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Monday, February 27, 2012
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Rocking chair out for rockin’ retired prinicpal
BY KATIE YANTIS Ohio Community Media kyantis@tdnpublishing.com CASSTOWN — Most people have a niche — something that makes them happy, makes them smile — and it may just be a secret. For area resident and former principal Ric Hacker, that is just the case — until recently. Hacker was a principal for 24 years. He got his start at Valley View as a teacher, then became a principal and came to be Miami East’s principal from 1985-2009. What many people don’t know about Hacker is that along with buttoning up the suit and tie and heading to his office in schools, he had another role — another “office” per say. The jig is up. “In 1976, The Greasers started,” Hacker said of his cover rock band that is now playing in the area. “It started off in the Methodist church in Germantown. Me and some of the guys started clowning around in practice. We would start doing doo wop songs and the choir director would just get infuriated at us.” Little did Hacker and his friends know, the choir director also was the organizer of spring talent shows in Germantown where peo-
PROVIDED PHOTO
“The Greasers” perform at a recent show. The band performed earlier this month at VikingFest in Casstown and includes former Miami East principal Ric Hacker. ple write skits and sings songs to raise money for the town’s rescue squad. “We were just clowning around having fun,” Hacker said. “She looked at us and said ‘You guys are driving me crazy, but you are pretty good. We are going to do this show, why don’t you work up an act?’” At the time Hacker said the group consisted of four singers and a piano. “It was almost barbershop, but with a rock and roll flavor,” he said. “We did it just for the show and didn’t think it would go anywhere. But, we got calls to perform at the Dayton Mall and other people asking us to sing.” From there, he said it just kept growing. “We started practicing and we decided to add to it. We added a drummer, a bass and a lead, and over the years we have added everything from bass to
lead to saxophone,” Hacker said. “We can do just about any kind of song.” Staying true to its roots, Hacker said the band plays a variety of music, but stays close to the doo wop sound from which the band was born.
band started, each member was pretty open to being able to go where the band led them. “At the time I wasn’t married, only one of us was, so we were pretty free to do whatever we wanted,” he said. “We played weekends,
“She looked at us and said ‘You guys are driving me crazy, but you are pretty good.’” - Ric Hacker “Our speciality was late ’50s rock and roll and we try to stay true to it to a certain point. But now we have moved into the mid- to late’60s and tapped on to the early ’70s,” Hacker said. “But we always jump back into our range, we don’t go too far out.” Hacker said when the
clubs, bars, a lot of different things and our families were fine with it. I know my father loved it.” He said while his father enjoyed the band, he got a response many mothers would give to a loud rock band — and still does today. “Turn it down, you’re great, but you’re too loud,”
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From the school office to the front of the stage, Hacker’s music interest started early
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he said of his mother’s response. From the school office to the front of the stage, Hacker said his music interest was always there from a young age. “I had musical talent and an interest in it,” Hacker said. “I was a good trumpet player in the band orchestra, but I never sang. I knew I could sing, but never got in any of the choirs. I hid all of that, though. I wanted to be a baseball player or basketball player and tried to be a jock. Although I can play those sports, I’m not good at any of them.” He said after awhile the realized his talents. “It took me awhile to accept the fact that I can do this,” Hacker said. “I finally embraced it, but kept it quiet for awhile up here because it was my sideline thing. I kept my life up here separate.”
It was not until a recent co-worker’s retirement party that Hacker played north of Interstate 70. He said now the band is booking more shows north of Germantown and is embracing the opportunities that are being presented. After retiring in 2009, he said being a part of The Greasers is special. “It’s a retiree’s dream,” Hacker said. “I love music, I love rock and roll. That’s my passion.” From all the responses people give him, Hacker said, he has one that is his favorite. “A lot of times people think ‘Oh you just get together and you goof around,’” he said. “That’s true to a point, but if you come and hear us, you will see it’s real, our band is just sensational, these guys challenge us to sing things we didn’t think we could sing.” He said being on stage is great, but one of his favorite parts of the band is everything behind the scenes. “I love practice. We practice about once a week, usually on the weekend,” he said. “We get together, set everything and play for three hours. We sometimes have more fun in practice than we do in the shows. We do some of our best music in practice.” When the band took a break and later got back together, Hacker said it was truly a gift. “I didn’t know it was going to start back up when I quit,” he said, jokingly. “This is what an old retired principal does with his free time.” The band now consists of second generation members and also includes Richard Schoonover and his son Brandon, Randy Stiver and daughter Ashley, Gerald Emerick and Julie Stiver. For more information on The Greasers, visit thegreasersband.com.