From a Seattle Cascades press release: The Seattle Cascades have announced the hiring of Michael Leone as corps director. Leone most recently served as the director of the Oregon Crusaders from 2003-2006, where he led the corps to a Division III championship in 2004 and Division II finalist status in 2005 and 2006. He is an alum of the Seattle Cascades and was on the corps' visual staff from 2000-2002.

Michael Leone with members of the Oregon Crusaders after their performance at the 2005 DCI World Championships.
The Cascades are also pleased to announce the return of Lewis Norfleet as program coordinator. Norfleet served as the corps' brass arranger from 2000-2003 and was the program coordinator from 2002-2003. He helped lead the corps to its first-ever appearance in the DCI World Championship Finals in 2002. "We're thrilled to have Mike and Lewis back with us," said Mike Bujnowski, president of the Seattle Cascades board of directors. "Both have enormous talent and the kind of dedication that comes from being part of our organization's heritage. And we're all very grateful to Steve Baretich, who served ably during the past few months as director on an interim basis and continues as a board member and officer." The Cascades expect to announce members of the design team and caption heads in the coming weeks. www.seattlecascades.org