Capacity Crowd For Akron Fourth Of July Festival
AKRON — A large crowd of revelers swatted aside a blistering heat index to attend the Akron Fourth of July Festival.
The event drew an estimated 5,000 attendees, nearly five times the number of the town’s 1,100 residents.
After the parade, which was themed “Home Sweet Home Akron” and featured nearly 70 entries, festival goers migrated to Pike Memorial Park on the northeast side of town to enjoy other attractions, such as the dunk tank, pedal pull competition, bounce houses, basketball tournament, food vendors and car show.
Parades winners were:
Floats: New Life Church for Operation Christmas Child
Automobiles: Dale Hileman, 1957 Ford Retractable Car
Tractors: Doyle Putman, garden tractor with Ferris wheel
Band: Tippecanoe Valley High School
Horses: Mispah Shrine Horse Patrol
Car show choice winners were:
Queens Choice: Tim Weaver, 1966 Chevy C100
Fireman’s Choice: Allen Robinson,1938 Chevy Sedan
Policeman’s Choice: Bud Van Scolk, 1930 Model A Ford
Other winners:
Tom & Jan Taylor, 1951 F-1 Ford
Buzz & Judy Rogers, 1970 Ford Mach 1
Rod Connor, 1968 Impala
Larry Hogland, 1987 Chevy Monte Carlo
Sammy Powell, 2015 Ford Mustang GT
Kathy Cole, 2013 Chevy Camaro
John Cole, 1977 Chevy Camaro
A full article on the festival will appear in the Wednesday, July 11, edition of Shopping Guide News.
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- BACK IN TIME — One of the familiar parade entries was the float from Echoes of the Past. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- CHRISTMAS IN JULY — Operation Christmas Child thanked its supporters from its float in the Akron Fourth of July parade. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- TWO PAIRS OF CUTIES — Bella Minert, 6, left; her sister, Nora, 5; and sisters Gwen, 4, and Gia Zolmar, 3, enjoy the ice pops distributed at the parade. All four children are from Akron. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- NEVER TOO OLD OR TOO YOUNG — 96-year-old World War II veteran John E. Gaerte of Akron watches the parade with his daughter, Marcia Cole, standing; granddaughter Jenna Fish, an Iraqi War vet; and three-month-old great-grandson Silvin Hillen. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- SWAG — Wyatt Kapp, 4, of Rochester, proudly displays the goodies he gleaned from the Akron parade on July 4. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- THERE’S FOOD UP AHEAD — One of the food vendors at the Akron Fourth of July festival enjoyed long lines during the day. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- TAKING THE PLUNGE — Faith Kamp, second runner-up in the Miss Akron contest, slides off her perch in the dunk tank at the Akron festival. “I help out wherever the kids need me,” she said. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- AIRBORNE — Young festival attendees enjoy one of two bounces houses at Pike Memorial Park during the Akron Fourth of July Festival. There was also an inflatable slide for the kids’ enjoyment. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- FROM DOWNTOWN — A competitor in Akron’s Fourth of July basketball tournament lets fly with a three-point shot during warmups. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
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- DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU — Imagine seeing this mechanical beast in the rearview mirror. The 1977 Camaro with a 496 cubic foot supercharged engine was an entry in the festival’s car show. (Photo by Ray Balogh)
