The world famous Budweiser Clydesdales will clip clop through the Akron area next month.
The draft horses will make an appearance in Green and will once again parade through downtown Kent.
It’s been years since the horses, beer advertising icons, last came to the area. Their visits usually attract thousands of people.
“We’re totally excited,” said Heather Malarcik, executive director of Main Street Kent. “We feel pretty special.”
The horses will make a stop from 2 to 4 p.m. Aug. 10 at the Circle K, 3520 S. Arlington Road, Green. Fans will be able to take photos, but the horses won’t be on the move.
That’s reserved for Aug. 11 when they will parade in full gear through downtown Kent. The horses also visited the Portage County city in 2007 and 2009.
The Clydesdales, which weigh about 2,000 pounds each, travel by custom-made tractor-trailer. They will be outfitted and hitched to a red, white and gold Studebaker-built beer wagon, a process that takes about an hour.
They are expected to arrive at 5:30 p.m., with the parade beginning at 6:30 p.m. outside the Hometown Bank Plaza, 142 N. Water St.
The parade will travel along West Main Street, Franklin Avenue, College Avenue, South Water Street, East Main Street, South Depeyster Street and East Erie Street before circling back to South Water Street.
The Clydesdales will stop along the parade route for photo opportunities and deliver beer to Anheuser-Busch customers in downtown Kent.
Joseph Jordan, an Anheuser-Busch InBev key account manager who lives in Rootstown Township, arranged the visit with the help of the Main Street Kent.
“I’ve always had a kind place in my heart for Kent,” Jordan said.
The last time the Clydesdales visited Kent was in 2009.
With the revitalization that has taken place downtown, it’s a good time for another parade, Jordan said.
The horses also will likely make an appearance at the Cleveland Indians game Aug. 13, he said.
The Clydesdales made their debut for Anheuser-Busch in 1933 when August A. Busch Jr. presented the horses and beer wagon to his father to commemorate the first bottle of beer brewed in St. Louis after Prohibition.
Ever since, they’ve been used to promote Budweiser.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his beer blog at www.ohio.com/beer. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ.