On a Saturday morning in Portola, California, volunteers picked up gloves, grabbers and heavy-duty bags, then fanned out across town. By the end of the Sept. 19 Community Cleanup Event and Scavenger Hunt, 27 participants had removed 15 cubic yards of rubbish from the city’s north and south ends, according to Portola’s event summary.
The Plumas Sun reported that crews covered roadside and neighborhood areas, from the railroad tracks downtown toward residential hillsides, citing a release from organizers David Mueller and Lynn Salt. The release says City Manager Ryan Bonk and Public Engagement Officer Brian Attama welcomed volunteers at City Park at 8 a.m. with an orientation and donuts. Teams received reflective vests, grabbers, gloves and heavy-duty bags before heading out.
The Plumas Sun described one cleanup sector as “the gully,” where wildlife persistently scatters garbage. Volunteer Rachael Brubaker told the paper the area was a familiar trouble spot and said she hoped the group’s visibility would encourage nearby residents to be more careful with trash.
The effort drew help from beyond Portola. Brubaker said a teammate was from South Lake Tahoe and worked for Liberty Energy, a company that encouraged employee participation and offered a day off as an incentive.
Organizers added a scavenger-hunt twist. They hid “Clean Green Tickets” along cleanup routes, and participants who found them could trade them for prizes donated by 11 local businesses. When the crews returned to City Park, the Rotary Club of Portola provided lunch. Intermountain Disposal supported the cleanup with a commercial container for the collected debris, city and local reports said.
The gathering was the city’s second annual fall cleanup, and the volunteer group behind it has been building momentum since 2025. Pride of Portola, an independent volunteer group formed after the inaugural fall cleanup, meets monthly and organizes twice-yearly events. The city’s recap of that first fall cleanup lists 20 volunteers, 58 bags collected and more than 9 cubic yards of rubbish removed; nine local businesses contributed $315 in prizes. The group describes its purpose as reducing litter and illegal dumping through resident-led cleanups, education and outreach. Portola’s website lists Pride of Portola as a public resource while clarifying that it is volunteer-run and is not a city board or enforcement body.
The city’s Clean California Community designation came from a broader effort than POP or this one event alone. Portola says City Council approved pursuing it in June 2025; over the following 11 months, Public Engagement Officer Brian Attama rallied more than 25 volunteers. The city credits that effort with three city-sponsored cleanups, 65 bags of trash removed and more than six targeted areas addressed before the city announced the designation in June 2026; The Plumas Sun reports that it was finalized in May. The city says communities earn the designation by meeting at least 10 of 15 criteria, a menu that includes public input, litter assessments, education, anti-litter infrastructure and long-term planning. Portola was the first community in Plumas County and one of 100 communities statewide to earn the designation. The Sept. 19 gathering followed that recognition; it continued the local work rather than earning the designation by itself. POP remains an independent volunteer group that organizes twice-yearly cleanups and public education.
At a Sept. 23 City Council meeting, Bonk reported that 27 people took part in the cleanup and that the crews removed 15 cubic yards of debris, The Plumas Sun reported. The city plans to hold the event again next year, Bonk said, with a goal of expanding it into a day-long gathering. Mayor Bill Powers praised the participation at a Sept. 9 council meeting, saying, “Things just work better” with more community involvement.
Pride of Portola’s motto is “Many Hands, One Community.” On Sept. 19, that idea showed up in visible ways: volunteers working separate routes, businesses supplying prizes, a local service club serving lunch and a visitor joining a team from another town. Residents interested in future cleanups, beautification projects or reporting persistent litter concerns can contact the volunteer group through the email listed on Portola’s website.
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