1976 East Canton Bicentennial Parade
Firefighter Helmet pulled by truck owned by Dave “Scratch” Arnold.
Foltz Flowers Choo Choo driven by owner Dave Foltz
Ken Varian
Jean Wyler, Jackie Archibald-Branch, and Patty Fisher
Franklin Parks driving Model A
by Jackie Archibald-Branch
The East Canton – Osnaburg Twp 1976 Bicentennial Festival was organized by a Committee of Dave Heighton (EC Police Chief) Vic Fisher (EC Firefighter and well known salesman for Sypolt Chevrolet in East Canton), George France (owner of “The Press News”) Joanne Varian (co-owner of C & B Body Shop in EC) and involved well known community members LeRoy Westfall and Janice Swan.
Planning of this event took over a year as we had our East Canton-Osnaburg Twp Festival along with the parade. The purpose of this event was not only to celebrate our nation’s 200 Birthday but also to bring together the residents of the Village and Township.
We made our colonial costumes, constructed our quaint stick building booths to make money for our area clubs and organizations. I will always remember the Broadway Neighbors Club famous for their delicious homemade pies and Centerville Rural Women’s Club for their homemade apple butter and apple dumplings under the supervision of expert Virginia Varian of Varian Orchards.
Remembering the old time games, pet parade, 5 K and 1 mile run, pageant for Miss Bicentennial (we voted by putting change in jars with the winner collecting the most donations) Boy Scout Troop 36 making their own kiddie ride from an ingenious invention powered by man (correction Scout power).
Personally I was privileged to work on a parade float carrying a giant Firefighter Helmet made out of wire and paper mache’ and standing over 6 foot tall weighing more than we could ever imagine. This project took over 6 weeks with the firefighters and their supporting wives known as the “Fireflies”. The firefighters also rented a huge circus like tent to hold nightly bingo. The firefighters and wives called bingo and collected a dime for each game played.
Thanks for letting me share my memories, a labor of love that I was privileged to work on for over 30 years. In 1976 we showed our love for our nation and community. I’ll be sharing some pictures a little faded over 50 years.