On Saturday January 16, 2021, Gary Proctor organized a Green Team litter clean-up event along the Chehalis Western Trail. Six volunteers split up into teams and walked the section of the trail along the edge of the Panorama campus and down to the crossing of 37th Avenue.

Here’s Gary, John Erickson, and Steve Lundin using an extension grabber to collect trash from near the observation platform along the west side of Chambers Lake.

When we all gathered back at the Panorama dog park with our bags of litter, Cathy Smith and Cindy Fairbrook had a story to tell. They had walked north along the trail, picking up trash as they went. A woman out for a walk stopped and thanked them for their volunteer work. Then she handed Cathy a small note, saying it was in thanks for doing this. Cathy put the note in her pocket and continued the work.

When she returned to our meeting place, she opened the note. Inside was a card – and a $50 bill! The note said: “Thank you for being you! Enjoy a little something for your pocket.” This picture really is worth a thousand words.

Cathy deposited the $50 into the Green Team account and it will be used to buy a new extension grabber, for use in future clean-ups.

Cleve Pinnix – January 2021