Russ Roy is one of those volunteers that we here at KVMR have come to depend on for just about everything. Despite the fact that he has only been volunteering with the station for a year and a half, Russ has made his mark in so many ways in such a short time we feel like he's been around forever. He has been a listener almost forever, as far as KVMR goes. He tuned in regularly in the station's early days and now 25 years later tunes in almost exclusively to KVMR.

Russ moved to Nevada County in 1973, after having heard about the area years earlier from a cohort in Los Angeles where he grew up. When he finally packed all of his belongings and showed up here it was purely out of curiosity, and with only $50 to his name. He walked into our office off the street one day about a year and a half ago and volunteered to answer phones for our pledge drive. He had heard there was a need for volunteers at KVMR, so he came to offer his services. Since then he has done a lot of everything, from staffing our front desk to distributing our Listeners' Guide to working security at events to painting our main office. And he does it all with a certain wiseguy flair: when asked how long he's been volunteering at KVMR, his smug response is "since I started." When asked what he likes about the station, he answers " I like the commercials." When pressed for details, he admits that he gets a lot of satisfaction from helping a station he believes is trying to enlighten people in a non-biased manner. And wiseguy aside, Russ's contribution to the station has been straight from the heart and much appreciated.

Being self employed most of his life has allowed Russ to keep the flexible schedule necessary for all of his volunteer endeavors. In addition to his work with KVMR, he has helped at the local food bank and has helped low income seniors with odd jobs. When he's not volunteering, Russ is working part time as a mechanic, gardener and handyman. He also does in-home health care which though paid, he says is a labor of love.

As far as hobbies go, he is a real outdoorsy kind of guy. He has an appreciation for the natural world and tries to remain conscious about the way he lives his life. He enjoys camping, some of his favorite areas being towards Downieville and Sierra City. He also enjoys the diverse musical offerings around town, and can often be found out and about on the dance floor. He is also active politically and in the community, and one of his proudest moments was being a part of the original core group of activists who sat at the crossroads of Broad and Pine protesting the beginning of the U.S. war on Iraq.

As busy as he is, Russ intends to continue and even expand his involvement with KVMR by attending the Broadcaster's Training Course and eventually the engineering course, which will qualify him to be an on-air substitute DJ and to help with live remote broadcasts. KVMR has benefited tremendously from Russ's involvement, and no doubt will continue to benefit. Thanks Russ for all that you do for us, and for being "the guy who'll do anything!"