Canal Dover Festival to be held May 26-28
The Canal Dover Festival plate honors the 150th anniversary of the Dover Fire Department. The Dover Fire Department also will serve as parade marshal.
The 42nd annual Canal Dover Festival will be held May 26-28 in downtown Dover. The festival is a production of the Dover Exchange Club that contributes to multiple projects that help children throughout the year.
As a group interested in improving the lives of young people, there will be much for children to do at the festival.
“We have our normal amusement rides. I’m not sure exactly which ones they will be bringing, but Kissel provides the rides and carnival games,” said Kevin Korns, a member of the Dover Exchange Club. “We’ll have the favorite pony rides scheduled to come.”
The Canal Dover Festival is the place to be to get food.
“We’ll have quite a few food vendors — you name it. There’s going to be a wide variety,” Korns said.
A partial list includes Chinese food, barbecue, lemonade shakeups, ice cream, steak sandwiches, pasta, fair waffles and elephant ears.
There will be several nonprofit groups set up that will have information available including the National Guard, the Dover American Legion, the Tuscarawas County Health Department and New Beginnings Church.
Dan Warther, Dover Exchange Club president, led the efforts to design the festival plate, which will honor the 150th anniversary of the Dover Fire Department.
“We worked with Fire Chief Russ Volkert to select some pictures throughout their history so we could put them on the plate,” Korns said.
The plate auction will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. The first 10 are usually auctioned off, and other plates will be for sale at the festival for $25. Wallick Auctions will provide an auctioneer for the event.
The grand marshal of the parade on Saturday at 1 p.m. will be the Dover Fire Department.
The Dover High School band will participate, and the Dover Exchange Club will lead the parade and hand out flags for the kids to wave.
The Canal Dover Festival is the major fundraiser for the exchange club, which from July 2021 to July 2022 donated $130,000 to organizations and projects to improve the lives of children.
The Dover Exchange Club recently donated $10,000 to Kent State Tuscarawas for book scholarships. The scholarships are provided to students to purchase textbooks.
Other organizations the Dover Exchange Club supports include the Rainbow Connection, Community Hospice, Dover Schools’ projects, the Performing Arts Center, Starlight Enterprises, Sole Purpose, youth baseball and more.
“We’ve helped the Dover-New Philadelphia Kiwanis out with playground equipment, and we’re going to be helping again with making a donation to them to help with the playground they’re building over at the YMCA,” Korns said.
They recently donated $6,500 to the Noah’s Hope Child Advocacy Center from the annual chicken barbecue fundraiser.
“We always help and support them for their child abuse prevention programs,” Korns said.
The group also holds a spaghetti dinner in the fall to help with its foster child Christmas program.
Anyone interested in donating to the Dover Exchange Club can send donations to P.O. Box 267, Dover, OH 44662, or email them at doverexchangeclub@roadrunner.com or reach them by Facebook message.
The exchange club has partnered with the Dover Public Library to hold the Canal Town Book Festival on the square of Dover on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The book festival will begin on Friday at 6 p.m. with author Robin Yocum speaking at the Dover Public Library, and then the event will move to the square on Saturday.
There will be some picnic tables for seating at the main stage, but visitors are encouraged to bring their own folding chairs.
The Canal Dover Festival schedule is as follows:
—Friday, May 26: Midway opens at noon, Tequila Mary performs at the Walnut Street stage from 4-7 p.m., New Towne Cloggers performs at the main stage from 7-8 p.m., Badstone performs at the Walnut Street stage from 8-11 p.m. and W.M.D. The Initials performs at the main stage from 8-11 p.m.
—Saturday, May 27: The parade route will go around town on Wooster, Second and Tuscarawas at noon, the Dover High Marching Tornadoes will perform on Wooster Avenue following the parade, the plate auction will be at 1 p.m. on the main stage, Moxie Dance Studio will be on the main stage at 2 p.m., Fueled by Crown will perform on the Walnut Street stage from 4-7 p.m., Jericho Big Band will perform on the main stage from 6-8 p.m., The Next will perform on the Walnut Street stage from 8-11 p.m., and Atom Lax will perform on the main stage from 8-11 p.m.
—Sunday, May 28: Powerslam Wrestling will take place on the main stage from noon to 4 p.m., Angela Renee will perform at the Walnut Street stage from 4-7 p.m., Dominic Greco Band will perform on the main stage from 6:30-8 p.m. and Moonlyters will perform on the Walnut Street stage from 8-11 p.m.
More information is available on the Facebook page at Dover Exchange Club. For anyone interested in joining the group, there will be an information table at the festival.