Making a joyful noise unto the Lord is a bit easier at Grace Lutheran Church with the help of music librarian Anne Chase.
The choir, the bell choir and the Creative Spirit worship service all benefit from her drive to keep things organized.
"I just like having things orderly," she said. "When I see a piece of music, I know exactly where it needs to go."
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When Chase retired in 2003, she started volunteering more at the church, where she has been a member since moving to Fort Dodge in 1957. That's when she took on duties of the music librarian.
The church's music coordinator Bruce Perry selects the music to be used, and Chase keeps that music in order.
When the new music comes in, she records it, files it and gets it ready when needed.
Fact Box
About Ann Chase
Ann Chase, 70, is a native of Charles City but arrived in Fort Dodge right out of high school. "I came to Fort Dodge, went to business school and got a job at KWMT Radio, and that's where I met my husband of 50 years."
Her hobbies include genealogy and collecting KWMT memorabilia. She loves to bake and is a member of the Red Hat Society.
Her husband Roy Chase used to work at KWMT as a disc jockey and engineer, and later in sales. He was also the weatherman for KVFD Television up until it was knocked off the air by the 1977 tornado. Roy Chase then went into sales and finally worked in the Vocational Education for Special Students program through ICCC before he retired.
The couple has three daughters: Tami Lines and her husband Todd live in Omaha and have two daughters. Sandi Abbas and her husband Jeff live in Adel and have three daughters. Barbara Burke and her husband Sean live in Littleton, Colorado and have two daughters.
Roy and Ann Chase spend much time with their granddaughters.
Ann Chase spent 32 years in the office at Land o Lakes. "After I retired it was very easy to get involved," she said.
"That's my biggest task," she said. "I come in and basically work Monday afternoon about four hours a week" in the music library. "I kind of eased into it. The church library was in sad shape. When you went to file music, each piece of music had not been stamped with a number for filing. There are hundreds of pieces of music in the library."
"There were three of us who spent many hours one summer. We went through and counted all the music and stamped all the music so each piece of music has a number."
Chase then put the information in a computer file along with information on the composer, the file number, and whether it is in four part or three part harmony. Her office experience at Land o Lakes helped her in the project.
Chase also assists church secretary Kris Olson with typing, filing, answering the phone, and other tasks. She fills in for Olson, if needed. Chase is on the church's personnel team, keeps the church's bridge team organized, sings in the choir, is the choir's unofficial treasurer, and is learning how to run the soundboard for worship services.
She is on the church's first caller list, brining gift baskets and church information to new visitors to the church. While she is involved in any aspects of the church, Chase said there are many other volunteers who do more.
"Our pastor is such a wonderful pastor. He is always saying thank you and is always appreciative of what volunteers do around the church" she said of the Rev. Matthew Martens.
Chase is involved in the community as well. She volunteers at Cooper School with the RSVP children's reading program, she's a tour guide at the Fort Museum, and helped organized an annual neighborhood block party which has been gathering for nine years.
"I just signed up for the Community Emergency Response Team," she said and has volunteered to do data entry for the new organization.
Second only to her church work is her volunteering for Pride in Community Appearance. PICA's latest project was landscaping along Martin Luther King Drive. "I just can't wait to get that done," she said of her favorite project.
She volunteers because "It is because I want to do it," she said. "I'm not a sitter. I want to be active as long as I can."
"Volunteering is a very rewarding experience. The more I do the more I want to do. It makes you feel good. You are helping somebody."