Dominic Greco Band featured on Canal Dover Festival plate

The Dominic Greco Band will be featured on the annual Canal Dover Festival commemorative plate this year, marking the 45th anniversary of the event. The festival will be held May 22-24 in downtown Dover.

“We always try to pick a theme that is a part of Dover’s history. And the Dominic Greco Band is a large part of the history of Dover. They’ve been playing music since around 1917,” said Kevin Korns, a member of the Dover Exchange Club, which sponsors the festival.

The late Dominic Greco moved to Dover from Pittsburgh and formed the Italian Band to play at community events.

After World War I, in 1919, he expanded the organization, and it was renamed the Dover Concert Band. The band wore dual-colored capes and plumed hats at some appearances in the late 1920s.

Word spread about the band, and by the 1930s, it had made six appearances at the Ohio State Fair.

Dominic Greco conducted the band for nearly 40 years. Harper Froman succeeded Greco as director, followed by Robert Lyon. In 1973, band members voted to change the name from Dover Concert Band to The Dominic Greco Band.

Fred Delphia conducted the band from 1983-90. The band then took a break for about 11 years before returning in 2001 and has performed every year since. Delphia retired in 2018, and the band continued under the leadership of Brian Botdorf, Cheryl Graham and April Linard.

In recognition of America 250, that logo also will be included on the plate.

A plate auction will be held following the Dover High School band concert at about 1 p.m. on the main stage. Plates also can be purchased at the festival headquarters trailer at Third and Walnut streets.

There will be plenty to see and eat, as festival vendor spots sold out again this year.

“The street is full. We had a great response, and we sold out early this year,” Korns said.

The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day.

“We’ll have a street full of food, rides, entertainment on two stages, a lot of favorites coming back, and there’s some new entertainment,” Korns said.

In addition to new food vendors, returning favorites also will be at the festival.

“We naturally will have our DiRusso Sausage stands, waffle trailer, and the Tuscarawas Central Catholic booster sausage trailer will be back. We’ll have strombolis, french fries, ice cream — all the good stuff,” Korns said.

Favorite activities include the parade Saturday, which starts at noon and goes through the downtown area. Powerslam Wrestling will be on the Wooster Avenue main stage Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

“It draws a big crowd, and they really get into it,” Korns said.

The Dover Exchange Club uses festival proceeds to help the community.

“We made a donation to the city last year to help build the new shelter up at the pickleball courts,” Korns said.

The list of local organizations helped by festival proceeds includes Dover High School sports teams, Dover youth sports programs, the Dover-New Philadelphia Food Pantry, scholarships for Kent State University at Tuscarawas students, the Reeves Museum, Tuscarawas County Challenger Baseball and many others.

Anyone interested in becoming a member of the Dover Exchange Club may visit the club’s information table at the festival headquarters trailer.

Musical acts scheduled to perform include Tequila Mary, Badstone, Sparkling Lion Champagne, The Moonlyterz, Ainsley Sefert, Joshua McCray, Jericho Big Band and The Dominic Greco Band. An Off the Wall Music Studio student showcase and dance studio recitals also will be held.

The club was still finalizing the schedule at press time. Check the Dover Exchange Club Facebook page for updates.