Audio Reading Service Celebrates 26 Years
On Friday, November 22, the Mountain Area Radio Reading Service (MARRS) celebrated its 26th anniversary with a birthday party at the Grove Arcade in downtown Asheville. The event was coordinated by Alexandra McPherson, with music provided by singer, songwriter, and guitarist Dan Beebe; both are MARRS volunteers.
MARRS broadcasts local news and information via free, specially tuned radios, and via the Internet, to listeners in six western North Carolina counties who are blind or have low vision or another disability that prevents them from reading for themselves. The organization relies entirely on small grants and individual donations, along with thousands of volunteer hours each year. It operates a downtown Asheville studio at 75 Haywood St. and a satellite studio in Hendersonville.
and volunteer readers, Scottie and Jennifer.
MARRS was founded by Tom Leeder and the late Bob Brummond; at the anniversary party Mr. Leeder was honored for his more than 25 years of volunteer service, and Shirley Cohen (recently named an Asheville Living Treasure) and Roger Hill were recognized for 20+ years each. Four other volunteers—Anne Geoghegan, Annette McAlister, Carolyn Nickell and Bobbi Powers—were recognized for more than five years each as MARRS volunteers.
To listen to the Mountain Area Radio Reading Service programs at any time, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, visit the website at www.marrswnc.org. To learn more about MARRS, call (828) 251-2166, or send an email to the organization’s president, Jim Fernandes, at [email protected].
