Scout House Adding Rifle/Banner Spin Line In 2014

Preston Scout House, of Cambridge, Ontario will be adding a new spin to the visual aspect of performances with the addition of a rifle and banner spin line. The new spin line unit, already holding practice sessions under the direction of teacher Rick Petherick, will be featured in addition to the traditional Scout House colour party which will still be prominently displayed during concert, parade and field show performances.

The spin line members will use rifles or banners as required by the performance, to add a new note of motion, colour and excitement to Scout House presentations.

Rick Petherick, of Hamilton, Ontario, started marching in 1970 with the Etobicoke Crusaders who later merged with the De La Salle Oaklands to become the Etobicoke Oakland Crusaders. He marched in 1976-‘77 with the Guelph Royalaires, in 1980 with the Niagara Regionnaires senior drum and bugle corps, in 1998-‘99 with Expressions of North Star Senior Winter guard and in 2001 with the Empire Statesmen.

He is considered an innovator in the art of rifle technique: the first person to spin a rifle parallel to the ground (like a helicopter blade) above his head.

Since first taking his new technique of parallel spins and tosses to the Chicago Cavaliers in 1976, he has been an educator with some of the best-known drum and bugle corps on the continent, including Casper Troopers and Suncoast Sound in the United States and Dutch Boy, Oakland Crusaders, Canadian Knights, Emerald Knights, Ventures, St. John’s Girls and Ridge Raiders in Canada. He has also taught a number of winter guard units, including Genesis II, Sentenelles, Brantford Dream, Spirit and Cardinals winter guards.

He is a qualified, experienced stage actor and dancer teaching in a syllabus that combines techniques of the International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA), American Dance Teachers Association (ADTA), North American Dancesport Teachers Association (NADTA) and Professional Dance Vision International Dance Association. In 2005 he opened Casablanca Ballroom and Dance Studio and was heavily involved in productions both on and off stage as an actor and director of such stage shows as Disney’s© Aladdin, The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. His passion and forte is Latin and ballroom dancing.

Scout House will be further enhancing its visual impact in 2014 with a uniform update, the first change in uniform design since the group’s premiere appearance in public at the 1999 Great Alliance of Seniors (GAS) annual reunion in Mississauga, Ontario. Since that first stage concert, Scout House has appeared in more than 425 concerts, street parades and field shows in Ontario, Quebec and 10 American states from Michigan to Florida. Band members come from more than 20 Ontario communities and bring previous experience with more than 75 other groups.

There will also be new music for audiences to enjoy in 2014. Two new selections, both arranged by Dave MacKinnon with percussion parts written by Lee Buckley, will be featured in the 2014 field show. One of the new songs will be the field show opener and the second a moving concert, replacing Sing, Sing, Sing, one of the signature big band tunes from the Swing Band era.

Scout House has already confirmed nine concert, parade and field show performances for 2014 in Ontario and New York state. The bulk of performance invitations are traditionally issued in January and accepted early in the new year according to the Band’s availability.

Practice sessions resume in early January, with no events scheduled in December after the Band’s annual Christmas banquet, held this year on Saturday, December 7. The normal weekly practice sessions include Silver Leaves brass ensemble rehearsal Sunday morning; brass, percussion and spin rifle/banner practice Sunday afternoon; colour guard training Tuesday evening; extra brass and Preston Scout House Cadets practice on Wednesday evening and drill team practice on Thursday evening.

For more information about Preston Scout House, 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/