On August 22, 1940, 78 children – sons and daughters of the employees at Hoover Ltd in Great Britain – arrived in North Canton. They were between 5 and 16 years old and had come here seeking safety from the war raging in Europe. The children were homesick and Herbert Hoover, whom they called Uncle Hoover, helped to arrange foster families for them and planned events such as a Thanksgiving Feast at the Onesto Hotel in 1942. The children ended up spending 5 years – the entirety of the war – in North Canton (Hall and Kiefer).