The Onesto also hosted a dance
later that evening sponsored by the
Canton Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Two days later 40,000 people lined the
streets downtown to watch the premiere
Grand Parade featuring 89 units and 17
bands. Later that same day came the
dedication of the Hall of Fame and the
induction of the first 17 enshrinees
into the Professional Football Hall of
Fame. The charter members included:
Sammy Baugh, Bert Bell, Joe Carr, Dutch
Clark, Red Grange, George Halas, Mel
Hein, Pete Henry, Cal Hubbard, Don
Hutson, Curly Lambeau, Tim Mara, George
Marshall, John Blood McNally, Bronko
Nagurski, Ernie Nevers and Jim Thorpe.
That Sunday, September 8, 1963, CBS
televised the defeat of the Cleveland
Browns by the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-7
in the second Hall of Fame Game.
The Festival continued to grow and a
year later on September 4, 1964,
the first Mayor’s
Breakfast was held at the Hotel Onesto
with 225 in attendance. The Fashion
Show Luncheon was back by popular demand
and was held at the Mergus Restaurant.
The luncheon was supported by the Fine
Arts Associates, Junior League of Canton
and Stark County Bar Association wives.
Once again, the evening ended with a
dance, this time at Meyers Lake
Moonlight Ballroom. The 1964 parade was
a great success again with an estimated
50,000 spectators. The Baltimore Colts
beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 48-17 the
following Sunday afternoon.
The year 1965 saw the return of
the Mayor’s
Breakfast and Fashion Show Luncheon at
the Mergus Restaurant and the Jewish
Community Center, respectively. The
Grand Parade featured 74 units plus 23
bands and 16 floats, of which The Timken
Company won the Grand Prize. Actress
Jane Russell was Grand Marshall and led
the parade past more than 150,000
spectators. Saturday evening 1,100
guests attended the first Celebrities
Banquet (later the Enshrinees Civic
Dinner) at the Meyers Lake Moonlight
Ballroom. That same evening, Cynthia
Hershey, of Perry High School, was
crowned as the inaugural Pro Football
Hall of Fame Festival Queen. The
Coronation Dance was held at Glenwood
High School due to severe weather at
Meyers Lake. Football’s
Greatest Weekend came to a close when
the Washington Redskins defeated the
Detroit Lions 20-3.
Scheduling difficulties prevented the
1966 Hall of Fame game from taking
place, but the festivities continued.
The second annual Coronation Ball took
place at the Moonlight Ballroom at
Meyers Lake with 18 contestants. Kay
Williams was crowned Queen and the
remaining 17 participants served as
members of the Royal Court. The Fashion
Show Luncheon once again changed
location and was held at Nazir Grotto
Hall. The weekend ended with the Grand
Parade, in which The Hoover Company
float took first prize and the
Enshrinement Ceremony was held on the
steps of the Pro Football Hall of Fame
for the first time.
During the 1980’s
the Festival experienced tremendous
growth, adding the following events:
Junior Parade (now Community Parade),
1980; Ribs Burnoff and Fireworks, 1984;
Balloon Classic Invitational as well as
the Drum Corps Competition, 1985;
Kickoff Sunday Race, 1986 and the Photo
Contest, 1989.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Festival
has also experienced a lot of exciting
additions in recent years. In 1995,
the Jackson-Belden Chamber of Commerce
and the Canton Regional Chamber of
Commerce worked together to bring the
Jackson-Belden Food Fest and Fireworks
under the umbrella of the Festival. The
event is now held in conjunction with
the Balloon Classic Invitational on the
Kent State University/Stark State
College of Technology campus.
The Ribs Burnoff expanded from two to
three days in 1997 in order to
accommodate the huge crowds coming to
enjoy the food and free entertainment.
Traditionally, the Burnoff takes place
downtown on Market Avenue and was moved
further south in 1999 due to the
Market Avenue Streetscape Project
renovations. Also in 1999, the AFC-NFC
Hall of Fame Game was featured for the
first time ever on ABC-TV’s
Monday Night Football, resulting
in an expanded Festival schedule.
Several new events were created: the
NFL Experience, golf scramble, and the
GameDay Luncheon (now known as
Enshrinees GameDay Roundtable).
In the fall of 2002, Festival
officials held a long-range strategic
planning retreat in order to probe all
aspects of festival operations,
rationales, and philosophies, literally
taking the festival apart and putting it
back together again, with the goal of
creating an even stronger and more
successful festival for the future.
Such extensive planning sessions had
never before occurred, and the timing
was perfect, as it coincided with the
NFL and Pro Football Hall of Fame’s
challenge to compact the weekend into a
stronger, more dynamic experience for
the enshrinees and returning Hall of
Famers.
The most significant results of the
session were initiated with the 2003
Festival, and they included elimination
of the Mayor’s
Breakfast, as guests did not arrive in
Canton until later in the day, and
elimination of the traditional Kickoff
Sunday Concert, shifting the event to a
location in downtown Canton one week
later for a concert and huge fireworks
display. In addition, the Enshrinees
Dinner (formerly known as Enshrinees
Civic Dinner) was moved to Saturday
evening, and the Enshrinement ceremony
was moved to Sunday afternoon. Further,
the Ribs Burnoff was shifted to Thursday
(4:00 PM to 10:30 PM), Friday and
Saturday (11:00 AM to 10:30 PM), and the
event was held at the fairgrounds to
allow for growth and enhancements. The
Hall of Fame NFL Experience was part of
the Ribs Burnoff for the first time
ever.
Also in 2003, for only the second time
in the Festival’s
history (the first time being the year
2000), all 144 living Hall of Famers
were invited to return to Canton for the
Enshrinement weekend and the celebration
of the 40th anniversary of
the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the
Festival; 116 accepted the invitation
and were present to witness the
induction of five new members, bringing
the total number of inductees to 221.
In 2004, the Ribs Burnoff was
held for the second consecutive year at
the Stark County fairgrounds, and due to
the wonderful response the year before,
the event was expanded to be in
operation all three days from 11:00 AM
to 10:30 PM. The Ribs Burnoff was also
featured on The Food Network show
“All
American Festivals,”
making it the first event in Ohio to be
featured on The Food Network.
An increased number of tour group guests
enjoyed the 2005 Festival,
including 300 at an off-site Enshrinees
Dinner at the Canton Negro Oldtimers
Activity Center, and 2,000 guests at a
“Pigskin
Picnic”
on Saturday night at the Ribs Burnoff.
These tour group participants were in
addition to the traditional 2,000 at the
Hoover Grand Parade and 1,900 at
Enshrinees GameDay Roundtable. This is a
shining example of the partnership and
cooperation between the Hall and the
Festival. With the induction of four
more football greats into the Pro
Football Hall of Fame during the 2005
festivities, the total number of
inductees was 229.
In 2006, an impressive Class of
Enshrinees brought the total number of
inductees to 235. Changes in the 2006
Festival included the AFC-NFC Hall of
Fame Game moving from Monday night to
Sunday night on
“NBC
Sunday Night NFL Football”
and The Timken Company became the title
sponsor of the Grand Parade. In order
to further reflect the solid partnership
between the Festival and the Hall of
Fame, the Festival’s
mission statement was revised to read as
follows:
To work in a spirit of cooperation with
the Pro Football Hall of Fame to
annually organize and present the Pro
Football Hall of Fame Festival in order
to celebrate the induction of new
Enshrinees, encourage continuing support
for the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Museum, provide a positive economic
impact, and promote the spirit of our
community and its people.
A significant change to the 2007
Festival was the opportunity to move the
Enshrinement from an afternoon time slot
to 6 PM, allowing a prime time
television audience. All living members
of the Pro Football Hall of Fame were
invited to return for the ceremony and
surrounding festivities, and
approximately 85 were present. A
capacity crowd at the Enshrinees Dinner
warmly welcomed Roger Goodell, new
commissioner of the National Football
League, who offered congratulations to
the Enshrinees and the entire
Canton/Stark County community for a job
well done.
CELEBRATING 46 YEARS OF EXCELLENCE
In 2008, both the Hall of Fame
and the annual Festival marked their 45th
anniversaries with a renewed commitment
to the partnership and the tradition of
excellence in honoring the legends and
preserving the history of pro football.
In order to more clearly communicate
that the Enshrinement of each new class
of Hall of Famers is the central focus
of the incredibly popular annual
Festival celebration, beginning with the
2008 festivities, the Festival name was
enhanced to
“Pro
Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement
Festival.”
First time activities during the 2008
Enshrinement Festival included a Dawn
Patrol at the Balloon Classic and Top
Model Competition for the Fashion Show
Luncheon.
The 46th anniversary was
happily celebrated in 2009, and
in spite of the most tenuous economic
times in recent history, the festivities
were declared a success. Although
spending was measurably diminished,
attendance was strong, and all events
were safe and enjoyable, in large part
because of the year-long dedication of
the professional staffs and
extraordinary team of volunteers. The
Enshrinement, which is the central focus
of the entire celebration, was moved to
a 7 PM time slot to allow for a larger
prime time national television audience,
and relief from the heat for those who
had the good fortune to attend the
ceremonies.
HONORING THE PAST AND LOOKING FORWARD TO
THE FUTURE
The Pro Football Hall of Fame
Enshrinement Festival department of the
Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce
enjoys a huge level of support from
members, volunteers, sponsors,
governmental services, and especially,
from the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A
team of more than 4,200 volunteers work
year-round with the professional staffs
at the Hall and Chamber to plan and
stage 15 events over a ten-day period
for the enjoyment of nearly 700,000
people. The results of an economic
impact survey conducted during the 2005
Festival revealed an economic impact of
$26.7 million on Canton/Stark County and
$48.4 million on the State of Ohio.
Directors of the Pro Football Hall of
Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Enshrinement Festival have collaborated
for the past 46 years in order to make
the Enshrinement Festival the best
celebration possible. Directors of the
Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement
Festival have been: Janice C. Meyer,
Dennis P. Saunier, and presently, Joanne
K. Murray. Directors of the Hall of
Fame have included: the late Dick
McCann, the late Dick Gallagher, Pete
Elliott, the late John W. Bankert, and
currently Stephen A. Perry, President &
Executive Director.
While the Pro Football Hall of Fame and
annual Enshrinement Festival have
realized successes well beyond even the
most optimistic of their founding
fathers, it is clear that even greater
opportunities still lie
ahead.
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