The second annual Hoover Park Festival, presented by the Hoover Historical Center at Walsh University and The Hoover Company, will be held on Sun., July 24, from 1-5 p.m. in Hoover Park — across from Walsh University. This free community event honors the history of The Hoover Company and its impact on North Canton and Stark County.
The inaugural festival in 2021, which celebrated the 100th anniversary of the first Hoover International Sales Convention, attracted more than 400 visitors to the park and museum on a rainy day. This year’s festivities include history talks and self-guided tours, a garden boutique and plant sale, presentations on pollinators and invasive plant species, a performance by the Glen Oak High School Marching Band, activities and displays from the Stark County Beekeepers’ Association, North Canton Public Library, Stark Parks, and North Canton Heritage Society as well as children’s storytelling, food trucks, raffles and giveaways, vintage cars from the 1920s, a vintage baseball game between the Fulton Mules and the Smithville Stars and a very special performance of the original Hoover Company calliope.
Megan Pellegrino, Director of the Hoover Historical Center and the Walsh University Museum Studies Program, aims to share the history of the property that contains the historic Hoover banquet hall and the Hoover Historical Center — a museum owned and operated by Walsh that is dedicated to telling the story of The Hoover Company while engaging the community in a celebration of the Hoover legacy.
“This property is original Hoover family farmland where ‘Boss’ Hoover was raised and where Hoover salesmen from across the U.S., Canada and England gathered in the 1920s to learn about new products and sales techniques while also enjoying time spent together,” says Megan. “This is a community treasure and we can’t wait to share it with everyone at the festival.”
