By MOLLY DAVIDSON / Staff Writer

HOOVER—Sunny skies and warm weather greeted the thousands of people who filled Veterans Park on Valleydale Road for the ninth edition of Celebrate Hoover Day on April 30.

The annual festival showcases all the city of Hoover has to offer, from more than 100 local business vendor booths, to food from area restaurants, to live music, to Hoover Police and Fire department exhibits.

There was also a petting zoo, pony rides, face painting, a car show, carnival rides and a 2,600-pound apple pie baked by Jefferson State Community College Culinary and Hospitality Institute students and served with a scoop of ice cream.

“It was quite a success,” Hoover Mayor Gary Ivey said of the event during a May 2 Hoover City Council meeting. “The staff did an incredible job as always.”

An estimated 15,000 people attended this year’s Celebrate Hoover Day event, although Ivey said that number is a “conservative” estimate.

Hoover City Councilman Gene Smith said the city saw “another great year” of the event.

As always, the event was free to attend and lasted from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“(Celebrate Hoover Day) has grown, and it was still user-friendly,” Hoover resident Arnold Singer said. “It is one of the great events, and we should keep going with it.”