Kaboom! North Canton Chamber steps up to save Fourth of July fireworks celebration

NORTH CANTON − The North Canton Chamber of Commerce is stepping up to save the city's annual Fourth of July fireworks display.

The annual tradition was in jeopardy after the North Canton Jaycees rebranded as a Stark County organization and earlier this year announced it would stop organizing the event.

“The chamber leadership felt that this event fell under one of the organization's key goals: devoting significant time and resources to community programs and projects in the city of North Canton," chamber board Chair Nik Pappas said in a prepared statement. “We are very excited to be keeping this tradition alive and we’re counting on the community’s support to help us make it happen."

William H. "Boss" Hoover began the annual fireworks tradition early in the 20th century.

The event, which will feature food trucks along with the fireworks, is scheduled to take place from 7 to 10 p.m. July 4 at the front of Hoover High School on Seventh Street NE. The chamber has set up a website for the event at northcantonfireworks.com.

The chamber is looking for sponsors to help cover the $20,000 cost of putting on the event. The website is soliciting donations of $50 from residents to go toward covering the costs. The chamber is also looking for vendors with food trucks that would be parked on Seventh Street NE.

Messages were left for Pappas and North Canton City School District Superintendent Jeff Wendorf seeking details on how they worked out holding the event at the high school again.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. X formerly Twitter: @rwangREP.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: North Canton Chamber to organize Fourth of July fireworks show