Distinctive Displays Part Of Scout House Canadian Heroes Salute

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scout_house_100x100Spectators at the 5th annual Scout House Invitational Tattoo field show on Saturday, August 9 will come face to face with Canadian heroes depicted in Dave Sopha’s 40-foot long Portraits of Honour, a 10 foot by 40 foot canvas oil painting which features the faces of Canadian troops killed in Afghanistan. His portraits and the Juno Beach Centre graphic display prepared for 70th anniversary memorial celebrations in Berniers-Sur-Mer, France will be on prominent view as people enter University Stadium in Waterloo.

Photos of both displays can be viewed at the Tattoo website: http://www.scouthousetattoo.com/

The theme of this year’s Tattoo is 2014: A Year of Remembrance of those Canadians who fought in significant conflicts, including the War of 1812, which ended 200 years ago in 1814; World War I, which began 100 years ago in 1914; World War II, the Korean War, the war in Afghanistan and various United Nations peacekeeping missions involving Canada’s Blue Berets.

The close relationship between Scout House Band and the men and women of Canada’s armed forces extends all the way back to the organization’s early years soon after the Band was established as an activity for boys of the 1st Preston Scout Troop in 1938. The Band marched in an average of 40 parades annually during World War II in support of various war efforts. The distinctive knees-up marching style with arms swinging to shoulder height was developed during weekly church parades escorting 600 WRENS (members of the Women’s Royal Naval Service) on ceremonial marches. Several members of the Band lost their lives during the War.

Dave Sopha has been a professional airbrushing artist for more than 40 years. He discovered his artistic talent during an eight-month recovery following a car accident in 1970 that left him with a broken back. He has received many awards for his work in support of military members and veterans across the country, including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, the Minister of Veterans’ Affairs Commendation, Kinsmen’s Hal Rogers Fellow award, Rotary’s Paul Harris Fellow, Kiwanis Walter Zeller Fellow, Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership award. He is a life member of Kin Canada, Canadian Air Force 428 Wing, NATO Veterans Organization of Canada, Canadian Army Veterans (CAV) motorcycle unit, NATO Veterans Canada Motorcycle Unit, Hamilton Warplane Heritage Museum. He is an honourary member of the Canadian Rangers.

He was chosen the city of Cambridge Citizen of the Year for 2003 and has received the Cambridge’s Art and Culture award. He has been a member of Preston Royal Canadian Legion Branch126 in Cambridge for about 15 years.

The Juno Beach Centre, which opened in 2003, is Canada’s World War II museum and cultural centre located in Normandy, France. The Centre pays homage to the 45,000 Canadians who lost their lives during the War, including 5,500 who were killed during the Battle of Normandy and 359 who died on D-Day. The Juno Beach Centre Association (JBCA) is a Canadian non-profit charitable corporation governed by a board of directors based in Burlington, Ontario. The JBCA owns and operates the Juno Beach Centre.

The 5th annual Scout House Invitational Tattoo field show will feature White Sabers of Dansville, New York, the current Drum Corps Associates (DCA) Class A champions; Ghost Riders of upstate New York, current DCA mini-corps champions; Optimists Alumni drum and bugle corps of Toronto; Mighty St. Joe’s Alumni drum and bugle corps of LeRoy, New York; Cambridge and District Pipe Band; Preston Scout House Cadets and Scout House Band of Cambridge. The DCAT (Drum Corps Alumni of Toronto) Chorus will sing the national anthems of the United States and Canada as part of the opening ceremonies.

The 2014 Tattoo will be held in University Stadium, 81 Seagram Drive, at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. Doors open at 5:30 pm with entertainment beginning at 6:30 pm. Advance tickets, available at a number of sources, are $12. Tickets purchased at the stadium gate will be $15. Children under 12 will be admitted free.

Advance tickets are available from members of Scout House Cadets and Scout House Band. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Centre in the Square theatre box office, 101 Queen Street North in?Kitchener. Tickets can also be ordered by phone (convenience fee charged) by calling the Centre in the Square ticket centre at (519) 578-1570 or 1 (800) 265-8977. Those tickets will be available for pick up at the “will call” window at the stadium box office the night of the Tattoo.

A number of Home Hardware retail stores also have Tattoo tickets available for advance purchase: Swanson’s Home Building Centre, 166 Park Street, Kitchener; Preston Towne Home Hardware, 718 King Street East, Cambridge; Westgate Village Home Hardware, 130 Cedar Street, Cambridge; Glenbriar Home Hardware, 262 Weber Street North, Waterloo.

Since Scout House Band’s first appearance at the Great Alliance of Seniors (GAS) reunion weekend in Mississauga in 1999, Scout House has performed more than 425 concerts, street parades and field shows in Ontario, Quebec and 10 American states. During those performances, Scout House has earned more than 60 awards of various kinds. Scout House Band has received the Bernice Adams Memorial Award for cultural achievement in music, presented by the city of Cambridge.

Scout House Band now includes marching members from more than 20 communities across southern Ontario who had previously been associated with more than 75 marching music organizations. Scout House Cadets drum and bugle corps for boys and girls from age 12 to 18 was established to help mark the group’s 75th anniversary since starting as a Boy Scout bugle band in 1938.

For more information about Scout House 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/

Posted by on Tuesday, July 29th, 2014. Filed under Current News, DCA News, FrontPage Feature.