Scout House Spring Opening Show And Early Season Schedule

Preston Scout House Alumni Band, of Cambridge, Ontario, will celebrate the arrival of spring with performances on four weekends in a row, beginning with its own Spring Opening arena show on April 29.

The following weekend the Band’s special units, including the Silver Leaves brass ensemble, drum ensemble and drill team will perform during the annual Great Alliance of Seniors (GAS) reunion being hosted in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania this year by Hawthorne Caballeros and New York Skyliners alumni associations.

On Saturday, May 12 Scout House will perform on stage during the 8th annual “and the Bands Played On…” concert in Simcoe. The following weekend, Scout House jumps back across the border to Buckhannon, West Virginia for a street parade and field show on Saturday, May 19.

The Band has scheduled two field show drill practices in the Cambridge soccer dome in early May to prepare for the Buckhannon appearance, which takes place on the weekend that Scout House normally is just starting outdoor field show practices. Area fans will get the chance to see the full Scout House field show on August 18 during the 3rd annual Scout House Invitational Tattoo at University Stadium in Waterloo. For details, visit: www.scouthousetattoo.com

The Scout House 2012 Spring Opening begins at 2 pm on Sunday, April 29 at Preston Memorial Auditorium, 1458 Hamilton Street, just around the corner from Scout House, the Band’s original home. The Spring Opening is a free concert for the community, allowing Scout House to say thank you for support received throughout the year. Doors will open at 1 pm, with seating on a first come, first served basis.

This year’s program will feature the full marching band, plus special routines by the Silver Leaves brass ensemble, a new percussion ensemble, drill team and colour guard.

The Spring Opening is a salute to the Spring Shows presented by the original Band in the 1940s, ‘50s and ‘60s. The Scout House Spring Show became one of the most anticipated and popular entertainment events in the area, attracting record crowds to Kitchener Memorial Auditorium with displays of marching and choreography, dazzling light displays, oversized props, choral groups, skits and novelty numbers.

Scout House Alumni Band was established in the fall of 1998, when former members already involved in an alumni drill team and colour guard began planning to form a stage band to perform at the GAS reunion to be held in Mississauga in the spring of 1999. The intention was to perform only that single concert. However, when organizers of local events learned that Scout House was back in action, the demand for performances kept the group on the march through most of the following summer.

Since its first stage show in 1999, Scout House Alumni Band has performed in more than 360 parades, field shows and concerts in communities across Ontario and Quebec, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Florida.

About 50 of the current alumni band membership of about 100 marched with Preston Scout House in the 1950s and 1960s. The age of Band members ranges from 22 to 80. Originally, Scout House was an all male organization, but today’s marching unit includes more than 20 females.

For more information about Preston Scout House Alumni Band, contact Activities Director Nancy Weiler at telephone (519) 653-3376, email prestonscouthouseband [dot] adm [at] sympatico [dot] ca or visit the Web site at http://www.scouthouseband.com/