Copyright 2005 BigValleyNews.net
Saturday arrives and I, as editor of BigValleyNews.net, begin to
suspect that what I originally expected to be a "slow news day" type of
story might actually turn into a big event. The activity of the
High School Students on the day before in cleaning the big field by
Punkin Center Rd, and the work at the old Bieber Jail began to change
my mind.
I hear that there will be local news media coverage and figure that
I must compete with the big boys and get a story, so I show up at 7:30
at the Bieber Library to get some free coffee and snacks and soon
people arrive ready to work and the heavy equipment arrives. By
8:15 the town begins to buzz, (roar, growl put-put, clank etc) with
activity. It's a damp day threatening to rain, which is a good
excuse to stay home, but I see activity all over town. Not only
trucks and loaders starting to pick up trash which the High School
piled up the day before, but fires are started, chain saws, lawn
mowers, tractors all over town, and people, all volunteers doing hard
work. This work does not stop even through lunch hour but goes on
until just before sunset!
Now I am catching on that this is not your ordinary town cleanup
where folks pick up paper and litter. This is an amazing
event. This is where a town with a sign that announces
"population 510" pulling together and transforming a typical country
town with junk accumulated and ignored for 20 years, vanishing in one
day.
This is an event where folks are not only cleaning their own lots,
but doing serious landscaping on public land, on the streets.
They are mowing lawns and picking up trash piles for the residents who
are too weak or too poor to do it themselves. This is a town
helping their neighbors in a way I've never seen before.
Well, so much with the fluffy puffy talk, let's go on and see some
of the activity, and don't forget to share these web pages with friends
who were not in Bieber and show them what it's like to live in a small
town where folks really do look out for each other and work together.
What I wrote above is what I saw, and I was afraid I might be
exaggerating the event. Below is an item submitted by another
Bieber resident:
Bieber CA. April 25, 2005
For the first time since anyone can remember, Bieber and nearby Big
Valley Residents pulled together in unbelievable strength to
clean up this neglected town. Only in farming country could a
cleanup of this proportion happen. Dump trucks, front loaders,
bucket trucks, flatbeds and tractors pulling mowers and graders did
everything they were built to do (and sometimes a lot more, editor
bigvalleynews) Also on the ground were several weed eaters mowers and
rakes. 40 to 70 people (I believe there were more! editor
bigvalleynews) came out in the rain and shine to dispose of
garbage and junk. The flatbed said it all. At it's high
point it was filled about 15 feet high and 20 feet long (see picture
below). Washers, dryers, mattresses, you name it . Lots
were graded and mowed , the riverside was cleared and shows off the
beauty of the Pit River once again. Trees were trimmed, roadside
garbage was packed and even the historic county jail was restored.
More important even than the things getting spruced up was the
community spirit that filled the air. People care about
Bieber and it shows. The momentum was strong and seemed to
pull everyone out and get them cleaning. It was wonderful to work
together with fellow friends family and neighbors toward a common
goal, something that was important to everyone. Thank you
everyone for your hard work, sweat and unending enthusiasm.
Give yourself a hand (and a back rub), this was a job well done!
Do read the SPECIAL THANKS PAGE! by CLICKING
HERE!
Saturday, April 23 2005
8AM and some folks drop by the library "headquarters" for coffee and snacks.
They didn't stay long!
8:10 AM, Jim Johnson begins to unload his back hoe.
You can see that it was a damp morning, but that stopped no one.
8:30 AM and Jim Johnson is at work with his back hoe.
There was a lot of picking up burnables and taking it to fires which
were started all over town. The fire department was out for
safety. This scene is in the field between Punkin Center Rd. and
Third Street.
8:53 AM, brush clearers with chain saws feed a chipper.
The chipper and truck were donated by Lassen Pines Resort, a nearby
R.V. resort.
9:15 AM and folks are busy cleaning the river front.
Lots of people showed up here, and worked the full day making the
place eventually look nice enough for a town park. Local
mosquitoes vetoed the idea!
10:14 AM, the triangular parcel on highway 299 and Market St.
Here we see many Bieberites working on this previously messy field
right on a main entrance to town.
Some of the folks (too many for me to keep track of ) are Brent
Blue, Fred Rodriguez, Tammy Mitchell, Stephen Stansberry, John
Stansberry
10:23 AM, trimming trees by the river.
11:49 AM, new neighbors just moved into Bieber and knew nothing about the cleanup:
Horse is Smokey, in the wagon front, Duane Chandler and Kim
Anderson, in the rear, Megan and Jasmin Royal. Hope they bring
this wagon to Big Valley Days Parade.
1:50 PM, if you worked, you got an armband, if you got an armband, you got a free lunch*
Steve and Julie Gagnon of Big Valley Market (and Adin Supply)
supplied lunch at no cost.
* There's no such thing as a free lunch!
2:05 PM, roving through town picking up junk were at least 2 flatbed trailers.
Tons of trash was hauled off for no charge! Nothing formal, no
work orders, just driving around and when something had to be done, it
was done!
3:37 PM, the old gas station near the highway finally gets cleaned up.
3:44 PM, throughout Bieber, trash fires were burning.
The Bieber Fire Department was roaming the streets for safety.
4:14 PM, I could not resist it, I had to show one photo of me actually working
and not just taking pictures of other people doing all the hard
stuff. This was taken near Second and Cedar where a huge amount
of scrap and junk got removed.