Burney Interact Club students praised for recent community cleanup efforts
BURNEY, Calif., — Students from the Burney Jr/Sr High School’s Interact Club are being recognized after they recently spent the day beautifying their community while picking up trash and clearing debris along Burney Creek. The cleanup project occurred just days before the Intermountain area and North State region were expected to be walloped by a bomb-cyclone, which had been projected to dump as much as seven inches of rain and/or snow throughout the area over the last week.
Last Sunday’s community cleanup project was overseen by school faculty and advisors, along with parents and deputies assigned to the Burney Patrol Station. Their efforts did not go unnoticed and the students were roundly applauded by community members as well as local and state representatives; including Senator Brian Dahle; who later shared photos from the day’s activities and offered thanks all those who participated.
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The Interact Club is a Rotary-sponsored community focused volunteer youth organization that was first created by long-time area resident Bob Jehn for Fall River Jr/Sr High School in 2015. The club was expanded the following year to include Burney Jr/Sr High students.
Among his countless other community oriented activities, Jehn, now 76, continues to advise Interact students. He also attends and participates in all their volunteer events, and says he could not be more proud of his students’ efforts and community service.
The highly successful and much-lauded program is designed for students who want to give back to their community through volunteer service. The group meets every other Tuesday morning to discuss various volunteer projects and upcoming volunteer opportunities, as well as other ways the students can serve their community.
For their most recent project, Interact students gathered near Burney Creek on a cold, windy and overcast Sunday morning, Oct. 17; where they were given bags, gloves, pickup tools and other necessary supplies before fanning out along the creek and beginning their cleanup efforts.
BHS Interact students recently spent a cold and overcast Sunday morning cleaning up the area around Burney Creek, removing trash and debris from the area as part of a community cleanup project. Bob Jehn photo
With their project being overseen by school staff and local deputies, the students spent the morning filling trash bags provided by Les Schwab, which were then deposited into a large dumpster brought creek-side by Waste Management.
Local resident and Community Organizer for Eastern Shasta County Health and Human Services Lisa Barry, who works with Jehn and others to help organize and facilitate Interact projects, today told SCNS, “I was really impressed by the effort that the students put in.”
“Not only did they pick up trash that was in hard to reach places, they also hauled it all the way back to the dumpster,” she continued.
Despite the cold and windy weather, at the end of the day’s activities the students had filled about a half-dumpster full of trash collected along the creek.
Using trash bags provided by Les Schwab and a dumpster supplied by Waste Management, BHS Interact students spent the morning picking up trash, clothing, broken bicycles and other debris from Burney Creek. Lisa Barry photos (Main images courtesy Bob Jehn.)
According to Jehn and Barry, some of Burney and Fall River Interact’s many recent projects and activities included students collecting $3,500 in donations, as well as clothing, food and other much needed items for local survivors of the recent Dixie Fire and volunteering at a September Senior Social for Intermountain area elders.
Upcoming volunteer projects include plans to help out at Bella Vista Farms with rescue animals, a project that was previously canceled due to rain, and visiting area nursing homes to sing Christmas carols and bring some holiday cheer and joy to senior citizens.
Burney Station deputies later said they were happy to escort and oversee the Interact students during their creek cleanup project, saying, “Students removed trash, clothing, and bicycles left along the creek between Park Ave. and Main Street.”
“Thank you to all the students for helping keep our county clean!”, they added.
Senator Dahle also publicly thanked the students for their efforts on social media, while also praising the Rotary Club of Burney-Fall River and Shasta County Sheriff’s Office, saying he appreciated their time and service to their community.
While Interact’s last creek cleanup happened several years ago – but had stalled the last two years due to ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and public health concerns, Jehn explained that this week’s creek cleanup was more important than ever due to the forecasted inclement weather.
“I can’t say enough about these students,” Jehn went on to tell SCNS. “They are always willing to step up and do community service, no matter what it is, and cleaning up the creek just before the recent storms was very important and a vital and much-needed service to the community.”
“They get nothing out of their service, other than the satisfaction of knowing they are doing something for their community,” Jehn continued.
“Their hearts are totally in the right place and they’ve done some really amazing things over the years,” he added; saying he looks forward to advising the club and its volunteer students for many years to come.
For more information about Burney’s Interact Club, visit them on Facebook.
Lisa Barry, Community Organizer for Eastern Shasta County Health and Human Services (far left) and Burney-Fall River Interact Club creator and advisor Bob Jehn (far R), are seen with Interact students, deputies, school staff and others during last Sunday’s creek cleanup. Lisa Barry photo
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Trevor Montgomery, 50, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.