FREE Tours Available Of North Canton's Champion Big Tree

Did you know that the tallest cucumber magnolia tree in the United States is located in North Canton? If so, have you seen it?

Here it is, it's located at Auburn Knolls....


Great news, which you may not have heard, FREE tours are now available.

Yes, you can now go to Auburn Knolls, which if you don't know is a gated community, and see the 429-year-old cucumbertree magnolia which stands 79 feet tall, spreads 88 feet at the crown and has a circumference of 288 inches.

The tour is now featured on the Canton/Stark County Convention and Visitors Bureau website...


Spread the word; email this post to a friend!

The Sanctuary Golf Club Named Small Business Of The Year

I was going through some back issues of The Repository and found a story on the North Canton Chamber of Commerce's recent awards dinner.

It was a pleasure for me to see that the North Canton Chamber of Commerce's Small Business of the Year Award went to The Sanctuary Golf Club.

Developers Bob DeHoff and Bill Lemmon are the owners of The Sanctuary Golf Club.


I had the good fortune to play at The Sanctuary Golf Club a few times last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

One of the things I like about The Sanctuary is that it's fairly open, there aren't a lot of trees lining narrow fairways. That's not to say the course lacks obstacles or that it's not a challenge.


Whether you're a long hitter or a precise shot maker The Sanctuary Golf Club has plenty to offer.

A stream runs through the course and comes into play on a number of holes, there are a few other notable water hazards, you have plenty of opportunities to get into sand traps and the greens are very challenging, both in terms of topography and speed.

Hit the ball in the wrong place and it's easy to find trees that come into play.


A unique feature of The Sanctuary Golf Club is that it is indeed a bird sanctuary. You can see that maintaining an appropriate habitat played a key role in the design of the course.


What's most special about The Sanctuary Golf Club, though, doesn't have anything to do with the golf course.

When I was working at The Observer-Reporter I covered a golf outing to raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The Sanctuary regularly hosts these sort of events.

I was very impressed to find that people who are in cancer treatment are able to play free at The Sanctuary Golf Club. I'd never heard of a program like that anywhere before.

I'll be putting an article together on this program in the near future.


I wouldn't hesitate to rate The Sanctuary Golf Club as one of my favorite golf courses in Stark County. It's one of the jewels of the City of North Canton.

The North Canton Beat... Is Listed On BlogShares

The North Canton Beat... is trading at B$11.14 a share. The price has steadily increased since an initial offering was made at B$.20 a share.


Yes, you can buy stock in The North Canton Beat...; it's listed on the BlogShares fantasy stock market.

Anyone can play BlogShares, a game where you buy and sell shares of stock in blogs.

The basic, free, game membership allows a finite number of transactions per 24-hour period while a Premium Membership, at a cost of $15 (U.S. Dollars) per year, allows you to execute an unlimited number of transactions.


I'm updating The North Canton Beat... this week and expect to connect with some bloggers to do some link swapping. The value of a blog is impacted by blogs with which it is linked that are also listed in the game.

Look for the price of The North Canton Beat... to be up next week.

The Beauty Of Autumn At The Fairways Of North Canton

There has been talk now and then of converting The Fairways of North Canton to a park.

It's understandable, given the the less than optimum performance of Kevin Larizza when he was leasing the course and managing it for the city. Larizza was more dependable to be late with lease payments and lax in making the capital improvements which were his responsibility.


The Fairways is a good golf course and with a better leasing company/management team put in place I expect it will only get better.

One thing that's certain is that the course is beautiful during the autumn season. That, I believe, is reflected by these shots I got in early November...

The Vanity Of It All

How often do vanity license plates make you smile, shake your head or wonder what the person was thinking?

Don't keep that thought to yourself. Snap a picture and share the plate in the vanity license plate collection, The Vanity Of It All.

It's easy to play along. You don't need to say where you shot the picture or what you think the meaning behind the plate is. Simply shoot the picture and send it in.

If you're involved in any social media websites I'd appreciate you helping spread the word.

I Ask You To Join Me In Supporting Barack Obama

I voted for Barack Obama because I believe he is most capable and best prepared to revitalize and energize the economy, that he will improve the quality of life for the middle class and with the help of Joe Biden he will restore America's standing in the world community.

Yes, I am supporting Senator Barack Obama to become the next President of the United States and encourage you to join me.

I feel that the choice of Senator Joe Biden to serve as Vice President reflects the good judgment that will be necessary to solve a myriad of problems left when George W. Bush leaves office.

More importantly, Barack Obama has a vision for America that, I feel, reflects the ideals of a statesman, like John F. Kennedy.

Special interests will not be the guiding force in a Barak Obama administration. Unflinching dedication to ethical behavior is the standard by which this administration will be judged.

This ticket is a strong supporter of issues vitally important to women, including maintaining the right to choose, is dedicated to wiping out discrimination against minorities and believes in upholding the rights of same sex couples.

America's image has been tarnished around the world and I believe it is the team of Barack Obama and Joe Biden that is best prepared to restore a vision of America as what Ronald Reagan described as, "a shining city upon a hill."

The Obama/Biden team will maintain a high level of security at home while bringing an end to an unwise war in Iraq and bringing needed focus to the war on terror in Afghanistan.

Foreign policy and economic issues are intertwined in the age of a world economy.

Barack Obama has an economic agenda that will allow America to not only compete, but to once again be a leader in the world market.

At home, barriers to economic prosperity for the middle class will be stripped away.

The healthcare reform strategy espoused by Barack Obama will make healthcare both accessible and affordable. That while increasing employment, cutting taxes for the middle class and ensuring compliance with fair trade practices.

Energy independence, meaningful environmental stewardship, an improved education system and returning America to the cutting edge of technology development are priorities for the Obama/Biden team.

Barack Obama has an agenda to restore what has been lost in America. He has the ability and intestinal fortitude to carry out a plan which will bring meaningful, much needed change.

Early voting began in Ohio on Tuesday. Yesterday I cast my vote for Barack Obama/Joe Biden. I ask you to support the candidacy of Barack Obama in what will be the most important election in our lifetime.

Barack Obama is the right man at the right time to make America strong again. He is the leader who will once again make The American Dream attainable.

A Tribute To Joseph Vincent Vigiano - Lost In The 9-11 Attack On The World Trade Center

The Vigiano family is legendary in New York.

The patriarch of the family, John, is a retired New York City firefighter captain. Twice in his career he was read his last rights, and survived.

His twin sons (born on April 5th) Joseph Vincent Vigiano, a detective with the New York City Police Department, and John, a New York City firefighter, were both lost on September 11, 2001 in the attack on the World Trade Center.

They were 34-years-old.

Both the brothers were Eagle Scouts. Their father described Joseph as the funny one and John as the serious one.

John had this to say about his sons, "They never embarrassed me. They were good fathers, good husbands and they were good men."

I'm proud to pay tribute to...
Joseph Vincent Vigiano.
One of the heroes that went into the World Trade Center to save lives on 9-11.

His body was found one month later and removed with a full honor guard. Joseph's brother's remains were never recovered.

Joseph was posthumously awarded the New York City Police Department's Medal of Honor.

In addition to his wife Kathy, who was also a police officer, Joseph left behind three sons.

The two oldest boys are pictured at 6 and 8-years-old. The youngest one was three-months-old. The family lived in Medford, New York.

Joseph was assigned to Emergency Services Squad 3 in Harlem.

He had a 14-year career and was one of the NYPD's most decorated officers. Three different times he was shot in the line of duty; each time he returned to work.

Sources of information used for this tribute included a Legacy.com page and the Officer Down Memorial Page dedicated to Joseph.

Of everything I found when conducting research on the life of Joseph Vincent Vigiano nothing was more touching than this from his son...