CANTON, OH (October 22, 2009) - The Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce and Pro Football Hall of Fame have named two long-time volunteers to leadership positions for the 2010 Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival. The world-renowned festival will celebrate the annual enshrinement of football players, coaches, and contributors into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, "America's Premier Sports Museum and Showplace!"
Daniel J. Fuline, CEO and executive director of Community Services of Stark County, Inc. will serve as general chairman of the Enshrinement Festival activities planned by the Enshrinement Festival department of the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce. Ken Dansizen, owner, Dansizen Architects, will serve as general chairman of the Enshrinement Festival activities planned by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
[gallery link="file" columns="2"]With the 2009 Enshrinement Festival just a few months behind them, strategic planning for the 2010 Enshrinement Festival is already well underway. The collaborative efforts of this leadership team, combined with the professional staffs at the Canton Regional Chamber and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the dedicated team of more than 4,200 extraordinary community volunteers, will ensure the success of 15 unique and diverse events over a ten-day period, tentatively scheduled for July 30 through Aug. 8, 2010. A tentative schedule of events is available online at www.profootballhofef.com. The Enshrinement Festival activities, attended by nearly 700,000 people, are expected to produce an economic impact of nearly $30 million for the Canton/Stark County area and $50 million for the State of Ohio. In addition, millions will experience aspects of the Enshrinement Festival as events are televised and covered by other media. With a record of success for the past 46 years, the Enshrinement Festival has earned its reputation as "A One of a Kind Celebration!"
Fuline will lead the chairmen of 26 Chamber committees, who hold in excess of 350 meetings throughout the year, to attend to the massive details of planning and staging several Enshrinement Festival events. He comes to this leadership position with a broad and unique view of the festivities and an extensive amount of knowledge gained over the years while he served on and chaired numerous Enshrinement Festival committees, including Security & Logistics, Communications, and Balloon Classic Invitational, before joining the Souvenir Committee, which he chaired in 2008 for the third and final year prior to becoming General Vice-Chairman in 2009. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Youngstown State University and master's degree in social work from The Ohio State University. He holds a Diplomate in clinical social work. He was honored in 1991 as Social Worker of the Year, received the Good Samaritan's Award in 1999, and was the Golden Dove Award recipient in 2001.
He is a past-president of Canton Rotary Club and is a Paul Harris Fellow. He serves on the boards of the Sisters of Charity and the Austin-Bailey Health and Wellness Foundations. He is also a member of the Prescription Assistance Board and on the advisory boards of the Salvation Army and the Advisory Social Work Board for Malone University. Fuline has been married to wife Linda for 39 years, and together they have two sons and six grandchildren.
Dansizen will lead the Pro Football Hall of Fame committees in planning and implementing other Enshrinement Festival events, including the central focus of the entire Festival, the Enshrinement Ceremony itself, as well as the NFL/Hall of Fame Game and the First Play event. While nearly 21,000 men have played in at least one National Football League game, there are only 253 members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame; this number will be increased by not more than seven and not fewer than four when the 2010 Class is announced Feb. 6 during Super Bowl weekend.
Dansizen also will lead the support committees that assist the Pro Football Hall of Fame in providing hospitality to the 2010 Enshrinees, the returning Hall of Famers and their families. He is a graduate of Kent State University, and 2010 marks his tenth consecutive year of lending his enthusiasm and expertise to the Hall's general chairman position. A registered architect in the State of Ohio, he is a board member of North Canton Public Library and North Canton TAP (Talk About Potential) committee, and he is a Paul Harris Fellow in North Canton Rotary Club. Dansizen is past president of North Canton Chamber of Commerce and North Canton Public Library. He and his wife, Joan, reside in North Canton and are the parents of four children and the grandparents of five.
Visit both the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival and the Pro Football Hall of Fame websites for the latest information regarding the 2010 schedule of events: www.profootballhofef.com or www.profootballhof.com.