CANTON − About 100 units, including floats, marching bands and football royalty, traveled along Cleveland Avenue on Aug. 8 in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival Grand Parade presented by Certified Angus Beef.
The Grand Parade is the largest free event of the festival. Year after year, the morning draws thousands to the parade route in downtown Canton.
Here’s what we saw along the parade route:
Father, son make 370-mile trip to Canton to celebrate Drew Brees’ enshrinement
Stephen Burch, 63, and his son, Noah, 21, are huge New Orleans Saints football fans who made their first trip to Canton and the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The two drove more than five hours from home in Syracuse, New York, for an in-person view of the festivities and to see their favorite player, Drew Brees, be enshrined.
Stephen Burch, a business owner, is a former New Orleans resident and has been a Saints fan for at least four decades.
“Drew Brees won me a championship, so that’s why I’m here,” he said.
The Saints were victors in Super Bowl XLIV in 2010, defeating the Indianapolis Colts 31–17. Brees played quarterback for the Saints at the time and had a 20-year NFL career, retiring in 2020.
The father-son trip had been in the works for a while, according to Stephen Burch, adding that they had plans to tour the Hall on Aug. 9 prior to driving back to Syracuse.
“The Hall of Fame has always been on my bucket list,” he said.
‘Spin it! Spin it!’
Maria Vaughn and coworkers from Aultman Hospital carried a pink octopus balloon down the parade route.
This is her sixth year as a balloon handler in the parade.
“It’s fun going down the route and seeing the kids all happy,” said Vaughn, 50, of Canton Township. “We get a lot of miles in.”
It’s a Grand Parade tradition for the balloon handlers to run in a circle to spin the massive balloons while the crowd chants, “Spin it! Spin it!”
Vaughn, who works in medical education, estimated they spin the balloon about 50 times over the course of the parade.
60 years of Grand Parade memories
Donna Mertes thinks she’s been at just about every Grand Parade since the event began in 1963.
“My husband, who’s passed away, he used to get up at like three o’clock in the morning and come down and sit in the chairs to save them all for us,” she said. “We would be right in the front.”
Mertes, who is now 85 years old and a great-grandmother, enjoyed the parade this year with four generations of her family.
Being from Canton, Mertes said she always wants to “come and be a part” of the annual event.
Doughnuts are a classic parade morning treat
Eating doughnuts on Grand Parade morning is a yearslong tradition in Canton. Tammi Toth, 66, of Canton, brought a dozen to share with her family while watching the festivities.
“We think that today is the biggest doughnut day in this area,” she said. “I used to work at Dunkin’ by the Hall of Fame, and it was crazy on that day.”
She said the line for a Dunkin’ near where she lives in Canton was “around the block” in the morning.
Toth, who is retired, said she thinks doughnuts are a popular treat because everyone loves them, and they are easy to grab and go for a parade snack.
“And it keeps the kids happy,” she said.
Stark residents celebrate Grand Parade with family
Erin Hodgson said she routinely attended Grand Parades a couple of decades ago when her siblings participated in the event as Jackson High School band members.
She and her husband, Greg, were proud parade watchers when their son, Blake, a Jackson freshman, who plays the mellophone, made his parade debut.
“We’re definitely excited for him. Hopefully this is the first of a few,” said Greg, who also was enthusiastic about seeing parade floats and Hall of Fame players roll by.
Erin, 43, is a 2001 graduate of Jackson, while Greg, 42, a first-time parade attendee, is a 2002 Perry High School grad.
The couple brought their dog, Rudy, to the parade as they sat on the grass at Canton Fire Station No. 4 along Cleveland Avenue NW and 25th Street.
Gary Walker, a Canton South High graduate, became a Pittsburgh Steelers’ fan in the mid-1970s as the team started to win multiple Super Bowls.
“The Steelers were a hot team in the ’70s, so that’s who I started liking,” he said.
Walker, 57, a programmer at R.G. Smith Co. in Canton, came to the parade with his wife Paula and daughter, Alyssa.
He said the parade has become more of a family outing in recent years. Overall, Walker said he’s been to the past 15 events.
“It’s not so much about sports anymore than it is being with family,” he said.
Lifelong Canton resident marks 51 years coming to HOF Grand Parade
Dirk Blood cannot recall a year he didn’t venture out the Hall of Fame’s Grand Parade in Canton. He said his first parade was at age 6.
Blood, a lifelong Canton resident and stay-at-home dad, was one of dozens of parade attendees tossing a football back-and-forth on Cleveland Avenue NW near Woodward Place NW waiting for the parade to step off.
“I just love being out and seeing the kids’ faces when the floats and players go by,” said Blood, 57, who was donning the jersey of his favorite Cleveland Browns’ player, Clay Matthews. “You never know who you’ll run into out here.”
Matthews played for the Browns from 1978 through 1993.
Blood said another personal highlight of the parade is seeing his cousin, Dr. Brandon Blood, who’s a driver each year for a Hall of Fame player in the event.
World War II jeep from East Canton makes inaugural parade run
A 1945 Willys MB Jeep operated by Larry Powell of East Canton made its debut at the parade.
The military vehicle was owned by Powell’s father, William, a World War II veteran, who later purchased the Willys MB before breaking ground on Clearview Golf Club in Osnaburg Township.
The golf course is celebrating 80 years of operation in 2026.
The jeep, which is part of the Clearview Legacy Foundation, was restored in 2014 by Specialty Jeeps of Coshocton and has made its share of rounds to Veterans Day parades around the country.
Willys produced more than 360,000 of the vehicles for the Army, while Ford built more than 270,000.
The vehicle’s permanent home is at Clearview, where Larry is a lifelong member. His daughter, Renee, is the LPGA/PGA head professional at the course.
Hundreds from Panthers fan group travel to Canton
Kevin and Jennifer Lee traveled from North Carolina to Canton for the Enshrinement Festival.
The couple are fans of the Panthers and linebacker Luke Kuechly who was enshrined in the Hall of Fame this year.
The Lees were part of a massive group of Panthers fans called the Roaring Riot that travel with the team to away games and other events.
The group was recognizable around the city because of matching shirts with “Luuuuke” and “#59” written in the outline of a goat.
Kevin, 50, who works in higher education, said coming to the Hall of Fame was a “bucket list item” for him. It’s his first time in Ohio.
“It’s pretty cool. This is an awesome experience,” he said. “The people are great, and getting to see all the Hall of Famers is really special.”
Drew Brees superfan
Brier Shuve, 29, of Bowling Green was stoked to see Drew Brees on a float in the parade. It was “mind-boggling,” she said.
Shuve said Brees is deserving of recognition in the Hall of Fame not just for his career as a quarterback, but also for his conduct off the field.
“He cares about his family, his team, his city, and he helps others in need all the time,” she said.
Shuve became a Saints fan more than 10 years ago. Watching Brees made her a lifelong fan.
Reach Grace at 330-580-8364 or gspringer@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X @GraceSpringer16.
Reach Steven Grazier at steven.grazier@indeonline.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @sgrazierINDE
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Pro Football Hall of Fame Grand Parade celebrates fun, fans in Canton
Reporting by Grace Springer and Steven M. Grazier, Canton Repository / The Repository
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Grace Springer and Steven M. Grazier, Canton Repository | USA TODAY Network
