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By ReGINA “G STYL”CRAWFORD

Contributing Writer

Canton recently put together acomplete weekend of activities tocelebrate their own nationalcelebrities, The O’Jays. SecondWard Councilman Thomas E.West and Curtis A. Perry III ofCAP III Productions spearheadedthe weekend.

The proceeds from the week-end’s events will be contributed tothe O’Jays Scholarship Fund forMusic and the Arts, CommunityServices of Stark County, A.B.L.E.Inc. and Multiple Sclerosis; chari-ties that will serve the youth ofCanton Communities for manyyears to come. Although foundingmembers William Powell (died in1977), Bobby Massey and BillIsles were not present for theweekend’s events, founding mem-bers Eddie Levert and WalterWilliams and newest member EricNolan Grant were present for thecelebration.

The weekend began on Friday,July 8, with Canton Mayor JanetCreighton presenting Eddie,Walter and Eric with their ownindividual Keys to the City in frontof a crowd over 500 fans and sup-porters at the courthouse onSecond and Market streets.

The day’s activities alsoincluded performances by localCanton musicians, as well as, sev-eral gratulatory statements by sev-eral local celebrities such asOmarosa Manigault Stallwoth(Youngstown, “The Apprentice”)and Chad “Cutter” Coleman(HBO’s “The Wire”). Fans wereable to purchase T-Shirts, postersand souvenir booklets whileattending the various events. Fanswere also able to have items auto-graphed by The O’Jays at a VIPreception held at the MarriottMcKinley Grand Hotel.

“We are extremely proud ofThe O’Jays,” said Creighton. “Weare the home to another Hall ofFame, so when other Hall ofFamers come home from anotherinstitution, it’s just great for ourcity. They were born and raisedhere. They haven’t forgottenwhere their home is and it’s justgreat for the city of Canton.”

A Celebrity Golf Tournamentwas held at the Glenmoor CountryClub on Saturday, July 9. Invitedcelebrity golfers included Gerald

Levert, Sean Levert, Ray Ellis,Eric Snow and Steve Perry (“TheWhite House – GSA”), just toname a few. The events were spon-sored by Time Warner Cable,Timken Foundation, WHBC,WZAK, Elite Limousine Inc.,

Canton Repository, Pro FootballHall of Fame, Alan Schulman andAssociates, Cicchini Enterprise(McDonalds), Canton Negro Old-timers Association, Aultcare,American Family Insurance,Diebold, Steve Perry GSA,

Marriott McKinley Grand Hotel,Key Bank, Canton regionalChamber of Commerce and others.

Sunday, July 10, however, wasthe big day as the day’s eventsincluded an eight block paradewhich concluded in Nimisilla Park

nearthe site of the newly name O’JaysParkway. At the end of the parade,performances were given by localCanton and Akron musicians anddancers, which were followed bypresentation of awards to TheO’Jays from the office Sen. MikeDeWine, by U.S. Rep. RalphRegula, from the office PresidentGeorge Bush presented by StevePerry, Canton City Council pre-sented by Councilman West, theCuyahoga County Commissionerspresented by ReGina Crawfordand the Council of the City ofCleveland. The official unveilingof the street sign proclaimingMahoning Road the O’JaysParkway followed with each ofThe O’Jays being presented withtheir own individual gold streetsigns.

However, the crowning eventwas a concert, opened by TheTemptations Review, featuringDennis Edwards, featuring TheO’Jays’ performing some of theirgreatest hits as well as the first sin-gle from their new album“Imagination.”

As always, these two groupsput on a fabulous show featuringlive bands, old-school dancemoves and incomparable singing.Each group received standing ova-tions while on stage as theywowed the crowd of over 15,000fans. During the O’Jays perform-ance, Eddie Levert paused to letthe fans, promoters and supportsknow that the street dedicationbrought tears to his eyes and hethanked everyone for their sup-port.

During a one-on-one interviewwith Williams and Grant, Williamssaid, “It’s fantastic [to be finallyrecognized by the city ofCanton].” “Can words explain it?This is home for me. I’m the onlyone who is originally from Canton,so it’s a special thing for me to berecognized and to not only be rec-ognized by saying it but by doingthings to show that they do appre-ciate us. I mean they turned out,they came to the street dedication,and they came to the show tonight,and from what I can tell they had agreat time.”

(SEE OJAYS/PAGE 13)

Homecoming: A celebration of

The O’Jays The O’Jays

Eddie, Eric and Walt acknowledge the crowd as they are presented with a street sign dedicat-ed to the legendary O’Jay’s. (All photos by Mychal Lilly)

As the limo arrives, throngs of Canton well-wishers come out to greet “their own” O’Jay’s.

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