DCA Weekend Marks Start Of Scout House Field Show Schedule

| |

scout_house_100x100Following a well-received performance during the Alumni Spectacular field concert in Rochester, New York on Labour Day weekend, Scout House Band, of Cambridge, Ontario, is heading into a second season of field shows carrying on until the middle of October.

The Alumni Spectacular, one of the events held during the Drum Corps Associates (DCA) championship tournament, marks the end of the field show season for most drum and bugle corps. Scout House management began investigating new performance opportunities early in 2014 when it became apparent the opportunity to present field shows during July and August would be drastically reduced compared to earlier years.

Long-running DCA contests in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and Hornell, New York were cancelled this year. Scout House has been a popular visitor to both communities since the mid 1950s. In 2013, the Scout House organization’s 75th anniversary year, the mayor of Lewisburg announced on the field at the stadium that town council had declared the contest date to be Preston Scout House Day in honour of the many years of entertainment the Band has provided to area residents. The people of Hornell are equally fond of Scout House. In earlier days, contest promoters would stimulate advance ticket sales with promotional material that stated simply, “Scout House is coming back!”

Scout House shared the field with Rochester’s Empire Statesmen twice last year: the first time at the Scout House Tattoo in Waterloo and again two weeks later in Webster, New York at the show that marked the last home town field performance for Empire Statesmen before the corps disbanded late last year. Scout House did not perform in Rochester this year until the DCA Alumni Spectacular.

The four field show performances still to come include two at local events and two in western New York.

Scout House will perform twice on Saturday, September 20 during the Cambridge Fire Department’s “Boot Drive” in support of Muscular Dystrophy (MD). Supporters place their donation in traditional firefighting boots. The performances will take place at 11 am and 1 pm at Cambridge Centre Mall on the Band’s summer practice area near the Hudson’s Bay store. Scout House Cadets drum and bugle corps will also perform during the day. The Band was invited to perform in exhibition at a high school marching band contest in Medina, New York on the same date but declined to be able support the home town event.

Scout House will perform in exhibition at two other high school marching band contests: in Orchard Park, New York on Saturday October 4 and Webster, New York on Saturday October 18.

Field show practice sessions will shift from Thursday evenings to Sunday afternoons throughout September. The Band’s rehearsal schedule usually switches to Sunday afternoon music instruction in September, but the drill practices are extended this year to keep the group in shape for the autumn field shows.

The fall performance schedule also includes the traditional Warriors’ Day parade and tattoo sponsored by Preston Royal Canadian Legion Branch 126 on September 13, the Kitchener/Waterloo Oktoberfest parade on Thanksgiving Day Monday October 13, Remembrance Day parade and cenotaph ceremony organized by Galt Royal Canadian Legion Branch 121 on November 11 and Christmas parades in Cambridge and Guelph in late November.

Since its first performance in 1999, Scout House has performed more than 425 concerts, street parades and field shows in Ontario, Quebec and 10 American states: Michigan, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland and Florida.

Scout House now includes about 90 marching members from more than 20 communities across southern Ontario and northern Pennsylvania who had previously been associated with more than 75 marching music organizations. The Scout House family also includes the Scout House Cadets drum and bugle corps for boys and girls from age 12 to 18.

New members for both groups are welcome throughout the year in marching music positions and a variety of support positions.

For information about Present Scout House Cadets, email pshcadets [at] outlook [dot] com, telephone (519) 886-7468 or visit the web site at http://www.scouthouseband.com/

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, September 2nd, 2014. Filed under DCA News, FrontPage Feature.