On April 1, 2015 the South Albany High School in Albany, Oregon suffered the loss of their entire music building at the hands of an arsonist. A collection of music of over 40 years was destroyed as well as band instruments, uniforms, choir robes, cheerleading uniforms, and the like.
The board members of the Cascade Chorus (Eugene Chapter) voted to make a contribution of $500.00 to the foundation the school had set up to help cover the cost of their loss. President Victor Fitzpatrick personally delivered the check to the foundation and then later delivered two boxes of our society music books to Bret DeYoung, their choral music teacher. He was excited to receive these books since he had used them in the past and found them to be very useful. He just didn’t know where to go to replace them.
According to the local news, the rebuilding process has been slowed down due to several issues; however they are now on track to have the building replaced and ready to occupy by sometime in September. They have had donations of instruments from Oregon State University and other schools in the area.
The arsonist has been convicted and sentenced to a lengthy prison term and the school is moving forward thanks to the many contributors like the Cascade Chorus.
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