Host Mari Weaver talks with Rob Ferguson about his life and experience with civic engagement. From a childhood in the Bay Area where his best friend’s family served as a “shelter” when times were tough in his own dysfunctional family, Rob met his wife in high school and converted to Judaism prior to their marriage. His early experiences spawned a life-long interest in human rights, the environment and peace. Rob and his wife raised their family in Walnut Creek, eventually moved to Sacramento and...
Apr 07, 2022•28 min•Ep. 64
Host Keith Porter helps us walk the long and fascinating life path of Anita Wald Tuttle, who has lived in Nevada County for 33 years and has had a role in over two dozen community organizations and projects. Among other notable achievements, she co-founded the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Mountains here. From humble beginnings in depression-era Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa, Anita worked her way through a degree in Occupational Therapy and worked in many--and created several--occupational...
Mar 31, 2022•30 min•Ep. 63
Host Brian Buckley takes us on a journey into the life and times of retired Superior Court Judge Frank Francis. Born in Ogden, Utah, Frank’s family moved to San Mateo through 7th grade, where he experienced the impacts of WWII. Frank’s mother was pretty controlling of his two siblings, but for some reason as the middle child he was able to roam pretty freely. Frank met his wife, Francis, in grade school where the two were kidded about eventually marrying and her becoming Frances Francis. Years l...
Mar 24, 2022•30 min•Ep. 62
Host Lori Burkart Frank brings us the story of Karyn Packard, Board President of Hospice of the Foothills. Following her career as a hospital chaplain, she and her husband sailed their sailboat all around the world for two and a half years, and sold it in New Zealand before settling in Lake Wildwood. Born in southern California, she changed schools often and was positively impacted by wonderful teachers who helped her through the travails and insecurities of always joining new schools and classr...
Mar 17, 2022•28 min•Ep. 61
Host Hollie interviews Coach Brad Sparks.
Mar 10, 2022•30 min•Ep. 60
Host Taylor Wolfe takes us on a journey of discovery into the life of Syd Brown, a retired geologist with California State Parks, where she helped protect and enhance the mountains, rivers, beaches and watersheds in our precious natural resources. Growing up with parents who often went camping, she became very familiar with the back country. With geology degrees from CSU Sacramento, she was based in Sacramento until she began commuting after moving to Nevada City in 1983. She and husband Jesse r...
Mar 03, 2022•30 min•Ep. 59
Host Keith Porter takes us on a journey of discovery into the life of Tom Last, Community Development Director for the City of Grass Valley. We learn how a youngster from the deserts of far Southern California came North to Chico to pursue his interest in Rural and Regional Planning. Professional positions in Southern California, Butte and Sutter Counties led to a position with Grass Valley that’s lasted 19 years. Tom discusses the joys, tribulations and diverse challenges of overseeing the comp...
Feb 24, 2022•30 min•Ep. 58
Host Mari Weaver introduces us to Dan Kennerson, who along with friend Jon Dorfman, was doing research for a Department of Defense contractor on ethanol purification. When they had the opportunity to purchase the laboratory in 2017, they faced the choice of producing highly purified spirits or hanging around dairy farms to develop ways of harnessing methane from cow manure. They found the decision to manufacture craft Vodka to be a slam dunk. Covid precipitated a quick pivot into manufacturing h...
Feb 10, 2022•30 min•Ep. 57
Host Keith Porter explores the life and times of Matt Muellenhoff, DO, founder and Medical Director of Sierraderm in Grass Valley. As a boy, Matt attended kindergarten with this grandmother and mother as teachers, grew up in Corvalis Oregon and Lafayette California, and studied Studio Art at UC Davis. Medical School at Western University of Health Sciences for his Doctor of Osteopathy degree led to a residency in Tampa, Florida, where beyond completing his training in dermatology, he learned the...
Jan 20, 2022•30 min•Ep. 56
Host Brian Buckley interviews Kellea Miller, who grew up in Tahoe Vista and was familiar with the Western slope of the Sierra from visits to Victorian Christmas as a kid. Raised with 4 siblings by a devout Buddhist mom, a Russian Jew dad from New Jersey and a step-mom raised Catholic, she grew up with a wide perspective on the world. Spreading her wings to travel, live and work in areas like New York, the Bay Area and LA eventually led her back to the Sierras in Nevada County to finish her PhD d...
Jan 13, 2022•28 min•Ep. 55
Host Keith Porter talks with Cindy Zuelsdorf, marketing professional, Founder of KoKoRo Marketing, and author. Video technology brought Cindy’s parents to Nevada County in the ‘80s, and after a couple of visits Cindy made it her home also. Marriage, a daughter, work at Sierra Mountain Coffee Roasters and Ensemble Designs preceded founding KoKoRo Marketing and writing 3 books on Marketing for small and medium-sized businesses. Her team now has many clients in the US and abroad, and her book, 7 Ma...
Dec 23, 2021•29 min•Ep. 54
Host Keith Porter talks with Thomas Kanomata, MD, about his life growing up as a Japanese-Canadian, his extensive experience in Internal Medicine, his perspective on health care and his work as a front-line primary care physician during the most traumatic health crisis of our lifetimes.
Dec 09, 2021•30 min•Ep. 53
Host Lori Burkart Frank introduces us to Scott Beesley, and the fascinating story of a kid from a Southeast Michigan town that doesn’t exist anymore who didn’t have a clue about what he was going to do when he grew up. An early job as a caddy at a golf club with a forged birth certificate contrasted with his modest background. Volunteering with the YMCA during college eventually led to a staff position. Time in Ft. Lauderdale and Minneapolis reinforced his desire to not live in a big city and be...
Dec 02, 2021•30 min•Ep. 52
Host Taylor Wolfe helps us with a deep dive into the life and times of Robin VanValkenburgh, who manages transit services....
Nov 25, 2021•29 min•Ep. 51
Host Keith Porter helps us follow the journey of a young man from Sioux Falls, S.D. to Nevada City, with stops in Rapid City, Quincy Illinois and sojourns with several start-ups in Silicon Valley. A life-long love of music and radio led to volunteering at music festivals in the woods and finally the fateful move to become Chief Engineer for KVMR in 2012. Learn how his life was changed with a 12-step program, why Buzz believes radio is the utmost in communication, and why in his professional opin...
Nov 18, 2021•30 min•Ep. 50
Host Hollie Grimaldi Flores brings us an inside look at the life story of Jan Fishler. After graduation from Ohio University, she loaded her belongings into her VW Super Beetle and headed for San Diego. One of only a few women in the video production industry meant time in San Francisco and Oakland, marriage, children and an eventual move to Nevada County and work with Grass Valley Group. A self-published memoir acted as a healing journey in her experience as an adoptee who sought information ab...
Nov 11, 2021•30 min•Ep. 49
Host Lori Burkart Frank brings us the inside story of the life and times of Dick Law, realtor and co-founder of This Is Now Your Home (“TINY”), a nonprofit helping create small homes for unhoused folks in need. Raised in San Francisco and Marin County, Dick had a high school classmate named Robin Williams. After a short stint as a butcher, he moved into real estate and came to Nevada County in his early 20’s. Forty-some years later, Dick’s kids and grandkids are all part of our mountain communit...
Nov 04, 2021•30 min•Ep. 48
Host Taylor Wolfe leads our discovery into the life and adventures of photography instructor and environmental filmmaker Jeff Litton. Jeff’s work has been published in National Geographic and many other environmental publications. Growing up in Nevada County, he attended Nevada Union High School where he got great ideas and inspiration about doing something you love and figuring out how to be paid for it. College in Santa Barbara and early work as a shipboard videographer gave him an environment...
Oct 28, 2021•30 min•Ep. 47
Host Keith Porter draws us into the intriguing story of Optometrist, actor and community theater founder Lisa Moon. Lisa’s parents--daughter of a wealthy Chinese family and a poor American studying Chinese--met at a Chinese university and over the bride’s family’s objections, moved to the U.S. Growing up in San Francisco in a family that encouraged education meant an advanced degree was expected, and Lisa readily complied by gaining a Doctor Of Optometry degree from UC Berkeley. The student roma...
Oct 21, 2021•30 min•Ep. 46
Host Brian Buckley brings us an inside look at a local treasure—author and Camptonville leading citizen Shirley DicKard. Shirley’s father was a physician, mother was a nurse. At the time, becoming a doctor wasn’t encouraged for women, but the nurse route was. Degrees from UC Davis and UCSF involved meeting husband, Dick, who became a dentist. From early experiences as a childbirth educator, practicing on a Navajo reservation and working in Florence Italy, emerged a desire to settle into a congen...
Oct 14, 2021•29 min•Ep. 45
Host Lori Burkart Frank brings us a detailed look at veteran’s issues and the man who manages them in Nevada County with an in-depth interview with Veterans Service Officer David West II. Graduating from high school in Sacramento, he decided he wasn’t ready for college, joined the Marines, and was named “Marine Of The Year” for the Pacific Fleet during his service in Okinawa. The transition back to civilian life was tough for David; his skills and experience weren’t initially valued. A period of...
Oct 07, 2021•32 min•Ep. 44
Host Hollie Grimaldi Flores explores all things aviation, and traces the story of General Chuck Yeager's aircraft with Nevada County Airport Manager, Keven Edwards.
Oct 07, 2021•29 min•Ep. 43
Host Taylor Wolfe provides an in-depth introduction to one of two Grass Valleys’ two newest City Council members, Tom Ivy. Born and raised in Nevada County was magical, and Tom then found another place in the woods with lots of recreation opportunities when he went off to UC Santa Cruz to study biology and other things in the process of finding his life’s direction. A class on the UC farm provided the insight that he belonged close to the earth, and influenced him to major in environmental studi...
Sep 23, 2021•29 min•Ep. 42
Host Keith Porter leads our exploration of the life and times of Michael Selby. From a Catholic Seminarian in his youth and young adulthood, to serving as a parole and probation officer, to corporate trainer, to consultant; all underlain by a love of music and a lifelong focus on service. Realizing his dependence on alcohol brought him into the twelve step process. Moving from Marin County to Lake Wildwood in Nevada County brought a pleasant surprise about the amount and level of music performan...
Sep 16, 2021•30 min•Ep. 41
Host Brian Buckley leads our exploration of excellence in education by telling the story of award-winning Nevada Union High School Drama Teacher Rob Metcalfe. Fresh out of college with a theater degree, he stage-managed a children’s production and fell in love with the impact drama had on kids. He learned a lot about good teaching from both the great teachers as well as the terrible teachers in his past. Growing up in Turlock, there was space to be free as a kid. Despite an average GPA, he was a...
Sep 09, 2021•28 min•Ep. 40
Hollie Grimaldi Flores marks her hosting debut by introducing us to Gil Mathew, Executive Director of Nevada County’s Economic ResourHollie Grimaldi Flores marks her hosting debut by introducing us to Gil Mathew, Executive Director of Nevace Council, a businessman with a half century of experience building successful enterprises and a playwright, and so much more. For Gil, the secret to our success as a community revolves around building relationships. A key factor in his life is the desire to b...
Sep 02, 2021•29 min•Ep. 39
Host Keith Porter introduces us to the guy who remodeled the Center for the Arts in Grass Valley. Well, Walt didn’t exactly do it himself, but he saw that it got done! He’s the chair of the Facility Committee of the Center board, and he recently retired as the Facility Director for Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital. From a relatively carefree childhood in Fairbanks, Alaska, to teen years in the Bay Area where he observed the “Summer of Love” firsthand, he learned a lot more about the world on a to...
Aug 19, 2021•30 min•Ep. 38
Host Brian Buckley brings us the inside story of Janeth Maroletti, the Executive Director of Gold Country Senior Services. Growing up with her grandparents in Mexico helped inspire her life’s work and led to a Master’s degree at CSU Fullerton in Public Health with a specialty in Aging. Building and Enhancing connections between generations despite today’s pressurized life styles is one of her great interests. A weekend visit to Nevada County piqued her--and her husband’s--interest in moving to N...
Aug 12, 2021•27 min•Ep. 37
Taylor Wolfe, our newest Sages host, interviews founding hosts Brian Buckley and Keith Porter, and the man who put it on the air at KVMR, Ralph Henson. With quotes from the Sages project godfather Gary Quehl and founding host Norm Westmore, they celebrate the show's anniversary and discuss how and why civic engagement makes great radio.
Jul 29, 2021•31 min•Ep. 36
Host Keith Porter brings us the inside story of a Chaplain’s life. The third child of a Southern Baptist minister who was a World War II veteran, Norris moved six times as a child and graduated from high school in Atascadero. Influenced by his father’s life, he attended Baylor University and Golden Gate Seminary, became a pastor who was serving in Stockton, California, in 1989 when a horrific school shooting occurred. Already a reserve chaplain in the Air Force, he attended an internship at UC D...
Jul 22, 2021•29 min•Ep. 35
