1954 Booster Club President

Paul “Pep” Paulson

President Paul “Pep” Paulson welcomed Tom Harp as the new Tiger head coach. Coach Harp had been head coach at Carrollton High School and at the age of 26, he became the 2nd youngest head coach ever hired at Massillon. Paul Brown was the youngest at 24.

President Paulson, and his fellow Booster Club officials, organized the biggest Massillon/McKinley game parade of all times. Despite a very heavy rain, an estimated crowd of 20,000 Tiger fans came out to watch. The parade consisted of 17 floats, 2 bands, 2 drum and bugle corps, sports cars and horses. The parade committee required the floats to cover the entire chassis of the truck or trailer and they had to carry the game theme. The floats, which were entered by 15 WHS student groups, were judged and prizes awarded. President Paulson and his committee created a community effort that included students, adults and businesses which stimulated city wide enthusiasm.

Paramont News (movie news shorts), CBS TV (Douglas Edwards), and ABC TV (Dave Caraway from Today and Wide World of Sports shows) all covered the parade and game. The six weeks of hard work and preparation that was necessary to make this all happen certainly paid off for Massillon with the nationwide coverage it received. If having the town spirit at a fever pitch has anything to do with the outcome of games, then the Booster Club and this parade had something to do in winning the game and state championship. “Massillon 26 – Canton McKinley 6.”