European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 25, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday May 2s, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 9 . Choir helps Bridge cultural Gap by Paul  Hur Viiu  All of the sheep in hand Al s Messiah might have Pone astray but it. Col Herbert Meyer s flock would t dare be so bold. The exuberant demanding Meyer directs the Ramstein Community choir a combination of choral groups from Ramstein a thai stages Christmas and easter performances of the Messiah for packed houses in the  area. Ready sing Meyer called at a recent practice fora performance in  s Stifts Kircho. Voices echoed off the red Sandstone Walls of the massive Ger Man Church. In less than a minute he brought the sing ing to a Hall and stood with arms folded looking a bit miffed. Who Are the seconds he asked and a few sheepish hands went up in the third Row. I m getting sort of a stereophonic sound. This is a chorus. I Don t want Mohave individual sounds i want to hear choral sounds. We have to  the Challenge for the choir members is to make 85individuals, with widely varying Levels of expertise sound a Clear and clean musical chord. The Challenge for Meyer is to guide individual voices to that clarity. And the purpose of the entire group is to help Ameri cans build relationships with their local Community. It s a positive expression of Good will that flows Andis exchanged through the medium of music Meyer said. Music is a great Bridge Between people. The Only prerequisite for joining the choir is that you enjoy  for people such As tech. Sgt. Steven Reedy participation is musically and personally Gratifying. People come up to you after a performance and Tell you Haw much they appreciated it he said. Consid ering the German american relations we re trying to establish it makes you feel pretty Good. And you really feel like you re accomplishing something  the group was formed As a Means of interaction wit the local German Community and the choir has been Well received. More than 700 people attended the sold out performance at the still Skirchen. The group also was asked to perform parts of the Messiah As Well a Broadway show songs at a music festival in St. Martins a a lilo by Paul coir it. Col Herbert Meyer right puts the Ramstein Community choir through its paces in . A town near .at both events the Ramstein choir was treated to food and drink before and after the performance by members of local German choirs. At the still Skirchen the choir was accompanied by the Church s Organ Mas Ter Heinz Umlauf. Meyer interprets that kind of cooperation and inter action As evidence of the chair s effectiveness in building  the Bottom line for Meyer and the choir members is excellence in music and that Means work. Practice began in september and continued until last week except for a break in  the practice in the still Skirchen the chair worked More than an hour Fine tuning for the  directed the work with a Towel around his neck to wipe off the sweat As he yelled praised chided an cajoled. Frankly i feel this is so important Meyer said. I shows the kind of spirit we have in this  Frankfurt hikes rates for recreational vehicles by Betty Bell staff writer Frankfurt taking to the open Road with a recreational vehicle from the outdoor recreation Center in Frankfurt will Cost More this summer. New seasonal rates affect anyone who has not paid a$200 refundable Deposit to secure a vehicle reservation a spokeswoman said Friday. Originally $45 a Day daily rental rates for the four Frankfurt vehicles were increased to $70 for the High sea son months of june july and August and $60 during thelow season months of april May september october and november. The rates will remain at $45 during de Cember january february and March. The Mannheim Community has three vehicles available at a daily rate of $50 with a refundable $250 Deposit Public affairs spokesman said our program began in 1984 As the Model for finding out How much it takes to run the service at $45 a Day said Judy a. Stanfill Frankfurt s director of outdoor recreation. Two years later we be Learned the use and abuse on the vehicles is much More than originally anticipated. The program has been a Success. However if we arc to maintain the program it must pay for itself and the users Musl pay for  Stanfill said vehicle maintenance accounts for the rental increases. We maintain four fully equipped Hymer Mobil vehicles with Mercedes engines. When they were new we tried to keep them on the Road but now we try to keep one in the Yard for backup. They re in pretty Good condition considering they weren t designed As rental vehicles. We be had two major engines rebuilt. It Cost us $1,900 per month for the vehicle to sit in the Yard and we must recover that Cost she said. We just can t do it at $45 a  each vehicle includes a microwave oven Shower an refrigerator and sleeps six. A variety of people use the vehicles Stanfill said. I six soldiers Pool their Money it s really a steal at thai Price. Of course it s Celt More for a family where maybe just one pocketbook pays the  she said renting a similar vehicle from a German fir would Cost $150 a Day. Sian fill said the Frankfurt vehicles arc booked through the summer and 30 people arc on the waiting list. Factories still polluting thames Greenpeace says London a the thames Holdup by londoners As a shining example of How to clean a polluted River is getting dirty again Greenpeace environmentalists claimed Friday. The thames water authority which timed the thames from a filthy waterway fouled by centuries of neglect into one of the world s cleanest metropolitan Rivers strongly disputed the charge. About 100species of fish have recon try been discovered in Waters where Only eels thrived two decades ago it said. But the International environmental group Greenpeace quoting government and other official reports maintained that the thames is still being heavily polluted with toxic metals and other dangerous pollutant that Are dumped illegally by Riverside Facto Ries. Only 11 Salmon were caught by Rod landline in the River last year compared with 18 in 1812, when the River was at its most polluted Greenpeace said. A 1984 water authority Sample found 29percent of the eels fished out of the thames contained unsafe Levels of Mercury the group reported. The Greenpeace ship Beluga equipped with computers and manned by chemists began plying the Waters of the thames on Friday drawing up a pollution map aimed at pinpointing sources of pollution. The 10-Day trip is the Start of a three month Survey of Britain s major River Estua Ries. We re looking specifically for illegal discharges said Greenpeace Marine Biolo Gist Andrew Booth. We want a limit on the number of Man made chemicals dumped with Gay abandon in our Rivers each  the Beluga will take Between 30 and 50 water samples a Day which will be an Al Zed by two trained chemists aided by on Board computers. When violations arc discovered authorities will be notified and another Mark will be added to the pollution map being drawn up by the ship s chemists. Greenpeace claimed High Levels of Mer Cury arsenic pesticides and various other chemicals have been traced by government scientists in the thames the Humber est uary in Eastern England and the Mersey which flows through Liverpool. Mike Dart the thames water authority s head of regulation and monitoring accused Greenpeace of making sensational claims based on a very selective basis of  the River thames services the needs of12 million people Dart said. It would be totally unrealistic to expect it to be a totally Pristine  Dart said Riverside discharges Are frequently tested and companies that break regulations arc prosecuted. But the vast majority of Riverside companies arc reasonably Law abiding he said. Last year the Beluga s Volunteer Crew tested the wastes poured into Europe s Rhine River Between the bustling dutch port of Rotterdam and the Swiss City of Basel. During the seven month cruise Green peace activists blocked a paper factory s waste pipe near Mannheim Germany for half an hour before being detained by police and they swam in front of a freighter near ducks Oldorf Germany to Stop it from dumping burned waste Metat into the Rhine. The Rhine was simply atrocious Boot said it s probably the most polluted River in Europe