"These people dedicate themselves to providing this service," he said.
Mr Mischewski was dismayed to learn the constant struggle of finding $1200 to $1300 a month to meet overheads was exhausting volunteers.
The station is in the council-owned Historic Village.
Station manager Bonnie Leonard said last week that with only $1700 left in the bank and no prospect of a big injection of money, the lifeline for hundreds of elderly people was only a couple of months from closing.
"We are all getting older and more tired - the council is strangling us."
Mr Mischewski said he liked the more relaxed non-commercial format of Village Radio and the way announcers got to know the tastes of listeners - for instance they knew he enjoyed Artie Shaw's big band.
"Village Radio has become a big part of my life.
"It has tremendous sentimental value to me because of the music," the retired civil engineer said, who is unable to get around like he used to.
Village Radio technician and announcer George Stewart said he asked the council earlier this year to halve their rent in exchange for the station publicising council news and traffic updates.
The answer was advice that rents were set to reflect the floor area used by village tenants.
Mr Stewart said he had not heard back from the mayor or the council chief executive.
"A little bit of interest would not have cost a lot."
Tauranga Mayor Stuart Crosby said the council did respond but Mr Stewart did not like the answers.
He said the council had ordered a total review of the village as a financial entity because the rent was not covering operational costs, although the shortfall was a modest amount.
Rather than putting a sticking plaster over the issues and doing contra deals, the council would be happy to sit down with Village Radio's committee to see what could be done in the short term because the review was still some way from completion, he said.
"We would like them to stay. They provide a good service," Mr Crosby said.
Village Radio 1XT 1368AM
Where: First floor of the Historic Village's Town Board building
Music: All styles from the 1920s to the 1980s
Record Library: 103,000 tracks of music, 50,000 titles and more than 10,000 artists