Dancelands house band, the Decades will have their final performance as a group on Saturday. (Submitted photo/Millie Strueby)

By Angie Rolheiser

Decades at Danceland

House band at Danceland to grace the stage one last time

Feb 14, 2020 | 12:13 PM

A final show will be played tomorrow night by the house band at Danceland in Manitou Beach.

The Decades have been playing together for the past 36 years but have made the difficult decision of retiring from the stage as a group.

MIllie Strueby is not only the owner of Danceland but the keyboardist for the group that was formed back in 1983.

“We all enjoy playing together and we get together about six times a year to play,” Strueby said.

Other original members of the Decades were Millie’s husband ,Arnold, as well as Gordon Bregg, Terry Rugg, Rick Reithmeier, and Carla Rugg. The band has had new members join over the years providing old time dance music to their audiences.

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The Decades have been the house band at Danceland since 2001.

“We do a little bit of everything, polkas, waltzes, fox trots, old time waltz, some ’50s, ’60s,” Strueby said.

The age of some of the band members has led the group to their decision to call it quits and play their final show. The trumpet player is nearly 90 years old, according to Strueby.

“With trumpet you have to play a little bit everyday so he is running out of air,” Strueby said. “Dance is about a six-hour gig so that is getting a little bit too long for him.”

Their saxophone player is not far behind in age either and has some health issues.

“We decided to quite playing as the Decades since we have a certain sound with a trumpet and a saxophone,” Strueby said.

According to Strueby, the old-time dance bands have unfortunately faded, but people still seem to enjoy them and are still popular with the regular attendees at Danceland.

Some of Strueby’s most fond memories come from seeing people come into the dance hall who can barely walk, but seem to be able to dance the night away once they get on the famous horse hair dance floor.

The farewell performance tomorrow is expected to see a large crowd with over 200 advance tickets sold for the dinner before the show. More are expected for the dance that runs from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Danceland will celebrate 90 years of dancing in July, 2020. Millie and Arnold have many shows on the way again for this year at the dance hall that continues to be open and busy year-round.

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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser