ARNOLD PUCCINELLI – PRESIDENT
Arnie is a General Contractor in Tuolumne County, building many homes over the past 30 years. He resides in Confidence where he has been involved with the Twain Harte Chamber of Commerce. For KAAD, he headed the crew that built an auxiliary sound studio on the Cassina campus. He has been in on the ground floor of creating and maintaining the KAAD website from its beginning. A deep-sea diver, he has explored waters around the world.
SUSAN THOMS – SECRETARY
Susan Thoms is a retired Special Education teacher/actor/singer who has been involved in building this radio station from the outset. Currently she hosts a weekly program called Equestrian Arts featuring horse expert Earlene Smith, and a bi-weekly program called Well Being with naturopath Donna Bach. She teamed with Elena Holcomb to create Local News of Yesteryear which focused on Gold Rush history, particularly of women. Currently she joins David Simerley on Friday afternoons for Traffic Jam.
SAM TAYLOR – TREASURER
Sam Taylor is the Executive Director of Senior/Youth Partnership, which he founded in 1983. SYP has won many awards and has been the model for a number of successful programs for at-risk youth. The organization, whose original purpose was to link troubled youth with senior retiree-mentors, has evolved over the years. It currently provides child care through after-school PM Clubs located on five campuses in Tuolumne County. In addition, SYP has assisted in the development of The Sewing School, a one-of-a-kind, much lauded school in Sonora.
DAVID SIMERLEY
David Simerley was an award-winning journalist and talk show host on several commercial radio stations before helping to create KAAD community radio. A man of many talents, he is a music historian with an interest in a variety of music genres. He has produced numerous audio documentaries. He helps co-ordinate field broadcasts for the station and is the on-air voice behind The Dave Allen Morning Show and Traffic Jam. Currently, he is the Education Director for Tuolumne Country Arts.
DONNA BACH
Donna Bach, in conversation with Sue Thoms, provides the program Well Being for KAAD. Donna comes from a heritage of 5 generations of holistic healing practitioners and has been in private practice for more than 40 years. She has been serving the Mother Lode area of California and surroundings since 1980. She has been providing guidance for natural lifestyle coaching, body therapy modalities and a very broad, eclectic approach to her clients and students. Her passion is to help promote self-care and to teach people to own their own body for optimal health, vitality and freedom.
ELLEN STEWART – EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ellen Stewart is retired instructor in Theatre and Speech at Columbia College. With her husband David Purdy, she co-founded Columbia Actors’ Repertory at the Fallon House in Columbia and Mountain Actors’ Conservatory at the Holman Foundry Playhouse in Sonora. For both companies, she produced, directed, publicized and acted in many plays. She and David founded KAAD, where she now wears a variety of hats.
