Historical society to celebrate Harry Stevens

NILES

Niles Historical Society is participating in the annual Harry Stevens Hot Dog Day celebration set for July 3. They are working with the Avenue and Main, which is putting on the event.

Bus transportation will be provided from the downtown area to the Ward Thomas House.

There will be displays, demonstrations, children’s activities and a free tour of the House and grounds.

There also will be a meet-and- greet with Niles native author Carol Kauffman and newspaper cartoonist Rick Muccio.

Heather Merritt of Birds in Flight Sanctuary will have a show at 2:30 p.m., and music will be provided by Jeff Burke of Record Connection.

Ralph Tolbert will present a slide show of Niles history, and there will be a used book sale and refreshments.

Stevens is regarded as America’s foremost ball-park concessionaire. The invention of the hot dog goes back to a cold April day in 1901 when Stevens was unable to sell ice cream. As a result, he ordered his staff to collect “dachshund (Vienna) sausages,” which he stuffed into bread rolls and shouted “Get your red hots!” A cartoonist recording the event was unable to spell dachshund and instead wrote hot dog.