NEWS RELEASE
PRESTON SCOUT HOUSE
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Seven members of Preston Scout House Band Inc. will receive lapel pins marking their years of long service, during the community Summer Social gathering from 1 to 6 pm on June 22.
Several hundred former members, family and friends are expected to attend at Preston Royal Canadian Legion Branch 126, 334 Westminster Drive North.
Not only is admission free, there’ll be free ice cream to help set the mood for a pleasant summer social afternoon.
The long service pins reflect participation with Scout House Alumni Band, Scout House Cadets drum and bugle corps and Silver Leaves Brass ensemble.
The presentation of anniversary pins signifying the number of years of membership in Scout House groups began in 1993 at the start of the alumni era.
Scout House Band was founded in 1938 as a new activity for the 1st Preston Boy Scout troop under the direction of local pharmacist Wilf Blum.
Those receiving awards for long service this year are:
5 years: Julie Ehrlich, Richard Ehrlich
10 years: Megan Mackay, Sandi Moseley
15 years: Tom Conrad
20 years: Linda Carrigan
25 years: Jim Leslie
Members of the community are welcome to mix and mingle with the Scout House members who helped put Preston on the map during the Band’s years of international travel and high achievements. The Summer Social will feature displays of photos, videos, news clippings, scrapbooks and other memorabilia emphasizing the social side of the group. There will be a cash bar, outdoor barbecue and a table offering Scout House and drum and bugle corps memorabilia for visitors to take home a souvenir.
The event marks the 86th year of community service since Band activities began in 1938. Over more than eight decades, the organization has included five member groups. The current active group is award winning Silver Leaves Brass ensemble, including some members who marched in the original band in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Other groups, now inactive, are the Heritage Drill Team and five time champion Magic of Scout House winter guard.
The Summer Social will feature displays showing the social side of Scout House members away from performance routines, including bus trips, patio and pool parties, awards banquets, costume and dress-up rehearsals. Band performances will again be featured on screen, with slides of social events displayed on a large screen on stage.
Scout House is continuing its support of youth music activities in Waterloo Region in 2024, recently offering cash prizes to participants in the Kitchener/Waterloo Kiwanis Music Festival. The awards were presented at the Festival’s grand finale concert at Knox Presbyterian Church in Waterloo on May 10.
In the past 10 years, Scout House has awarded more than $10,000 to winners of Wilf Blum youth music scholarships offered in memory of the Band’s founder.
Preston Scout House Band, Inc. is a non-profit corporation with registered charity status able to issue tax receipts to donors, incorporated under the Corporations Act of the Province of Ontario on November 29, 1956.
For more information about Preston Scout House Band Inc. activities, contact telephone (519) 653-3376, email [email protected]
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