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About

Mission:
We will organize family oriented events featuring vehicles on wheels and sponsors’ displays that promote their products and services, including latest technologies, to advance business in the community. All net proceeds are donated to a local charity.

 

From humble origins as the Timken Vehicle Display in 1992, the Canton Carnival of Wheels has achieved remarkable growth – and surging popularity. Initially the annual show was open only to Timken Company associates and their families. For the next 10 years through 2002, the show attracted some 50 to 70 cars, trucks and tractors. Then the organizing team disbanded because of diminishing interest.

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In 2006 came the resurrection. The show that year featured 96 vehicles and was open to the public. The next year saw the vehicle count grow to 119. Still, the show attracted few vendor displays and only one food purveyor.

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In 2008 the show’s name was formally changed to the Canton Carnival of Wheels.
The organizers infused the show with new energy. They created a mission statement that is a paragon of clarity: We will organize family oriented events featuring vehicles on wheels and sponsors’ displays that promote their products and services including latest technologies, to advance business in the community. All net proceeds are donated to a local charity.


The local charity is actually a pair of educational institutions: Stark State College and Kent State University at Stark. Net proceeds from the show provide scholarships for students of Stark State’s Automotive Technology Program and to Kent State Stark students who have earned an associate’s degree at Stark State and now are pursing a four-year bachelor’s degree at Kent State Stark.

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In 2011, the Canton Carnival of Wheels, Inc. was registered as a 501-c-3 charitable organization. As a result, donations to the CCOW are tax-deductible.

 

After the 2012 Canton Carnival of Wheels, 15 students at the two schools received scholarships. More students will be receiving scholarships following the 2013 show.

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Today Dick Mautz, Dan Thoma and Mike Johnson serve as directors of the annual show. Some 40 volunteers – there is no paid staff – make the show possible.
In addition, more than 60 sponsors have seen value in supporting the show, and they extend beyond vehicle-related businesses to include such organizations as banks, restaurants, printing companies, medical professionals, a hospital, home remodelers and others. Together the volunteers and sponsors stand as a glowing example of giving back to a community. During each of the last two shows, some 500 vehicles have been displayed. Eight food vendors provide victuals, and more vendors are on a waiting list. In the years the show has been blessed with favorable weather, attendance for the Sunday extravaganza has ranged between 9,000 and 10,000 vehicle enthusiasts. The show doesn’t charge an admission fee for visitors, and there is ample on-site parking. In total, $92,000 in student scholarships has been raised as of the 2017 show.

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