Correspondent photos / Sean Barron The Canfield High School marching band makes its presence felt on South Broad Street during Thursday’s annual Fourth of July parade in Canfield.

CANFIELD – When it came to making his appearance in a longtime holiday tradition, Benjamin Franklin was neither shy nor hounded by autograph seekers.

“I bought this for Halloween a few years ago, and I’ve been wearing it on the Fourth of July the past few years,” Brice Smallwood, who donned a curly, gray-and-white Benjamin Franklin hairpiece, said.

This year was no exception because Smallwood, of Erlanger, Kentucky, again dressed as the famous Founding Father, writer, scientist, inventor, statesman and polymath for Thursday’s annual Fourth of July parade that began at the Canfield Fairgrounds and proceeded along South Broad Street to the Village Green.

Smallwood, who is an attorney, said he and his wife, originally from Boardman, are in town for the long holiday weekend. A highlight of his first time at the parade was to see his brother-in-law, Grant Strong of Canfield, and Strong’s son, Colton, who performed in the parade.

Strong, who moved to the area in August 2023 from London, expressed pride that Colton, 14, marched with the Canfield High School band while playing the snare drum. For Strong, however, Canfield means more than merely a place for a parade and related festivities each year.

“Megan and I got married in 2006 in Canfield, and I whisked her away,” Strong, a second-grade teacher at McKinley Elementary School in Poland, said.

Strong, Smallwood and their families were among thousands of spectators who lined both sides of the main thoroughfare from the fairgrounds to the Green on an overcast morning to see the event.

Not surprisingly, many wore red, white and blue outfits to display their patriotism.

Layne Talbot, 2, and his sister, Kaliah, 6, of Salineville, were no exception. Nevertheless, candy rather than patriotism seemed to be at the forefront of their minds as they scrambled to fill their white plastic bags with a variety of sweets that were tossed their way.

“I used to come here when I was little, so I wanted them to come, too,” the siblings’ mother, Emily Talbott, said.

Talbott and her two children set up shop in front of the home in which Talbott’s cousin, Ray Todd, had grown up. His parents bought the two-story home in the 1960s, and it has historical significance, Todd said.

“The house was built in 1802 by Gen. Elijah Wadsworth, a founder of Canfield,” he added.

Wadsworth was a captain in the Revolutionary War and a major-general in the War of 1812. He also was a land speculator who moved to Ohio in 1799, where he bought property that was part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. Wadsworth moved to Canfield after having surveyed the area that became Warren, and served several years as Canfield’s postmaster.

Among those represented in the colorful pageantry were Canfield-based American Legion Post 177, several fire and police departments, the Canfield High School marching band and girls softball team, Cub Scout Pack 25, the Canfield Soccer, Lions and Rotary clubs, the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office, the Catholic War Veterans USA organization, Bearded Brothers Moving Group LLC and the Mahoning Valley Ulster Project.

Others included the Mahoning Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the Mahoning County Junior Fair Board, the Youngstown Shrine Club, Buckeye Hospice and Palliative Care, Calla Community Church, the Aut Mori Grotto clown unit, Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary 9571 and the Kahlua Project.

Serving as grand marshal was Debbie Roman, a lifelong Canfield resident who, along with her husband, George, owns George Roman Auctioneers Ltd.

“I was shocked to be named,” Roman said, adding that she has proudly been part of numerous Canfield organizations and entities, but never seeks publicity.

Specifically, she served as president of the high school’s soccer and wrestling boosters, as well as co-chairwoman of various levy committees, and has continually demonstrated her support of the city of about 7,600.

Even though she has moved several times to different parts of Canfield, Roman said she can’t imagine living anywhere else.

“I’ve never had any other ZIP code; I’ve never had any other address,” Roman said, adding that her four children and 12 grandchildren also call it home.