The Marshallaires Senior Choir provides a great service to the community, singing weekly at retirement, rehab and assisted-living centers throughout Clark County. Besides the weekly hour of singing, the choir also rehearses for two hours each week.
Choir members are all volunteers — the singers, our director and our accompanist. Because of our community service, we have been provided rehearsal space, free of charge, in the dining room of the Luepke Senior Center.
Suddenly we’ve been told by Vancouver-Clark County Parks and Recreation that we now need to pay for the rehearsal space, $2 per person per rehearsal. There are 46 people in our choir, so that would be $92 per week or $368 per month.
The reason given is increased costs for staffing, building operation and vehicles. We do not require staffing or vehicles. We set up and take down our chairs, and we clean up after ourselves. I find it hard to believe that the electricity and water we require for eight hours each month would cost $368. We are senior citizens, most of whom have limited income, yet we give generously of our time and talent. This new cost imposed upon us could likely end the choir.
