Club kids begin Highway Cleanup Project

RONAN - Sixteen bags of garbage were gathered and placed on the edge of the highway south of Ronan on Tuesday afternoon, waiting for Wednesday pick up by Highway department personnel. Thanks to several Boys & Girls Club kids, an Americorps volunteer and two BGC staff members, the first phase of a cleanup project was completed.

Highway 93 between the scenic rest stop south of Ronan and the Charlo turnoff is the focus of a highway cleanup scheduled by the local Boys & Girls Club. The first phase of the project took place on Tuesday of last week and kids are scheduled to finish the job on April 25 and 28. The southbound right of way was picked up from the turnout to the first big ponds nearing the Countryside Café. The volunteers found hub caps, old bicycle tires, food containers, damaged building materials, cardboard boxes, latte cups and a variety of other interesting articles including somebody's shirt.

"It's certainly a shame that so many careless people would continue to clutter up this scenic area," said BGC executive director, John Schnase. "I hope the kids understand the impact this makes on our area and they learn that they can do better than the thoughtless, littering people who are making such a mess of our community," he said.

During the cleanup several of the club members commented that "people should be put in jail who throw their garbage out on the highway."