STRIKE UP THE BAND…THE PARADE IS IN TOWN

Monday, August 6 - The Hall of Fame Grand Parade was this past Saturday, and Marsha was up front and center…really three rows back on the hill but she had a great view. Each year her brother, Rick, gets free tickets to sit at the Civic Center. They have a free buffet breakfast before, during and after the parade. Rick, Chris and Marsha sit, eat, and watch the parade pass-by.

The HOF Grande Parade started in 1963. That first year, an estimated 40,000 spectators gathered on the three-mile parade route. That first parade in 1963 featured 93 units, including 17 bands.

In 2006, the Timken Co. assumed the sponsorship role for the parade. It is now called the Timken Grand Parade.

Today, nearly 200,000 spectators lined the 2.2 mile route. The 2012 parade featured over 100 units.

The South Shore Drill Team from Chicago entertained the crowd. There were great!

The Timken Grand Parade has something for everyone!

Class of Enshrinees. There were six.

Many returning Hall of Famers.

Giant Helium Balloons

Floats
HOF Queen and Court

Animal Units
This one was interesting.

Bands, cheerleaders and majorettes.

We had two nieces (one a cheerleader; one a band member) and one cousin (majorette) who marched in the parade.

Our niece, Laura plays the quad drums for Canton South High School.

Many more unique and fun specialty units.

It was a super parade. Everyone did a great job. Our hats off to all the volunteers.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

A POOPY JOB….BUT SOMEBODY HAS TO DO IT!

Saturday, August 4 - Paul has noticed the black tank flush system wasn't working as well as it had in the past, so after doing some online research on the Tiffin Network, he decided to work on a repair.  The suggested "fix" was to re-drill the rinser with a larger 3/32" hole.  OK….now to find the black tank rinser.  It is located on the top of the black tank, but depending on the model of Motor Home, it could be on the right or left side.

Here's Paul opening the right-side door to the holding tank area.

Nope, not here….geesh!  Must be on the other side, which is more difficult to reach.

Now to tear out much of the wet-bay area and remove the inside top cover to access the holding tank area.

Ahh….there it is. Of course, this picture is taken looking behind the wet bay wall. Paul will have to reach over the wall to remove those three screws holding the flush in the top of the black tank. This will be fun!

Got it out!  Completely plugged!  Wiping isn't going to help.

Using a 3/32 drill bit, he re-drills the holes. Can you see the holes?

Paul then replaced the rinser and gives it a test. Holy Cow!  That sucker really squirts now. He could hear it flush all that…..ah, "stuff" out of the tank. It NEVER worked this well. Guess he should have drilled it out a couple years ago. Got the "stuff" really flowing now!

While Paul was working on his…..ahhh  "stuff," look what pulled in across the park from us. It's the KOA Inspection Team. No sneaking in for them. This explains all the painting, black topping, weeding, and other updating that has been going  on in the park since our arrival.

Pretty nice rig the inspectors have….all brand new too!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?

Tuesday, July 31 – Since our arrival in Canton 12 days again, we have been having a wonderful time visiting with family and friends. One stop we made is to our daughter, Kelly's, new place. She has accepted a new teaching position in Parma City Schools. She will be teaching math at one of the high schools. She has also moved. We think these apartments used to be condos.

Kelly's new place.

After visiting, we took Kelly and Dave out to dinner. How nice it is to be with her.

This week is the biggest week in our hometown. It is Pro Football Hall of Fame week. The HOF opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter enshrinees.

There are now a total 267 members of the Hall of Fame, including the most recent six honorees announced in February 2012.

Canton, Ohio, was selected as the location for the Hall of Fame for three reasons:
First, the NFL was founded in Canton in 1920 (at that time it was known as the American Professional Football Association);
Second, the now-defunct Canton Bulldogs were the first two-time champion of the NFL and were based in Canton during the first few years of the league;
Finally, the community of Canton successfully lobbied the NFL to have the Hall built in their city.

Groundbreaking for the building was held on August 11, 1962. The original building contained just two rooms, and 19,000 square feet of interior space. In April 1970, ground was broken for the first of many expansions.

This WAS the front of the Hall of Fame until a few months ago.

This is now the new front. It is really beautiful. They retained the football shaped dome as a side entrance.
 

Visitors entering the museum are greeted by a seven-foot bronze statue of Jim Thorpe, considered a legend of pro football dating back to his days with the Canton Bulldogs in the early 1900s. There are the Teams of the NFL Exhibition Area, the Hall of Fame Gallery, Pro Football Adventure Room, Moments, Memories & Mementos Gallery, and The Lamar Hunt Super Bowl Gallery just to name a few of the areas inside the Hall.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame Game is an annual National Football League exhibition game that is held the weekend of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's induction ceremonies. The game is played at Fawcett Stadium, which is located next door to the Hall of Fame building. It is traditionally the first game in the NFL's preseason.

This year's enshrines are Jack Butler, Dermontti Dawson, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Curtis Martin, and Willie Roaf. They will be formally inducted during the Enshrinement Ceremony held in Fawcett Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 4.

This year's game is between the Arizona Cardinals and the New Orleans Saints.

The kickoff for this big week's events started two weeks ago with the Balloon Festival. This week there are several autograph sessions with past enshrinees, the Ribs Burn-off starting on Wednesday-Friday, HOF Fashion Show on Friday afternoon, Enshrinees' Gold Jacket Dinner Friday evening, Timken Grand Parade on Saturday, 2012 Enshrinement and concluding with the HOF game played on Sunday night. Marsha will be attending the big parade so be prepared for a post on that event.

We found this map that represents the NFL team locations and fan base. Someone did a pretty good job in designing it. We are located where you see the Cleveland Brown's helmet in Ohio.

Marsha is THRILLED about the hummingbirds this year. She says she has an excuse for why the house isn't clean…HUMMINGBIRDS. She sits by the window starring at them, or she is running outside with the camera to take another 4,000 photos of them. GEESH…enough all ready.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!